Dunlap's Pennsylvania packet , The general advertiser — Philadelphia, Pa., 1776-11-26 00:00:00, page 4

L O N D O N, jugu, 16.
EDICT of the King of Portugal, prohibiting all inter
course between bis dominions and the American co
lonicf.
JOSEP H, by the grace of God, King of Portugal
and of all the Algarves, &c. &c. &c. I make known
to all who fhali fee this present edid, that having been
lately informed that the English Colonies in America,
had not only separated themselves by an aft of the
Congress, the 25th of May last, from the fubje&ion to
the crown of Great Britain, but also were making laws
of their own, and giving particular power to resist the
lawful authority of his Britannic Majesty, my good
brother, friend and ally : And Whereas so perni
cious an example ought to interest even the moftin
different princes not to favour or assist, diredly or indi
redly, fubjeds thus publicly and formally rebelling
against their lawful sovereign: It is my will and pleasure
to order, that in all the ports of these kingdoms and its
dominions, no Shelter shall be given to any ships loa
ded or in ballast, coming from any of the ports of the
said North-American British Colonies; but on the
contrary, they are to be repelled from the said ports,
and in the fame manner they entered, without giving
them the least fuccour of any kind whatsoever. The
masters of fliips, who ha&been. permitted to enter
hitherto, in consideration of not having received any
express injunction to the contrary, shall be notified to
depart with their ships out of the above-mentioned
ports within the space of eight successive days, with
out fail; examination being had before tneir depar
ture, if tty have on board any gunpowder, or other
warlike Rsres of the kinds already prohibited by my
royal orders, given the 21st of October last, to the
arsenal of the army, and to the office of outward con
fullhip; and confifeating, for the benefit of the public
works, any of the said ships on board of which shall be
found clandestinely concealed any of the above-men
tioned warlike stores, as goods rightly seized and ma
nifeftly known to be the property of rebels. Our
Lord the King hath ordered this by his royal decree
of the fourth of this current month of July, and di
rected it to his royal counsel, commanding it to be
printed and set up in all public places of Lisbon and
ports ofthis kingdom, and of the Algarve, in order that
every one mould have notice thereof, and that no per
son may pretendignorance.
Lisbon, sth of July, 1776,
(Signed) Count de AZ AMBUJA, Pres.
WHITEHALL, August 24.
Captain Hope arrived on Wednesday evening last
from South-Carolina, with dispatches from Commodore
Sir Peter Parker, and Lieutenant General Clinton.
Extrafl of a letter from Sir Peter Parker to Mr. Ste
phens, Secretary of the Admiralty, dated within
Charleftown Bar, July 9, 1776.
- "It having been judged advisable to make an
attempt upon Charleftown in South-Carolina, the fleet
failed from Cape-Fear on the Ift of June, and on the
4th anchored off Charleftown Bar. The sth founded
the Bar, and laid down buoys preparatory to the in
tended entrance of the harbour. The 7th all the fri
gates and most of the transports got over the Bar into
Five-fathom Hole. The 9th General Clinton landed
on Long-Island with about four or five hundred men.
The 10th the Bristol got over the Bar with some diffi
culty. The 15th gave the Captains of the squadron
my arrangement for the attack of the batteries on Sul
livan's Island, and the next day acquainted General
Clinton that the ships were ready. The General fixed
on the 23d for our joint attack, but the wind proving
unfavourable prevented its taking effed. The 25th
the Experiment arrived, and the next day came over
the Bar, when a new arrangemennt was made for the
attack. The 28th at half an hour after nine in the
morning informed Gen. Clinton by signal, that I should
go on to the attack. At half an hour after ten made
the signal to weigh; and about a quarter after eleven
the Bristol, Experiment, Active and Solebay, brought
up against the fort. The Thunder bomb, covered by
the Friendship armed vessel, brought the faliant angle
of the east bastion to bear N. W. by N. and Col. James
(who has ever since our arrival been anxious to give
the best assistance) threw several Shells a little before
and during the engagement in very good direction.
The Sphynx, AAeon and Syren, were to have been
to the westward, to prevent fire-Ships or other vessels
from annoying the Ships engaged, to enfilade the works,
and, if the rebels should be driven from them, to cut
off their retreat if possible. This last service was not
performed, owing to the ignorance of the pilot, who
run the three frigates aground. The Sphynx and Sy
ren got off in a few hours, but the A&eon remained
faft till the next morning, when the Captain and offi
cers thought proper to scuttle and set her on fire. I
ordered a court-martial on the Captain, officers and
company, and they have been honourably acquitted.
Capt. Hope made his armed Ship as ufeful as he could
on this occasion, and he merits every thing that can be
said in his favour. During the time of our being a
breast of the fort, which was near ten hours, a brisk
firing was kept up by the Ships, with intervals, and we
hid the fatisfaaion, after being engaged two hours, to
oblige the rebels to Slacken their fire very much. We
drove large parties several times out of the fort, which
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were replaced by ethers from the main. About half
an hour after three, a considerable reinforcement from
Mount Pleasant hung a man on a tree at the baek of
the fort, and we imagine that the fame party ran away
about an hour after, for the fort was then totally Si
lenced, and evacuated for near one hour and an half;
but the rebels, finding that our army could not take
possession, about fix o'clock a considerable body of peo
ple re-entered the fort, and renewed the firing from
two or three guns, the rest being, I suppose, dismount
ed. About nine o'clock, it being very dark, part of
our ammunition expended, the people fatigued, the
tide of ebb almost done, no profpe& from the eastward,
and no possibility of our being of any farther service, I
ordered the Ships to withdraw to their former moor
ings. Their Lordships will fee plainly by this account,
that if the troops could have co-operated on this at
tack, his Majesty would have been in possession of Sul
livan's Island. But I must beg leave to be fully un
derstood, left it should be imagined that I mean to
throw the most distant reflection on our army: I should
not difeharge my conscience, were ! not to acknwledge,
that such was my opinion of his Majesty's troops, from
the General down to the private soldier, that after I
had been engaged some hours, and perceived that the
troops had not got a footing on the north end of Sulli
van's Island, I was perfectly Satisfied that the landing
was impracticable, and that the attempt would have
beenthe deftrudion of many brave men, without the
least probability of success ; and this, I am certain,
'will appear to be the case, when General Clinton re
presents his situation.—The Bristol had 40 men killed
and 71 wounded; the Experiment 25 killed and 56
wounded, and both of them fuffered much in their hulls,
masts and rigging; the A&ive had Lieut. Pike killed,
and 6 men wounded; and the Solebay 8 men wound
ed. Not one man who was quartered at the beginning
of the action on the Bristol's quarter-deck escaped be
ing killed or wounded. Captain Morris loft his right
arm, and received other wounds, and is since dead ;
the master is wounded in his right arm, but will reco
ver the use of it: I received several contusions at dif
ferent times, but as none of them are on any part where
the least danger can be apprehended, they are not worth
mentioning.—Lieutenants Caulfield, Molloy and Nu
gent, were the Lieutenants of the Bristol in the adion;
they behaved so remarkably well that it is impossible to
fay to whom the preference is due, and so indeed I
may fay of all the petty officers, fhip's company and
voluntiers. At the head of the latter I must place Lord
William Campbell, who was so condefeending as to
accept of the direction of some guns on the lower gun
deck. His Lordship received a contusion on his left
fide, but I have the happiness to inform their Lordships
that it has not proved of much consequence. Capt. Scott
of the Experiment loft his left arm, and is otherwise so
much wounded that I fear he will not recover. I cannot
conclude this letter without remarking, that when it
was known that we had many men too weak to come
to quarters, almost all the seamen belonging to the
transports offered their service with a truly British spi
rit, and a just fenle of the cause we are engaged in. I
accepted of upwards of fifty to supply the place of our
sick. The masters of many of the transports attended
with their boats, but particular thanks are due to Mr.
Chambers, the master of the Mercury.
“ All the regiments will be embarked in a few days.
The firft brigade, consisting of four regiments, will fail
in a day or two, under convoy, for New-York; and
the Bristol and Experiment will, I hope, soon follow
with the remainder.
“ Sir Peter Parker's squadron consisted of the fol
lowing ships and vessels : The Bristol, yoguns, Sir Pe
ter Parker, Commodore, Captain John Morris: Ex
periment 50, Alexander Scott; Active 28, William
Williams; Solebay 28, Thomas Symonds; Afteon 28,
Christopher Atkins; Syren 28, Tobias Furneaux;
Sphynx 20, Anthony Hunt; Friendship armed vessel
22, Charles Hope ; Ranger sloop 8, Roger Wills;
Thunder bomb 8, James Reid; St. Lawrence schoo
ner —, Lieut. John Graves."
Whitehall, August 24. It appears by Lieut. General
Clinton's letters to Lord George Germain, dated July
8, 1776, from the camp on Long-Island, province of
South-Carolina, that Sir Peter Parker and the General
having received intelligence, that the fortrefs ere&ed by
the rebels on SuUivan's-Ifland (the key to Charles-Town
harbour) was in an imperfect and unfinifhed state, re
solved to attempt the reduction thereof by a coup de
main ; and that in order that the army might co-operate
with the fleet, the General landed his troops on Long-
Island, which had been represented to him as communi
cating with Sullivan's-Island, by a ford passable at low
water ; but that he, to his very great mortification, found
the channel, which was reported to have been eighteen
inches deep at low water, to be seven feet deep ; which
circumstance rendered it impossible for the army to give
that assistance, to the fleet, in the attack made upon the
fortrefs that the General intended, and which he, and
the troops under bis command, ardently wished to do.
To those advices publiflied by government we ffiall
add some further circumstances (contained in the extr^ft
of a particular letter from an officer in General Clinton's
array, dated July 7th, as follows.)
“ The 9th of June we gat over the Bar and came to
anchor in the road. Subivan's-Idand, which forms one
fide of the canal, that goes up to Charles-Town the rebels
had fortified in a very strong manner. For this reason
we made it the firft ohj & of onr attack, the frigates not
being fufficient for that purpose, and heavy ships being
retired to ffeate their batteries, we were obliged to
lighten the Bristol and Experiment, 50 gun ships, by
taking out their artillery, and enable them to go over the
bar ; it took us to the 28th before we could perform it
and put those ships in order. That day the Experiment
and the Bristol, with the frigates the Srlebay and the
A&ive, with a bomb, began the engagement at about
eleven o'clock in the morning, the hetteft fire was con
tinued on both tides till eight in the evening, during the
two lad hours the enemy fired only with two cannon -
the ships have fuffered greatly and loft about 200 men'.
This great loss it is said, was occasioned by the timidity
of the pilots who would not carry the ships nearer than
900 yards from the batteries, which was an excellent
distance for our enemies, and from which we could do
them little damage.
" Between the 9th and the 23th of June, the troops
landed on the island (Long-Island) in order to assist the
attack by the fleet, by endeavouring, if pcffible, by
means of the boats, to land on the weft end of Sullivan's
Island, which is separated from it by only a small canal.
Never were troops more ardent than cuts appeared to be
to support the operations of the fleet, but by what wl
learned afterwards, it was our great happiness that our
General was so prudent as not to attempt it. Our firft
disembarkation was to have been composed of the grena
diers, light infantry, and the r s th regiment, amounting
in the whole to about 700 men ; we had not boats fuffi
cient to carry more, and by what we afterwards disco
vered, the rebels were on Sullivan's-Island 2000 ftron%
and entrenched up to their chin.
“ During the day of the 28th and the night following
the troops were kept under arms, but the 29th in the
morning we law that the ships had got off, and all our
operations ceased. Weare preparing to embark to join
the grand army at New-York. Some of cur people have
been attacked with the jaundice (Cholera Morbus) but
in general they enjoy a tolerable health, altho' reduced
to salt provisions."
All the advices we have received of this aftion make
great elogiums of Capt. Morris ; this officer having the
two bones of his right arm broke by a chain shot, and
wounded in the neck, was carried into the cabin to have
his arm cutoff, during the operation a red hot shot en
tered the cabin, killed two of the surgeon's mates and
wounded the purser. This confufion ended, and bis two
wounds being dressed, he ordered the people to carry him
on the quarter deck, when he resumed his command,
began his orders with much intrepidity for several hours'
until he received a third shot in his body ; he fell, and
had only time to answer an officer who asked him what
direftion he had for his family, that he left them to the
protedion of God and the generosity of his country: The
bravery and the personal qualities of Mr. Morris make
his loss the more felt as he had a worthy wife, a nume
rous family, and a brother, of whom he was the only sup
port. Lieutenant Pike was killed on board of the Adive
he equally leaves an afflicted widow and several children'
who have fuffered his loss by zeal for the government's
cause. Such are, fays the above letter (from which we
draw these fa&s) the bitter fruits of a civil war, insensibly
pursued without reflecting on the terrible cenfequences,
and without our being able to forefee the final determin
ation.
August 17. It is reported, that when General Lee
(then in Virginia, at the head of the second Provincial
army) heard that the fleet under the command of Sir Pe
ter Parker had failed from Cape-Fear, to attempt the
conquest of Charleftown, he marched with the greatest
diligence to its defence with three thousand men. He
was seen in the fort in theheat of the action, animating
the men by his example with the greatest ardour and
activity. The man who was hung to a tree, as mention
e I by Sir Peter, was a Virginia soldier, who had two dif
ferent times abandoned his post. A master of one of the
transports reportsthat th^Provincials had thrown a bridge
of boats, whichcommunica'ed from the main to Sullivans
Island, by which they continually renewed the garrison
of the fort; that when the Americans appeared to have
abandoned the fort, it was only a feint to induce the
troops under the command of General Clintcn to land,
and thus draw them in an ambufeade where a body of
three thousand men were poked and securely intrenched.
It is further observed that in this affair, the artillery
which did such damage on board the British fleet were
forty-two pounders, which formerly belonged to the Fou
droyant, a French man of war, taken last war, and given
to the province of South-Carolina on the Governor's fe
licitations.
P H IL A D ELPHI A.
Intelligence received by Congress concerning the reduction of
Mount Wafoington by the enemy on tbe°i6tb infant.
Early last Saturday morning Col. Magaw ported his
troops partly in the lines thrown no by our army on our
firft coming thither from New-Yoik, and partly on a
commanding hill laying north of Mount Washington
(the lines being all to the southward). In this position
the attack began about ten o'clock, which our troops
ftocd, and returned the fire in such a manner at gave
great hopes the enemy was intirely repulsed; but at this
time a body of troops crossed Harlem river in boats, and
landed within the licond lines, our troops being then
engaged in the firft.
Col. Cadwalader, who commanded in the lines, sent
off a .detachment to oppefe them; but they, being over
powered by numbers, gave way ; upon which Cd. Cad
walader ordered his troops to retreat, in order to gain
the fort, and the enemy, eroding over, came in upon
them in such a manner that a number of them surrender
ed. At this time the fleffiars advanced on the north fide
of the fortin very large bodi^ ; they were received by
the treeps posted there with proper spirit, and kept bark
a considerable time. But at length they wne also obliged
to submit to a superiority of numbers, 2nd retire under
the cannon of the fort.
The enemy having possessed themflres of the adjacent
ground, which rendered the fort no 1 nger tenable, the
garrison fimrendered.
Th? numbers killed or wounded on either fide are not
yet known, but from the heaviness ,rd continuance es
the fire, it is iuppofed there must here been confidcrable
execution. fubli,ed by order of Congrefa
CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary: