The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1780-10-14 00:00:00, page 2

Do&or Morgan's Continuation.
Dr. TILTON's Fvidence.
DR. Tilton, senior surgeon in the general hospital,
deposed before the court, that being entrusted
with the charge of conveying the wounded after the
battle of Brandywine from Philadelphia to Princeton,
in November, 1777, t: ey were detained, for a while,
at Brifiol, by bad weather, where he had an opportu
nity of feting Dr. Shippen in his way to Trenton;
that, before the deponent proceed from Bristol with
his charge, le sent two verbal messages to Lr. Ship
pen, that such part of the sick as were not removes
to Bethlehem, might be expected at I rentop, and con
fideriqg that good quarters were necessary to ^ch men,
he did, in order to make sure of gaining Dr. Shippen s
attention, the evening before he set out with the main
part of the wounded, by the direction of a general of
ficer, write to the director general. Vet win n the depo
nent arrived at Trenton,he round no quarters provided
for them but very infeci ious bar racks,from which
sick persons, ill with putrid fevers, were reitoved, for
the admission of the wounded, who, in other refpefls,
were health, men: that the deponent remained there
but three or four days, and then moved on with them
to Princeton ; that soon after their arrival there, se
veral of the wounded men were affected with fevers of
such a putrid m dignity, as obliged the deponent to
confiJer the foul infected Barracks at Ironton, (the
only ones Dr. Saippen had provided for th-m) as the
cause: that one soldier in partieu.ar who had but a
flelh wound in his thigh, dyed of the fever thus con
trasted; he turned yellow, and Shewed such a degree.cf
malignity, as made it necessary to remove alt the other
patients out of that ward: that, by care, a flop was
put to the further Spreading of it at that time; but
that about the latter en*of Nov. orders came from
the directorial authority, for the removal of the lof
pitals at Burlington and Trenton to Princeton : and
the sick were removed accordingly, but without any
provision for their accommodation, being without any
hospital furniture cr the means of cleanliness ; without
tubs, without pots or kettles, and, in Ihort, every
article of accommodation was wanting: that the qua
lity of the ficknfs in general, was that of very pu
trid diseases: that the sick were very dirty, filthy
and loufey, their numbers, with those at Princeton,
were about five hundred ; that, by this means, the
quarters were crouded, and there wat such a want of
every necessary of cleanliness, that it was impoffib^e to
prevent a degree of infection, “ by wh^ch The sick
SUFFERED ANDBYEDIN A MASBERTHaT WkS TRU
LY shocking to humanity ;" that rot only those al
ready sick, but the waiters, nurses and surgeons were
fiezed with the putrid fever : that, of eleven sur
geons, fix were difqualified by it from doing duty : and
himfeif amongfl the rest ; but he heard from those of
his brethren who efcapedjthat this disease proved very
fatal at Princeton; that he was taken ill the firft of
December, and it was the 18th of February following
before he was well enough to undertake a journey ;
but, having obtained leave, he then set out for the
state of Delaware, for the recovery of his health:
that, having business with the director, he went round
by the way of Manheim, whereby he had an oppor
tunity of passing through most of the hospitals in
Pennsylvania : that the accounts he received from the
surgeons, and every circumflar.ee and appearance
about the hospitals, served to convince him that those
in Pennsylvania were as infectious as those in the Jer
seys, and some of them even more so, particularly the
hospitals at Bethlehem and Reading : that th^ depo
nent, being oblidged to wait some days at Bethlehem,
he had a opportunity of enquiring more particularly
into the state of that hospital; that he proposed it to
the surgeons there, as a matter of inquiry, to com
pare notes with him, in order to determine in which
of the hospitals the putrid fever had proved most de
firuaive; that alter the deponent had accordingly
related the state of that at Princeton, as above, Dr.
Samuel Finley, the then prefixing surgeon there, re
plied, " your hospital there is nothing to ours," and
then went on to inform the deponent, that the sur
geons at Bethlehem were as numerous as at Princeton,
and that only one, out of the whole, had escaped tak
ing the infection, and he had had it elsewhere ; that
the matron end commissary had it as well as they ;
and, that the deponent might form a more accurate
judgment himfelf, of the ravages it had made amongii
the patients, Dr. Finley asked him whether he knew
the fine Suite Regiment of Virginia, commanded by
Colonel Gibson ; to which he made answer, that he
had heard it was composed of Volunteers, who were
supposed to be amongst the bed men of the army : well,
said he, of that regiment forty have been brought to this
hospital; how many of them do you suppose will ever
join their regiment? the deponent does not remember
what number he guessed; but Dr Finley rejoined, in
the most solemn manner, "not above three of them
“ will ever join it again," one had joined it, one
more probably would, but the case of the third was
doubtful: " that all the oibeo nt the jerry, who
“ were not already buried, had tl^rjate determined
" by being in the last stage of the hospital fever.''
that Dr. Hall, Dr. William Sm th, Dr. James Finley,
and he Relieves one or two others, all surgeons in the
hospital; Tat in the circle, ano heard the account, and
did not contradict it; whereupon the deponent frank'y
owned that this mortality exceeded any thing he knew
of that at Princeton; that he'walked through the hos
pital with Dr. Finley, and they both agreed that it
might, with propriety, accommodate about two hun
dred men, but Dr. Finley told him, that either five,
or seven hundred, (the deponent forgets which,) had
been crouded into it, from whence he imagines the
fatality had principally proceeded:
That when at EPBRATA, in Lanca fier county,
he palled through the hospital, he made this observa
tion ; that the large house turned into an hospital for
the accommodation of the sick was ill chosen, being
cut up into small monkilh cells, that would admit of
but little ventilation, and learned that Dr. Harrison,
a valuable surgeon, had died there some time before
,f a putrid fever : that at Lititz, another hospital,
he found the phyficfan, general, Dr. Brown, just e
mergirg from the putrid fever, and lad not yet gone
abroad : that at Lancaster, Dr. Jackfen, senior fur
g-00, who had lately presided at the hospital there,
was ill of the putrid fever, and told the deponent that
he trad been obliged to fend to Manheim for vine for
his own use; and complained that the director had
sent it, in rather a (paring quantity, “ even f r his
use."
CROSS EXAMINATION of Dr. TILTON.
Q Was the director general at Trenton when you
arrived, and did you represent to him the ill confecueo
c<s of putting your men in barracks where it was re
ported that putrid fevers prevailed, and what did he
fay ?
A. I did represent it so him, and that, very ear
nelily. I forget particularly what it was he said, but
he put me off, and I could get no other place.
Q. Do you k^w whether other quarters could be
provided for your wounded men at Trenton, than those
unhealthy b rrracks, had the director general taken care
for that purpose.
A. I know there were houses enough to be had,
and that the director general had power to put them
any where.
Q do yon know of any particular infiance of the
sick (offering and dying, from neglect of the direct
or general?
A. In my narrative I have already declared, that
I think the principal source of the fatality; of thefick
at Trenton and Princeton, where I prescribed, was
owing to neglect in the directorial branch of the hos
pital.
Q When Dr. Shippen was purveyor, did the sick
fuffer for want of wine and sugar?
A. At Princeton the wine was of an inferior qua
lity and in (paring quantity, and the sick did fuffer
for want of it; and all the fores have been in greater
plenty, since the purveyorhip was taken out of Dr.
Shippen's brads, than before. When I was sick I
was obliged to procure Madeira wine else where
Major BURNETT deposed before the court, That
fom time in the autumn of 177^ a soldier of the flying
camp came to the house of his father, Dr. Burnett, of
Newark, with a broken arm, having been wounded a
long time before, who said he never had been dressed
since he received the wound; and gave for a reason,
that he belonged 10 the flying camp and was neglect
ed, and that, in presence of Dr. Shippen. And a wo
man, likewise in presence of Dr. Shippen, complain
ed that her house had been filled for a week past with
a number of sick soldiers, put in there by one of Dr.
Shippen's surgeons; and that they had not been visit
ed since, nor had any thing to eat but the flraw they
laid upon : that the deponent, at request of his father,
went to examine them, and found them under the
care of a sergeant; that the sergeant complained to
him (for they were not able to complain) that they
had nothing to eat, and he saw them EATING THE
STRAW THEY LAID UPON.
Major Burnett added " that two of them dyed,
" with flraw in their months "
* It is worthy of remark, that whifft the wine al
lowed to the sick, was either adulterated, or hum
ble Fort, and wbilft it was denied that any of the
Madeira in the hospital fibres, bought with public
money, and transported on public waggons, &c. be
longed to the sick, and ^fferted that it was all Dr.
Shippen's private property: his and Themas Brown's
bill of sales were for Left Madeira, it being an ex
cellent remedy for healthy and hale men. What he fold
at Lancaster, Reading, the White Horse, &c. was of
the mod excellent quality: members of the council
and assembly of Pennsylvania, then fitting at Lancas
ter, greatly extolled the wine but reprobated the fel
ler. These things were not done in a corner. The
best of judges often said, " Whose wine is like Dr.
Shippen's hospital wine?" 'Tis pity the fuffering and
dying sick could not join in the commendation!
The following Letter from a Gentleman at Camp, to
his Friend in Philadelphia, (giving a particular and
fatisfa&ory account of a late important tranfadioß)
we doubt not will be acceptable to our readers.
SINCE my return from Hartford, my dear friend,
my min; has been too little at ease to permit me
to write to you sooner. It has been wholly occupied
by the incidents, and by the tragic consequences, of
Arnold's treason. My feelings were never put to so
severe a trial. You will have heard the principal
fads before this^reaches you ; but there are particu
lars, to which my situation gave me access, that can
not have come to your knowledge from public report,
which I am persuaded you will find interehiig.
From several circumfiances, the project hems to
have originated with Arno d himfetf, and to have been
long premeditated. The firft overture is traced back
to some time in Juu6 last. It was conveyed in a let
ter to colonel R< binfon, the substance of which was,
that the ingratitude, he had experienced from his
country, concurring with other causes, had iutirely
changed his principles: that he now only fought to
reflore himfe'f to the favour of his prince by force sig
nal proof of his repentance: and that he wished to
open a correspondence With Sir Henry Clinton for this
purpo'e. About that period he made a journey to
Connecticut, on his return from which to Philadelphia
he solicited the command of Weft-Point; alledging
that the effeDs of his wound difqualified him for tie
active duties of the field. The facrifice of this impor
tant post was the atonement he intended to make.
General Washington hesitated the less to gratify an of
ficer who had frequently rendered eminent services, es
he was convinced the post might be fafely trusted to
one, who had given so many difiingviffed Specimens of
his bravery. The beginning of August he joined the
army and renewed bis application. The enemy, at
this junfture, had embarked the greatest part of their
force on an expedition to Rhode- Island, aid our ar
my was in motion, to compel them to relinquish the
entefpr ze, or so attack New-York in its weakened
state. The General offered Arnold the left wing of the
army, which he declined, on the pretext already meu
tion^d; but net without vffible embarrassment. He
certainly might have executed the duties of such a
temporary command, and it was expired from his en
terprizh g temper that he would gl idly have embraced
so fpleudidly inviting an opportunity. But he did not
choose to he diverted a moment from his favourite
object, probably from an apprehension that some dif
ferent disposition might t ke place, which would ex
clude him. The extreme Solicitude he discovered to
get poffeffon of the post would have led to a suspicion
of treachery, had it be^n pc ffible frorp his pail con
dua to have supposed him capable of it.
The correspondence, thus begun, was carried ora
between Arnold and major Andre, adjutant general
to tie Britiffi army, in behalf of Sir Henry Clinton,
under feigned signatures and in a merchantile disguise-
In an intercepted letter of Arnold's, which lately fell
into our hands, he propofts an interview " to fettle
“ the rifles and profits of the copartnership ; " and in
the fame bile of metaphor, intimates an expelled aug
mentation of the garrifou, and (peaks of it as the
means of extending their traffic. I' appears by ano
ther letter that Andre was to have met him on the
lines, under the fan&ion of a flag, in character of Mr.
Jehn Anderson. But some cause or ether, not known,
prevented this interview.
The 20th of last month, Robinfem and Andre went
up the river in the Vulture sloop of war. Robinson
lent a flag to Arnold with two letters, one to general
Putnam, inclofed in another to him : proofing an in
terview with Putnam, or in his absence with Arnold,
to adjufi some private concerns. The one was evi
dently meant as a cover to the other, incafe by acci
dent, the letters Should have fallen under the inspec
tion of a third person.
General Washington crossed the river in his way to'
Hartford the day these dispatches arrived. Arnold,
conceiving he mud have heard of the flag, thought it
necessary, for the fake of appearances, to submit the
letters to him, and ask his opinion of the propriety of
complying with the request. The general, with his
usual caution, though without the least surmise of the
design, dissuaded him from it, and advised him to re
ply to Robinson, that whatever related to his private
affairs muh be of a civil nature, and could only pro
perly be addressed to the civil authority. This refer
ence fortunately derailed the whole plan, and was the
firft link in the chain of events that led to the detec
tion. The interview could no longer take place in the
form of a flag, but was obliged to be managed in a se
cret manner.
Arnold employed one Smith to go on board the Vul
ture and bring And r e ashore, with a pass for Mr.
John Anderson: Andre come ashore accordingly, and
was conducted within a picket of ours, to the house of
Mr. Smith, where Arnold and he remained together in
close conference all that night and the day following;
At day light in the morning, the commanding officer
at King's Ferry, without the privity of Arnold, moved
a couple pieces of cannon to a point opposite where the
Vulture lay, and oblige! her to take a more remote
flation. This event, or feme lurking difiru ft, made
the boatmen refufe to convey the two passengers back,
and difeoncerted Arnold so much, that by one of those
strokes of infatuation, which often confound the
schemes of men confeious of guilt, he insisted on An
dre's changing his uniform for a disguise and return
ing in a mode different from that, m which he came.
Andre who had been, undefignedly, brought within our
posts in the firfl instance, remonflrated warmly against
this new and dangerous expedient. But Arnold per
fiftirg in declaring it impossible for him to return as he
came, he at length reluctantly yielded to his persua
sion, and confenred to change his dress and take the
route he recommended. Smith furnifmd the disguise,
and in the evening, passing King's-Ferry together,
they proceeded to Crompond, where they flopped the
remainder of the night, at the infiance of a militia of
ficer, to avoid being (Tpeßed by him. Th^next
morning they resumed their journey, Smith accompa
nying Andre a little beyond Pines-Bridge, where he
left him. He had reached Tarry-Town, when he was
taken by three militia men, who ruffled out of the
woods and surrounded him.
At this critical period, his presence of mind forfook
him—lnflead of producing his pass, which would have
extricated him from our parties, and could have done
him no harm with his own, he asked the militia men if
t! ey were of the upper or lower party —diftinCMve ap
pellations known among the enemy's refugee corps. ^
The militia men r^pl ed, they were of the lower party;
upon which he assured them he was a British officer
and pressed them net to detain him, as he was upon
urgent business. This confeffion removed all doubt,
and it was in vain he afterwards produced his pass.
He was instantly forced off to a place of greater secu
rity, where he was carefully (earched, a, d in his flock
ing-feet were found several papers of importance deli
vered to him by Arnold.—Among these were a plan
of the fortifications of Weft-Point, a memorial from
the engineer on the attack and defence of the place,
ret urns of the garrison, cannon and fores, copy of the
minutes of a council of war, held uy general Washing
ton a few weeks before. The prisoner at firft was in
advertently ordered to Arnold, but upon recollefton,,
while fill on the way, he was countermanded and sent
to Old Salem. The papers were inclosed in a letter to
general Washington, w/ich having taken a route dif
ferent from that by which he returned, made a circu
it, that afforded leisure for another letter, (through an
ill. judged delicacy written to Arnold with information
of Anderson's capture,) to get to him an hour before
general Washington arrived at his quarters: time
enough to elude the fate that await'd him. He went
down the river in his barge to the Vulture, with such
precipitate confufion, that he did not take with Lira
a single paper ufeful to th? enemy. On the firft no
tice of the affair, he was pursued, but much too latq
to overtake him.
[Want of room unavoidably obliges us to post
pone the remainder of these interesting Parti
culars to our paper of Tuesday next.]
* A band of marauders who receive no pay, bafr
subsist by plunder.