The Connecticut courant and Hartford weekly intelligencer — Hartford, Conn., 1775-10-16 00:00:00, page 1

,P H I L A D E L P HI &
The following letters are pobhfhed by order of the Hoo. Conti
nemal Congrefe.
. Head Quarter;, Cambridge, Augufl 11, 1775>
SI R,
lUNDERSTANDI UNDERSTAND that the officers engaged in 'be cause of li
berty and their country, who by the fortune of war hare fallen
ioto your hands, have betn thrown iDdifoteinately into a com
mon gtol, appropriated for felons— — that no corfidcratioo has
been had for those of the most rcfpe&abtc rank, ,when larguifhiog
with wounds and fickncfs --that tome of them bare been creo
amputated in this unworthy G nation
Let your op cion Sir, of the principle which estates them he
what it may, they foppofe they a& from the noblcft ; f all princi
ples, a love of freedom and their country. But political opinions,
i cohceirc are foreign to this point. ——The obligations anting
from the rights of humanity, and claims of rark are uni<ciiaHy
binding asd ex entire, (except in case of retaliation ) Thefc, I
fhoald have hoped, would bare dilated a more tender treatment
of those individuals whom chance of war has put in year power.
-—Nor can j forbear foggefting its fatal tendency to widen that
unhappy breach which you, and those minders under whom you
#&, have,repeatedly 'related you wish to fee forever doled.
My duty now makes it neceflary to apprize you, that for the
fucre I shall regulars my cendua towards those gentlemen who
are, or may he io our possession, ex^ly by tie rule you fhali ob
ftrve towards those of ours now io your cuflody:
If severity and hardship mark the line of your condu& (painful
as it may be to me) your prisoners will feel its eftas, but ifki td
oefi and humanity are (hewn to our#, I mail with pleasure confides
those io our hand# as only unfortunate and they (hall receive from
me that treatment.to which the unfortunate arc ever entitled.
I bag to be favoured with an infwer as loon as pcffible,and am,
Sir, your very humble fervent.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
His Excellency General Gage.
Sir,
T° '" e glory •' civilized nations, humanity and war have been
comparable ; and compassion to the fnbdued is became almost
a genera' system.
Britons ever pre eminent in mercy, have out gone common ex
amples and over-looked the criminal io the captive Upon thefc
principles your prisoners, whofc lives by the laws of the land are
defined to the cord, have hitherto been treated with care and
kindness, and more comfortably lodged than the kiog's^roops in
the hospitals ; indifcrimioately it is true/for 1 acknowledge no
rank that is not derived from the King
My mtelhgeocc from your army woo'/ jollify severe recrimioa
tton,l underfund there are of the king's far hul fu^jeds,taken some
time fitee by the rebels, labouring like negro flares to gain their
daily fubGtbnee, or reduced to the wretched alternative, to petifh
by fmi e, or take arms against their king and country. Thafa
who have made the treatment of h^ prisoners in my hands, er of
your other fiends in Brilon, a pretence for such mcifures, found
barbarity upon fa fehowd
1
The Connecticut Courant, and Hartford Weekly Intelligencer.
I would willingly hopx, Sir, that the fenriments of liberality,
which I have always believed y.:u to piffls, will be exerted to
correct thefc misdoings Be temperate in political difqnfiiioo ;
give free operation to truth, and punilh those who deceive and
misrepresent, and not only the rffefo, but the causes of this an
hippy conflia will be removed-\
Should those under whole nfurped authority you a& cootroul
such a difpotition and date to call severity retaliation, to God who
knows all hearts, be the appeal for the dreadful consequences.
I truth that Britilh foldicrs, affecting the rights of the Gate,th, laws
of the land, the being of the confutation, will meet all events
with becoming fortitude. They will court vi&ory with a spirit
their cauie inspires, and from the fame motive will find the pari
ence of martyrs under misfortune.
Till I read your infiltrations in regard to minivers, I conceived
that I had adted under the king ; whole willies it is true, as well
as those of his mioifters, arid of every booed man have been to fee
this unhappy breach for ever elefed ; but unfortunately for both
countries, those who long fioce projected the present cribs, and in
fluence the councils of America, have views very distant from ac
commodation. I am, Sir, your rapff obedient, humble (errant,
T H O's GAGE.
George Washington, Elq.
M O ND A Y$ October io 1775,
Head Barters, Cambridge, Aug. 19, 1775.
Sir,
lAddreffed yen on the eleventh infant lo terms which gave thd
faireft (cope ferfthe exercise of that humanity end pniiteccf^
which were foppofed to form a part of your chauffer. I run &
Rested with you on the unworthy treatment shewn to rhe diketv
and citizens of America, whom the fortune of war, chauee, er a
miftiken confidence had thrown into year hands.
Whether British cr American mercy, ft nitride and patience,are
mod pre eminent ; whether our vinucus citizens, whom the hand
of tyranny has (diced into arms, to defect their wives, their
chi dan, and their property, or the mercenary irfhuments of|gw
left domination, avarice and revenge, heft deftrve the appellation
of rebels, sod the pucifhment of that cord, which your affected
clemency has forlorn to ii flia ; whether the authority under
which I a, is usurped or founded upon the genuine principles of
liberty, were altogether foreign to the fulfea I purpofel, avoid
ed all political difqaifricn ; ner (hall I now avail myfelfof those
advantages, which the sacred cause of my country, of liberty and
human nature, givc/nc ever you much less Ihall I sloop to retort
and inveaive But the intelligence you fay you have received from
our army requires arc-ply. I have taken time,Sir, to make a Aria
inquiry, and find it has not the leaA foundation io truth. Not on
ly yeur ofi ceri and foldicrs hate been treated with a tenderntf#
due to fellow citizens sod brethren, but even those execrable pa
reides, wbefc councils and aid have deluged their country with
bloid,have been protected stem the futy of a juftty enraged people.
Fa from compelling or permitting their iffillance. I <m embaraf
fed with the numbus who crowd to out camp, animated with the
poreß principles of virtue, and love of thrir country. You ad
vise me t® give free operation to truth, to pooifr mifreprete tatfo
on and falfehood. If exp ; ence lUmpr value upon cennf© your#
must have a weight, which few can cate You left can tellhow
fir the convulfion,which has brought such ruin on both countries,
aid flukeu the mighty empire of Britain to its foundation, may
be traced to thefc malignant causes.
You affe&, Sir, to despise ail rank not derived from the fame
source with your own, I cannot conceive one more honorable,
than that, which flows from the uncorrupted choice of a brave
vnd free people, the purest source, and original fountain of all
power. Far from making it a plea for cruelty, a mind of true
magnanimity and enlarged ideas would comprehend and resp. a it.
What may have been the rainiftcria) views, which hire preci
pitated the prefect crisis, Lex^rgtoo. Concord, and Char ebowri
can best dec.are. May that God to whom you then appeal, judge
between America cod you. Under his providence, those who
influence the councils of America, and all the other inhabitants of
the united colonies, at the hazard of their lives, are ceterm'ned
to hand down to poflerity those just and inra uable privileges which
they received from their ancestors.
I (hall now, Sir clofc my correfpondeoce with you perhaps for
ever. If your officers cur prisoners, receive a treatment from
me, different from what I wiffied to (hew them, they and you
will remember the occafiou of it.
, I am, Sir, your very humble ferrant.
G. WASHINGTON-
General Gage.
LONDON August 1.
correfpondnt has sent us an exa& copy of a letter ad
dressed to the merchants of Montreal by Ethan alien who com
manded the provincials at taking of Crown Font a&J Ticondero
ga, and who penetrated into Quebec as far as St. John's ; the ad^
tpcoticity es which may be depended on:
Gentlemen; Ms, 18 1775,
" I have the pleasure to acquaint yen that Lake George and
Coamplain, with the fortreffes, artillery &c paricu arly the arm
ed sloop of George the Third, with all water carriages of thefc
lakes are now in pofEffion of the colonies. I expeß the English
merchants, as well as all virtuous disposed gentlemen will be in
the iotereft of the collies. The advanced guard of th army is
now at St. Johns, and desire immediately to bate a perform! in
tercoorfc with you. Yeur immediate assistance as to pr vfiecs,
ammunition, and fpiritods liquors is wanted, and forthwith cx
prdted, not as a donation ; for I am impowe^ed by the colonic#
to purchase the fame, and desire you would forthwith, and with
out further notice, prepare for the use of the army those articles
to the amount of yool. and de'ivcr the fame to me at St- John's^
or at lead a part of it almost inftanttgeoufly, as the fo'diers ptefi
(Number 564 ,