The Connecticut courant and Hartford weekly intelligencer — Hartford, Conn., 1778-02-03 00:00:00, page 1

From the NEW-JERSEY GAZETTE.
From the original Letters of Monsieur Dr LISLE,
translated into English.
Fish-Kill in thh State of New-York, Nov. 20,1777.
My dear Count,
IN my lift letter I informed you that General Gates
was ordered, by the Cengrefs to return to take
the command of the Northward army. This appoint
ment was the more honorable as twelve out of thir
teen of the States concurred in it. The clamours of
people, who govern their rulers in this country
could not be refilled, and private prejudices were made
to yield to the general fafety and honor of America.
The : oy of the Northen army upon General Gates's
arrival among them cannot be described. He had
gained their confidence by his services among them
the two preceeding campaigns. He was, like them
fclves a zealous republican; and his only objects in
taking part with them in the prelent war, were liberty
and independence. He had endeared himfelf to them
further, by the ftricfnefs of discipline which he had in
troduced among them the year before: For soldiers are
always belt fatisfied with officers who keep them Readi
ly to their duty provided they partake with them of
all the toils and dangers of the military life.
The success of General Stark in defeating a large
body of General Burgoyne's army at Bennington
had prepared the way for General Gates's future suc
cess and proved the feed of all the laurels that he rea
ped duringthe campaign. You will fee the particu
lars of this affair in the news-papers which accom
pany this letter.
The firfte : e& with General Gates was to puthis army
in order. This was done in a few weeks; for he in
fufed at once his own spirit into every corps among
them. His general orders were short but they were
implicity obeyed. He saw every thing with his own
eyes and heard every thing with his own ears. He
Slept but little, and was seldom absent from the morn
ing and evening parade of his troops. He understood
every part of the duty of an officer and soldier as
well as of a general for he had served the King of
Great-Britarn during the greatest part of the two last
warswith France under some of the ablest Generals
that Great Britain ever sent into the field. His temper
was naturally hasty, which fometirr.es led him te
make use of palhonate expreTons in reproving his offi
cers but he was notwftan ding equally beloved and
feared by them., I have been told that he never had
a Single personal enemy under his command.
Not only the genious and character of this illuffri
ous officer but the abilities of several of his General
officers and the spirit of his troops all concurred to
afford a favorable presage of a fuceeLful campaign.
Lincoln and Arnold were his two Major-Generals,
and Glover commanded a brigade in his army. The
firfl served with reputation last year at the head of
a body of Massachusetts militia: Genious and indus
try iupplied in some rneafure, the want of a military
education; he was cool determined, and enterpriz
ing. Arnold's character is alredy known in Europe.
He is said to poiTe'swhat ive call, in our country the
'' rage militaire." His contrymen accuse him of too
much impetuosity. This may be the case in the cabi
net; but Ido not think he is too impetuous in the field.
Glover served two campaigns under General Lee, and
was a great Lvoritc'of that unfortnate officer. He is
brave, and has the character of an excellent djfcipli
mari^n.
The spirit of General Gates's army cannot be too
much commended.lt was composed chiefly of the far
mers and farmers sons, of the four eastern Rates. Every
man among them felt an enthusiastic attachmemnt to li
berty. and the lowest eentinel fought alike with his
General for all that was dear to him. The inhabitants
of New-England arettaind up, from their infancy, to
civil, ecelefiaftical and domeflic subordination,
The transition from these therefore to military fubor
dinatiQm. is short and natural. I have seen recruits
that had been enlisted only for three weeks. 'handle
their arms and perform all the evolutions which are
necerfary in the kind of war that is carried on in this
country, with as much dexterity as the King's guards
gt Versailles. They are a hardy race of men, and
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when kept in affion are hot fubje& to camp diseases.
They are in general Sober and nioral---drunkennefs is
unknown among them and Since the beginning of the
war, there has been but one instance of aNew-England
mans deserting to the British army. He was caught
and condemned to die, but was afterwards pardoned,
upon discovering proofs ofhis being a lunatic.
The public papers will give you a particular account
of two battles fought on the lath September and the
17th of October between the army under the com
mand of General Gates, and the royal army under the
command of General Bur ?oyne. The last was a com
plete victory on the fide of the Americans. Every
circumstance attended it that could flatter the military
knowledge and conduct of General Gates. General
Fraser whoadded to the glory of the day by his fall,
was esteemed one of the left officers in the Brltifh ar
my. In this action General Arnold gained immortal
honor---hishorfe receives ' three wounds with bayonets
in forcing the British line l ; notwihftanding this and
the wound he received i his leg which fractured the
bone he was the firft tha got withinfide of the ene
my's breast-work.
But the glory of this ~i&ory was soon loft in an
event that has cast a fhace upon all the victories that
have been gained by b:>th armies, since the com
mencement of the war. .About a week after this battle
General Burgoyne farrendered himfelf and the remains
of his whole army with their arms, camp equipage
&c. into thehands of Ger ev:l Gaths. Can arty thing
oe conceived of me :•& T.Uog to the pride and
power of Great-Britaini .-u army of ten thousand
men---consisting of Veterans who had Shared in all the
glory of the late war in Germany and America --
commanded by officers who had served under Wolfe
and Ferdinand, and who had plucked laurels from
the heights of Abraham and Minden, and headed by
a General, rich in royal favor and famous for having,
by a single manoeuvre turned the fate of the last war
between Spain and Portugal —were Defeated for
rounded and at last reduced to the neceTty or submit
ting to an army confining at no time of more than twelve
thousand men; one half of whom were militia and
the red recruits of only five months Landing. These
drafters receiveda peculiar poignancy from the gafcon
ade with which General Burgoyne began his march
from Ticonderoga, I sent you his proclamation in a
former packet. His letters to General Gates, you will
perceive are written in the fame pompous stile. But
he had other a&s of prefumptioß and folly to recoi
led upon this occahon---He had promised when he
took leave of the house of Commons in the year 17^5
to “ temper his punishments of the Americans for re
-6 bellion with humanity"---He had boafled to his
friends that he “ would dance the ladies, and coax
the gentlemen into fubmiffioq." He had declared,
upon entering theport of Bonon. during the blockade
of that town that he would have ' elbow-room,"
and as if he was resolved to Shine hereafter without a ri
val. in the history of the reduction America, he had
with great difficulty obtained his present separate com
mand by making-two voyages to Gmt-Britain. But
notwithstanding these tilings, be was received and
treated with great politenefsby Genenera Gates, and the
officers cf his army---not a single insult was offered to
him or his army by the common soldiers This be
haviour is ehara&eri?ic of the natural magnanimity of
these people. It gave me pain to hearthat when Gene
ral Burgoyne entered into the town of Albany a mob
cried out.' elbow-room :', but they were feon Silen
ced by an officer It is the only inßanee I have heard,
Since my arrival in this country of an a& of rudeness,
even in the lowest of the people to a British prisoner.
General Burgoyne speaks with great refpe& of the
behaviour of the American troops and all his officers
are a^bnifhed at the order and discipline of General
Gates's army. The General is a sensible bred man,
and has cancelled his former animosity to the Ameri
cans, by concessions that Shew real diginity of foul.
What eulogiums can equal the merit of General
Gates ; —His fucceifes are almost without a prece
dent in history. But his mind has been accustomed
to feed upon more substantial food than the acclamati
ons of the multitude. He has destroyed one half
THE
to
the power of Britain in America. He has humbled the
prideofthe haughtier nation in the world. Heh^ given
the people of America a confidence in their courage
add resources which can never rf be Shaken by any ftQ
ture misfortune. He has taught the Americans that
Britons are no longer irefiftible in the field. He has
Showed the folly and danger of handing armies in the
time of peace by conquering a body of veterans wth
the militia of the country. He has Shaken the counsels,
and baffled the negociations of Great-Britain, in all the
courts in Europe, France and Spain must now threw
off the maSk; The Congress are not insensible of the
important services of their General -Tney have voted
him their thanks, and a gold medal.' But no reward
can equal his merit----The gratitude of posterity alone
will be able to do ^uftice to him.
I had like to have omitted one circu rnftance in the
history of the convention between General Burgoyne
and General Gates. Burgoyne expected eyery hour
to be relieved by General Clinton, with a large
body of troops from New York. They had taken
Fort Montgomery and were within a few days
march of Albany where all Gates's fiores and pro
visions were lodged; Fortunately the convention was
Signed before the news of Clintons march reached
General Burgoyne. Had it not been for this body c<
troops in General Gates's reaf^he would have gven
Mr. Burgoyne left 'favorable terms of fubnifton.
Clinton fled back to New York, as soon as he he rd
of the Surrender of Burgoyne;
The-roy,! -rmy as von will fee by th?papers. *
now in the vicinity of Boston. The iegiuat ;. ot
Maffach^fetts-Bay have wifely cut off all urme^rary
intercourse between them and the inhabitants; 1 r-.
ing left the minds of the ignorant should be poHoned
by them. In several of the American States there
have been instances where people Well afefNi' to
the liberties of this country have had the r ah.,. rt re f
to the States Shaken by the falfhoods that have uecn
propagated by the British prisoners quartered a^oug
them.
Adieu my dear Count, and be assured of the per
fe& esteem with which I have the honor to be,
Your most gffefrionate friend and
Obedient Servant.•
DeLISLE.
P. S. Embrace your brother for me. I Shall writeto
him in a tew days, by a vessel that fails from Boflon.
STRAYED from me the fubferiber about mid-sum
mer three STEARS two three years old one a
red the other black marked with a half-penny the un
der fide of the left and upper fide of the riglt ear brand
ed on the horns with ISI the other is a two y< " old, a
light brown with a white face, markt with a hit in the
end of the left ear, and a half-penny under fide of the
fame. Whoever has took up Lid cattle and will give
notice to the fubferiber Shall be well rewarded by
Josiah Smith. l
Winchester, Jan. 12, 1778;
-—-TWENTY-DOT^ REWAD?'
UN-away, from the fubferiber about two months
paft^ a negro bay named. YORK, about § feet 7
inches high, of a very black complexion had a fear
like a burn ndar one of his eyes ; it is supposed he is
gone to old Lebanon, to one Mr. Tifdell's the place
where he was bought. Whoever Shall secure or bring
the Lid Negro to "the fubferiber, Shall have the above
reward and all reasonable charges paid, by
Stephen Tuttle.
Albany, Jan. 13 ! 77^
/ ~r'AKEN up by the fubferiber about the begining
, of December Jaft, a light coloured horse colt, 7
or 8 months eld, a star in his forehead, the ^wner may
have him again, by proving his property and paying
charges, to Elisha Wells.
Hartford, January 20, 1778.
A EL perfen s indebted to, or have any demands on
theefiate of Joseph Bedortha, ?, late of Weff-
Spriegfield deceas'd; are desired to tile the ; • accounts
with the fubferiber by the firft of March 1 r<t.
Levi Ely, Aumuuftrafcr.
, Weft. Springfield, Jan. 14, 1778.
COURANT,
HARTFORD
INTELLIGENCER.
Both FOREIGN and DOMESTIC.
NUMBERS