The New-Jersey gazette — Burlington [N.J.], 1780-01-26 00:00:00, page 1

From the Gazette of France, September io.
rr HE second of July, the French squa
dron appeared in the morning in fight
„ of Grenada, and in the evening ari
chored before the creek Molenicr, and
immediately landed 1300 men, who
occupied adjacent heights; Count Dillon, the senior
Colonel, commanded them. In the night a party
of the troops, headed by the Count D'Eftaing, made
a very long march to turn the hill of the Hospital,
where, we are informed, the English had put their
chief force, and all their hopes.
The 3d, at break of day, we discovered the po
sition of the enemy on that hill, whose declivity was
extremely steep, and incumbered with heaps of large
stones, and was fortified at bottom with a pallifado,
and three entrenchments, one above another. It
was known, that the enemy had there 140 soldiers
of the 48th regt. 40 of the royal artillery, 200 vo
lunteers, and 400 men of their best militia. We
had no cannon; there was no time to bring up any;
Byron's squadron might have come up the while;
the General resolved to avail himfelf of the ensuing
night to carry that post by assault. He made his
dispositions that day to attack in three columns the
east of the hill; he ordered, at the fame time, a
falfe attack under the hospital, on the fide of the
river St. John. In consequence, the division of the
Viscount de Noailles, who had marched to the fide
hill St. Eloi, had orders to join the Count D'Ef
taing at Pradines: They made a long march in the
heat of the day; but the example of their Chief,
whom the love of glory causes to fly wherever any
is to be acquired, made them bear the fatigue with
alacrity. In the afternoon, the General summoned
Lord Macartney, Governor of Grenada, to surren
der: He answered, that he did not know in what
consisted the Count D'Eftaing's forces; that he
knew of his own, and would do all in his power to
defend his island.
Before night, Count Dillon, and the other com
manders went as near as possible to examine the en
trenchments they were to attack, in order to recon
noitre the road their columns were to follow. 1 he
detachment of artillery having no cannon to serve,
demanded to march at the head of the columns:
Towards midnight, the troops put themselves in
motion: Before two o'clock they arrived at Lucas,
about a quarter of a league from the hill they were
to attack: There the three columns were formed.
The right column, commanded by the Viscount
de Noailles, who had under him the Sieurs Odunc,
Lieutenant Colonel; de Mondion, and Macdonald,
Majors; and the Chevalier Deputy, Captain in the
royal corps of artillery, was composed of 100 chaf
feurs of Champagne, 60 grenadiers d'Auxerrois and
Martinico, and ten soldiers of the artillery.
The centre column, commanded by the Count
Edward Dillon, who had under him the Baron de
Steding, Colonel, and the Sieur Omoran, Major,
was formed of 300 men of the regiment of Dillon,
and ten soldiers of artillery.
The left column commanded by the Count Ar
thur Dillion, Colonel Commandant of the regiment
of his name, having under him the Sieur Brown,
Colonel, was compoled of the grenadiers of Dillon,
& remainder of the regiment, and ten soldiers of
the artillery. It was to follow a road that would
bring it nearer the careening place, and thence a
feend to the entrenchments. The Count D'Eftaing
marched at the head of the grenadiers of that co
lumn, which was immediately preceded by the van
guard, commanded by the Count de Durat, second
Colonel of the regiment of Cambrefis; and com
posed of 50 volunteers, commanded by the Sieur
Vence; of 50 grenadiers of the regiment of Hay
nault; of 50 of the regiment Foix, and of 30 of the
regiment of Martinique; in the whole 180 men.—
The Sieur de St. Ciran, Captain in the royal corps
of engineers, was in the van and entered the en
trenchments with it.
The division that was to make the falfe attack,
was commanded by the Count de Pondevaux, Lieu
tenant Colonel of the regiment d'Auxerrois, having
NEW-JERSEY GAZETTE.
[Vol. lII.]
WEDNESDAY, January 26, 1780.
under him the Sieurs Huffenot, Lieutenant Colonel
in the Legion of Lauzon, de la Bretoniere, Major
of the regiment of Martinico, and de Kerangues,
ancient Major of the provincial regiment de Vannes,
and composed of about.2oo men of the regiments
of Champagne, Viennois, la Martinique, and of the
Legion of Lauzun.
At two o'clock in the morning the falfe attack
being begun, as it had been ordered, the three co
lumns marched to the hill of the hospital, following
the roads that had been indicated to them. The
Marquis de Vaudreuil's vessel happening to be under
the battery during the attack, seized tint moment to
cannonade it, which made a very ufeful divetfion.
When we were near the entrenchments, we received
a very brift fire from them The King of Eng
land's ship the York, at anchor in the careening
place, fired with cartridges which greatly annoyed
the Count de Dillon's column, which marched with
in cannon shot of it. The van guard of the Sieur de
Durat having got over the pallifades, were climbing
up the hill. The left column, and that of the cen
tre, joined the van. Neither the fire from the en
trenchment, nor that from the York, which took
our troops in flank, nor the extreme difficulty of the
spot, nothing could abate the ardour of the troops,
excited by the presence of their General, who leap
ed into the entrenchments with the firft grenadiers.
They clambered up in prefled columns, the men
carrying one another, and Proving forward; the e
nemy was fucceflively drove out every where. The
division of the Viscount de Noailles had a larger cir
cuit to go; it made amends for that by the rapidity
of its march, and having overcome all obstacles, ar
rived at the fame time at the top of the hill, which
we were masters of in less than an hour. We found
there four pieces of cannon, 24 pounders, two 8
pounders, four 6 pounders, and one 4, and fix mor
tars of different bores. Lord Macartney, thinking
himfelf impregnable in that post, had caused his
plate, jewels, and effeds to be carried there, and
his principal officers had followed his example.
As soon as it was day, we turned a 24 pounder
on the fort, which the hill commands. On firing
the firft shot, an officer appeared with a white flag,
whom the Governor sent to capitulate; he found
the General in the battery, who, pulling out his
watch, gave an hour and a half to the Governor to
make his terms; they were brought withig the time
prescribed; but the General having rejected them,
the English Governor determined to surrender at
diferetion.
The next day our troops took possession of the
fort. We made 700 prisoners, regulars, volunteers
and sailors, among whom are one Lieutenant Colo
nel, two Majois, three Captains, four Lieutenants,
one Ensign, 157 subalterns or soldiers of the 48th
regiment; two Lieutenants, 25 soldiers of the roy
al artillery; five Colonels of militia, fix Majors, 31
Captains, 31 Lieutenants, and 33 Ensigns. We
took three standards, 102 pieces of cannon of dif
ferent bores, and 16 mortars.
Our loss amounts to 35 men killed and 71 wound
ed. Officers killed, the Sieurs de la Bretonniere,
Major ; and Dubourg, Captain of Grenadiers,
Martinico; Schechy, Lieutenant of Dillon; the
Sieurs de Lapelin, Captain of Grenadiers of Hay
nault, and Gautier, Aid QuartereMafter General,
wounded: Ihe Sieurs Duggan, de Morgan, Lieu
tenants of Dillon, and Quergus, Lieutenant of
Martinique, dangerously wounded.
We should be obliged to mention all the officers,
if we would point out all those who signalized them
selves. The troops displayed that good will and
brilliant courage that characterizes the nation. —
Eulogiums are particularly due to the commandants
of the divisions; to the officers who served under
them; to the Raff, which was composed of the
Count de Durat, Major General; de Manoel, Ma
jor of the battalion of Haynault; the Sieur Gautier,
Aid Quarter Master General, who mounted the en
trenchments with the General; and of the Sieur
PafTerat de la Chapelle, Major of the Martinico
militia, Aid Quarter Master General.
THE
Some of the marine officers had leave to be pre
sent at the attack; the Sieur du Rumain, Lieute
nant of the navy, and the Sieur de Barras, Ensign,
marched with the Viscount de Noailles; the Sieur
de Broves, Lieutenant of the navy, and the Sieur de
Combaud, Ensign, mounted the entrenchments with
the Count D'Eftaing.
We must not forget a trait equally honourable
for the General, who knows how to reward bravery,
as for the brave man who is the objed of it. The
Sieur Horadou, alias Languedoc, Serjeant of gre
nadiers in the regiment of Haynault, was in the van.
After having behaved, during the adion, with the
greatest intrepidity, he leaped into the last battery
of the hill, flung himfelf amidst the enemy, and
saved the life of the Sieur Vence, who was gone
before him. The Count D'Eftaing, under whose
eye the Serjeant had fought, coming that instant
into the battery, embraced him, declaring at the
fame time, that he promoted him to the rank of an
officer.
From the London Evening Post.
To the KIN G.
S I R,
IT is an adage as just as it is trite, that a man
may be known by his friends. Your royal
Grandfather of illustrious, because of honest memo
ry, scorned to be the friend and companion of vil
lains and tories, whose principles were a libel upon
his government, and incompatible with his crown
and dignity; as their poverty rather qualified them
for the instruments of a plot, than the rulers of a
State. Your Majesty must be sensible, whatever
your other unhappy prepossessions and delusions may
be, that you owe the crown of these realms to the
spirit of the Whigs; who not only seated your fa
mily upon the throne, but defended them from the
treachery and disloyalty of rebellious fubjeds, who
more than once attempted to cut off your inheri
tance. They nobly scorned to hold their lives, li
berties, or property at the disposal of an arbitrary
tyrant. On this basis, and this alone, stands the
revolution, and the title of the Brunswick line. It
supposes government on the face of it, to be a de
legated authority; and the objed of it, the protec
tion, and the prosperity of the principals of all le
gal government, the people. Yet the tories, whose
opinions are eternally repugnant to the revolution,
and consequently to your right of succession, are
your chief friends and favourites, and the govern
ment has been preposterously conducted upon princi
ples similar to those, which deprived another family
of the crown, with infinite cruelty and injustice, If
the tory dodrine be true, as it is now laid down by
the pensioned writers of the crown. It is therefore
incumbent upon you, as a profeffedly pious Prince,
to be just to one fide or other, of the great question
which involves kingdoms in its decision. If you
hold the crown from the inherent rights, and free
choice of the people, govern, Sir, upon those prin
ciples which alone could entitle you to wear it; up
on popular principles, and to popular ends. For,
as your family are Kings from the people, they can
only be such legally, while they are Kings for the
people, not in contempt of, or defiance to them. If
you have adopted from a Stuart, the old dodrine of
a prerogative, paramount to all the rights of the
people, by what right is the prior claim and title of
another family set aside, who, on that principle,
could legally do no wrong, and consequently, could
not legally fuffer. Truth and justice are more sa
cred than Kings. There is nd divine right in kingly
government, but when Kings govern by the laws of
God, and the law of their office, the constitution of
the State; not from childish caprice, lull of domi
nion, or the impulse of brutal violence. There is
indeed nothing sacred in the character, but as it is
derived from, and represents the power and dignity
of a great community, or commonwealth. Its ho
nours and importance are all reflected from, not
communicated to the people, as tory writers affirm.
There is so much folly and presumption in the con
trary opinion, that the wretch who can brodk to
[Numb. 109.]