The New-York gazette, and the weekly Mercury — New-York [N.Y.], 1775-07-03 00:00:00, page 1

From the ESSEX GAZETTE.
CAMBRIDGE, June 22.
LAST Friday night a detachment from our army
began an intrenchment on an eminence below
Bunker-hill, about a mile to the northward of the
centre of tire town of Charleftown. The enemy ap
peared to be much alarmed on Saturday morning,
when they discovered our operations, and immediately
began a heavy cannonading from a battery on Corps
hill, Boston, and from the fllips in the harbour.
Our people, with little loss continued to carry on the
works till one o'clock, P. M. on Saturday, when
-they discovered a large body of the enemy crossing
Charles-River from Boston. They landed on a point
of land about a mile eastward of our intrenchment,
and immediately disposed their army for an attack,
previous to which they set fire to the town of Charlef
town. It is supposed the enemy intended to attack
us under cover of the smoke from the burning houses,
the wind favouring them in luch a design; while, on
the other fide, their army was extending northward
towards Miftick River, with an apparent design of
surrounding our men within the works, andof
cutting off any assistance intended for their relief.
They were however, in some measure, counteracted in
this design, and drew their army into closer order.
As the enemy approached, our men were not only
exposed to the attack of a very numerous muiketry,
but to the heavy fire of the battery on Corps-Hill,
four or five men of war, several armed boats, or
floating batteries in Miftick-River, and a number of
field pieces : Notwithstanding which, our troops
within the intrenchment, and at a breast work with
out, sustained the enemies attacks with real bravery
and resolution, killed and wounded great numbers,
and repulsed them federal times ; and after bearing
for about two hours as severe and heavy a fire as per
haps ever was known, and many having fired away
all their ammunition, they were overpowered by
numbers, and obliged to leave the intrenchment, re
treating about sunset, to a final! diltance over Charlef
town Neck.
Our loss from the best information we can obtain,
does not exceed 50 killed, and about 20 or 30 taken
prisoners.
The town of Charleftown, supposed to contain
about 300 dwelling houses, a great number of which
were large and elegant, betides 150 or 200 other
buildings, are almost all laid in ashes.
The enemy yet remain in pofleffion of Charleftown,
and have? ere&ed works for their defence on. Bunke
r It is said they have brought over some of their
light horse from Boston.
Our troops continue in high spirits. They are
fortifying a very high hill about a mile and a half
from this town, and within cannon shot of the enemy
on Bunker-Hill.
Monday, July g, 177$ THE [No. 12384
N E ^-r^ Rrra^pfl G A ZETTE:
W EEK L Y MERCUR Y.
Containing tfe fteflicflJ^eg foreign ant itoomcflick.
ASSIZE of BREAD. Flour at 16s. per Cent.
A White Loaf of the fineft FLOUR, to weigh
ilb. 130 Z. for 4 Coppers.
Published 3d April, 1775.
The following is a copy of a letter from a person of
credit, and is thought by many judicious persons
to contain accounts not far from the truth.
Hingham, June 19..
" Yesterday I came out of Botton, at 2 o'clock,
P. M. I heard the officers and soldiers fay, that they
were sure they had a thousand or more killed and
wounded ; that they weie carrying the wounded men
from 4 o'clock on Saturday until I came away.
General Howe commanded the troops. They buried
their dead at Charleltown. Among the dead was
Major Pitcairn. A great many other officers Ire
dead. There were 5000 soldiers went from Boston.
The officers and soldiers exult very much upon taking
our lines. J. B.
The account of the number of troops which came
from Boston, as mentioned in the above letter, is
corroborated by the observation of a Gentleman at
Chelsea, who saw them in the boats, and judged the
number to be near 5000.
It is reported that one of the enemy's general
officers is among the slain, said to be either Howe or
Burgoyne.
PROVIDENCE, Juneiy.
Letter from his Honour the Deputy-Governor to
Captain WALLACE.
East-Greenwich, June 14, 1775.
SIR,
LONG have the good people of this colony been
oppressed by your condu& in interrupting their
lawful trade, and preventing the importation of the
provisions necessary for their subsistence. The a&s
of the British parliament, already filled with restric
tions of trade, oppressive in the highest degree, seem
by you to be thought too lenient. Not controuled
by thole you affe& to call your Masters, you have
detained the persons and taken away the property of
his Majesty's American fubje&s, without any war
rant from the a&s of trade, by which you have greatly
impeded the intercourse between this and the other
colonies, as well as between the different parts of
this colony. The inhabitants expecting the inter
position of the lawful authority of the colony, have
borne these outrages with a patience almost criminal ;
the legislature have heard their complaints, and in
consequence of an a& passed by the General Assembly
this day, I demand of you the reason of your
conduct towards the inhabitants of this colony, in
stepping and retaining their vessels; and l also demand
of you that you immediately restore the two packets
belonging to some inhabitants of the town of Pro
vidence, and all other vessels belonging to the
inhabitants of this colony, which you have taken,
and unjustly detain. So long as you remain in the
colony, and demean yourfelf as becomes your office,
you may depend upon the protection of the laws,
and every assistance for promoting the public service
in my power % and you may also be assured, that the
whole power of this colony will be exerted, to fecur:
0 Printed by HUGH GAINE, Printer, Bookseller, and Stationer, at the Bible and Crown, in Hanover-Square.
S I R,
I HAVE received your letter of the 14th instant.
Although I am unacquainted with you, or what
Ration you aft in, suppose you write in behalf of some
body of people; therefore, previous to my giving an
answer, I mult desire to know, whether or not you,
or the people on whose behalf you write, are not in
open rebellion to your lawful Sovereign, and the
a&s of the British legislature ?
I am, Sir, your most humble servant,
JAMES WALLACE.
Nicholas Cooke, Esq;
London, March, 1775.
The following address has been Jr nt to Ireland for pub
lication, and Jhouid be published in all the American
papers.
ADDRESS to the SOLDIERS.
Gentlemen,
YOU are about to embark for America, to com
pel your fellow fubje&s there to submit to
Popery and Slavery.
It is the glory of the Biitilh soldier, that he is the
defender, not the destroyer of the civil and religious
rights of the people. The English soldiery are im
mortalized in history for their attachment to the reli
gion and liberties or their country.
When King James 11. endeavoured to introduce
the Roman Catholic religion and arbitrary power in
Great,Britain, he had an army encamped on Hounf
low Heath, to terrify the people. Seven Bishops
were seized upon, and lent to the Tower. But they
appealed to the laws of their country, and were set at
liberty. When this news reached the camp, the
shouts of joy were so great, that they re-echoed in
the Royal Palace. This, however,, did not quite
convince the Kings of the aversion of the soldiers to
be the instrument of oppression against their fellow
fubjeas. He therefore made another trial. He
ordered the guards to be drawn up, and the word
was given, that those who did not choose to support
the King's measures should ground their arms.
When, behold, to his utter confufion, and their
internal honour, the whole body grounded their
arms.
the persons and properties of the inhabitants against
every lawless invader. An immediate answer is
requested to this letter.
I am, Sir, your most humble servant,
NICHOLAS COOKE, D. Governor.
To James Wallace, Esq; Commander of
his Majeffy's fllip Rose, at Newport.
Captain Wallace's ANSWER.
His Majesty's ship Rose, Rhode-Bland, June 14,
1775.
You, Gentlemen, will soon have an opportunity
of Shewing equal virtue. You will be called upon
to imbrue your hands in the blood of your fellow
fubje&s in America, because they will not submit to
be slaves, and.are alarmed at the establishment of
Popery and arbitrary power in one halt of their
country.
Whether you will draw those swords which have
defended them against their enemies to butcher them
into a resignation of their rights, which they hold as
the sons of Englishmen, is in your breads; 'Fhat
you will not stain the laurels you hav& gained/ footn
France, by dipping them i'n' civil blood, is every
good man's hope.
Arts will no doubt be used to persuade you, that
it is your duty to obey orders, and that you are sent
upon the just and righteous errand of crushing rebel
lion. But your own hearts will tell you, that the 1
people may be so ill treated, as to make refinance
necessary. You know, that violence and injury of
fered from one man to another, has always some
pretence of right and reason to juftify it. So it is
between the people and their rulers.
Therefore, whatever hard names and accusations
may be bestowed upon your fellow fubje&s in Ame
rica, be assured that they have not deserved them ;
but are driven, by the most cruel treatment, into
defpain In this despair they are compelled to defend
their liberties, after having tried, in vain, every
peaceable means of obtaining redress of their mani
fold grievances.
Before God and man they are rights
Your honour then, Gentlemen, as soldiers, and
your humanity as men, forbid you to be the instru
ments of forcing chains upon your injured and op
pressed fellow fufras. Remember that your firft
obedience is due to God, and that whoever bids you
flied innocent blood, bids you a& contrary to his
commandment. lam Gentlemen, yours, &c.
An OLD SOLDIER.
A Letter from the Right Honorable Thomas Howard,
Earl of Effingham, and Captain in General Gage's
regiment of Foot, defined for Boston.
My Lord,
I BEG the favour of your Lordship to lay before
his Majesty the peculiar embarfaffment of my
present situation.
Your Lordship is no stranger to the condu& which
I have observed in the unhappy disputes with our
American Colonies.
The King is too just and too generous not to be
lieve, that the votes I have given in parliament have
been given according to the dilates of my confeience.
Whether I have erred or not, the course of future
events must determine. In the mean time, if I were
capable of such duplicity, as to be any way concern
ed in inforcing those meafurcs of which I have so
publicly and solemnly exprefled my dilapprobation, I
should ill deserve what I am most ambitious of ob
taining, the esteem and favourable opinion of my
Sovereign.
My request therefore to your Lordfllip is this, that
after having laid these circumstances before the Kir g,
Monday, 16 Min. after 1
Tuesday, 59 Min. after 1
Wednesday, 4.1 Min. after 2
Thursday, 23 Min. after 3
HIGH-WATER at NEW-YORK, this Week.
Friday, 8 Min. after 4
Saturday, 55 Min. after 4
Sunday, 47 Min. after 5
Firfl Quarter the gth.
you will assure his Majesty that he has not a fubjeft
who is more ready than I am, with the utmost chear
fulnefs, to facrifice his life and fortune, in support
of the lafety, honour, and dignity of his Majesty's
crown and perlon. But the very fame pri^ples
which have inspired me with these unalterable lenti
ments of duty and affection to his Majesty, will not
fuffer me to be instrumental in depriving any part of
his people of those liberties, which form the best
security for their fidelity and obedience to his govern
ment. As I cannot, without reproach from my own
consciences, consent to bear arms against my fellow
fubjeCts in America, in what to my weak dilcernment
is not a clear cause; and as it seems now to be finally
resolved, that the aid regiment is to go upon the
American feivice, I desire your Lordship to lay me in
the most dutiful manner at his Majesty's feet, and
humbly beg that I may be permitted to retire.
Your Lordship will also be so obliging to entreat,„
that as 1 wave what the custom of the tervice would
Entitle me to, the, right of felling what I bought, I
may be allowed to retain my rank in the army, that
whenever rhe envy or ambition of foreign powers'
fhduld require it, I may be enabled to serve his Ma
jesty and iny country in that way ; in which alone,
I can expect to serve them with any degree of efted.
Your Lordfhipwiil easily conceive the regret and
mortification I feel at Being necessitated to quit the
military profeflion, which has been that of my ances
tors for many generations, to which I have been bred
almod from my infancy, to which I have devoted the
study of my life, and to perfed mylelf in which, I
have fought inftruHion and fetvice in whatever part
of the world they were to be found.
I have delayed this to the last moment, left any
wrong conituaion should be given to a condu&
which is influenced only by the purest motives : I
^complain of Hothing, I lore iny profeffion, and faould
think it highly blameable to quit any course of life,
in which I might be ufeful to the public, so lung as
my conllitutional principles, and my notions of
honour permitted*me to continue in it. I have the
honour to be, with great refpe&,
Your Lordship's molt obedient,
and molt humble Servant,
Adelphi Buildings, EFFINGHAM.
Apriliztb, 1773.
Lord BARRINGTON,
Secretary at War.
Major General LEE's Letter
ot Resignation.
Philadelphia, June 22, 1775.
Mx LORD,
ALTHOUGH I can by no means fubferibe to the
opinion of divers people in the world, that an
officer on half pay is to be considered in the service,
yet I think it a point of delicacy to pay a deference
to this opinion, erroneous and absurd as it is. I
therefore apprise your Lordfllip in the most public and
folenin manner, that I do renounce my half pay,
from the date hereof. At the fame time I beg leave
to allure your Lordship, that whenever it Shall please
his Majesty to call me forth to any honourable service
against the natural hereditary enemies of our country,
or in defence of his just rights and dignity, no man
• will obey tlierighteous summons with more zeal and
alacrity than mylelf; but the present meafure§ seem
to me id abfulutely subversive of the rights and liber
ties of every individual fubjed, so dedru&ive to the
whole empire at large, and ultimately lo ruinous to
his Majesty's own perlon, dignity, and family, that
1 think myfelf obliged in conscience as a citizen,
Englishman, and soldier of a free Rate, to exert my
utnioft to defeat them. I most devoutly pray to
Almighty God to, dire& his Majesty into measures
more conformant to Iris interest and honour, and more
conducive to the happiness and glory of his people.
I am, my Lord,
Your most obedient humble servant,
CHARLES LEE.
To the Right Hon. Lord Viscount Barrington,
his Majesty's Secretary at War.
A SSOCIAT I O N,
Unammoufy agreed to in the Provincial Congress of
South-Carolina, on Saturday the. 3d of June, 1775.
SOUTH-CAROLINA.
THE a&ual Commencement of Hostilities against
this Continent, by the Britifli Troops, in the
bloody Scene on the 19th of April last, near Boston;
the Increase of arbitrary Impositions from a wicked
and defpotick Ministry, and,the Dread of instigating
Infurre&ions in the Colonies, are Causes fufficient to
drive an oppressed People to the Use of Arms : We
therefore, the Subferibers, Inhabitants of South-
Carolina, holding ourselves bound by that most sacred
of all Obligations, the Duty of good Citizens to
wards an injured Country ; and thoroughly convinced,
that, under our present distressed Circumstances, we
Shall be justified before God and Man, in refitting
Force by Force, DO UNITE ourselves, under every
Tie of Religion and of Honour, and associate, as a
Band in her Defence, against every Foe : Hereby
solemnly engaging that, whenever our Continental
or Provincial Council Shall decree it neceffary,we will
go forth, and be ready to facrifice our Lives and
Fortunes to secure her Freedom and Safety. This
Obligation to continue in full Force until a Recon
ciliation Shall take Place between Great-Britain and
America, upon Constitutional Principles, an Event
which we most ardently desire. And we will hold
all those Persons inimical to the Liberty of the Colo
nies, who Shall refufe to fubferibe this Association.
Subscribed by every Member present on the 3d
Day of June, 1775.
Certified by Henry Laurens, President.
Wheat per Bushel, 6s. od.
Flour, 15*> °d.
Brown Bread, 15s. od.
Welt-India Rum, 3s. 4d.
New-England, do. 2s. 6d.
PRICE-CURRENT, in NEW-YORK.
Mufcovado Sugar, 645. od.
Single refin'd ditto, is. id.
Molasses, zs. od.
Beef per Barrel, 48s. od.
Pork, 655. od.
By Order of the Congress,
Peter Timothy, Secretary.
InPROVINCIAL CONGRES S,
Charlefovjn, Saturday, June 3d, 1775.
RESOLVED, That this Congress do earnestly
recommend to all their Constituents, the Pro
motion of Union and Harmony, by all Means in their
Power: Tint to this Purpose, all those Things be
avoided which tend to promote Difaffe&ion between
the People ; utterly discountenancing all National
Refleaions, and engaging to be watchful and dili
gent, that the Laws for the Peace anti good Order of
the Colony be observed inviolate as far as may be.
Wednesday, June 7th.
Ordered, That the above Refoive be printed and
made publick. A true Copy from the Minutes,
Peter Timothy, Secretary,
Charleftown, (S. Carolina) June 9.
We are informed, that the Association, lately
fubferibed by the Provincial Cen refs, and recom
mended by them as proper to be Signed by all the
Inhabitants, meets with the greatest success. In the
course of four days, it has been Signed by almost
every Man in Charleftown ; none having refufed
that we hear of, except a few gentlemen under
peculiar Circumstances.
We also learn, that the Provincial Congress have
determined to raise two Regiments of Foot and one
of Horse immediately ; and also to put the Militia
upon a refpe&able Footing, to which the People
most cheerfully accord ; and we have the Satisfaction
of knowing, that the Colony will very speedily be
put in a good Posture of Defence.
The Provincial Congress have resolved to lay up
proper Quantities of Rice and Flour in Granaries, in
divers Parts of the Colony; and have appointed
Commissioners for purchasing these Articles, and
carrying these Resolutions forthwith into Execution.
They have also prohibited thq further Exportation of
Rice and Corn for three Months.
Yesterday Forenoon, Laughlin Martin and John
Dealy were carted through the principal Streets of
this Town, in complete Suits of Tar and Feathers.
The very indecent and daring Behaviour of the two
Culprits, in several Instances, occasioned their being
made public Spectacles of. After having been
exhibited for about Half an Hour, and having made
many Acknowledgments of their Crime, they were
conduced home, cleaned, and quietly put on board
of Capt. Lafley's Ship, lying windbound for Bristol:
We hear that, upon the Intercession of Martin's
Friends, and his repeated Promises of future good
Behaviour, he is allowed to come on Shore and fol
low his Bufmefs, as usual.
Just published bv H. Gaine,
THE
SUBSTANCE
Or the EVIDENCE on the
PETITION
Presented by the
Weft-India Planters and Merchants,
To the Hon. HOUSE of COMMONS,
As it was introduced at the Bar, and fumm'd up
By Mr. G LOVE R,
On Thursday the 16th of March, 1775.
To which is added,
Minutes of the Examinations
OF G. WALKER and J. ELLIS, Efqrs,
Concerning the State of the Weft-India Islands.
■n-MPffiW«W»c''.-
Next Week will be published by J. Rivington, and
H. Gaine,
LETTERS
Written by the late Right Honourable
Philip Dormer Stanhope,
EARL of CHESTERFIELD,
To his SON
PHILIP STANHOPE,
Late Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of Dresden:
Together with several other Pieces on various Subjects#
Published bv
Mrs. EUGENIA STANHOPE,
From the Originals now in her Possession.
In four Volumes.
Original Haerlem O I L,
Sold by HUGH GAI N„E,
In PROVINCIAL CONGRES S,
Charlefioqvn, Tuesday, June 6th, 1775.
RESOLVED, That the following Gentlemen, viz.
Sir Edmund Head, Bart. David Deas, Esq;
Mr. John Fullerton, Mr. John Wagner, Mr. Josiah
Smith, jun. Mr. Joseph Dill, Robert Williams, jun.
Esq; Mr. Thomas Ereleigh, John Scott, Esq; of
Broad-Street, Major William Savage, Mr. Edward
Lightwood, Capt. Alexander Giilon, Alexander
Rose, Esq; Mr. George-Abbott Hall, Mr. Barnard
Beekman, Capt. Edward Blake, Dr. Peter Fayffoux,
Capt. Simon Tuits, Capt. John Scott, Mr. James
Fagartie, Mr, William Johnson, Mr. James Carlan,
Jolhua Ward,Efq; Mr. Samuel Legare, Mr. Charles
Johnston and Mr. fohn Horlbeck, be a Committee
to receive the Signatures of all the Inhabitants of
Charlestown, to the Association entered into on the
Third instant, and Signed on the Fourth by every
Member of this Congress. And that it be recom
mended to them, to compleat the Subscriptions as
speedily as possible, and Snake a Return of the Names
of ,uch as decline to sign the said Afibciation, to
the General Committee;
Fine Salt, 3s. 3d
Coarse Salt, 3s. od
Indian Cornper Bu.js. 4d