The New-York gazette, and the weekly Mercury — New-York [N.Y.], 1777-04-14 00:00:00, page 1

Monday, April 14, 1777."
NE W-Y ORK
AND
ASSIZE of BREAD. Flour at 30s. per Cent.
A White Loaf of the fineft FLOUR, to weigh
3 lb. 40Z. for 14. Coppers, and in the fame
Proportion for Loaves of a lesser Weight.
Published January 10, 1777.
Knight of the Moss Honorable Order of the
Bath, one of His Majesty's Commiffiq
ners for restoring Peace to the Colonies,
General and Commander in Chief of
all his Majesty's Forces within the Colo
nies lying on the Atlantic Ocean, from
Nova Scotia to West Florida, inclusive,
&c. &c. &c.
PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS it has been represented to
me that many bf His Majesty's
European and American Subjects
are compelled by Force, or otherwile
induced, to bear Arms in Opp@fition to the
Re-eftablifliment of the constitutional Autho
rity of Government in America, and are
discouraged from returning to their Allegiance
by ill-founded Doubts of the Reception inch
Tender of their Duty may meet with : 1
the pefor £ Declare, and do hereby
promise and engage, That all Persons bearing
Arms as aforefaid, who shall surrender them
selves to any Officer commanding any Part of
His Majesty's Forces, on, or before the
Fl rst Day of May next, shall be entitled to
Pardon for all Offences heretofore committed
^gainft His Crown and Dignity, and their
Estates and Effects be secured from Seizure,
Forfeiture, or Confifcation.-- r I hat every
non-commissioned Officer and private Man
who shall come in with his Arms, shah ado re
ceive the full Value for them.—That theAME
XICAN born Subjects shall be permuted to enter
into any of the Provincial Corps in His Ma
jesty's Service, or to return Home, as they
think fit,—And that the British and Irish
born Subjects shall either be taken into His
Majesty's Service, or conveyed to the Place
of their Nativity, at their own Option.
GIVEN under my Hand, at Head
Quarters in New-York, the 15th Day
©f March, 1777.
W. HOW E.
By His Excellency's Coming,
Robert Mackenzie, Sec'ry.
By His Excellency
Sir WILLIAM HOWE, ,
Knight of the most Honorable Order of the
Bath, one of His MajeEy's Commissioners
for restoring Peace to the Colonies, General
and Commander in Chief of all His Maje
sty's Forces within the Colonies lying on
the Atlantic Ocean, from Nova Scotia to
Welt-Florida, inclusive, &c. &c. &c.
PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS a plentiful Supply of
Vegetables, and of frefh Provisi
ons of all Kinds, will greatly tend
to the Preservation of the Health
©f His Majesty's Troops and others; and the
railing large Quantities of Hay, and other
Forage, will very much conduce to His Ma
jesty's Service, as well as be of general Use :
In Order therefore to give all due Encourage
ment to all His Majesty's liege Subjects, so
that they may chearfully exert themselves in
railing such Supplies, under a full Assurance
of enjoying all polfible Protection in so doing,
I have thought fit to issue this Proclamation,
ftridly charging and commanding, that no
Person or Persons whomsoever, under any
Colour or Pretence whatsoever, presume to
trespass upon any Inclofure belonging to any
other Person or Persons, or to take or carry
away any Produce from the Owner or Owners
thereof, or to break down, destroy, or in any
Manner injure any Inclofure or Fences what
soever, now standing, or hereafter to be created,
as they will anfiver for the fame at their Peril.
And to the End that this Proclamation mav be
more ftridly observed, I do hereby further
charge, require, and command all Officers,
Soldiers, and others, to seize and deliver over
te any Officer commanding any Part of His
Majesty's Forces, or to the Provost Marshal,
all such Persons as they shall find adingin Dif
ebedience hereto, in order that such Offenders
may be brought to condign Punishment for the
fame; hereby declaring that any Neglect
herein shall be considered and punilhed as a
Breach of Orders. And I do further charge
and require the commanding Officers of any
.f His Majesty's Forces, and Provost Marshal,
WEEKLY
By his EXCELLENCY
Sir WILLIAM HOWE,
Containing tbe catlieff Ibices
^ Printed by HUGH GAINE, at the BIBLE and CROWN, in HANOVER-SQUARE.
Monday, 13 Min. after 3
Tuesday, 1 Min. after 4
Wednesday, 54 Min. after 4
Thursday, 39 Min. after 5
from Time to Time to receive into Cuflody all
such Offenders as shall be brought to them as
aforefaid, and duly to make Report thereof.
Given under my Hand at Head Quarters,
in New-York, the Twentieth Day of
March, 1777.
W. HOWE.
By His Excellency's Command,
Robert Mackenzie, Sec'ry.
dr&^^^^^^^^ &£^4 1 ^&&&&& &&&
Doctor Smith, late of Maryland, oho has beht
a Prisoner among the Rebels ever face Nov.
'77b having lately escaped from them, has
favoured us with the following Narrative or
Journal, which is so well authenticated, that
it may be firmly relied on as Truth.
NARRATIVE or JOURNAL of Dr.
JOHN F. D. SMITH, Captain, and Sur
geon in the Queen's Royal Rangers, who
was taken Prisoner by the Rebels in Nov.
1775, and lately escaped from them, and
arrived here in the Daphne.
AS the Public, and especially many
Persons in a high Station can have
but little Idea of the Sufferings of
those unhappy People who have had the Mif
foriune to fail into the Hands of the Rebels,
especially if they have ever been a&ive against
them, 4 think it a Duty incumbent on me to
publilh the following plain Narration of Fads,
every Tittle of which can be well attefled. At
the lame Time disclaiming every Intention of
rendering the Condition of these deluded and
miitaken Men, who are Prisoners, any worse.
It would be unworthy of the British firms to
retaliate Cruelty, and it is so far from my Dis
position to wish it, altlio" no Person can be
more principled against the Rebels than 1 have
been since the Beginning of the Rebellion,
and I have fuffered in Property and in Person
as much as any one whose Life has been spared,
having had ray whole Property fold and con
fiscated, and being often reduced to the Brink
es the Grave. Yet to show, that they com
plain of our Treatment of their Prisoners with
a very bad Grace, it is almost necessary to
make this Public.
On the Night of the 19th Nov. 1775, Col.
Connolly, Lieutenant Cameron, and myfelf,
were made Prisoners in Frederick County Ma
ryland, over the Blue Ridge of Mountains,
by 36 Riflemem, who rulhed suddenly into
our Room, and with cock'd Rifles presented
at us in Bed, obliged us to surrender. They,
without the lead Provocation, abused us with
every opprobrious Epithet Language is capable
of. We were then carried to a Committee in
Hagar's Town, and examined separately, after
being searched for Papers. This Committee
was ignorant, rude and abusive, and sent us
under a strong Guard to Frederick Town for
farther Examination.
They were continually threatning our
Lives, and as we went along the Guard in
the Rear, every now and then would fire
off a Rifle directed very near us, as 1 could
hear the Ball pass within a few Feet of us
every Time. At Frederick Town 1 was told,
that I need not expert to get clear, for I was
a noted Tory, and they had long wished to
get me in their Power. Here we were Gripp'd
and searched, and examined again separate
ly before the Committee, and one of the
Imoft infamous wickedßebels, a Samuel Chace,
I a Lawyer, Member of the Congress, presided.
By fame Neglect of Col. Connolly's Servant,
an old torn Piece of Paper was found in his
Portmanteau, which discovered Part of out
Design, and Col. Connolly, to prevent our
falling immediate Sacrifices to a phrantic Mob,
acknowledged our Commissions. We were
then robb'd of our Money, by Samuel Chace
and the Committee, who left us only a Guinea
each, and were put under a strong Guard, in
a close Room 3 Stories high, the Windows
nailed down, and no Person allowed to speak
to us, and deny'd the Use of Pen, Ink, and
Paper. Thus were we kept, in continual
Danger of being murdered every Night, un
til December 30th, 1775, when the Congress
sent for us to Philadelphia. It had been or
dered, that if we Should be taken on our Way,
we Should attempt, either by escape or other
wise, to inform the Garrison of Detroit of an
Expedition the Rebels intended against them
from Pittfburg, and also to bring the Garri
fn of Fort Gage on Miffifippi, Artillery,
Stoics, &c. down the River, and by Irani
ports, round to join the 14th at Norfolk.
HIGH-WATER at NEW-YORK, this Week.
THE
^^%te^^
Ism
~
xfl%Mre^^^
Friday, 19 Min. after 6
Saturday, 3 Min, after 7
Sunday, 44 Min. after 7
Full Moon the nd.
For this Purpose on the 30th December at|
Night, 1775, I watched the Moment the twol
Centinels fell asleep on their Posts at our|
Door, and unferewing the Lock, made my;
Escape, with Letters, and every necessary!
Order, but was obliged to leave all my|
Cloaths. There was a deep encrusted Snow,|
and most dreadful Roads, so that my Journeyl
was beyond Expression fatiguing, especially
as I left my Horse, and went on Foot, to pre
vent any Suspicion of my Rout, as no one
could imagine, that a Journey over the Ale
gany Mountains to Miffifippi, and Detroit,
would be attempted at that Season of the Year
by any Person alone and On Foot. To pass
along with more Privacy, I endeavoured to
go up the other Side of Potomack River, but,
in attempting to cross on the Ice, broke in,
and almost got loft ; it was flowing and freez
ing at the fame Time, and I had 7 Miles
over the Mountains to go, before I came to a
House to warm myfelf. At last, when I
reach'd it, there was no Fire, and I could
not day, so I travelled in that wet and frozen
Condition all Day. and at Night lay before
the Fire, at the House of a poor ignorant
Dutchman.
On- theist January, 1776, I set out and
reached the Mouth of Connicochege at Sun
rise. It was frozen half over, I broke the Ice,
ftrip'd and waded it thro', up to my Bread,
and hearing of a Pursuit struck off the Road
into the North Mountain, travelled all Day
thro' fatiguing encrusted Snow, and flay'd
during the Night (for I slept not) under a
Rock in the Mountain.
Jan. 2d, travelled all Day in the Mountain,
and at Night scraped away the Snow by the
Side of a Tree, made a Fire and slept a little.
On the 3d January, directed my Course to
wards the Road again, being then behind the
Pursuit, and ftay'd all Night at a miserable
House by the Fire. I palled by the Name of
Brefcoe. Here! heard a Thousand falfehoods
told about me, and was obliged to join in
Abuse against myfelf; they all said, that we
ought immediately to have been put to Death
when taken.
On the 4th Jan. I had three violent Falls
on the Ice, by which 1 received a bad Strain
in one Anckle, and a deep Wound in my op
posite Foot; this rendered travelling excef
lively painful. However with me there was
no alternative but Death to flop, or Life to
proceed; and in this distressing Manner I
continued to push on until the 12th January,
when after wading Numbers of Creeks and
Rivers, and getting over the Alegany Moun
tains, I was retaken on Yohiogeny, close by
the Ohio, by a Party of nine Ruffians return
ing from Pittfburg in pursuit of me. They
set me on a Pack Horie, on a wooden Pack
Saddle, tied my Arms behind me, and my
Legs under the Horse's Belly, took off the
Bridle, and put a great Bell on the Horse,
and in that Manner they drove the Horie and
me before them over ilippery Ways covered
witli Ice, and over all the dreadful Precipices
of the Alegany and Blue Mountains, for the
firft Day and Night, and for the next three
Days ; every Night lying on the bare Ground. |
Travelling in this violent rapid Manner, as II
am informed since, preserved my Life, as a |
Captain and thirty Men from near Pittfburg,
pursued us under Oath to kill me when they
heard 1 was retaken, and after riding after
us a Day and a Half, despairing to overtake,
us, they returned. During all this Time I
tasted nothing but Water, and had but one
Meal of indifferent Food, which probably in
some Degree contributed also to save my Lire,
by abating the Inflamation of the Wound in
mv Foot, and the Strain in my Anckle, both
of which were prodigiously swelled, and so
violently painful, that for my Life I could not
walk a hundred Yards, and intirely deprived
me of Sleep. I was then delivered up again
to the Committee of -Hagar's Town, who
made use of every Artifice of Promises and
Threats to corrupt my Principles, and when
all would not avail, ordered me to be carried
to the Congress to Philadelphia, in Irons. A
frefh Guard with a Major, a Captain, two
Lieutenants, &c. then set off with me tied
as before, and my Horse tied also with two
Ropes, and led by two of the Guard, accom
panied with Drum and Fife, bating the
Rogue's March, which they seemed particular,y
fond of. Fifteen Miles from Frederick 1 own,
a Captain and fifty Rebels came to take me
Wheat per Bulhel, ,s. od.
Flour, 30s. od.
Brown Bread, 255. od.
W^fclndia Rum, Bs. od.
New-England do. ss. od.
[N°-„ 2 9)
GAZETTE:
, THE
MERCU R Y.
PRICE CURRENT, in NEW-YORK.
Mufeavado Sugar, 51. 10s.
Single refin'd ditto, 2s. 9!.
Molasses, 3s. 6d.
Beef per Barrel, 90s. od.
Pork, 51. 108.
foreign ano Domefficß.
from my Guard, to carry me back to Fre
derick Town, to two Hundred more, who
had affernbled, and were waiting there to
murder me at once, in order as they Did, to
save the Country Expence. It required no
small Address to persuade this Rabble out of
their Intentions, as they were sent by the Rest
on Purpose, but at last they fuffered us to pro
ceed. They carried me thro' Criffop's Town,
Hancock's Town, Hagar's Town, Middle
Town, Frederick Town, Tawney Town, Lit
tle Town, M'Allaftar's Town, York, and
Lancaster; in each of the last Places I was
lodged in Goal; and at last I arrived at Phi
ladelphia, dragg'd all this Way, being seve
ral hundred Miles, like a Criminal, or Felon
going to Execution. The Congress, to ex
press their Approbation of the Cruelty and
Zeal of these who retook me, gave each of
them a Commission, and Fifteen Pounds to
bear each of their Expences, and to the Prin
cipal, Seventy-five Dollars extraordinary, and
a Captain's Commission of Riflemen, as a
Reward. By the Congress I was lent to the
Council of Safety (properly of Deftruftion)
and by them to the Common Goal, where a
very large Pair of Irons were brought for me,
but a Gentleman present went out and got an
Order againit it. I was then thrown into a
Room in the criminal Appartment, the D or
constantly locked, no Person, even in the
Goal, allowed to speak to me, in a cold vaul
ted Room, without Bed, Blanket, or Straw,
Chair or Table, oblig'd to lye on the bare
Floor, with a Log of Wood under my Head,
in the Middle of a severe Winter, and feme
times three Days without a Drop of Water or
any Kind of Drink. In this Condition I re
mained tor three Weeks, and without chang
ing my Shirt, or having my Cloaths off for
thirty-three Days; also very sick; and very
lame. To think on all I fuffered, one wculd
imagine that human, Nature could hardly bear
it and live ; but a Man can at fametimes un
dergo much more, than would at other Times
destroy him.
Imagining that they intended in that Man
ner to take away my Life, I wrote with a
Pencil on a Card (nothing else being allow'd
me) desiring they would order me to immedi
ate Execution, and not destroy me by Inches.
They then had me brought before them, and
behaved very politely to me, making Apo
logies for what was past, and profiling better
in future, but declared their Astonishment at
my desperate Attempt, as # they call'd it, of
reaching Detroit or Illinois, alone and on
Foot, at that Season of the Year, thro' a ho
stile Country, and without Money (as I had
only the Guinea the Committee had left me )
But altho' they promised to render my Con
finement more supportable, yet I was order'd
back to Goal, almost in the fame Situation as
before. I take this Opportunity to acknow
ledge many Obligations to Captain Duncan
Campbell, of the Royal Emigrants, who was
at that Time also a close Prisoner, and did
me every Service in his Power, that my pre,
eluded Situation would admit of. Captain
Campbell about this Time was so ill that he
was in great Danger of Death, having been
in Goal four Months, and at last only to save
his Life, they admitted him to parole. I was
then removed into his Room in the Front,
with Colonel Kirkland; and Major General
Prefcot was put into the Room in the crimi
nal Appartment! was taken out of, where he
was kept until the Dampness of the Walls,
and the Unwholesomeness of the Place, caused
his Wounds to break cut afrelh; then he
was removed. After some Days the Goaler
brought me a Paper containing a dirty scan
dalous Parole, which he said, was sent to me
to sign, as they wanted to atone now for my
former ill Usage. One Mr. Nixon had inter
ested himfelf to procure it, hut as Col. Con
nolly and Lieut. Cameron were not offered,
their Paroles also, I refufed to 'gn it, and
was then put into the Room along them. # In
two Days after, Col. Connolly got the Liber
ty of the Goal at large and another Room,
but they nailed down the Windows on Lieut.
Cameron and me, and chained the Door, so
as not to admit one Breath of frefh Air to
us, debarred the Use of Pen and Ink, no
Person whatever allowed to fee or speak to us,
and totally precluded from the whole World,
as effectually as if we had been in our Graves ;
and in this Manner were we keptfor fx
Months, until oar Lives were despaired of?
Fine Salt, xes. od
Co^feSalf, Bs. od
Indian Corn per Bu. 6s. 6d
Coffee, 18. gd
Chocolate, 265. per Do.