The Connecticut courant, and the weekly intelligencer — Hartford [Conn.], 1780-01-18 00:00:00, page 1

General Lee seemed to render them Rail
more hopeless. That officer, at the head
of all the men which he could colled or
keep together, being on his march to j)in
General Washington, who had affembi d
the Pennsylvania militia to secure the banks
of the Delaware, was, from the distance of
the British cantonments, betrayed into a
fatal security, by which, in crossing the
upper part of New Jersey from the North
fiver; he fixed his quarters, and lay care
tefsly guarded, at some distance from the
main body. The operation of zeal, or
desire of reward in an inhabitant, having
communicated this situation to Col. Har
court, who commanded the light horse, p°nd
had then made a desultory excursion at the
head of a fraall detachment to observe the
motions of that body, he conduced his
measures with such address and activity,
and they were so well seconded by the
boldness and rapidity of motion which dis
tinguish that corps, that the guard was
evaded, the centries seized without noise,
the quarters forced, and Lee carried off,
with the obligation of duty, difchargtd ail
apprebenfion of disgrace, there was no keep
ing together, at the heel of a ruinous cam
paign, troops broken and dispirited, equal
ly unaccustomed to fobordination, and to
a long absence from their countries and
fhtTCT Thoft small br^-; %hn f+m
personal attachment, local circumstances,
or a superior perseverance and bravery,
hill continued with the Generals Wash ing
ton and Lee/ were too inconsiderable in
force, to demand much attention on the
one fide, or to inspire confidence on the
other ; whilst the support to be derived
from new levies, not yet formed, 'was too
remote and precarious, to afford much pre
sent confolatibn to the Americans. . ,
n . In this critical fituarioh of
ec ° '3' • €heir affairs, the capture of
number which remain rd embodied did not
exceed 2500 or 3000 men, This was ^1
that remained of an army, which at the
opening of the campaign amounted, as it
is Lid, to at least 25.000. There are some
who represent it as having been at that
time much Wronger, Ite term of their
engagement being expired, which, along
From the London Magazine, for N0v.177^.
The Political History us Europe for 1777,
{continued from No. 780.)
IT is fit that we should now turn our at
tention to the important tranfa^tions in
the South. We saw towards the conclufi
dn of the last campaign, that Lord Corn
wallis had not only overrun the Jerseys,
but that the Delaware was the only appa
rent obstacle, which seemed capable of
retarding the progress of his army, in the
reduction of Philadelphia and the adjoining
provinces. The,American army was in
deed no more. It is said that the greatest
I' U E SDAY, January 18, 1780;
CONNECTICUT COURAN i;
ANDTHZ
WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER.
HA RSTF 0R ' Printed by HUDSON AND GOODWIN, near the Great Bridge.
though all that part of the country was in
his favour, and that fevers' guarded posts,
and armed patrols, lay in the way.
The making of a single officer prifpner,
in other circufoftances world have been a
matter of little moment ; but in the pre
lent state of the raw American forces,
where a general deficiency <f military skill
prevailed, and the inexperience of the of
ficers was even a greater grievance than
the lack of discipline in the soldiers, the
loss of a commander, whose spirit of enter
prize was-directed by great knowledge in
his profeffion acquired by actual service,
-was of the utmost importance, and themure
diftreffng, as there was little room to hope
it could be soon Applied. ,
The rejoicing in Great-Britain on this
occasion was equal at leaf to the dejecti
on of the Americas. It was conjectured,
that feme personal animpfh es between this
General and feyeral office s in the army,
as well as persons of powe; at court, con
tributed not a little to the t iumph and ex
ultation of that time.
The capture of General I °e was also at
tended wi,th a circumiUn^e, which has
been productive of much - damity to in,
T/idu?k & " „'+:, ors - th ; r; pf that
nature, had feme time before been esta
blished for the exchange of pHfoners be
tween the Generals Howe & Washington,
which had hitherto been carried into exe
cution, so far as time and other cirrtum
fiancee would admit. As Lee was parti
cularly obnoxious to government, it was
said, and is supposed, that General. Howe
was tied down by his inftrudions from
parting with him upon any terms, if the
fortune of war should throw him into his
power. General Washington not having
at this time any prifon^r of equal rank
with,Lee, proposed to exchange fix field
officers for him, the number being to ba
lance that difpariiy ; or, if this was not ac.-
cepted, he required that he should be treat
ed and endi.ered suitable to his flati n,
according to the practice e%blifh d a
mong profiled nations, and the precede n't
alrea fy fee bv< the Americans in regard to
the Bitilh' officers in their hands, until ,an
opportunity offered for a di:e& and cqhal
exchange.
Tothis it was answered, that as Ms, Lee
was a deserter from his Majesty's service,
he wa not to be considered as a prisoner of
war, that he did not at all come within the
condition of the'carfcl, nor could he receive
any of i's benefits. This brought on a
fruitless difcoffibn, whether Gen. Lee, who
had resigned his half pay at the, beginning
of the troubles, could be confide:cd as a
deserter, or whether he could withjuftice
be exclud d from the general benefits of a
cartel, in which no particular exception of
person Had been made; the affirmative
THE
in both these positions being treated by
Washington with the utmoit indignation.
In the mean time Lee was confined in
the cloieft manner, being watched and
guarded with all that strictness and jealou
sy, which a state criminal of the fi ft mag
nitude could have experienced in the mpft
dangerous political conjuncture. This
conduct not only suspended the operation
of the cartel, but induced retaliation on the
other fide, and Colonel Campbell, who had
hitherto enjoyed every degree of liberty
consistent wih his condition, and had been
treated with great humanity by the people
of Boston, was now thrown into a dunge
on, and treated with a rigour equal to the
indulgence he had before experienced.
These officers who were prisoners in the
Southern colonies, though pot treated with
equal rigour, were, however, abridged of
their parole 1 berry, deprived of other com
foits and fatisfa&ions, which had hitherto
rendered their condition uncommonly easy.
It was at the fametime declared, that their
future treatment sh mid in every degree be
regulated by that which G/n. Lee experi.
enced, and that their perlons ih uld be an
fwfrable, in the utmost extent, for any vi
olence that was offered, to him...
This was not the only inrance in width
the Congress .manifested a firm, and un
daunted icfolution. In the midtt of the
dangers with which they were environed,
far from givir g way V any thing like un
conditional fublniffioh^they made no over
tures towards any kind \f accommodation.
On the other fide none were made to them.
They prepared to renew the war, and to
repair their shattered forces with all dili
gence. Theywere now convinced of the in
dfficacy of temporary armies, engaged only
for a short term, and calculated merely to
repel a sudden invasion, when opposed to
the constant war of a powerful enemy, and
the incessant efforts of regular forces. It
could never be hoped, with new men thus
changed every,year; to make any .tff flual
fiand against veteran troops, and their pre
fect critical situation afforded too alarming
an experience, of the fatal consequences
which might attend that period of utter im
becility, between the extinction of the old
army, and the tftablifhment (f the new.
To guard against this evil in future, which
could not be remedit d for the pref rr, they
issued orders about the middle of Septem
ber, for the levying of 88 betallions, the
soldiers being bound by the tetnis cf en
-I'Qment to serve during the continuance
of the war.
The number of battalions which each
colony was By this ordinance appointed to
raifr and support, may be confidertd as a
pretty exaCt political scale of their compa
rative strength, framed by those who were
interested in its corrednefs,' and well ^c-
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