The Connecticut courant, and the weekly intelligencer — Hartford [Conn.], 1781-02-06 00:00:00, page 2

where we were served about eight ounces of con
demned bread per day, and about'eight ounces of
meat per week ;' from thence transported on
board the Jersey, of 64 guns, where there were;
supposed to be 11,00 Ainericaps ch board, and
we were told that we were now in a King's Ibip,'
and that if we ran away we fhouldbe brought to
the gang-way and flogged, according to their ur-'
ricles of war; where wec/ere fuppiied with the.
lame quantity ofbread and meat, though neither,
of th<-m fit to eat ;. and'after we were on board'
a few days there came on board recruiting offi-'
cers, and finding that our officers' perfiiadcd auf
people not' to enlift,or enter into their fcrvice,
they came on board, and told all" the officers to'
give in their names to be exchanged;.the day
following there came on board Several boats and'
took them a shore ; we were informed they were;
lent to the provoL ; then telling the people that
they never would be exchanged, they .enticed
them to enlist ; after they found that thisfeheme
would not take, they took another method,, made
another draft of officers and lent them on board
of the Yarmouth, a sixty-sour gun ship, and they
informed us that they were sent to England ; al
1b that all officers of comrmffion'cd vessels should
be sent to England. The tenth day of Decem
ber they made another draft, to fend in the fleet,
and they called their names over before we came
away. On the fifth day of December we were
served one pint of water, when there was feven
ty-five puncheons in the hold. They have taken,
this method of Larving us. for the want of water
to kill us, or make us enter into their service.;
They never allow a man that is tick to go to the
Kofpital ship, till they are so weak and low that
they often expire before they get out of the ffiip.
They never allow the tick to be muttered, only
when there isa wet or dampair. The command
ing officer on board told us, that his orders were,
if the fliip took fire, we should all be turned be
lbw, and perish in the flames, which we experi^
enced one day; by Occident the ship took fire in
the Reward's ro@mf; the officer ordered the Hos-,
fan gattrds to turn us below, and if we offered
to rcfift, that they should fire among us, and if
any of us should get into the water, they should
lire on us, and kill us if .possible.
GEORGE BATTERMAN.”
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bolton, De
cember 29, 178b.x
The above named George Batterman came be
fore me, and, being cautioned to declare the truth,
made solemn oath to the foregoing depositions by
him fubferibed. & H6LTO N,
justice of peace thro' the Commonwealth.
True copy. AttcL. JOUR AVERY, Sec'ry.
RICH MOND; (^ ) January 17.
M narrative of the late incurfon marie by the e^enty
to this place.
ON the 31st of December, abetter from a pri
vate gentleman to General Nelson reached
this place, notifying that in the morning of the
proceeding day, 27 fail of vessels had entered the
capes, and from the tenor of the letter, there was
reason to expert within a few hours farther intel
ligenewwhother they were friends or foes, their
force, and other circumstances./ General Nelson,
went immediately intothe lower country, with
powers to call on the militia in.that quarter, or to
a& otherwise as exigencies should require. The
call of the militia from the middle and upper
counties w^ IKA ^6 till inuLi^^c could be
carrying into executionthe a& of Congress of Ja
nuary 13th, 178 c, refpeHing prisoners taken by
the citizens, troops, or Ihips of particular States.:
That the Board of Admiralty issue orders not
to 'exchange any British sea. officers or seamen,
until the enemy have returned to some of their
gafrifons in America, such teamen as they have,
taken upon ;hc American coatts, and sent to
Creat-Britain, or other parts beyond sea: And
that the Board of Admiralty give orders for con
tinuing the treatment of prisoners ' as herein direc
ted, until they receive orders to the contrary,
from Congfefs or the Commander in Chief.'
Published by order.bf Congrefs,'
CHARLES THOMSON," Sec'ry.
The deposition of George Bitterman, paflend
f:er on board the brig Providence, from Turks-
Hand bound toßhode-Ifland, oflahful age/tcLi
lies and,declares, m.
" Th'at he was captured the fifteenth ' day of.
September last, by the Intrepid, a sixty four gun'
ship, belonging to the Britilh King, commanded'
by James Anthony Pic Mewloy,.who with his
own hands took every Litch'of clothes the pri~
foners brought onboardand hove themoverboard,
on purpole to 'diftrefs them, as they were of no
Service to him; and on 'the 28th of laid month,;
put us on board the prifon„fhip at New-York,'
received that the fleet was certainly hostile. No
farther intelligence came till the second instant,
when the former was confirmed; it was ascertain
ed that they were enemies, and had advanced up
Jamcs-river to Warrafqueak-bay. All arrange
ments were immediately taken for calling in a
Sufficient number of militia for opposition. In
the night of the third, advice was received that
they were at anchor opposite James-town. %V il
liamfburgh was then feppofed to be their object :
The wuidhdwever, which had hithereto been
unfavorable, drifted fair,, and the tide being also
in their favor, they ascended the river to Kennon's
that eyehihgjirid with the next tide came up td
,Weftover, having oil their way taken poflehion,
;of the battery at. Hood's, by which two or three
of their vessels received some damage," but which
was neceflarily abandoned by the small garrifonof
fifty menyplaced there on the enemy's landing to
illicit the works, Intelligence of the <* emy's
quitting the Nation at James-town, from which
it was supposed they meant to Ignd at Williamf-'
burgh, and that they had got in the evening to
Kennon's, reached this place at 5 o'clock in the
morning of the 4th /This was the firfl indication
of their meaning to penetrate towards Richmond
qr Peterlburgh. As the orders for drawing the
militia hither had been but two days', no oppofi
tioh was in readineis.. Every effort was therefore
necelfary towithdraw the arms and other military
ftpres, records,; Wc/ from this place. Every ef
fort was accordihlyg exerted to convey them to the
foundery and laboratory, till about sun-set of
that day, 'whenantelligencc was received that the
cnepry hadlandcd at Weftover, From this it ap-
peared that Richmond, mid notPeterfourgh, was
their object; it became necessary to remove every
thing which remained here, across the river, as
Well as wh^t had been carried to the foundery
and labaratory ; which operation Was continued
till the enemy approached very near! They
marched from Weffover at 2 o'clock in the after
noon of the 4th, 'and'entered Richmond at one
o'clock in the afterhoonof the sth. A regiment
of infantry and about cohorfexontinjed on with
out halting to the foundery^they burnt that, the
boring-mill, the magazine„md two other houfes,'
and proceeded, to Wdlhani, but nothing being in
their power there,, they retired to Richmond.
The next morning they burnt feme buildings of
public and private property, with what Lores re
mained in them ; destroyed a great quantity of
private Lores, and about 12 o'clock returned to
wards Weftover, where they encamped within
the neck the next day.
The lots sustained is not yet accurately known.
At this place about 300 muskets, some foldieqs
cloathirig to a final! amount, fulphur, some quar
termasters stores } of which 120 lides leather was
the principal article, part of the artificers tools,
and 3 waggons ; betides which, 5 brass 4 poun
ders, which had been funk in the river, were dis
covered to them, railed and efrried oft. At the
foundery about 5 toils of powder was thrown in
to the canal, of which there will be a considera
ble facing by re-manufacturing it. Part of the
papers belonging to the auditor's offices and the
books and papers of the council office, which
were ordered to Weftham, but in the confufion
carried by mistake to the foundery, were also de-
Lroyed, The roof of the foundery was burnt,
but the Lacks, of chimnies and furnaces not at all
injured. Within fcfs than 48 hours from the time
of their landing and 19'from our knowing their
dcLination, they had penetrated 33 miles, done
the whole injury, and retired. Our militia, dis-
Rerfed oyer a large tra& of country, can be cal
led in but slowly. On the day the enemy ad
vanced to this place, 200 only were embodied,
and were, too few to do any thing effectual. The
enemy's forces are commanded by the parricide
Arnold..
BALT IMO RE, January 16.
A late letter from the Weft-Indies, mentions
the arrival in those fcas of ten fail of men of war
of the line, and twelve regiments, from Great-
Britain. The men of war and troops are as
follows '
Men of war under command of Sir Samuel
Hood: Barfleur,, Gibraltar, Monarch, Princqffa,
Monarch, Alfred, Prince William, Bclliqueax,
St. Alban, Panther.
Regiments-: 2d, 3d, 13th, 19th, 25th, 30th,
3.2 d, 67th, 69th, 78th, 81st. and 83d.
A gentleman arrived in town from the south
ward, afierts, that General Greene's head'quar
tefs were a fewdays ago at Camden, die Britilh
troops having abandoned that post. That Lord
Cornwallis, who had only received a reinforce
ment of 400 men, from New-York, had taken
post at Ninety-Six. That our army, under com
mand of General Greene, was daily increasing,
iuid wck i:i fah fircwn&n^ as promifcd
further success to the American arms.
A b °dy of American troops, it is said, lately
tookpoffelhon M George-Town, South-Carolina,
By the latch accounts, General Arnold andhik
troops were encamped about ten miles below:
Peteriburgh, and that the Virginia militia had
marched to attack them.
$ T REN T O N, January 17.
The. public may depend upon the authenticity
of the following brief account of the difoiccrs,
that have lately taken place among the foldier.sof
the Pennsylvania line, and which hrs now harni
ly fettled.
, A discontent arose among them on the firft of
this month about the periods of their inliflments,
which .many of them contended were expired..
Soide invidious cbmparifons were alfo' made be
tween the large bounty given toenlift those whose
times were confefledly out, and the condition of
those who were engaged during the war. Endea
vours were used by the officers to quiet them, but
without success,. One officer was unfortunately
killed ; and a great part of the soldiers marched
lift 'from their &neam,mehrtowards the Delaware.
They were under the conduct of their ferjeants ;
But Gen. Wayne, with some other, officers, de
termined to follow and keep with them at all c-
vents, though the General could not prevail upon
them to] Lop till they got tq Princeton. They
marched through the country with great regu&
rity and good condu&,.and perhaps Jess damage,
than is common on the palling o£troops.L,While
the) continued at Princeton, a sergeant of the•
Britilh army with one Ogden, an inhabitant of
this Late, for a guide, came to them,'a,ndimade
proposals from General Clinton. . r fsgfe they re
jeded with so much honor and indignation, that
they seized the mongers and delivered them to
General Wayne, who put,them under guard.
Soon after th^ a Committse of,the Council of
Pennsylvania came to meet the' soldiery, and a,
Committee of Congress came to this place. Their
grievances were r&lrHled, particularly by giving
an interpretation favourable to the fuldier of the
iqliLments which were for three years or during
the war, declaring them to expire at the end of the
three years." 'Fhey marched from Princeton to
this place on T^efday the 9th. On Wednesday
the loth the two spies >tre tried, and executed
the next day at the cred's roads near the upper
ferry. Commissioners were appointed to hear
and fettle the claims of the soldiers, who are now.
going through them with all potfible dispatch;
and on Monday the Committee of Congress re
turned to Philadelphia.
W^on the whole, this affair, w^ich at firL ap
peared so alarming, has only served to give a new
proof of the inflexible honor of the soldiery, and :
their inviolable attachment to American liberty
and will teach General Clinton, that though he
coule bribe such a mean toad-eater as Arnold, it
is not in his power to bribe an American soldier.
Lieutenant Colonel Klein, formerly in the ser
vice of the United States, was last weekappre
bended in the county of Monmouth, on his way
to New-York.
Last week Ensign Fitz-Randolph, with ten or
twelve privates of our militia, were surprised in
Amboy by a party of the enemy,' and carried to
Staten-Island.
As government is determined to execute the
said act with the greatest vigour, it is to be hoped
those villainous enemies to their country, who
have hitherto carried on that infamous trafick,
may profit by the above example, leafl another
punishment enjoined by the said a& soon over
take them, and they appear with one ear less
than their neighbours..
F IS H-K I L L, January 25.
We hear that Gen. Parsons is just returned
from a fiiccefsful expedition to Morifina, where
he surprised and took prisoners sixty or seventy
Tories and burnt a considerable number of huts..
—He also passed to Frogs-Neck, and dellroyed
some Lores there.—He loft one fiity^h # u d th©
^emy had o^ ^3 killed.
January 24.
Extract of a letter from an officer of the fodtherii
army, dotted Hick's Creek, Pedee, South-Ca
rolina, December 31, 1780.
" The troops of the enemy, which left Virgi
niaunder Leslie, have arrived at Charleilown,and
are said to be on their march to join Lord Corn
wallis, who has aflembled his forces at Camden.
Gen. Greene's head quarters are at this place.”
James Slover, Allier Billet, and DanielMelvin^
were last week, by the Court of Quarter Sessions.
for the county of Middletex, condemned by vir
tue. of an aft of this Late, against trading with'the
enemy, to serve on board some of the galleys, fri
gates or ships in the service of the United States,
and were accordingly carried under guard to Phi
ladelphia, to have the said sentence executed.