The Connecticut courant, and the weekly intelligencer — Hartford [Conn.], 1779-02-23 00:00:00, page 2

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at t'd present that unanimity in fopportihg the'digir
iy of the crown, which was expedient at this junc
ture; for if it was not speedily done the kingdom
might be loft. He was not against an inquiry, but
this whs not precluded by the address.
He accounted for the late departure of Admiral By
ron's fleet, by faying there were informations which
made if doubtful whether the Toulon fleet was inten
ded for America; and if so large a fleet as Lord By
ron's had been set cut before the destination of d'Ef
taing's nad b^n certainly known,Frarte m g^t have
altered her plan, and have attacked some part of
Great Britan or Ireland.
He said the Americans had now been offered eve
ry thing they could expe&; the terms were very li
beral; but to have detached them from their alliance
with France, and to have recited them to us, the
price was not too high, though paying their debts
was not one condition, as an honorable gentleman
had observed.
WithicfpeA 'cevacuaPng Philadelphia, it wasjttdg
ed proper to d mnifh the extent of our lines, and to
collect our fore es within narrow bounds ; Pennsylva
nia, N%w-Yol, and Rhode lOind, could not all be
covered at the f rtie time; it was therefore thought
bed to ffa ion the army at New York^
The debate now became general; Mr. Attorney
General spoke for an hour in answer to Barke, and
told an an< cdo'e of the famous Admiral Blake, who
addressed the crew a few minutes before an. engage
ment, ind told them their lives were no longer at
their own disposal for they were under an indispen
sable duty to execute whatever they were command
ed. He feerced extremely disposed to criminate the
Admirals and Generals employed since the com
mencement of the Americas wdr, but spoke with
great caution." <
Lord Howe Aid, he did not take the passage in
the address alluded to by the honorable members on
the other fide, immediately to allude to him ; but
ftill,as reports had got abroad, he should be extreme
ly glad that the conduct of the several officers em
ployed was enquired into : he was included in that
description and of course expelled for that general
justice which every man in his situation was, entitled
to.
Admiral Keppel spoke so very low, that it was
difficult to difringuifh what he said; but as well as
we could collect, it amounted to this : That he did
not imagine that the passage in the speech alluded to
h ; m: that however, he wished for an enquiry ; and
that in the present poflure of affairs, when the quefli
on come to be put, he meant to give his vote for the
address.
Mr. T. Townsend elofed the debate, and answer
ed the several main objection# made to his motion;
and the question being put at 35 minutes past two in
the morning, on the Amendment, the House divided,
Ayes 107, Noes 226.
The main queflion for an address being then pro
posed, it was agreed to without a division.
The House of Lords divided on Thursday night
about nine o'clock, when the numbers were,
/For the Address — 76
Agqinft it - 31
Majority 45
HARTFORD, February 23.
We have various accounts from. Georgia, of the
situation of the Britiffi and American troops ; but
the latest and Soft particular, if not the most authen
tic, are contained in the following copy of a letter
from Major General Prevoft, and extract of a letter
from Lieut. Col. Archibald Campbell, commanding
detachments cf the British Troops on that expedi
tion, to Gen. Clinton, published in the Royal Gazette
Extraordinary, printed in New York by James Ri
vington, the 4th instant.
Copy ofa letter from Major General Prevoft, to his
Excellency General Sir Henry Clinton, K. B.
Commander in Chief of his Majesty's forces in
North America, &c. &c. &c.
Savannah, Jan. 19, 1779.
* SIR,
ON the 7th inflant, the troops that came by wa
ter landed seven miles from Sunbury, just at the very
time when the parties of horse and rangers had arri
ved to the neighbourhood of that town. Lieut. Col.
Prevoft who had marched that night with the loss
of one man only, effected the surrounding ofthe place,
and did not quit his Oation, notwithflanding the fire
of two gallies, an armed schooner, and the fort, until
the rest of the troop arrived; the artillery could
not come the fame way the troops did, as it was ne
cessary to march under cover of the ni^ht close un
der the fort, the artillery therefore was sent round to
Newport river, and with great difficulties an 8 inch
howitzer and two royals were brought on the 9th,
and begun to fire the next morning; before evening
the fame day, the fort was obliged to* furreider at
di* etion, bein^ then only one hundred and forty
yards from the body cf the place; th:* ih fnded
uffat on board tl^#!^. h^ng p-ivCTfted CT had
possession of the gate, and entered the fort next morn•'
ing. Twenty-one pieces of artillery, with stores
and provisions, two pair of colours, and two hun
dred and twelve frifoners, iucludingthe officers fell
into our hands; The gallins had made their escape,
but thinking from some preparations on board cf some
vessels that we had taken, and a numbr of boats that
they saw manned, that we intended to attack them
they set fire to them and made thei; escape to sea.
The trews are since brought prisoners into Savan
nah, having been met by an aimed vessel.
The troops matched to this place, and reached it
oh the 17th; and as soon as they can possibly be
provided with a few necessaries, I shall endeavour
to improve the advantage his Majesty's troops have
hitherto obtained.
for the particular of Lieut. Col. Campbell's success,
I beg leave to refer your Excellency to his own ac
count.
^xtra£ iof a letter from Lieutenant Colonel Archi
bald Campbell, &c. &c, &c
" The light infantry under Captain Cameron ha
ving firft reached the shore, were formed and led
br fey forwards towards the bluff, where a body
of £f y rebe'swere posted. and from whom they
received a frnart fire of mufquetry, but the High
landers, rushing on with their usual impetuosity,
gave them no time to repeat it: They drove them
inuant'y to the woods, and happily secured a land
ing for the rest of the army,—^-Captain Cameron, a
spirited and most valuable officer, with two High
landers, Were killed on this occasion, and five High
landers wounded.
♦' The troops reached the open country near Tat
nal's plantation, before three o'clock in the evening;
and halted jn the great road about two hundred pa
ces short of the gate leading to Governor Wright's
plantation; the light infantry, excepted, who were
ordered to form immediately upon our right of the
road, along the rails leading to Governor Wright's
plantations
The enemy were drawn up across the road at the
pittance of eight hundred yards frem this gate way.
One half consisting of Thompson's and Huger's regi
ments of Carolina troops were formed under Colonel
Huger, with their left obliquely to the great road
leading to Savannah; their right to a wooded swamp,
coveted by the houses of Tatnal's plantation in which
they had placed some riflemen: The other half of
their regular troops, consisting of part of theist, 2d,
3d and 4th battalions of the Georgia brigade, was
formed under Col. Elbert, with their right to the
road, and their left to the rice swamps of Governor
Wright's plantation ; with the fort of Savannah Bluff
behind their left wing, in the stile of second flank :
The town of Savannah, round which they had the
remains of an old line of intrenchment, covered their
rear. One piece of cannon was planted on the right
of their line, one upon the 16ft, and two pieces occu
pied the traverse across the great road in the center of
their line ; about one hundred paces in front of this
traverse, at a critical spot between two swamps, a
trench was cut across the road, and about one hun
dred yards in front of this trench, a marffiy rivulet
run almost parrallel, the whole extent of their front ;
the bridge of which was burned down to interrupt
the passage and retard our progress.
" I could discover from the movements of the
enemy, that they wished and expeded en attack up
on their left, and I was desirous of chefiming that
opinion.
“ Having accidentally fallen in with a negro,
who knew a private path, through the wooded swam,
upon the enemy's right : I ordered the firft battalion
of the 71st to form on our right of the road, and move
up to the rear of the Light Infantry; whilst I drew
off that corps to the right, as iff meant to extend
my front to that quarter; where a happy face of
ground favored the concealment of this mancauvre,
and encreafed the jealousy of the enemy with regard
to their left, Sir James Baird had directions to con
vey the Light Infantry, in this hollow ground, quite
t® the rear; and penetrate the wooded swamp upon
ourJeft, with a view to get round by the new bar
racks, into the rear of the enemy's right flank. The
New York Volunteers under Col. Turnbull were or
dered to support him.
" During the course of this movement, our Ar
tillery were formed in a field on our left of the road,
concealed from the enemy by a swell of ground in
the front; to which I meant to run them up for ac
tion, when the signal was made to engage, and from
which I could either bear advantageous upon the
right of the rebel line, as it was then formed; or
cannonade any body of troops in flank, which they
raight detach into the wood to retard the progress of
the Light Infantry.
" The regiment of Wellworth was form'd upon
theleft of the Artillery, and the enemy continued
to amuse themselves w?<h their cannon without any
return upon our part, till it was vifib/e tha@ Sir James
r ifd ^nd the light inffitry, had fairly got r^ua'd
upoh their rear. On this occaft nicemmanded the
line to move bri&ly forward. The well directed
artillery of the line, the rapid advance of ihe ,111 r
egiment and the forward countenance of the Heffiah
regiment of Wellworth, instantly dTperfed the enemy.
A body of themilitia of Georgia posted at the new
barracks, with some pieces cf cannon to cover th«
road from Great Ogeeche, were at this juncture rout
ed with the loss of their artillery, by the light in
fantry under Sir James Baird when the scattered re
mains of the Carolina and Georgia Brigades, ruri
across the plain in his front. This officer with hig
ifual gallantry daffied the light infantry on, their
Mank, ani 4 .terminated the fate of the day with brilli
ant success.
“ Thirty eight officers of different diftin&ions^
and four hundred and fifty non commissioned, officers
and privates, one Hand of colours forty eight piece!
of cannon, twenty three mortars, ninety four barrels
of powder, the Fort with all its stores, and in ffiort
the capital of Georgia, the Whipping in the harbour,
wjth a large quantity of provisions, fell into our pof.
session before it was dark, without any other loss oii
our fide than that of Capt Re'er Campbell, a gallant
officer of Skinner's light infantry, and two privates
killed : One Subaltern, one Serjeant and nine pri
vates wounded ; 83 of the enemy were found dead
on the common, and eleven wounded; by the ac
counts received from their prisoners thirty more loft
their lives in the swamp endeavoring to make theit
escape."
From the Virginia Gazette,of January 1, 1779.
SI R,
I HAVE read in the Pennsylvania Advertiser, of
Dec. sth, a long libel signed Silas Deane; but
I have read it with that composure which ever at
tends a good conscience, and that fatisfa&ion, which
arises from an additional proof that I have well done
my duty as a servant of the public. Had the latter
not been the case, had I winked at all information of
public abuse, Ido not think that I should have in
curred Mr. Deane's censure; but whilst I am ho
noured with public trust, it shall be my constant en
deavour to prevent the community from being inju
red, and certainly to insist that all those who have fin
gured large sums of public money should be called
upon for fair and honest settlement. From the firft
origin of Congress, to the present day, I have con
ftantiy been a member of that body; and I can fafe
ly a,,eal to every gentleman with whom I have serv
ed there, and to all who know me in private life,
whether I have yielded to any of my colleagues in
zeal for the American cause and industry to promote
its success; whether, through the varying stages of
prosperity and adversity my sentiments and conduct
have not been uniformly warm and a&ive to secure
the freedom, happiness and independence of my
country. That the alliance with France has been my
constant will and hope, no man who knows me, will
deny, and all the gentlemen of that country, with
whom I have had business, can bear me witness of
my attention and regard to their affairs. With such
unvarying condu& and sentiments, when Ihad not a
pulse but beat to independence, and with a mind fil
led with reverence and gratitude for France, in con
sequence ofher wisdom and goodness in allying with
us, it fams hard to be attacked by an inuendo man
for finitter designs in favour of a detefled enemy
against a good and able friend. To all with whom
I have the honour of being acquainted, this fuggetlion
will be considered as fabulous as if it had supposed a
miser to be in league with another to deprive himfelf
of his beloved gold. But the case of Dr, Berkenhout
is the foundation whereon this calumny refls. A
worse foundation was never given to an abominable
fuperfiruaure. It has already been related, in a for
mer paper, how I caroe to know that such a man fyas
in America. The truth is, that I was a total firan
ger to him; and when I received a letter from Ge-'
neral Maxwell, informing me that such a person had
been with him, it was some minutes before I could
recoiled the name, having only heard Dr. Lee fay,
ten years ago, that a person of that name was the au
thor of a good pharmacopea, with whom he was ac
quainted, and that he was a man of parts. I immedis
ately read the letter to Congress, and informed them
what I k*ew of Dr. BerkenbouT. Soon after he ar
rived in town, and sent me atick^t, to know when
he should wait on me. Being at dinner, when we
arose from table I asked an honourable member of
Congress (Col. Scudder of New Jersey) to walk with
me to fee Dr. Berkenhout, We went and after some
general conversation, he afted me if I had received
any letter from Dr. Lee concerning him. I answer
ed no . He appeared concerned, and imputed it to
his having left England too fctn after requesting
such introductory letter. This is a strong circum
fiance against the supposition that he brought letters
forme ; for if he had, .why not then produce them I
He brought neither letter or letters for me, nor carri
ed any from me to others, although both are irifinur
te& The next day, ^thin^, h€ came to my Icdg=