The Connecticut courant, and the weekly intelligencer — Hartford [Conn.], 1780-04-11 00:00:00, page 2

we foil 1 inform Congress if we found it neceffvy,
to nuke any change in the agents Mr. William If
had appointed.
Tkat he difm ffed Me. Williams is directly con
trary totrutb. He neither appointed nor dfm (fed
him. Dr. Fraikhn and Mr. Deane appointed bm.
Dr. Franklin Mr. Adams, and myfelfdJnbff^d him.
as will appear by the following letter firned by the
three commiffionerr B. Franklin, A. Lee, ad j. A
damn, addressed to Mr. Jonathan Williams, da ed
Paffy, M,y 26, 1778 "We think it prudent and
nece&ry for the pabhc Service to revoke, and we do
hereby revoke all the powers and authorities hereto
fore granted by the Cemmffioners Plenipotentiary,
or any of them. We have further to repeat cur ear
nest teqneft, that yon would lay your aciouns be- 1
fore us as Don ar pcffibl." When the balance de
msndtd on these accounts was directed to be paid the
order on the banker contained the following censure
on their author. "' We agree that the bilk drawn
on you by Mr. Williams Shall be charged to the pub
lie account of the United States. This content
however is not to be cor fi Jered as any approbation
01 his accounts, nor to have any influence at all in
the final Settlement cf them.
Paffy, July 10 1778. B. Franklin.
(Signed) J. Adams.
D-Aor Franklin ard Mr. Deane by their sole au
thority took the Sale of prizes from the commercial
agent and gave itto Mr. Williams. It has been dis
covered by'a letter from him to Mr. Deane, which
the latter forgot to place in finely among bis other
papers f that the commissioner and agent were traf
ficking in theft prizes for their private trade, the
letter contains the following words: " I have been
on board the prize brig. Mr Ross tells me he has
written to you on the fubjeft. and the matter -efts,
whether according to his letter you will undertake
or not, if we take? eron our private account the must
be puffed out 13 000 livres." The public were
fare to receive justice when the agent was at once
the feller and the purchaser, and the commillioner,
who Should contioul him, was a partner in the pur
chafe. It was this kind of attention to the publc
Service, that gave rife as Mr. Deane fays, to “ fre
quant bickerines and difputei between Mr. Lee and
his pcllei*uei," $ Authenticated copies cf all the
papers referred tu in these answers have been sent to
Con,refr. The public may therefore rely upon
their authenticity. They are Sufficient to Shew the
true character of Mr. Deane, and with what truth
he averts that his condud ismot founded on enmity
to individuals whom he has falfely accused, not out
cfany defrz of prefixing himftlf and his friends by
removing difagreexble checks to his avarice and am
bition but purely out cf love and affection for hit
countrymen; diAnrbing them with falfe alarms,
infp ring them with pernicious jealousies, planting
difeord and div fioa, where confidence and unanimi
ty are fa necessary, were Solely to Serve the public,
not to male them the instruments of his envy, ha
tred and malice. I^o profeffed as much, when he
pra&rfed the fame and whh equal purity of heart--.
• 6 I hope you 7#ill confi hr what is spoke comes from
my love" (Lgo to Othello) I fend proofs from
Mr. Williams's own letter and accounts, that he has
done the very thing with regard to Sharing the five
per cent, with Which Mr Deane charges my bro
ther. §
(Continued in the Fourth Page)
t Having placed my papers and yours in Safety,
I left Paris, Di&.C^ Addiefs, Dec. 5.
% Deane's add efs, December 5 1778.
§ Extraa of a letter from Mr. Williams to the
CommiffiMiers, died February 28, 1778. I must
beg leave to remind you of the agreement I made
with thelate Mr. Morris by which " I was to ac
count with him for UI fahsand puzchafes that I Should
make in coofeqnence of his authority, charging the
con m ffion of five per cent, allowed by the Com
mittee of Congress between him and myfelf." From
Jonathan Williams's account of disbursements In
dependence. Captain Young, commission five per
cer'. £ 238. 9. ii. Ranger, Captain Jones, erm
ro ifioifive per cent. £. 3738. See appendix No. 4
ands
FISHKILL, March 30.
A Gentleman who puffed through this pbc~ lift
week, on his way ^ Con,reft, has favoured vs
with a Cry of the flicwing confidents! letter
to .Lord George Germaine. It was taken with a
number cf other dripitches, and duplicates of dif
parehes. from Sir Henry Clinton, on board a
packet, by one cf car E^ft^n privateers. Our
vessel had the peculiar address to appear as a New-
York privateer till sh: gained her pm-pcfe. As
the letter conteinvin particular, a state of our
fouthem.afairs, of which we have been alrapft to
tally in the dark for fume time paS, weflitter o,r-
Selves we sh ill gratify the curiofi y of our readers
by its publication ; and, as coming from the ene,
my, we cannot doubt but the information is per
fia as far as it refptAs themselves.
PRIVAT E, No. 15.
Savannah, (in Georgia) January 30, 1780.
Mv Lord
IHA Dthe honor to addreft your Lordffiip in
my official capacity on the 20 h cf December
ult mo, dated at New York, in which 1 gave 1 fee
cial detail of the regiments and corps then embarked,,
inferring you for th£naval operating foict, to A Imi
tal Arbuthnot's difpreh.
From the time I war honored with your Lord-
Ship's inftruAions to evacuate Rhode Island, and to
coudenfe and dripofe the King's. troops, on such a
scale, as world afford the rarfl Substantial protection
to New York, a<d fitch cf its dependence-; as
might be held confidently with the force to be with
drawn, for the proposed Southern operations ; till the
moment of embarkation, no opportunity whatfoevsg
has efftyed itfelf to Strike any part of the enemy, or
even to venture upon any incuffion that proroifcd ad
vantage fup;rjor to the rrique. B_fldes, as I cc,m
nianicated in my lafl, the violent d^monftratioos of
the übels.whW threatened a determined attack of
the ppft at New York, in conjugation with a large
naval and land a. moment, under Count, D'ERaing,
then dirc&n.^ itfelf agaip& the garrison at Savannahs
neceSTi^ly turned our whole endeavours to defeat So
alarming a comb nation.
Tse regular froc p: neder General ,Vr£hington,
amounted at this period to fix.sen thousand men ;
to which is to be added, the army commanded by
Gepei&l Sil van, then on its return from a fuccerf
ful expedition arainft our Indian allies, and but ve
ry little dmnifhed by the empaign. This ,ve
him a face of twenty thousand cff< (lives : But yo^r
Lordffiip will be able to ferm a mere p fa judg
mentef6ur meafores, when you cemb.rewrth this
army, the militia cf Pennfy.lvair a, New-Js Ly,
New Yjrk, Conneaicat, and Maffachufetti, which
were ready to be drawn together on the Ihor'eft no
tice and whose spirits were peculiarly exalted atthis
crisis, from the profye& of a ci+y, fall of wealth,
and devoted to plunder, sod by the fl&t erin;idraof
ending the war, by its cap ure.
Not a moment was to be led in such a critical
conjunaure; for every moment was important, and
expeaed to come with the account of D'R&ng's ap
pearance before oarharbour. The worksa Brook
lyn, and on Governors Iflsnd, were er-ivg^d and
improved. New works were ereßed at the Water
ing Place, and Sandy Hook ; the King's battery at
New-York, was repaired and mounted with heavy
ordnance ; and places marked out, and defences pro
vided. to cover the fhipp ; ng alorf the Sound, These
preparations employed the whole labour of the ar
my ; and 1 cannot but observe, in addition to w hat
I have said in m.y official letter, the gene al readily
in most of the Refugees, to facilitate these important
objects.
I flatter myfelf as er this enumeration, your Lord
ship will concur in the ; mpraaicabilii, cf gffiying
any thing a,ainft the enemy. Wafhinfy.cn remained
in his Lflnefo at the Highhi d, ; and so pefited, as
to be able tc use the Hudson to the greased advan
tage, in making his impression on cur left ; while
every advantage of water was also in hir power by
the Sound, and under protection .of the Frerch fleet,
exposed us tenbe most perplexing enibartaffments.- -
Available in so many points, and every instant ex
pc&in< ,D'Efaihg, we had but time to lock towarcs,
and take metres for our own defence ; and the oc
casion required ns to put forward our best exertions.
I do not reckon, my Lord, among the hff^r mis.
fortunes of the lariyear, the operations cf D'Eflaing
on the American coaff : The vast rclef thereby gi
ven to the rebel trade, and the injurfy which it
brought upon ours : The impression it carried home
to the minds of the people, of our lo£ dominion of
the sea, and the disposition of the French, to give
them every affilance reconcileable with the- general
obje&cf the war, to complete cur rein on the Con
tinent : The reduction of the King's force in Geor
gia, by the combined operations in that quarter, and
its cor,fcquent eff^&s: For although our brave gar
rifon rfcipid, yet a greater detachment from New
York became indifpenfabh- than was at firft intend
ed ; and nxeeffarily placed it in a condition, much
below yojr Lordfhp's expiations : The expeate
it has accumulated by the finking of ships, to ob.
fru& the entrance into that harbour ; and the railing
of new works, and improving of eld ones, which
will be ufeleß, unless an army as large as what was
then at Naw York, should be kept there for its de
fence. These confederations, my Lord, while they
fill me with the u mofi mortification, will convey to
youi Lordship, the caufti that delayed so long the
entrance on the execution ofa plan, with which I
have the honor to be intruded.
In the official letter cf the 25 h instant, you will
find a detail of the diftrefled a;d fluttered fate of
the fleet, by a fucceffi >1 of the mhi severe forms.
I enumerated the several transports with troops, ta
ken by the enemy, as far as they had ccme to my
knowledge ; with our losses in flora Blips, horfes,\
cavalry, and the military at^ail absolutely effeati
al to the enterprise against Charlefewn : But a very
few of the m ffing vessels have arrived finoe.
By this lafimhfortune, our affairs are not only de.
ranged' but nearly at a Hand; puffed by my incli
nation to go forward ; Emulated by the danger which
hirigs ever the Florida, to advert to their protedi.
on ; unwilling to divide a force in its prefect fitua
on, incompetent to the original pn p fe ; d&aAed
between calls the most urgent; our numbers decreas
ing by the unheabhinefs of the create, even while
lam writing to your Lorcßr,. I fucha Situation,
can I, my Lord, but expreft myfe f felinely ; and
I rust your Sympathy.is not to be the only canfcl&ti
on lam to rxpc& from my courtly : Hitherto a
train ofincidents. peculiar and b yond human fore
fight, have Set in againfi the armi^ my royal master;
but, as they were beyond our foreknowledge, no
precautions of ours could have cou^rafted them ;
it is this, which will be ourzpolo\y, fa what we
save nd done; arid I slitter myfc l f that when we
come to aft we Bull want noneforwte we Shall do.
But, to.be in a capacity to proceed on the origi
nal plan, I haveddp,eb^d a packet boat tu N w-
York, with a dema.d on th^t gar.dfon, of which th^
enc'ofed is a cep. Your Lordfh p wdl perceive,
that the fuccour if men only, is nt: p ovifional ;
I befitted on the meafine I.hsverok,- ; I hesitated,
between the danger tc which New York would be
exposed, and the n^ffity forp-ofecu ing the views
cf government, in such a manner as to give them a
moral certainty cffeccefs; and I cannot but perfeade~
myfeif, that my decifibn on this matter, will meet
the fanaion of your Sentiments.
Till the result of this diferchris fe.it, I far le^ft
every move we foil make Should fall Short cf the
original purpose ; and in this .case, every move will
be a real mirforture : 'And yet, Unhappily as we are
circumstanced, it appears of the uttred -xpediency
that we fhauld do femething ; that w©should ap
proach Charleftown and either make a ludden attack
upon the place, er await, favourable conjuaum. in
it! vicinity :We are preparing frthis porpofe, and
with every pcffible expedition, for every day raises
frefh bars to our Speciations.
My advices from all quarters firve only to confirm
what I forefaw, previous to our land 2, in this pro
vince. We no longer rest upon our fi ft foundation.
Our bad fortune has afforded Ctroliaa &furo to think,
and to adept rtfelf to the degree and nature of th 6
danger, with which it wa^ th^^^nre : It has re
ceived aids from North Carolina : Renforcements
cf cavalry have also arrived frero G%„ Woffington ;
and other reinforcements are also on their march,
Lincoln har been indubious and faccefcful, in put
ting Chariefiown in the befi poftye of.defence : A
very^tfy&sble line of abbattijn it nearly complest
cd : The advanced ditch is enfiladed in right and
left by 24 pounders ; and its fr to med with fallen
trees, the tranks of which a - ^quely funk into
the earth, in the manner cf a.p.aife,work : The pro
files of the lotteries ate of the fir^rate, and the
whole formidable by its artillery, The approach on
cither fide of the peek, will be opppfed by a number
of aimed veftli and moveable batteries, capable of
giving us extreme annoyance. A descent on the
Southern fide cf the town can only be attempted in
flat bottom boats ; and in the face of a nurticrotts
artillery ; and without any on car part to cover the
debarkation. When ve have forced the paifes of
Ashley river, and formed the siege. These are but
a few of the obArrAicns we muff encounter in a land
attack : But fhonld we Succeed in deSreying the
naval strength within the Bar, we Bull hive little to
apprehend from these. The garrison, in this case,
must evacuate the town, or became prifonerr^ The
naval force of the harbour ccnfi.'L.:^ four Continen
tal frigates, two French barred sh ;p^, twu provincial
flip?, and fix vessels, most of. which az gmounted
with heavy cannon. Non, my Lord the Continen
tal frigates only, anchored farhin difUsce for de
fending the Bsr, are at lea& formidable, if not Supe
rior, to any naval fores that car bs brotyfogainffi
them. Your Lordfhpis well informed, that nothing
larger than frigates can enter with their^6nson board,
and even frigates must approach fipfly, and be fuc
ciffively fubjt&, for a considerable time, to th^broad
sides, which will rake them forehand as s ; while the
least falfe movement is ft fficient to throw them ca the
breakers.
This; my Lord, is but an incomplete fo%;fiction•
cf Jie change cf their ckcum£anc% t^ policy