The Connecticut courant, and the weekly intelligencer — Hartford [Conn.], 1779-09-14 00:00:00, page 1

L O ND O N.
HOUSE of C OMMONS.
Thursday, 'April 29.
AMOTION was carried unani
mously for the Speaker to leave the
/hair, that the House might go into a
Committee on the inquiry into the con
dud of the Americas war, when Sir Wil
liam Howe rose, and after reminding the
House, that the juftifmation of himfelf and
of his noble brother being the grand ob
ject for which he had troubled the Com
mittee to read the papers on their table, it
was now necessary to fopport a great num
ber of fads Rated in those papers, by cal
ling evidence to the bar, and therefore he
moved that Lord Cornwallis should be
called in.
After a long debate, and the Chairman's
reading the question, 'that Lord Cornwal
lis be called in,' the following amendment
was proposed by Lord North, 'to be exa
mined on general and particular points as
to the general conduct of the American
war.
This proposition brought on another
M onda y, May 3.
Colonel Barre complained of the pro
ceedings and determination of the Com
mittee of Enquiry into the conduct of the
American war, on Thursday night, or rather
Friday morning; and as the Committee
in his opinion had not done the^r duty, he
made the following motion to enable them
to perform it in future. That it be an in
ftrudion to the Committee to call in Lord
Cornwallis to be examined on the fubjed
matter of the papers.
Lord No^h opposed it upon the fame
principles he had done; and only added,
that as the Committee was a Committee of
the whole House, and that a very full one,
it was djforderly to complain of such a
Committee to the House, of which it was
in fad composed.
Mr. Dunning, Mr. Townsend, Sir
George Saville, Mr. Powis, and General
Burgoyne, all spoke warmly for the moti
on ; and some hints being thrown out, that,
if the inquiry was pursued, blame would
very warm and interesting debate, which
lifted till pass twelve o'clock, a: which
time the Committee divided .upon the a
mendment, when there appeared for the
question 180, agCnfc it 155; majority 25.
The Committee then divided upon the
main question, ' whether Lord Cornwallis
should be called ;' and the numbers were,
for the motion 180, against it 158; ma
jority 23.
Another motion was made by Colonel
Barre, for calling in his Lordihip to give
evidence relative to the fubjed matters of
the papers before the Committee; but it
was negatived without a division, and the
House adjourned.
r U E 5 D A Y, September 14, 177^ THE Number 764.
CONNECTICUT COURANT,
AND T HE
'W-E EK LY INT E LLI GEN C^ t
H.J R T FORD: Printed by HU DS O N and GQQDWI N, near the Great-Bridge.
complaining that he had withdrawn his
confidence from him. The General, no
doubt, had his reasons for his conduct {
but, in his opinion, this step prevented
putting an end to the war that campaign.
Upon the whole he wished for an enquiry,
but in a proper place ; and without ex
plaining the impropriety r^it in that house,
he should cont ; t himfelf with voting a
gainst the motion on the point of order.
Mr. Fox was fcvere in reply : He said;
the noble Lord, of all men living, ought
to vote for the motion; his own honour,
and justice to the General who he had
now charged, required it.
He freely declared that, if th^ enquiry
went on, he intended to bring a regular
charge against his Lord (hip, and contradict
his tads and his representations of the cor
refpondenee between Sir William Howe
and General Burgoyne; but unless the
competency of Parliament was allowed to
enquire in order to found a charge, he
would not proceed.
He said the noble Lord knew that his
noble friend in the blue ribbon had a ma
jority determined to put a negative on the
prelent motion, and therefore he took that
opportunity of bringing a charge against
the General, while ipeaking only co a
point of order.
Mr. Rigby made a great TUnßion be
tween Sir William Howe and General Bur
ggyne ; the former had been fuccefsiul in
every undertaking, rhe latter h^d loft an
fall upon the Secretary of State for the
Colonies, Lord George Germain rose, and
made a warm speech in his own defence ;
He said hewas furry to be forced to do it •,*
he had not spoken before ; he was afraid
to trust himielf, left he should fay too
much ; bur, IkuatT as be was, he must
call upon gentlemen to speak out boldly,
for he had much rather be fairly accused
than obliquely attacked: And was ready
to abide any inquiry--- and trial'.He had
told the house the force was adequate to
the objed: Suit was at the time he said
so ; he had sent the General all the force
required ; his own letters shewed it ; he
had told the house he hoped for a fuccefs
ful campaign ; this was at a time when the
rebellion was almost crushed, and when, if
the General had thought proper to cross
the Delaware, Phikdelphia would have
furrendered^ and he vould have been in
possession of all Pennsylvania to New York
and the Jerseys ; and with those three Pro
vinces it would have been impossible for
the Rebels to have f ?od their ground a
nother campaign. Why the General did
not crop the Delawz: p , and why he went
to the Chffipeak ri".,,• he never could un
derstand, and therefore he could never ex
press his approbation of it, which he fup
pefed w,s one reason for the General's
Lord North, the Attorney- General, and
Sir Adam Ferguson, all spoke against the
enquiry ; at 12 o'clock the queflibn for
inftru^ing the Committee to call in L6rd
Cornwallis, was carried without a division,
and the House adjourned.
Friday, May 7.
After the private business had been con
cluded, the House relieved itfelf into a
Committee, Mr. F. Montague in the
chair, to examine witreffs relative to the
cordudt of Sir William Howe, while at
the bead of the army in America. Major
General Lord Cornwallis was ' the fr ft wit
ness called, and, as a Peer, was allowed to
fit within the bar. He was examined by
Sir William Hewe, Mr. De Grey, Mr.
rage so exalted. t /
Sir William Howe acknowledged, that
if he had had a fufficient force to leave in
New-York, he could certainly have put
an end to the rebellion; but, that being;
wanting thee&d could not be produced.
He denied that he had said Washington
was in &>rce at Wilmington ; he had said
only, that there vffas a corps there. Wash
ington's army he insisted was much stron
ger than the noble Lord had imagined;
he had made it a point to watch the rebel
General's motions very close, in hopes he
would have marched to the northward.a
gainft General Burgoyne ; he would thert
have sent a strong detachment aftef him,
while with the remainder of his army ho
could have reduced Pennfylvanil As to
the French accounts of his failing to Bos
ton, they had originated from himfelf, for
he dispatched a letter directed to General
Burgoyne, by a man who he knew would
deliver it to General Washington ; he had
therefore mentioned Boston in order to de
ceive the rebels. He was very glad the
noble Lord was so little averse to an enqui
ry, which now became the desire of all par
ties, and must consequently be agreeable
co them.'
army ; the former, if guilty at all, could
be arraigned only for error in judgment,
the latter for mifeondudt ; be was tho
roughly of opinion, that 10,000 men could
not be loft without a fault somewhere.
But since he boldly threw down the gaunt
let, and defied administration, he would
certainly fuffer the parliamentary enquiry
to go as far as it could, which was only to
an address for a Court martial, if ground
for a trial should appear. The latter Ge
neral might then pet haps fid the differ
ence between an error in the other General,
which did not cause the loss of an army,
and that condudlwhich had reduced him
to the necessity of piling up British arms,
and delivering them up to a parcel of Re
bels, who certainly were far from being
regular soldiers, though their numbers
were now so greatly swelled, and their cou-