The Newhampshire gazetteer — Exeter, N.H., 1792-03-07 00:00:00, page 1

Newhampfhire
Q^eftion under consideration,
, A motion to-strike out the second
ftaion of the bill,which contemplates
the railing of three additional Regi
meets of infantry, and a squadron of
light dragoons, amounting in all to
three thousand and forty men, exclu
sive of commissioned officers.-
In favor of the motion, and against
the propofe&augmen&atioh ofthe mi
litary establishment; if was urged, :
That tha Indian War, in which the
United States are at preterit involved,
,was, in its origin, as unjustly under
taken, as it has fiace been, unwisely
^nj unfuccefifully conduced ; —that
depredations had been committed by,
the whites, as- well as by the Indians;:
±nd the whites were most probably the
^ggredbrc, as they frequently made
encroachments on the Indian lands,
whereas the Indians ffiewed ho incli
nation to obtain possession of oar ter
ritory,or even to make temporary in
vasions until urged to it by a feafe of
their wrongs : a proof, of this.unen
©roaching disposition on their part
plainly appeared in their condor,after
the viaory. they lately obtained over
ear troops; for, Whin sloshed with
foccefs, they might .have swept the
Country before them, arid penetrated
as far as Pittsburgh, they contented
theinfelves with the advantage they
had gained over their invaders, and
did not attempt to invade our territo
ries in return, although there was no
where at hand a Efficient force to
check their career.
The mow of creating the Indians
in general, was reprobated as unwise
find impolitic; the Indians are with
difficUty to' be rbdpeed by the {word,
but may easily be gained by
justice and moderation—arid although
their cruelties are alleged as reasons
for a different condod and the fuffer
jngs of the white people pathetically
deplored,thefe narratives (it was said)
are at best but ex-parte evidence;—we
hear nothing of theft Bufferings of the
Indians :—but ifCo'rnplanter's speech
were read, it would set the matter in
a very different point of view, arid
furnish a complete answer to all the
charges of their act:ufers.
Peace (it was said) may be ob
tained from the Indian tribes, at a
much less expense, thhn would neces
sary be for the support of the war:—to
persevere in hostilities, would be
waiting the public money to a very
bad purpose indeed :—for supposing
our arms crowned with victory, what
are the advantages we may exped to
reap from pur success ; we ciri only
gain possession of their lands ; a pof.
feffiort , that must long continue
unproductive of the smallest bene
fit, as we already possess land fuf
ficient, — more, in fad, than we will
be able to cultivate for a whole cen
tury to come.
- Instead of bei^g ambitious to ex
, tend our boundaries, it would answer
a much better national purpose rather
to check the roving difpofnion of the
THURSDAY, JAN. 26.
IN committee of the whole, on the
bill, providing for the defence of
the Frontiers ; —Mr, Muhlenberg in
the chair,—
EXETE R, ( New-Hamp/bire) Printed and Published by HENRY RANLET, at Nine Shillings per annum.
^OUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
WEDNESDAY, March 7, 1792.]
CONGRESS.
frontier settlers, and prevent them
from too fuddeuly extending them
feves to the weftern waters :—ifkept
closer together, and more.nearly con
neded with the old settlements/ they
would be more ufeful to the commu
nity at large, and would not so fre
quently involve us in unnecessary
and expenfivc wars with the Indians:
but if permitted to rove at pleafure,',
hey will keep the nation embroiled
in perpetual warfare, as long as the
Indians have a single acre of ground
to rest upon.
If the citizens cf the United States
were recalled within their proper
boundaries, there they might, for
years to,come, cultivate the foil in
peace, neither invaded,nor invading.
As the country progresses in popula
tion, and our limits are found too
narrow, it will then be soon enough
to contemplate a gradual extension
of our frontier :—but in the mean
time, it is an idle profufion of blood
and treasure, to carry War beyond our
present line of forts : it is oily expo
sing our arms to disgrace, betraying
osr own weaknefs,' and lessening the
public confidence in the general go
vernment to fend forth armies to be
butchered.in the forefts, whilst we
fuffer the British to keep possession of
polls within our tdrritdryj
As long as'Britain is faffered to re
tain those posts, we can never hope
to Succeed against the Indians ; nor
ought we to trace ocr late misfor
tune to any other fcurce than her still
holding then in her possession :f-were
they in oar hands, the Indians could
not carry on their operations against
vs with the fame degree of vigour as
they now do ; for it is from those
forts that they obtain their fopplies of
arms and amunirion, with which they
Cao be, at all timts) plentifully fur
niched, as long as things continue
on their present flatting.
Until these posts are in our possessi
on, it will be in vain to fend our ar
-Irales into thb wilderness ; a body of
five thOafanH men, sent out against
the Indians,under the present Circum
stances, would be as effectually de
feated,as the smaller ones haOe alrea
dy been; in those wilds, our
troops have no friend at hand, to fur
nifh them with fuppliee, or to give
them intelligence of the approach
and operations of the enemy ; where
as the Indians, receiving both aid
and information from their friendly
neighbours, can pre-concert their
plans, and chufe, according to thir
own convenience, the place and the
hpur of attack, as they did before.
It was here observed by an honor
able geptleman on the other fide cf
the qaeftion, that we ought undoubt
edly to get possession of those posts ;
and that we might have long since
obtained it, if we had, ohly laid a
seasonable embargo on all the Bri
tiffi Dipping in onr ports ; though he
doubted, whether it would at present
be worth while to take such a llep,
as the Englilh have loft so great a
portion of our carrying trade, in
conference of the additional ton
nage laid on their ycffelsl
In, favour of the motion, it was
further urged, that supposing even
the war.to have been originally un
dertaken with justice bn our fide) —
foppofing alfo,that the national honor
and intefeft called for a continuance
of hofuliries—yet, as it was by
no means either necessary or prudent
toinvada the Indian territory,—as
this had been attempted in twofuccef
hve compaigns, and the event had in
both instances, been fucH; as to af
ford no very flattering profpe& from
a third expedition of the fame kind ;
it was thought much more advifeable
to content onrfelves with defending
the frontier ; and this might be done,
wi:h ut making so great an aug
mentation in the military cftablifh
ment. °
The only use of regular trcops on
the frontier, is to garrnon the forts,
and to have a Handing force in the
neighbourhood, to form a Ration, to
which the militia, may resort either
for protection o/fupplies—but as to
aftive service, nhe frontier militia
and rangers were pronounced to be
by far preferable to the regular
troops, as being mere expert woods
men, and better habituated to the
Indian mode of fighting. .Ta defend
the forts, a finall.number of regulars
would be Sufficient ; —the present e
stablishment of two regiments would
if completed, be amply adequate to
the purpose ; and when affifted.by
such forces as might at ail times
be collected on the, frontier, would
be able to repel every inroad of the
enemy#
Experience his proved, that the
sudden and desultory attacks of the
frontier militia and rangers are ever
attended with better success, than the
methodical operations of a regular
force ; the former are better calcu
lated for, expedition and surprise,
making urexpeded sallies, flouring
the country in small bodies, barraf
fing the .Indians, and intercepting
their draggling parties, by whom
their motions are uuob,rved ; where
as, when a body of regulars take the
field, encumbered with baggage and
heavy artillery, the unavoidable slow
ness of their movemen, affords the
enemy an opportunity of watching all
their operations, colle&irig their
whole force, and Bulking in the
woods around them, till they can
seize the favourable mo rent to strike
a sudden blow, which they generally
dowith success, but which they could
never atempt, if exposed every hour
to the unforfeen attacks ofcdr wcodfi
men, who wouldkeep their attention
confrintly engagad in all quarters,
and thus prevent them from uniting
in large bodies.
It was further observed by feme
gentlemen, who even admitted the
propriety of invading the Indian ter
ritory,that to affed this with success,
it was by no means necessary to make
such an increase in the military efta
blilhinent, as that contemplated in
the bill ; the mifearriage of the for
mer expeditions could not (they said)
be allhdged as a Efficient reason : for
it is well known, that the former e
stablishment was far from being com
plete : the regulars, intended for the
service of the last campaign, were to
have, been Bbove tuo thousand two
hundred ; the President was besides
empowered to raise two thousand £ve
hundred levies in addition to the regu
lars ; and these tyould together have
constituted an army of about four
thousand {even hundred men: had
such a body been employed,we might
reasonably have expelled much bet
ter success against the Indians, whole
numbers were so far inferior, the
whole force of the Wabash tribes not
amounting to above eleven or twelve
THE
Gazetteer.
It was farther urged, thatthe fron
tier militia are not only equal, but
infinitely superior to any regular
troops whatever, for the defence of
the borders, and that they are in fad,
the only force that can be effectually
employed in expeditions against the
hostile Indians, wh&fe mode of fight,
ing is familiar to them, and does not
strike them with that degree 'of ter
ror, with which i: inspires those p,a
hundred warriors, who never could
keep the field for any length of time,
must be soon obliged to disperse,
without centering an attack upon in
army offuch superior ftrerigth.
Instead of this our army confined
of only about twelve hundred men,
and cf these not above four or five
hundred were regular troops ; bekdea
had even this force been {efficient if
employed in season, the delays, that
had taken place in the execution of
the plan, would alone have been fuf
fcient to defeat the intended purpose.
During the winter, the law was pas
sed for railing the additional troops
to carry on the war with greater vigor;
the whole summer was spent in the
business, and the few men, that we
did enlist, were not raised till late in
the fall,colluded at length at the head
of the Ohio, they fruitlefsly^ loitered
away their time, till they finally er
eded a monument io cur eternal dis
grace and infamy.
jWhatever troops are to be employ
ed, ought to be railed with diligence
and dispatch, if we wi( hto avoid a
similar mifearriage in our next at
tempt, the army ought not to enter
the. Indian country, till their whole
force is complete; difficulties however
and del^y, equal to those of last year,
may be again expend in enlisting
the men and we will have the officers
in pay a considerable time, without
any foldiets—perhaps the former pay
of the troops was too low ; and proper
effective men were unwilling to ex
cept of it ; if so, let it be railed ; let
the men be well clothed and. fed , ^
and they will more readily engage \
in the service—probably also the T°
term of three years was an objection
with many, who would otherwise
have joined our standard—is enlisted
only for fix months, the ranks will
be sooner filled ; and this ought to
have considerable weight with those
who advocate the augmentation of
the military establishment, as they
cannot but know, that if we fee about
enlisting the number cf men contem
plated in the bill, and in the man
ner there ptefcribed, they cannot be
raised time enough to render any ser
vice in the next campaign.
The information, contained in the
report on the table, was not, it was
said, to be implicitly relied on—that
report was made by a man, who had
not personally visited the frontier—
others, who had been on the spot,
were of opinion, that if. 2000 levies
had been raised last year, they would
have been {efficient'not only for the
defence of the frontier, but even for
any offenfive operations, that might
have been thought necessary —such
troops, collected in the vicinity are
more competent to the undertaking,
than the troops now in contemplati
on—ng complaint had been made of
their conduct ; whenever they were
tried, they behaved as well as the
regulars, and in the a&ibn under Ge
neralSt, Clair, they gave equal proofs
of their valor.
[Numb. 36 of Volume 6.