The Virginia gazette — Williamsburg, Va., 1776-08-23 00:00:00, page 1

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'NUMBE-n 82.
?ALwM-s ran LlBERTy_
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; ' High HEAYEN
ENDS direct.: t/ssve STORDI!
m GRAC IOUS
isi appy-of a letter dropped by one of Clinton':
: officer: on Long "land, nearCharlestown,
; - A little bafilre hitflight
'Camp Loue lsLAND, jub- 13, 1776.
_ Dun Baoruzk,
'si lTH the greatest difficulty ] have
; procured this small piece of paper
si' ctc'o inform you of my being well, notwith
f Knodiflg the miserable situation we are in.
[si_ " _We hewe been encamped on this island
s for this month pAst, and have lived upon
f} flaming else but salt pork, and pease.
', We (lecp gpon the sc_a_sh0re; nothing to
. [neuer us rr_om me vlolent rams but our
si (:batd, or miserable pahry blankets. There
( psspqthing that grows upon this island,
ss it bein a mere sand bank, and a few
; bdfhe's "which harbour millions osmuskitoes ,
' sil'grcater plague than there can be in hell.
ctss fsisisi By this floop of war you will have an
'Mcount'of an action which happened on
, She thh of june between the ships and
ssct the fort on Shllivan's island. — The can—
' ionade continued for about nine hours,
sssi lnd was perhaps one oflhe briikest known
the annals of war. We had two 50
sssi tun ships, and five frightes from 24 to go
; gous, playin on the fort, I may say
ss' without succe 15, for they did the battery
no manner of damage, and only killed 15,
1 lnd wounded between 40 and 50.
' _ O-ships are in the most mangled situ—
ltion yOu can conceive. The Acteon, ::
30 gon frigate, ran aground during the
action; and, as it yvas impossible to get
her off, we Were obliged td blow her up.
Our killed and woursilded amount to be
then ! and 309. Numbcrs die daily of
their w0unds.
The commodore is wounded in.two dis
ferent places . His captain lost his left arm
And right hand, and was wounded in_dis
ferent places of his body; he lived but
two days after the action. Capt. Scott
.pf the Experiment, oF-5o guns, died of
his wounds, and numbers orother offiCCrs.
' is the ships could have silen'ced the batct
tery, the army was to have made an attack
on the back of the island, where they had
about 1000 men intrenched up to their
eyes, besidcs a small battery offour guns,
due 18 poundcr, and three 4 poundcrs,
!" loaded with grape shot, so that they
Would have killed half oF us before we
Could make our land'mg good.
We are now expecting to cmbark sor
New York, to join general Howc with
she grand army. '
My anxicty to insorm you of bad news
had well nigh made me forget to mention
-0ux* passage to Cape Fear, where we arriv
ed ssilscly the first of May, after a voyage
OF three monthssi. ,Though it was long,
it was not disasi eable. After wc got
onctc of the bay (if Biscay, where we met
" With the worst weather evcrknovm at, sea,
An] continues! in that lirpatiou For 16 days,
after that time we had very fine 'weathcr
all "along. Sometimes we were becalnjed
fOr sour or five days tngctHe-rss, not gqmg
above ten kno'cs :! (le- Upon mn' arnval
in Clpe FP-zr we .hsi-v-J '
' .]. ' , :
'"Campcd 5": 1] "."":leth and as erf
* '0 siwmds Ulliin-Lhe 97lh 0
55 When We wcm on bwz'zsi. sizgsi'fl": an
.1 si ss
sailed for this infernal place. The oldest
of the officers do not remember of ever
ondergoing such hardships as we have
done since our arrival here.
] hope you w'11_l be so good as to watch
every opportunigy to let me hear-msiyou
and mrs. Falcouer, and at the same time
to inform me how 1 shall do, &c.sict'[the re
nssiainder is on private affairs] I shall write
again From New York. I am,'dear sirct,
your most affectionate brother,
7 WlLLIAM FALCONER.
To the han. ANTHONY FALCONER,
at Montrosc, Scotlarfd.
Mr. Pugonz, August 6, 1776.
P'E R U S ] NG the pokscript to your
Gaze'tte ofthc 5'th ultimo, a few days
ago (which really had til] then escaped
my notice) ! Was struck with astonishment
at two pieces, both penned, I am con
vince-d, by the same hand, but sighed,
one by lieutenant-colonel Frank Eppcs, the
other by'captain Robert BalIm-d, wherein
the author endeavours to emulpatect the
captain from a charge ailedged a ainst him
by the soldiers under his imme tate com
mand, of withholding- their pay. Many
gentlemen can teshfy, that a complaint of
that hature was, in geheral terms, laid
before thclast Convcntion, and in conse—
Quence thereofa committec ofinquiry was
appointed . I happened to be one of that
cummittee, thareforc can speak and write
with greater confidcncc concerning the
affair; and notwithstanding it is positivc]
asserted in the certificate to which coly:
Eppes hinth imprudcntly put his signature,
that si} the reports of capt. Ballard's act
" in g in such amanner are false and ground
" less, and that, upon examination, it
" appeared "he had punctual/y paid off his
" men," yctI do aver it appeared, by
Capt. Ballald's own books, that he was
considerably in arrears to many of his men,
'conscquently the report was not groundss
Iq/sr. ( readily acknowledge there was not
so much due as they imagined. I also
admit, that, in a few instances, the balance
appeared in the captain's favour,- but
candour obliges me to declare, thasixt these
balances did not acgruc by hisfl hasivmgsi ad—
Vflslch any CXU'B. lums m actual Lsiuu LU
those men, but by stretching his credit in
stores for goods ( partly out of the publick
store) on account and for the use of those
few, to a greater extent than he had done
for the generality. That he may now have
genuine receipts from his whole company,
and that they may be well sfltilfiEd with
him in every particular, ! shall hot deny ;
but surely he will not be so hardy as to
(lay it was the case before they wei'e paid
of, which did not happen till about the
last of junc. But why did the captain,
who appears so consciazu of his own fecti
tude. suppress any material circumstancc?
He surely ought to have taken the same
method :a infbrqthc publi'ck of his persund
in;; most of his company to sign a rec ipt
inictun of" chcixsi wages, at Jhe velry time he
;, ,si ! fiderabl indcbtc to ! iem', & re
wssctss . Tzi'ocurcd ymanisestly with a view os
int
ce * general LlWIS, who has], a few
dcce'wing
w—si
\.
days bcsorc, given positivc orctrs tdctcver'j
captain in the contincntu] scrviccsi siatipncd
in and about Willian-ct/Izwg, immediate]
tu'lptdc with azyd sipay ctoif thsii: rssgfpectjvc
companies; but sinne of 1st men rcsqfin
!.p._sign it, occasio'ued a discqvcrsijss, si an
frustrsiated that schemc. ] do' nqc thee"
to 'msmuate he intended any fraud 'towssilkd
the sqldicrs; hcbcit know: the rcctiiudc
of hiy own heart}. But that he designeq
to deceive t}_1c general zl'urcby, ssissisi i_x_1_my_
fill"
llul].]U\= U')llllUl\, ]:sil'flVKlClll, uulcu ii. (21
be supposed he ,siwouid take the trouble o
obtaininga spur'wus dischargc without any
design or meaning at all. , _
lt is with the greatest reiuctance ! evei'
appear in publick priut, and ] sex—ioufl de—
clare nothing could have prompte me
to it at t is time but a tender regard for
mysi'reYntation, which ] conceive to be
v'wlent )! attacked by the abovc-mcotioned
extraordinary publications; for as the re
ffiort from the cenimittee is thereby flatly
cuntradicted, it surely must be considered
a: jmpeaching the vcracity osevcry mem
ber thereof. How far the honour and
dignity of the Conveutiun is coucemed in
this mates, must be left to their determi—
mation. ,
. ' ] ho e the candid and good—namred
part o the pupiick, when they reflect
.upon the moiive (Viz. a iafiification qf
mssy owuconduct) will pardOn r.;ctysicroubiinp;
them with : recitai of those facts and few
sh'ssictnres thereon. 'I am your obedient
servant, BOLLING S'rnuu.
w
To hi! Excellency 'PA] luck HENRY,
jun.' Esq; Goweruour of the Common
wealth of Vuamm : ;',-.- -
The humble Address of the Missnisters and
Delegates oft'hc B'A P 'l' ] S T 'Cl-mrches
met in Assoeiation in Louzsa, Avgust u,
1776. in Behais of their Brethren.
A-say it pleaseyour Excelfemy, " -
AS your advancement to the honourable
and important [lation of go'vemour of
this commonweahh affords us unspeakable
pleasure, we beg leave to present your'
excellency with our most Cordial congra
tulations. '
A . , I -
Your publxck vmues qre lucn unu we
are under no temptation to flattcr you.
Virginia has done honour to her judgment
in appoint'mg your excellency to hold the
reins of government at this truly critical
conjuncture, as you have ahmys diffin
guished yourself by your Zeal and activity
for her welfare, in whatcvcr'departmenc
has been assigned you .
As a refigious cummunity, .we have no- ,
thing to request, of you. Your c'onstant
attachment to the glorious cause offibcrty ,
and the rights of'conscicucc, leaves us no
room to doubt osyourcxccllency's savour
ab1c regards, while: we worthily dcmcan
ourselves. '
May GOD ALMlCHTY continuc.you
long, very long, a public}: blessmg to 1th
our native country ; and, after a life of
usesulncss here, crowu with you immor
tal felicity in the world to come.
" ngned by order.
]EREMlAl-I VVAKLER, me.}emmss.
]on N W lum " s , dark.