The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1814-12-22
BRITISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT SET
RIGHT
TO 7'RE EDI9oRS

10 7'HE EDI9oRS.
Gen. Ross, in his official dispatch, SAYS,
that after having landed the army at t3sne-
diet, they moved 1p to Nottingham, and On
the ed August, tn Upper Marlborough, a
few miles distant .!om Pig Point, where .1d-
1irai Cock6urn fell in with and defeated the
,lot'ila, taktnS and destroying the whole
row the fact rs, they neither took nor des-
trONed the ti0tilla for ON the 2lst the fotila
was abandoned by the crews To JUN the army,
leaving only OF men in every Barge, to
destroy, them on the appearance of the enc
my S arnv, and forces from the fleet which
was done by the officers and lnSn left by me.
and not by ddriaL Cock6urn So much FOR
Il S part OF the Generals dispatch. The Ge-
neral declares he landed the army to Coop
crate with .4QauQL CochrGne, in the opera
tons which were to be made in an attack
under -fdmir0i Cockburn upon the flutiia. Let
us tor moment make 4 bipartisan Of the
forces; AZ sail ii ShitS Qfihe linz, frigates,
bombs sloops of war, tenders and transports.
having on board an army as thru said, of
5000 veteran troops, the crews OF the ships,
&c. 5000 more, a total of / 1000 men, to Co
operate against fcUrtecn oflcn rozc boats,
mot gun boats and one tender having
crews amounting in the whole to SOB men,
400 OF which had lett the bargss the day pre-
vious, leaving ICE men to defend 1t against
al the forces combined, with Admirals, Gen
erals, sc. At th=ir head
The general then goes on to state that on
the 23d he was opposed by a corps of 1900
mcn--now the fact is, these 1900 men were
no other than two companies If rihenren ard
infantry, with light artillery, 200 strong I'm
der MAJOR Peter from the District a Skin
mish ensued, one man slightly wounded.
Then the general coTneS on to Bla nsburg,
where ne found the enemy {" strongly post
cd on cOnnmanJipr ha.o
house, &c. which house was shortly carried"
Now the TACT is, the house was not occupied
by the Americans, of course easily carried
he general then goes on to state how his
troops advanced, and by the irresistible at
tack ot the bayonet, the enemy got into cOnfu-
son and fed 1t would have been more to
the honor of the general, if he had told that
the men never had it IN their power to use
the bayonet but once, aud then declined for
after c. cry attempt was made by his men to
advance on the main road and were driven
back by the artillery under my command in
To the field, they were rallied and again led
on by Col. Thornton, who advanced to with
Ill ttty yards Of our position, whe,e he was
met by the marines Under captains Miller and
SEWER with the hO;'ha men. Colonel Thorn
ton fell dangerously wounded, Captain Ham
ilton and Lieutenant Codd were He'd, Lieut.
otevely of the " Kings Own also severely
wounded. The veterans of the 8jth and
9TH, or Kings Own" gave way. So FIR from
using the bayonct, they fed before our men,
who pursued them. the sallors calling out to
g boayd" them, nor did the enemy rally until
they got into ravinc covered with woods,
leaving their officers in our power. Then
cur men returned to their station General
Ross in person was obliged to take command,
but dared not lead them On IN front, but pust!
ell out on our Hank our ammunition being
expended we were ncCessitated TO retire. The
General says the artillery, which was undsr
Com. Barney, "ten pieces" were taken. The
feet is, never had but ire pieces But
such are the accounts given by British COM
handlers. The General then goes On TO sL2 q.
their loss, which afIicar8 small, yet TO ~,
knowledge the 8jth RECT. lost fcH r. c.,,:
killed and wounded, amongst them OF.
IhorHton Lieut. Col. Wood and " 81; J{r@...
these facts could not be denieI 10, tt, :, -.
as the above officers fell iuto E , 80, ,"e
did between 2 and 500 ether 'oftre,s ~, =
Yates and nave been eXch9' ngcd through m,
agency, against the Office rs and nn,, et,t,,';,
ny the enemy az nidae' 'sburg, and all thos,
tlken or FGToIed az ,er being wounded. a
2aHim9Te. Not"P lstanding all these facts
~. DTooEe sayF he carried OF two huntre,
OF INC most re- )ectablcinhabitanl Of that Ct
" as prls0u' .rs-yet after this general ex
change tW enemy fell in debt to ~ in point O
humper upwards OF 100 men, be sides havin,
zoo b' led on the field. Such was the rea
sta'P Of these boosted transactions, for a.,
tV n OF which refer to GDi. Ihornt17, 1t
Col. WOoi. VI j. DroyyH and H. Sfcu In.
/ JOSHUA BARNEY.
/ EhATNT(4TNnO