American History Told by Contemporaries/Volume 2/Chapter 29
CHAPTER XXIX — THE BRITISH FORCES
178. "Appeal to the Hessians sold by their Princes" (1776)
BY HONORÉ GABRIEL RIQUETTI, COUNT DE MIRABEAU
This spirited protest, by the French pamphleteer and later statesman of the French Revolution, reflects the opinion of thinking men in Europe on the English purchase of mercenary troops. — Bibliography of the Hessian question: Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VII, 75-76; Lowell, Hessians in the Revolution; Channing and Hart, Guide, § 138.
Quis furor iste novus? quo nunc, quo tenditis? —
Heu ! miseri cives ! non hostem, inimica que castra ;
— Vestras spes uritis.
Virg.
BRAVE Germans, what a brand of shame you allow to be marked on your noble brows ! What ! can it be at the end of the eighteenth century that the nations of central Europe are the mercenary satellites of an odious despotism ! What ! those valorous Germans, who so fiercely defended their liberty against the conquerors of the world and braved the Roman armies, now, like the base Africans, are sold and hasten to shed their blood in the cause of tyrants ! They suffer the slave-trade to be carried on amongst them, their cities to be depopulated, their fields to be ravaged, so as to help overbearing rulers to lay waste another hemisphere. — Will you share much longer in the stupid blindness of your masters? — You, honorable soldiers, faithful and for midable maintainers of their power, of that power which was trusted to them only to protect their subjects, you are bartered away ! — Ah ! for what an employment, just gods ! — Huddled together like flocks of sheep in the ships of foreigners, you cross the seas ; you hasten through reefs and storms, to attack a people who have done you no harm, who are defending the most just of causes, who are setting you the noblest of examples. — Ah ! why do you not imitate that brave people, instead of striving to destroy them ! They are breaking their fetters ; they are fighting to maintain their natural rights and to guarantee their liberty ; they are stretching out their arms to you ; they are your brothers ; they are doubly so : nature made them such, and social ties have strengthened these sacred claims ; more than half of this people is composed of your fellow-countrymen, of your friends, of your relatives. They have fled from tyranny to the uttermost parts of the world, and tyranny has pur sued them even there ; oppressors, equally avaricious and ungrateful, have forged fetters for them, and the worthy Americans have welded these fetters into swords to drive back their oppressors. — The New World then is going to count you in the number of the monsters hungering for gold and blood, who have ravaged it ! Germans, you whose most marked characteristic has always been fairness, do you not shudder at such a reproach? —
To these motives, of a nature to touch men, must one join the motives of an interest affecting equally slaves and free citizens?
Do you know what nation you are going to attack? Do you realize the power of the fanaticism of liberty? It is the only fanaticism which is not odious, it is the only one which is worthy ; but it is also the most powerful of all. — You do not know it, O blind peoples, you who think yourselves free, while grovelling under the most hateful of all despotisms, the despotism which forces men to commit crimes ! You do not know it, you whom the whim or the cupidity of a despot may arm against men who deserve well of all mankind, since they are defending its cause, and preparing a refuge for it ! — O mercenary warriors, O satellites of tyrants, O enervate Europeans, you are going to fight men stronger, more industrious, more courageous, more active than you can be : they are inspired by a strong interest, you are led on by vile lucre ; they are defending their property, and are fighting for their hearths; you are leaving yours, and are not fighting for yourselves. It is in the bosom of their country, in their native clime, aided by all the resources of home, that they are making war against hordes which the Ocean spewed forth, after having prepared their defeat : the most powerful and the most sacred motives urge on their valor, and summon victory in their train. Chiefs who scorn you while making use of you, will oppose in vain their harangues to the irresistible eloquence of liberty, of need, of necessity. In short, and to say all in one word, the cause of the Americans is just: heaven and earth condemn the one which you do not blush to uphold. —
O Germans, who can have infused in you this thirst of combat, this barbarous frenzy, this odious devotion to tyranny? — No, I will not compare you to those fanatical Spaniards, who destroyed for the sake of destroying, who bathed in blood, when nature, utterly drained, forced their insatiable cupidity to give way to a more atrocious passion; nobler sentiments, more excusable errors lead you astray. That faithfulness to your chiefs, which distinguished the Germans your ancestors, that habit of obeying, without stopping to reflect that there are duties more sacred than obedience and taking precedence of all oaths, that credulity which makes men yield to the influence of a small number of madmen or of the ambitious, those are your wrongs ; but they will be crimes, if you do not check yourselves on the brink of the abyss. — Already those of your fellow-countrymen who have preceded you recognize their blindness ; they are deserting, and the acts of kindness from those people whom they were recently slaughtering, and who treat them like brothers, now that they no longer see in their hands the executioner's sword, aggravate their remorse and double their repentance.
Profit by their example, O soldiers ; think of your honor, think of your rights. — Have you not indeed some rights as well as your chiefs? — Yes, undoubtedly : it can not be repeated too often, men take prece dence of princes, who, for the most part, are not worthy of such a name ; leave to infamous courtiers, to impious blasphemers, the task of vaunting the royal prerogative, and its unbounded rights; but do not forget that all men were not made for one man ; that there is an authority superior to all authorities ; that he who orders a crime must not be obeyed, and that thus your conscience is the first of your chiefs. —
Question that conscience ; it will tell you that your blood should flow only for your fatherland, that it is atrocious to receive money to go to slaughter, several thousand leagues away, men who have no other relations with you than those which ought to win them your good will.
She pretends to be carrying on a just war, this mother-country which is straining every nerve to destroy her children ! She claims her rights, and will discuss them only with the thunderbolt of battle ! But even if these rights were real, have you examined them? Is it for you to judge this dispute? Is it for you to pronounce the sentence? Is it for you to carry it out? — Ah, after all, what matter these idle claims, so problematical and so contested? Man, in every country of the world, has the right to be happy. That is the first of laws, that is the first of claims : the founders of colonies do not go forth to make uncultivated lands fertile, to augment the glory and power of the mother-country, in order to be oppressed by her. — Are they oppressed? then they have the right to shake off the yoke, because the yoke is not made for man. But who has told you that the English had signed the decree of outlawry launched against the Americans? — Brave Germans, you have been deceived ; do not degrade by such a suspicion a nation which has produced great men and fine laws, which long nourished in her bosom the sacred fire of liberty, and which deserves, from these claims, consideration and respect. — Alas ! in the British Isles, as in the rest of the world, a small number of ambitious men stir up the people, and produce public calamities. The critical moment has arrived : England, unhappy nation, is at war with her brothers only because despotism, for several years, has been waging there a successful contest against liberty. Do not believe therefore that you are defending the cause of the English ; you are fighting to increase the authority of a few ministers whom they abhor and scorn.
Do you wish to know the true motives which put arms in your hands?
Vain luxury, despicable expenditures have ruined the finances of the princes who govern you ; their extortions have utterly drained their resources ; they have too often deceived the confidence of their neighbors to be able to have recourse to them again. They would therefore have to give up that excessive luxury, those every-recurring whims, which are their most important occupation; they can not make up their minds to it, they will not do so. England, drained of men and money, is purchasing at great expense money and men ; your princes seize eagerly this temporary and ruinous resource ; they levy soldiers, they sell them, they deliver them : that is the employment of your arms ; that is for what you are destined. Your blood will be the price of corruption and the plaything of ambition. This money which has just been acquired by trafficking in your lives, will pay shameful debts or help to contract new ones. An avaricious usurer, a vile courtesan, a base actor, are going to receive these guineas given in exchange for your existence.
O blind spendthrifts, who gamble with men's lives, and waste the: fruits of their toil, of their sweat, of their substance, a tardy repentance, heart-rending remorse, will be your executioners, but will not relieve those nations which you trample upon ; you will regret your husband men and their crops, your soldiers, your subjects ; you will weep over the misfortunes which you will have wrought with your own hands, and which will involve you together with all your people. A formidable neighbor smiles at your blindness, and is preparing to take advantage of it ; he is already forging the fetters with which he plans to load you ; you will groan under the weight of your chains, even should they be of gold, and your conscience, then more just than your heart was easy to touch, will be the avenging fury of the woes which you will have brought about.
And you, nations betrayed, harassed, sold, blush at your error; let your eyes be unsealed ; leave this ground sullied by despotism ; cross the seas, hasten to America ; but embrace there your brothers ; defend this noble people against the haughty rapacity of their persecutors ; share their happiness; double their strength; assist them with your industry ; make their riches your own, by increasing them. Such is the object of society ; such is the duty of man, whom nature made to love his fellowmen, and not to slaughter them ; learn from the Americans the art of being free, of being happy, of turning social institutions to the profit of each of the individuals who compose society ; forget, in the honorable refuge which they offer to suffering humanity, the frenzy of which you were the accomplices and the victims ; learn to know true greatness, true glory, true felicity ; let the nations of Europe envy you and bless the moderation of the inhabitants of the New World, who will disdain to come and punish them for their crimes, and to conquer depopulated lands which are trampled on by cruel tyrants, and watered by the tears of downtrodden slaves.
[Honoré Gabriel Riquetti, Comte de Mirabeau], Avis aux Hessois, et autres Peuples de l'Allemagne (Œuvres, Paris, 1822, VII, 1-8) ; translated for this work by George N. Henning.
179.Army Life (1776-1777)
BY CAPTAIN GEORG PAUSCH
Pausch was in command of some Hanau artillerymen, hired as mercenaries by the English. His observations show the state of feeling between the English and German contingents, and the trials of the camp. — Bibliography : Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VI, 360.
[September 8, 1776.] THE Regiments are gradually drawing nearer together ; and some of them are advancing closer to St. Johns. Those of the boats which are completed and were on the river have mostly been transported toward Lake Champlain, which Lake is still in possession of both parties. We have two frigates on the Lake ; and from all appearances, there will be a demonstration against it without waiting for the arrival of the two thousand Brunswick troops, which left at the same time as I did, and are destined to act with us. The Rebels are said to be strongly entrenched on the other side [end] of the Lake among the mountains, and from 600 to 1000 Savages are said to form the attacking force of the right wing. We are all on foot ; and I am sorry to say that I, also, am in the same fix. We cannot get a two wheeled calash — for which, too, we have to pay one shilling an hour — without trouble and asking permission of one or another general. We even have to pay out of our own pocket, the above price per hour for the small carts of the peasants on which to transport the Company's baggage, clothing and other necessary articles. This expense I hope his Majesty, the King, will most graciously consent to make up to our Company ; for we cannot, as yet, tell whether our means, including the money for our rations, will, or will not be sufficient.
For these several reasons, I cannot take into consideration those things which belong and are essential to, position ; nor, can I form an idea, until God leads me there on foot, where we shall all meet together for action. This state of affairs will certainly make campaigns —such as no man, since the existence of Hessian troops, has ever witnessed in this world ! According to an old history by a certain Italian King and Campaigner, the Hessian troops had, generally, one ass for the baggage of two officers ; but I am very much afraid — and the English prophesy the same thing that in a short time, each officer will have to gird a saddle on his own back and carry his own baggage ! . . .
[November 8.] Indeed, I have been, from the start, the most miserable and unfortunate of all the commanders of the German Companies. Each of my men who was sent to the Hospital was not only afflicted with dysentery, but, as the hospital doctors told me, talked day and night of fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, cousins, and aunts — besides, also, talking over and repeating all kinds of German village deviltry — calling now this one, and now that one by his baptismal name until they had to stop for actual want of breath ! For this disease there is, as is well known, but one remedy in the world, viz : dear peace, and a speedy return ; and with this hope I comfort my sick daily. With those still alive and well, I am perfectly satisfied ; for they find plenty of solace in the Canadian girls and women. For this reason, and in their companionship they are happy and contented. . . .
April [1777]. All the officers have to add money of their own, or else live poorly. A bombadier, for example, has to pay for a pair of boots 20 florins ; for a pair of leather pants 20 florins ; for a coat, five times as much as in Hanau ; and everything else in the same proportion. Why, a bottle of the poorest red wine costs, in our money, 36 kreutzers, and a bottle of Madeira 1 piastre ! . . .
Regarding the charges against head-smith Brads concerning discipline, service and insubordination, the Brigadier General will send in his reports and protocols. I wish to gracious that I had never seen such a "cuss ;" also, I hope never to see another one like him. I fervently hope that he will sit in chains in a London jail — for this is all he is good for in this world. There is no more despicable beast in this world than he. He respects neither God nor his Superiors. This is the second time that he has been confined in jail. . . .
[May 15.] For the last three weeks I have drilled every morning from 6 to 8 o'clock, after the lately introduced fashion — with only one Company. In the afternoon, two of my cannon are served by the English, and two by men from my Company when [ball] cartridges are used. I, for one, never am present but send my officers instead — for the reason, that only an English captain is sent there, and only an English officer commands them on these occasions.
The National pride and arrogant conduct of these people allow them to command my men, while I am not permitted to command theirs !
I lately requested Gen. Phillips that he would furnish me powder for my own drill. This request he at once granted. This was at one o'clock. At three o'clock, it was countermanded through the influence either of the Major or some one else. Jealousy was the cause of my not being allowed to drill separately any longer ; and I was thus forced to drill at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, according to their orders and by their drums, which my men do not understand at all, and who, if I left them to drill alone, would be totally demoralized. In fact, the Devil of Jealousy has been aroused because the English see that my men drill quicker and more promptly, and because, also, the spectators do us the justice publicly to acknowledge this to be the case. Hence, instead of the former friendship between us, there is now enmity. They imitate our Artillery in different things, as, for example, in the matter of our wipers — of which they are having some made for their 3 and 6 pound cannon. Every day, to my disgust, I have to practice the [lately] introduced quick-step, which we do not have, nor do they have it in Prussia — nay not in the world, except in the chase, with fast horses and good dogs ! This is a splendid exercise for the men in winter ; but in the summer, when the weather is warm, it is detrimental to the health of the men. It has no good result except to make the spectators laugh — for by this manœuvre no closed ranks could be kept in an attack upon the enemy. In case, therefore, of a retreat we would not only fare badly, but would be exposed to the well deserved censures of the European and American press. . . .
Maj. Williamson got it into his head that he could order me to forbid my men going out in the evening with their sabres. But I told him that I would not dare receive such an order from any one except my Gracious Prince, and therefore I could not obey him : further : that should I meet any one of my men either during the day or at the time for retiring at 9 o'clock, going to his quarters without his sabre, I should have him flogged the next morning. I further said, that it was a standing order at our Capital, where four or five battalions were collected at a time, that no soldier in uniform should be without his side-arms.
Since then, I have never been asked to do this ; and in fact, it would fare ill with my men were such an order enforced — since were they to depend on boxing for protection, some would return to Germany cross eyed and some blind ! . . .
[May 17.] Respecting that miserable rascal and head-smith, Brads . . . I gave it as my opinion that the fellow had already been somewhat punished ; and as I did not wish to belittle the General, the wretch had better be released from further punishment, and allowed to continue at his work.
In time of war, I find sentences of this kind out of place, as long, that is, as the offence is not a criminal one. Prompt punishment such as running the gauntlet, whipping, or confining in fetters for a time is the best that can be done on these occasions, as by these light punishments, the service does not suffer.
19th. Brought to a close, the 19th of May, 1777, in the Winter-quarters at Montreal. It looks, now, as if we were on the point of starting ; and, perhaps, we will really do so before the end of the month.
Captain [Georg] Pausch, Journal (translated by William L. Stone, Albany, 1886), 69-121 passim.
180. An Investigation of British Military Prisons (1778)
BY COMMISSARY-GENERAL ELIAS BOUDINOT (ABOUT 1800)
Boudinot was sent by New Jersey to the Continental Congress, and later became president of that body. At the time of this episode he was in charge of British prisoners and exchanges. The cruelties of the British prison-ships in New York, and the corresponding cruelties suffered by the loyalists in the Connecticut copper-mine prison at Simsbury, are typical of an age when ordinary criminals were treated with much the same barbarity, both in England and in America. — Bibliography: Jane J. Boudinot, Life of Elias Boudinot; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VII, 87-88.
THE Complaints of the very cruel Treatment our Prisoners met with, in the Enemy's Lines rose to such a Height that in the Fall of this Year 1777 the General wrote to Genl Howe (or Clinton) repeating their Complaints and proposing to send an Officer into New York to examine into the Truth of them — This was agreed to and a regular Passport returned accordingly — The General ordered me on this Service — I accordingly went over on the third of February, 1778 in my own sloop — . . . We arrived at the Wharf of New York a little before Sundown, when I sent the Sergeant to the Commandant of the City (who was General Robertson whom I had formerly known,) to inform him of my Arrival and request to land — . . . The General with great Politeness assured me that tho' Lodgings were prepared, yet I might go where I pleased, on consideration of my breakfasting with him in the Morning — This I promised to do & retired — Taking it for granted that I was to be put under the expected Restrictions in the Morning, I waited on the General at Breakfast . . . The General answered me, that he knew We had heard strange Stories within our Lines of their Conduct to our Prisoners — That he had rejoiced that Genl Washington bad taken the Measure of sending me in to examine for ourselves, for that he was sure that we should find them a parcel of damned Lies — That he had ordered every Place that I should choose to visit to be freely opened to me, and that as I was a Gentleman, all that he expected was, that I should behave as such ; and that I might use my own Pleasure & go where I pleased — I confess I was surprised at this generous Conduct ; and immediately replied, that I could not accept this gentlemanly Offer — That I had come on a fair and open Business — . . . That therefore I should not see a Prisoner or have any Communication with one. but in the Presence of a British Officer, who I hoped he would oblige me by appointing to attend me — The General expressed himself well pleased with the Proposal, and appointed one accordingly, observing again, that he was sure I should find the Reports we had heard totally false — Accordingly I went to the Provost with the Officer where we found near 30 officers from Colonels downwards in close confinement in the Gaol in New York — After some Conversation with Coll Ethan Allen I told him my Errand on which he was very free in his abuse of the British on account of the cruel treatment he had recd during months close confinement — We then proceeded upstairs to the room of their confinement — I had the Officers drawn up in a Ring, and informed them of my Mission — . . . On this after some little Hesitation from a Dread of their Keeper the Provost Marshal, one of them began & informed us — that they had been confined on the most frivolous Pretences, some for having been the Oppressors of the Friends of Government, for taking Refugees & Property while Officers under Command and in Obedience to Orders, for being out of their bounds of Parole, tho' weeks after their Return— Some confined in the Dungeon for a Night to await the Leisure of General to examine them & forgot for Months — for being Committee Men, &c. &c. — That they had received the most cruel Treatment from the Provost Marshal, being locked up in the Dungeon on the most trifling Pretence, such as asking for more Water for Drink on a hotter Day than usual — For sitting up a little longer in the Evening than the Orders allowed — For writing a Letter to the General making their Complaints of ill-usage & throwing out of the Windows — That some of them were kept 10, 12 & 14 weeks in the Dungeon on these trifling Pretences — A Capt. Vandyke had been confined 18 Months for being concerned in setting Fire to the City, when on my calling for the Provost Books it appeared that he had been made Prisoner & closely confined by the Provost 4 Days before the Fire happened — A Major Paine had been confined 11 months for killing a Capt. Campbell in the Engagement when he was taken Prisoner, when on Examination it appeared that the Captain had been killed in another part of the Action — The Charge was that Major Paine when taken had no Commission, tho acknowledged by us as a Major — Capt Flabwen was confined for breaking a soldier s thigh with the butt of his gun after he was shot down when the British surgeon on Examination acknowledged that the Thigh was broken by a Ball &c. &c. — Most of the Cases examined into turned out either wholly false or too trifling to be regarded — It also appeared by the Declaration of some of the Gentl that their Water would be sometimes, as the Caprice of the Provost Marshall led him, brought up to them in the Tubs they used in their Rooms, when the Weather was so hot that they must drink or perish — On hearing a number of these Instances of Cruelty — I asked who was the Author of them — They answered the Provost Keeper — I desired the Officer to call him up that we might have him Face to Face — He accordingly came in and on being informed of what had passed was asked if the Complaints were true — He with great Insolence answered that every Word was true — on which the British Officer abusing him very much asked him how he dared treat Gentl in that cruel Manner — He insolently putting his Hands to his side swore that he was as absolute there as Genl Howe was at the Head of his Army — I observed to the Officer that now there could be no Dispute about Facts as the Fellow had acknowledged every Word to be true — I stated all the Facts and Substance & waited again on Genl Robertson, who hoped I was quite satisfied of the falsity of the Reports I had heard — I then stated to him the Facts, and assured him that they turned out worse than anything we had heard — On his hesitating as to the truth of this assertion, I observed to him the Propriety of having an Officer with me to whom I now appealed for the Truth of the Facts He being present confirmed them — On which the Genl expressed great Dissatisfaction & promised that the Author of them should be punished — . . . after this I visited two Hospitals of our sick Prisoners and the Sugar House ; in the two first were 211 Prisoners & in the last about 190 — They acknowledged that for about two Months past they fared pretty well, being allowed 2 Ibs of good Beef and a Proportion of Flour or Bread pr Week by Mr. Lewis Pintard my Agent, over and above the Allowance reed from the British, which was professed to be 23 Allowance — but before they had suffered much from the small Allowance they had recd & that their Bread was very bad, being musty Biscuit, but that the British Soldiers made the same Complaint as to the Bread — From every Account I recd I found that their Treatment had been greatly changed for the better, within a few Months past, except at the Provost — They all agreed that previous to the Capture of Genl Burgoyne, and for some time after, their Treatment had been cruel beyond Measure — That the Prisoners in the French Church amounting on an Average to 3 & 400 could not all lay down at once — That from the 15th of Octr to the 1st of Jany they never recd a single stick of Wood, and that for the most Part they eat their Pork raw — When the Pews & Door & Window facings failed them for fuel — But as to my own personal Knowledge, I found Genl Robertson very ready to agree to every Measure for alleviating the Miseries of War and very candidly acknowledging many Faults committed by the inferior Officers, and even the Mistakes of the General himself, by hearkening to the Representations of those around him — . . .
J[ane] J. Boudinot, editor, The Life, Public Services, Addresses, and Letters of Elias Boudinot, LL.D. (Boston, etc., 1896), I, 89-98 passim.
181. A Loyalist Corps (1777)
Simcoe was commander of a British battalion serving in America, and was later made governor of Upper Canada. He was one of the most hated loyalists. — Bibliography, Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VII, 196-197. — For the loyalists in general, see ch. xxvii above.
ON the 15th of October, 1777, Sir William Howe was pleased to appoint Captain Simcoe of the Grenadiers, with the Provincial rank of Major, to the command of the Queen's Rangers ; the next day he joined that regiment, which was encamped with the army in the vicinity of German-Town.
On the 19th the army marched to Philadelphia, the Queen's Rangers formed the rear guard of the left column, and, in the encampment, their post was on the right of the line, in front of the village of Kensington ; the army extending from the Delaware to the Schuylkill.
On the 20th the regiment was augmented with nearly an hundred men, who had been enlisted by Captain Smyth during the various marches from the landing of the army in the Chesapeak to this period.
This was a very seasonable recruit to the regiment ; it had suffered materially in the action at Brandywine, and was too much reduced in numbers to be of any efficient service ; but if the loss of a great number of gallant officers and soldiers had been severely felt, the impression which that action had left upon their minds was of the highest advantage to the regiment ; officers and soldiers became known to each other , they had been engaged in a more serious manner, and with greater disadvantages than they were likely again to meet with in the common chance of war ; and having extricated themselves most gallantly from such a situation, they felt themselves invincible. This spirit vibrated among them at the time Major Simcoe joined them ; and it was obvious, that he had nothing to do but to cherish and preserve it. Sir William Howe, in consequence of their behaviour at Brandywine, had promised that all promotions should go in the regiment, and accordingly they now took place.
The Queen's Rangers had been originally raised in Connecticut, and the vicinity of New-York, by Colonel Rogers, for the duties which their name implies, and which were detailed in his commission ; at one period they mustered above four hundred men, all Americans, and all Loyalists. Hardships and neglect had much reduced their numbers, when the command of them was given to Colonel French, and afterwards to Major Weymess, to whom Major Simcoe succeeded ; their officers also had undergone a material change ; many gentlemen of the southern colonies who had joined Lord Dunmore, and distinguished themselves under his orders, were appointed to supersede those who were not thought competent to the commissions they had hitherto borne ; to these were added some volunteers from the army, the whole consisting of young men, active, full of love of the service, emulous to distinguish themselves in it, and looking forward to obtain, through their actions, the honor of being enrolled with the British army.
The Provincial corps, now forming, were raised on the supposed influence which their officers had among their loyal countrymen, and were understood to be native American Loyalists ; added to an equal chance among these, a greater resource was opened to the Queen's Rangers, in the exclusive privilege of enlisting old country-men (as Europeans were termed in America), and deserters from the rebel army ; so that could the officers to whom the Commander in Chief delegated the inspection of the Provincial corps have executed their orders, the Queen's Rangers, however dangerously and incessantly employed, would never have been in want of recruits ; at the same time, the original Loyalists, and those of this description, who were from time to time enlisted, forming the gross of the corps, were the source from whence it derived its value and its discipline ; they were men who had already been exiled for their attachment to the British government, and who now acted upon the firmest principles in its defence ; on the contrary, the people they had to oppose, however characterised by the enemies of Great Britain, had never been considered by them as engaged in an honourable cause, or fighting for the freedom of their country ; they estimated them not by their words, but by an intimate observance of their actions, and to civil desecration, experience had taught them to add military contempt. . . . . . . A light corps, augmented as that of the Queen's Rangers was, and employed on the duties of an outpost, had no opportunity of being instructed in the general discipline of the army, nor indeed was it very necessary : the most important duties, those of vigilance, activity, and patience of fatigue, were best learnt in the field ; a few motions of the manual exercise were thought sufficient ; they were carefully instructed in those of firing, but above all, attention was paid to inculcate the use of the bayonet, and a total reliance on that weapon. The divisions being fully officered, and weak in numbers, was of the greatest utility, and in many trying situations was the preservation of the corps ; two files in the centre, and two on each flank, were directed to be composed of trained soldiers, without regard to their size or appearance. It was explained, that no rotation, except in ordinary duties, should take place among light troops, but that those officers would be selected for any service who appeared to be most capable of executing it : it was also enforced by example, that no service was to be measured by the numbers employed on it, but by its own importance, and that five men, in critical situations or employment, was a more honourable command than an hundred on common duties. Serjeants guards were in a manner abolished, a circumstance to which in a great measure may be attributed, that no centinel or guard of the Queen's Rangers was ever surprised ; the vigilance of a gentleman and an officer being transcendantly superior to that of any non-commissioned officer whatsoever. . . . It was observed, that regularity in messing, and cleanliness in every respect, conduced to the health of the soldier ; and from the numbers that each regiment brought into the field, superior officers would in general form the best estimate of the attention of a corps to its interior oeconomy ; and to enforce the performance of these duties in the strongest manner, it was declared in public orders, "that to such only when in the field, the commanding officer would entrust the duties of it, who should execute with spirit what belongs to the interior œconomy of the regiment when in quarters." . . .
Lieutenant-Colonel [John Graves] Simcoe, A Journal of the Operations of the Queen's Rangers, from the End of the Year 1777, to the Conclusion of the late American War (Exeter, [1787] ), 1-5 passim.
182. "The Lords of the Main" (1780)
BY JOSEPH STANSBURY
Stansbury was the ablest and most effective of the loyalist verse writers. He came to Philadelphia in 1767, and remained till 1778, when he went with the British to New York. The piece suggests the confidence of the British in their navy. — Bibliography : Tyler, Literary History of the Revolution, II, 80-96. — For other extracts on the navy, see No. 177 above and Nos. 194, 204 below.
WHEN Faction, in league with the treacherous Gaul,
Began to look big and paraded in state ;
A meeting was held at Credulity Hall,
And Echo proclaim'd their Ally good and great !
By sea and by land
Such wonders are plann'd ;
No less than the bold British Lion to chain !
Well hove ! says Jack Lanyard,
French, Congo and Spaniard,
Have at you — remember we're Lords of the Main !
Lords of the Main — aye, Lords of the Main ;
The Tars of Old England are Lords of the Main.
Though party-contention a while may perplex,
And lenity hold us in doubtful suspense ;
If perfidy rouse, or ingratitude vex
In defiance of Hell we'll chastise the offence.
When danger alarms,
'Tis then that in arms
United we rush on the foe with disdain :
And when the storm rages
It only presages
Fresh triumphs to Britons, as Lords of the Main.
Lords of the Main — ay, Lords of the Main —
Let Thunder proclaim it, we're Lords of the Main.
Then Britons, strike home — make sure of your blow :
The chase is in view ; never mind a lee-shore.
With vengeance o'ertake the confederate foe :
'Tis now we may rival our heroes of yore !
Brave Anson and Drake,
Hawke, Russell and Blake,
With ardour like your's we defy France and Spain !
Combining with Treason
They're deaf to all reason :
Once more let them feel we are Lords of the Main.
Lords of the Main — ay, Lords of the Main —
The first-born of Neptune are Lords of the Main.
Nor are we alone in the noble career ;
The Soldier partakes of the generous flame :
To glory he marches, to glory we steer ;
Between us we share the rich harvest of fame.
Recorded on high,
Their names never die,
Of heroes by sea and by land what a train !
To the King, then, God bless him !
The World shall confess him
'The Lord of those men who are Lords of the Main.'
Lords of the Main — ay, Lords of the Main —
The Tars of Old England are Lords of the Main.
LIBERTY.
[Joseph Stansbury], The Lords of the Main, published in Rivington's Royal Gazette, Feb. 16, 1780; reprinted in The Loyal Verses of Joseph Stansbury and Doctor Jonathan Odell (edited by Winthrop Sargent, Albany, 1860). 61-62.
183. The Experiences of a British Spy (1780)
BY MAJOR JOHN ANDRÉ
The André episode is one of the most painful in the whole war. André, a British officer of high character and standing, was persuaded to meet Benedict Arnold in disguise. Washington justly held him to be a spy, and he suffered the penalty of death. — Bibliography : Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VI, 447-468; Isaac N. Arnold, Life of Benedict Arnold; Channing and Hart, Guide, § 138.
A. MAJOR ANDRÉ TO GENERAL WASHINGTON
Salem, 24 September, 1780.
Sir,
WHAT I have as yet said concerning myself was in the justifiable attempt to be extricated ; I am too little accustomed to duplicity to have succeeded. I beg your Excellency will be persuaded, that no alteration in the temper of my mind, or apprehension for my safety, induces me to take the step of addressing you, but that it is to rescue myself from an imputation of having assumed a mean character for treacherous purposes or self-interest ; a conduct incompatible with the principles that actuate me, as well as with my condition in life.
It is to vindicate my fame that I speak, and not to solicit security.
The person in your possession is Major John André, adjutant-general to the British army.
The influence of one commander in the army of his adversary is an advantage taken in war. A correspondence for this purpose I held ; as confidential (in the present instance) with his Excellency Sir Henry Clinton.
To favor it, I agreed to meet upon ground not within the posts of either army, a person who was to give me intelligence ; I came up in the Vulture man of war for this effect, and was fetched by a boat from the ship to the beach. Being there, I was told that the approach of day would prevent my return, and that I must be concealed until the next night. I was in my regimentals, and had fairly risked my person.
Against my stipulation, my intention, and without my knowledge beforehand, I was conducted within one of your posts. Your Excellency may conceive my sensation on this occasion, and will imagine how much more must I have been affected by a refusal to reconduct me back the next night as I had been brought. Thus become a prisoner, I had to concert my escape. I quitted my uniform, and was passed another way in the night, without the American posts, to neutral ground, and informed I was beyond all armed parties and left to press for New York. I was taken at Tarrytown by some volunteers.
Thus, as I have had the honor to relate, was I betrayed (being adjutant-general of the British army) into the vile condition of an enemy in disguise within your posts.
Having avowed myself a British officer, I have nothing to reveal but what relates to myself, which is true on the honor of an officer and a gentleman.
The request I have to make to your Excellency, and I am conscious I address myself well, is, that in any rigor policy may dictate, a decency of conduct towards me may mark, that though unfortunate I am branded with nothing dishonorable, as no motive could be mine but the service of my King, and as I was involuntarily an impostor. Another request is, that I may be permitted to write an open letter to Sir Henry Clinton, and another to a friend for clothes and linen. I take the liberty to mention the condition of some gentlemen at Charleston, who, being either on parole or under protection, were engaged in a conspiracy against us. Though their situation is not similar, they are objects who may be set in exchange for me, or are persons whom the treatment I receive might affect.
It is no less, Sir, in a confidence of the generosity of your mind, than on account of your superior station, that I have chosen to importune you with this letter. I have the honor to be, with great respect, Sir, your Excellency's most obedient humble servant,
John André, Adjutant-general.
B. PAPER DRAWN UP BY MAJOR ANDRÉ
ON the 20th of September, I left New York to get on board the Vulture, in order (as I thought) to meet General Arnold there in the night. No boat, however, came off, and I waited on board until the night of the 2ist. During the day, a flag of truce was sent from the Vulture to complain of the violation of a military rule in the instance of a boat having been decoyed on shore by a flag, and fired upon. The letter was addressed to General Arnold, signed by Captain Sutherland, but written in my hand and countersigned 'J. Anderson, secretary.' Its intent was to indicate my presence on board the Vulture. In the night of the 21st a boat with Mr. [Smith] and two hands came on board, in order to fetch Mr. Anderson on shore, and, if too late to bring me back, to lodge me until the next night in a place of safety. I went into the boat, landed, and spoke with Arnold. I got on horseback with him to proceed to [Smith's] house, and in the way passed a guard I did not expect to see, having Sir Henry Clinton's directions not to go within an enemy's post, or to quit my own dress.
In the morning A. quitted me, having himself made me put the papers I bore between my stockings and feet. Whilst he did it, he expressed a wish in case of any accident befalling me, that they should be destroyed, which I said, of course would be the case, as when I went into the boat I should have them tied about with a string and a stone. Before we parted, some mention had been made of my crossing the river, and going by another route; but, I objected much against it, and thought it was settled that in the way I came I was also to return. Mr. [Smith] to my great mortification persisted in his determination of carrying me by the other route ; and, at the decline of the sun, I set out on horseback, passed King's Ferry, and came to Crompond, where a party of militia stopped us and advised we should remain. In the morning I came with [Smith] as far as within two miles and a half of Pine's Bridge, where he said he must part with me, as the Cow-boys infested the road thence forward. I was now near thirty miles from Kingsbridge, and left to the chance of passing that space undiscovered. I got to the neighbourhood of Tarrytown, which was far beyond the points described as dangerous, when I was taken by three volunteers, who, not satisfied with my pass, rifled me, and, finding papers, made me a prisoner.
I have omitted mentioning, that, when I found myself within an enemy's posts, I changed my dress.
C. MAJOR ANDRÉ TO GENERAL WASHINGTON
TAPPAN, 1 October, 1780. — Sir ; Buoyed above the terror of death, by the consciousness of a life devoted to honorable pursuits, and stained with no action that can give me remorse, I trust that the request I make to your Excellency at this serious period, and which is to soften my last moments, will not be rejected.
Sympathy towards a soldier will surely induce your Excellency and a military tribunal to adapt the mode of my death to the feelings of a man of honor.
Let me hope, Sir, that if aught in my character impresses you with esteem towards me, if aught in my misfortunes marks me as the victim of policy and not of resentment, I shall experience the operation of these feelings in your breast, by being informed that I am not to die on a gibbet.
I have the honor to be your Excellency's most obedient and most humble servant,
John André
Adj. Gen. to the British Army.
George Washington, Writings (edited by Jared Sparks, Boston, 1835), VII, Appendix, 531-543 passim.