to arrive in safety with his apparatus under the bottom of the ship, when the screw, designed to perforate the copper sheathing, unfortunately struck against an iron plate, near the rudder, which, with the strong current and want of skill in the operator, frustrated the enterprise; and, as daylight had begun to appear, the sergeant abandoned his magazine, and returned in the Torpedo to the shore. In less than half an hour a terrible explosion from the magazine took place, and threw into the air a prodigious column of water, resembling a great water spout, attended with a report like thunder. General Putnam, and others who waited with great anxiety for the result, were exceedingly amused with the astonishment and alarm which this secret explosion occasioned on board of the ship. This failure, it is confidently asserted, is not to be attributed to any defect in the principles of this wonderful machine; as it is allowed to be admirably calculated to execute destruction among the shipping.

10th. By intelligence from our fleet, on the lake, we are in daily expectation of a decisive naval action; as the British are known to have a superior force, our officers here, I understand, are full of anxiety respecting the important event. Great confidence is reposed in the judgment and bravery of General Arnold, whom General Gates has appointed to command our fleet.

15th. I have now to record an account of a naval engagement between the two fleets on Lake Champlain. The British, under command of Sir Guy Carleton, advanced on the 11th instant, and found our fleet in a line of battle prepared for the attack. A warm action soon ensued, and became extremely close and severe, with round and grape shot, which continued about four hours. Brigadier General Waterbury, in the Washington galley, fought with undaunted bravery, till nearly all his officers were killed and wounded, and his vessel greatly injured; when General Arnold ordered the remaining shattered vessels to retire up the lake, towards Crown Point, in order to refit. On the 13th, they were overtaken by the enemy, and the action was renewed, in which was displayed the greatest intrepidity on both sides. The Washington galley, being crippled in the first action, was soon obliged to strike and surrender. General Arnold conducted during the action with great judgment, firmness and gallantry, obstinately defending himself against a superior force, both in numbers and weight of metal. At length,

however, he was so closely pressed that his situation became desperate, and he run his own vessel, the Congress galley, on shore, which with five gondolas were abandoned and blown up. Out of sixteen of our vessels, eleven were taken or destroyed, five only arrived safe at this place. Two of the enemy's gondolas were sunk by our fleet, and one blown up with sixty men. Their loss in men is supposed to be equal to our own, which is estimated at about one hundred. A large number of troops were on board the British fleet, consisting of regulars, Canadians and savages, which have been landed on each side of the lake, and it is now expected that Sir Guy Carleton, at the head of his army, reported to be about ten thousand strong, will soon invest this post. By order of General Gates, our commander, the greatest exertions are constantly making, by strengthening our works, to enable us to give them a warm reception; and our soldiery express a strong desire to have an opportunity of displaying their courage and prowess; both officers and men are full of activity and vigilance.

18th. It is now ascertained that the British army and fleet have established themselves at Crown Point, and are strengthening the old fortifications at that place. Some of their vessels have approached within a few miles of our garrison, and one boat came within cannon shot distance of our lower battery, in order to reconnoitre and sound the channel; but a few shot having killed two men, and wounded another, soon obliged her to retire. All our troops are ordered to repair to their alarm posts, and man the lines and works every morning; our continental colors are advantageously displayed on the ramparts, and our cannon and spears are in readiness for action.

20th. Ever since the defeat of our fleet we have been providentially favored with a strong southerly wind, which has prevented the enemy's advancing to attack our lines, and afforded us time to receive some reinforcements of militia, and to prepare for a more vigorous defence. It seems now to be the opinion of many of our most judicious officers, that had Sir Guy Carleton approached with his army, immediately after his victory on the lake, the struggle must have been most desperate, and the result precarious; but we now feel more confidence in our strength.

Several letters, lately received from Canada, acknowledge that no man ever manoeuvred with more dexterity, fought with more bravery, or retreated with more firmness,

than did General Arnold on the 11th and 12th instant. After making every effort to compensate, by the advantage of situation, for the inferiority of force, and seeing his own vessel, and the rest, torn to pieces by the superior weight of metal, and the execution of the enemy's howitzers, he set fire to his vessel and would not quit her till she was so completely in flames that it was impossible for the enemy to strike her colors on their arrival, and they were left flying among the flames to the last. This, says one of the letters, was supporting a point of honor in a manner almost romantic; yet so it was.

November 1st.The enemy remain at Crown Point, and evince no disposition to molest our garrison, having probably discovered that our means of defence are too formidable for them to encounter. General Gates has now ordered a detachment of troops to march towards Crown Point, to reconnoitre their position, or to attack them. A report was soon returned that the whole fleet and army have abandoned Crown Point, and retired into Canada, where they will probably occupy their winter quarters in peace, and it is not probable that Sir Guy Carleton intends to invest our garrison at this advanced season, unless however, he should attempt it by marching his army over the ice, when the lake is frozen, which will probably be very practicable.

15th.-Ticonderoga is situated in about latitude forty-four degrees. I have no means in my possession of ascertaining the precise degree of cold; but we all agree that it is colder here than in Massachusetts at the same season. The earth has not yet been covered with snow, but the frost is so considerable that the water of the lake is congealed, and the earth is frozen. We are comfortably situated in our barracks; our provisions are now good, and having no enemy near enough to alarm or disturb' us, we have nothing of importance to engage our attention. Our troops are quite healthy, a few cases of rheumatism and pleurisy comprise our sick list, and it is seldom that any fatal cases occur.

December 10th.-Intelligence has lately arrived at head quarters here, that a British fleet, and a detachment of five or six thousand of the royal army, have taken possession of Newport, in Rhode Island, without any opposition; many of the inhabitants being friendly to the royal cause, they were received as friends. By letters from officers, and by other information from our main army, we learn with sorrow, that our affairs in that quarter are in a most deplorable and

almost desperate situation. Since the evacuation of New York, several battles and skirmishes have taken place between the two armies, with considerable loss on both sides ; but his Excellency the Commander in Chief has constantly avoided a general action. About the last of October, a detachment of our army under Major General Lee, opposing a large force under the command of Generals Clinton and de Heister, engaged in warm skirmishes and conflicts at or near White Plains and the river Brunx. Considerable loss was sustained. That of the British, by their own accounts, is three hundred and fifty killed, four hundred and seventy wounded, two hundred taken prisoners. The loss of the continental troops in these several rencounters has not been correctly ascertained, as a large number of the militia retired from the field in disorder, and proper returns could not be obtained. A number of Hessians and Waldeckers have fallen into our hands. The German officers and soldiers, by a finesse of the British, to increase their ferocity, had been led to believe that Americans are savages and barbarians, and if taken, their men would have their bodies stuck full of pieces of dry wood, and in that manner burnt to death. But they were very agreeably disappointed, and much pleased, on meeting civil and kind treatment. On the 16th of November, the British made a bold and successful attack on Fort Washington, situated on York Island. The defence by Col. Magaw, our commander, was brave and honorable, and the assailants sustained a loss of twelve hundred killed and wounded; another account estimates their loss at nine hundred killed and fifteen hundred wounded. The American troops in the fort were a little more than two thousand, of which about four hundred were killed or wounded, and the remainder captured. General Washington was so situated that he could have a tolerable view of the attack, and when he saw his brave men bayonetted while begging for quarter, he wept and exclaimed bitterly against the barbarous deed. Fort Lee, on the Jersey shore, was soon after evacuated by General Greene, and the troops saved from being captured, but with the loss of stores, tents, and baggage. Our main army, being now reduced to the lowest ebb, discouraged and dispirited, are retreating through the Jerseys, and the enemy in close pursuit. The continental army has even crossed the Delaware, and left the whole state of Jersey in the possession of the royal army.

20th. Another disaster of much importance is the capture of Major General Lee; on the 13th instant, marching at the head of his division to join the main army, he very incautiously took up his lodgings at a house three or four miles from his troops. Information of this was, by some tories, communicated to Colonel Harcourt, of the British light horse, who resolved to attempt his capture. Accordingly, with a detachment of dragoons, he speedily surrounded the house, made General Lee his prisoner, and not permitting him time to take his cloak and hat, mounted him on a horse and in triumph conveyed him to New York. The loss of this favorite general officer, it is feared, will be attended with very serious consequences, as respects the American cause. He was from his youth an officer in the British service, where he sustained a reputation of the highest grade, as a brave and skilful warrior. Having adopted our country, and become a zealous advocate for its liberties, he had acquired the confidence and highest regard of the public, and was exalted to the rank of second in command in our army.

Such is now the gloomy aspect of our affairs that the whole country has taken the alarm; strong apprehensions are entertained that the British will soon have it in their power to vanquish the whole of the remains of the continental army. The term of service of a considerable part of our troops has nearly expired, and new recruits do not arrive in sufficient numbers to supply their places. His Excellency General Washington is continually making every possible effort to produce a change of circumstances more auspicious to our country. The critical and distressing situation in which he is placed is sufficient to overwhelm the powers of any man of less wisdom and magnanimity than our commander in Chief. He has the confidence and the affection of the officers and soldiers of the whole army; and there is not perhaps another man to be found so well calculated to discharge the duties of his important and responsible station. It is generally agreed by our officers, that in his retreat through the Jerseys, and over the Delaware, under the most pressing difficulties, he displayed the talents and wisdom characteristic of a great military commander, possessing unfailing resources of mind. While retreating through the Jerseys with an army not exceeding three thousand five hundred men, and deeming our cause as almost desperate, he said to Colonel Reed, passing