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from the enemy, sentenced to suffer death, and was executed accordingly.

February.-The present unfortunate situation of General Lee, who is in close confinement in the provost prison, in New York, affords a topic for general conversation both in and out of the army. A correspondence between General Washington and General Howe has taken place relative to the subject, from which it appears that General Lee receives the most rigid and ungenerous treatment, under the absurd pretence that he is a deserter from the British service, when it is well known that he resigned his commission long before he received an appointment in our army. As we have not in our possession any British officers of equal rank, General Washington has proposed to make an exchange of six Hessian field officers for General Lee, that being considered as the usual proportion for the disparity of rank. This proposal being rejected, his Excellency next required of General Howe that General Lee should receive from his hands treatment suitable to his rank, and such as the custom of all armies has prescribed for prisoners of war. If this should be refused, General Howe was assured, that the unpleasant expedient of retaliation should be immediately adopted. This unhappy affair soon arrested the attention of Congress, and they resolved "that General Washington inform General Howe, that should the proffered exchange of General Lee not be accepted, and the ill treatment of him be continued, the principle of retaliation shall occasion five of the Hessian field officers, together with Lieutenant Colonel A. Campbell, or any other officers that are or may be in our possession, equivalent in number or quality, to be detained, in order that the same treatment which General Lee shall receive may be exactly inflicted on their persons." The result of this unfortunate business is, that the threatened retaliation has been resorted to on our part, and that Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, and five Hessian field officers are committed to prison, and subjected to the same rigorous treatment which has been ascertained is inflicted on the person of General Lee. Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, being on parole near Boston, is confined in the jail at Concord. In a letter to General Howe, which has been published, after acknowledging the liberal and generous attention which he had previously received, he describes his present condition as being most horrid, and in his view altogether unjustifiable. It remains therefore with General. Howe to

afford to Colonel Campbell all the relief which he desires, and extend to him all the comforts and privileges which his rank demands, by first relaxing his severity, and complying with the rules of war, as respects General Lee; it being the determination of our government to place the British prisoners in precisely the same circumstances with our prisoners in their custody. My leisure hours permit me to advert to another subject which excites the interest and the inexpressible indignation of every American. I allude to the abominable conduct of the British commanders towards our unfortunate officers and soldiers, who, by the fortune of war, have fallen into their hands. In all countries and armies, prisoners of war have a just claim on the duties of humanity; from the moment of their captivity hostilities should cease, the sword should be sheathed; being themselves disarmed, no arm can of right be lifted against them, and while they conduct in a manner becoming their condition, they are entitled to the customary immunities, and to be treated with lenity. Among the savage tribes we know, their captives are tortured by fire, by the scalping knife, and the tomahawk, but we are yet, and for the honor of human nature, hope we ever shall remain unacquainted with any civilized nation except the English, who devote their captives to various forms of destruction. It would seem that the application of the term rebel to our prisoners, is sufficient to reconcile the consciences of their victors to inflict on them the most unprecedented cruelties. The following is a brief summary of the systematic method adopted and practised for their destruction, as taken from the New London Gazette, from General Washington's letter of complaint to General Howe, and from the verbal statement of the officers and soldiers who have returned from New York by exchange. They were crowded into the holds of prison ships where they were almost suffocated for want of air, and into churches, and open sugar houses, &c. without covering or a spark of fire. Their allowance of provisions and water for three days, was insufficient for one, and in some instances, they were for four days entirely destitute of food. The pork and bread, for they had no other sustenance, and even the water allowed them were of the worst possible quality, and totally unfit for human beings. A minute detail. of their dreadful sufferings would only serve to harrow up the feelings of surviving friends; as a gross outrage against the principles of humanity, suffice it to say, that in conse

quence of the most barbarous treatment, died within a few weeks, not less than fifteen hundred American soldiers, brave young men, the pride and shield of our country. After death had released the sufferers, their bodies were dragged out of the prisons and piled up without doors, till enough were collected for a cart load, when they were carted out and tumbled into a ditch, and slightly covered with earth. Besides the above diabolical treatment, the prisoners were continually insulted and tantalized by the British officers, and malicious tories, cursing and swearing at them as rebels, saying, "this is the just punishment of your rebellion; nay, you are treated too well for rebels, you have not received half you deserve and half you shall receive; but if you will enlist in his majesty's service, you shall have victuals and clothing enough." Thus these callous-hearted Englishmen meanly endeavored to augment the royal army by the enlistment of American prisoners, or to diminish the number of their opposers; but such was the integrity and patriotism of these men, that hundreds submitted to death rather than become rebels to their own native country. In one instance, four of our wounded officers, of respectable rank, were put into a common dirt cart, and conveyed through the streets of New York, as objects of derision, reviled as rebels, and treated with the utmost contempt.* But it may be inquired if I mean to describe the British commanders as transformed into demons?

I only record notorious facts, and it is not my journal, but the faithful and impartial pages of history that will transmit to posterity this stigma on the English character. Gracious. heavens! are these the people from whom we derive our origin, and who are inviting the Americans to a reconciliation? A more dreadful curse can scarcely be denounced! It is worthy of observation, that the British and Hessian prisoners in our hands were treated in a manner directly the

* A friend, who was unfortunately a prisoner in New York, has recently favored me with the following facts. In 1776, a number of prisoners were made by the British in our retreat from Long Island; among others, a Lieutenant Dunscomb, of New York. He and his fellow officers were ordered before the commanding general, who, in harsh language, reproached them for their crime of rebellion and its necessary consequences. A gentleman present began to plead their youth as an apology. It won't do, said General Howe, you shall all be hanged! Hang, and be d-d, said Dunscomb. They hanged no one that I know of, but they played the fool by going through the farce of making them ride with a rope round their necks, seated on coffins, to the gallows. Otho Williams, subsequently Adjutant General to the southern army, and a most worthy and amiable gentleman, I particularly know was treated in this manner.

reverse of that just described, and they never found cause to complain. It is some satisfaction to find, that since the brilliant success of our army in the Jerseys, and a considerable number of British and Hessians having fallen into our hands, the cruel severities inflicted on our prisoners have been in some degree mitigated. To the foregoing unparalleled catalogue of criminal proceedings, I have to add, from another writer, that the enemy wantonly destroyed the New York water works, an elegant public library at Trenton, and the grand orrery made by the celebrated Rittenhouse, which was placed in the college at Princeton, a piece of mechanism which the most untutored savage, staying the hand of violence, would have beheld with wonder and delight. Thus are our cruel enemies warring against liberty, virtue, and the arts and sciences. To make war against literature and learning is the part of barbarians. I cannot resist the temptation to transcribe a few paragraphs from an elegant speech of Governor Livingston to the General Assembly of the state of New Jersey, March the 5th. "They have plundered friends and foes; effects, capable of division, they have divided; such as were not, they have destroyed; they have warred on decrepid old age, warred on defenceless youth; they have committed hostilities against the professors of literature and the ministers of religion, against public records and private monuments; books of improvement, and papers of curiosity; and against the arts and sciences. They have butchered the wounded, asking for quarter; mangled the dead, weltering in their blood; refused to the dead the rites of sepulture; suffered prisoners to perish for want of sustenance; insulted the persons of females; disfigured private dwellings of taste and elegance, and in the rage of impiety and barbarism, profaned edifices dedicated to Almighty God."

Lake Champlain is now open and free from ice in its whole extent, and the hostile Indians begin to lurk about our lines, laying wait for their prey. A party of these savages in the British interest, a few days since, discovered about thirty of our unarmed recruits on their way to join their corps at Fort George, they immediately made their attack, killed and tomahawked some, made several prisoners, and escaped towards Canada; a few of these men fortunately escaped, and several that were wounded were brought into our lines. Colonel Whitcomb with a party of continentals was ordered to pursue the Indians, he overtook part of them

and killed several, but the prisoners were carried off beyond his reach.

An enterprise of little importance has lately been put in execution by a detachment of royalists from New York. Their object was to destroy some stores which were deposited at Peekskill. General McDougal, who had the command of the post, with a small number of men, found it prudent to retire, and the enemy accomplished in part the object of the expedition. Lieutenant Colonel Willet, however, with only sixty men, came on them by surprise, when a skirmish ensued which obliged them to retire with great precipitation on board their vessels in the North River, after having suffered a considerable loss.

April 1st.-The term of service of Colonel Whitcomb's regiment having expired, they have now left the service and returned to New England. Having received an invitation from Dr. Jonathan Potts, the surgeon general in this department, to accept the office of surgeon's mate in the general hospital, I have received the said appointment and commenced my official duties accordingly at this place; Dr. D. Townsend heing at the same time appointed senior surgeon. We find here about eighty soldiers laboring under various diseases, and eight or ten that have been cruelly wounded by the savages who have been skulking in the woods in the vicinity. In our retired situation here, we are unacquainted with any military transactions in other quarters till they transpire in the public papers.

May-It is just announced that the enemy have undertaken an expedition to Danbury, in Connecticut, for the purpose of destroying a magazine of stores at that place. Governor Tryon, a Major General of the Provincial troops in New York, was the commander of the detachment, consisting of one thousand eight hundred men, and Brigadier General Agnew, and Sir W. Erskine were commanders under him. When the enemy had landed and commenced their operations in their usual manner, by burning and destroying houses and other buildings, the country was alarmed, the militia collected, and were commanded by Major General Wooster, Brigadier Generals Arnold and Silliman. A smart action soon ensued and continued about one hour, in which our militia and a small number of continentals conducted with distinguished bravery, but being overpowered by a superior force, they were obliged to retreat. The amount of stores destroyed by the enemy was very consider

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