their people, in order to make a diversion on the frontiers of this Province & Pensylvania, agreable to my messages; since which they have made several attacks along the back settlements from Fort Stanwix to the Ohio, with such success that the rebels have been obliged to detach General Hand1 with some troops to protect the frontiers and are in much consternation. This loyalty of the Indians is a great obstruction to their levies, and is as much as can be expected 'till we open the natural communication by Hudson's River to them, for they are very badly supplied with arms and ammunition, and as they never lay up more provisions than become absolutely necessary for family consumption, they can only carry on the war in flying partys, till a communication is effected with our army, when they may be supplied and marched in large bodies as the service may require; and event for which I am extremely anxious, as I conceive it would much facilitate the military operations. We have indeed for some time expected to hear of the approach of the Northern Army and the favorable season there, with the readiness in which they were represented to be, in the letters I received, gave the strongest grounds for it. Sir Willm Howe's first movements will be for another quarter, but from his orders to me I have reason to hope that a push will be soon made to the Northward. The vessel with Indian presents, mention'd by Your Lordship, arrived some time past, and its contents are well stored 'till there shall be occasion for them. Mr Chew (my Secretary) having been lately on some business towards the East end of Long Island, was made prisoner with many others by a party of rebels, and as some think betray'd by the disaffected inhabitants in that quarter. But however general the infatuation of the multitude may be, the mistaken fidelity of the Indians is a sensible check to them, & I cannot too much applaud the loyalty of the Six Nations, under the many disadvantages they must labour 'till the rout is opened, which will enable them to see the strength of His Majesty's arms and to receive the necessary supplys for prosecuting the war with vigour. I beg to be honoured with your Lordship's commands and to assure you that nothing shall be wanting on my part for promoting the true ends of government, and meriting the confidence of my Royal Master thro' your Lordship's favorable opinion, and I have the honour to be, with great respect & esteem, My Lord, 1 Your Lordships most obedient To the Right Honorable Lord George Germain &ca and most humble Servant G. JOHNSON. Brigadier-General Edward Hand was born at Clyduff, King's county, Ireland, on the 31st December, 1744, and entered the British army on 27th February, 1772, as Ensign of the 18th or Royal Irish regiment of foot, then serving in America. He served about two years with this regiment, and then settled in Pennsylvania. At the beginning of the Revolution he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel; on 7th March, 1776, was promoted to be Colonel of a regiment of Riflemen in the army at Cambridge, at the head of which he served at the battle of Long Island in August following and shared in the retreat from Brooklyn, of which he has left a graphic account. In October following he was stationed at Delancey's Mills, Westchester county, New-York, and was in the battle of Trenton at the close of the same year. He was appointed Brigadier-General in April, 1777, and commanded at Pittsburgh during the following summer and fall. In October, 1778, he commanded at Albany, and in 1780 was appointed to the command of one of the Light Infantry brigades; and at the close of the year, succeeded Scammell as Adjutant-General, which post he held until the close of the war. General Hand died at Rockford, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the 3d September, 1802, in the 58th year of his age. — Ed. My Lord. Governor Tryon to Lord George Germain. [New-York Papers (8. P. O.) CLX1X. ] New York. 9. June 1777. As the success of the late expedition to Connecticut to destroy the Rebel stores at Danbury has been transmitted by the Commander in Chief, I only beg leave to assure your Lordp, every praise is due to the persevering courage and spirited behaviour of both Officers and Men, on that service ST Wm Erskine1 was of important service in his double capacity, as Brigadier and Quarter Master Generals, I hold him in such honorable esteem and regard, and confess his Military abilities so superior to my own, that were I allowed to make a request to His Maju in his behalf, it should be, that he might succeed to the command of a Regiment before me, as much as I wish for that honour myself. I am, My Lord, most respectfully Your obedient servant. Wm Tryon M: G: (N° 6) My Lord. Colonel Guy Johnson to Lord George Germain. [Plantation! General (S. P. O.) CCLXIII.] New York July 7th 1777. The day after dispatching my last letter, I had the pleasure of receiving one from the Chiefs of the Six Nations written by Joseph, by their order; informing that they had assembled in May agreable to the directions I had given, wished much to hear from Sr Wm Howes army, as they were all in readiness (the Oneidas excepted) and all determined as they expressed it "to Act as one Man" referring me to the bearer for particulars which might have made their billet too bulky. This information was that they had cut off a Serjeant and 12 men at Fort Stanwix, had sent several partys to the back of Pensilvania & to the great terror of the inhabitants, and had cut off a party, with 50 head of cattle for the rebel garrisons on the Mohock River, that their main body of about 700 Indians were assembled near Owegy on the Susquehanna 'Lieutenant-General Sir WILLIAM ERSKINE, Bart., was appointed Captain of the 9th or Queen's Dragoons 25th December, 1755, and became Major of the 15th Light Dragoons in March, 1759, in which corps he served in Germany. On 29th March, 1762, he became Lieutenant-Colonel of his regiment and so continued until 1770, when he was unattached. In 1776 he was appointed Brigadier-General in America and commanded the 7th Brigade in the engagement on Staten Island, he afterwards took a share in the operations near Brooklyn and commanded the detachment which took General Woodhull prisoner on 28th August, 1776. He was next appointed Quarter-Master-General and acquitted himself with credit in that department. In December, 1777, he became Colonel of the 80lh Foot, and in the winter of 1778, '9, commanded the eastern district of Long Island. In the last mentioned year he was promoted to be Major-General; in 1782, became Colonel of the 26th or Cameronian Foot, and Lieutenant-General in September, 1787. On the breaking out of the war between France and England, he went to Flanders in 1793, as second in command to the Duko of York. After serving during that and the following campaign he returned to England in 1795, and died in the month of March of that year. Army List*; Philipart't Royal Military Calendar. — Ed. which would be much encreased so soon as any movement was made to the Northward, adding that they would soon strike a blow. This intelligence I communicated to Sr W Howe, who expressed his satisfaction of their conduct, and advised that they should be in readiness to joyn the first army that should come to the Hudsons River communication; which I forwarded by the person who brought their letter, with such farther directions as occurred, respecting the stroke intended. Our army, having evacuated New Jersey, will proceed immediately on some important expedition. I wish it was for some quarter favorable to a junction with the Indians, whose patience will I fear be exhausted if this event does not soon happen, as they are not calculated for remaining long in one place. I have just heard from Capt. Claus that thro' your Lordships favor he is appointed to a command of Indians in Canada, a circumstance that will I am persuaded give them great pleasure there; but I find by letters from thence that L* Col S' Leger1 is gone on the proposed expedition by way of Ontario, and from the orders I have given I make no doubt that the Six Nations will joyn him or the main army under General Burgoyne (now said to be before Tienderoga.) If there is no favorable movement from hence before he advances, & till some junction is formed, they cannot be expected to do much, for the Indian mode of carrying on war by themselves, is in small scattered partys, who return home and feast after every little blow, whereby much time is lost, and little material performed beside alarming the peasantry; which in the present war is not alone sufficient; but when they have once joyned the army and can be armed clothed and properly attended to, I can then march them with the army or form large detachments as the service may require, and both cover the troops and annoy the rebels to good purpose. This was successfully practised in the last war by Sir Wm Johnson, and I expect to shew it in the present; the opportunity only is wanting, I hope it is not distant, for I have nothing to fear but delay, the Indians having treated the applications of the rebels with the greatest contempt, and in all respects equalled my most sanguine expectations. I have had an interview with the Montok Indians on Long Island who tho' few in number and surrounded by disaffected people, have offered their services whenever the General shall please to make use of them, and I hold myself in readiness to proceed on the first movement that can favor a junction to the Northward when the General tells me I shall receive his further orders. I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect My Lord Your Lordships most obedient & most obliged humble serv' I am just honor'd with copies of the late Act of Parliament, transmitted by Mr Knox. 'Colonel Barrt St. Leqer entered the army on 27th April, 1756, as Ensign of the 28th regiment of foot, which he accompanied to America in the following year, and in 1758 served at the siege of Louisbourg as Captain of the 48th, and afterwards under Wolf at Quebec. In July, 1760, he was appointed Brigade-Major preparatory to marching to Montreal (Knox, 11, 345), and on the 16th September, 1762, became Major of the 95th, but was unattached in 1763, when his regiment was disbanded. In May, 1772, he was promoted to a Lieutenant-Colonelcy in the army, and in May, 1775, was appointed to the 34th foot, and was sent soon after to Canada. His unsuccessful expedition against Fort Schuyler in 1777, when he held the local rank of Brigadier, is a matter of history. In November, 1780, he rose to be Colonel in the army, and died in 1789 without having acquired any distinction in his profession. Army Lists. — ED. N° 40. My Lord. Governor Tryon to Lord George Germain. [New-York Papera (S. P. O.) CLX1X.] Kings Bridge Camp. 8 July 1777. I am honored with the receipt of the original and duplicate of your Lordp's dispatch N° 10. dated the 2nd April last. His Majestys Gracious approbation of my offer to take the command of the Provincial Forces, conveyed in such obliging terms by your Lord is very flattering to me. In consequence of this offer, the General has put me in orders to command the Provincials raised in this Colony, and to receive the Rank of Major General of Provincials. By this designation I find myself not only placed after all the Major Generals in America, though of later standing in the army, but must also be under all such as may hereafter be appointed here, or come out under the King's Brevet. As your Lord's will perceive the mortifications that cannot but attend me under such an arrangement, you will allow me to hope, that the propriety of some attention to my seniority in the Army upon actual service with it, will induce Your Lord to submit the matter to His Majesty's Royal consideration. Until the King's army penetrates into the interior part of the Country, or until a junction of the two armies be effected (a most important event in the present war) the Provincial Levies cannot be expected to make any material augmentations; but I have no doubt of receiving immediately upon the accomplishment of those measures, considerable additions to their present force from the northern Counties of this Place; many of whose Loyal Inhabitants have suffered much from the inroads of the Rebels, for their uniform attachment to His Majesty's Gover, I am with all possible respect My Lord, Your Lord's most obedient and W" Teton. Colonel Guy Johnson to Secretary Knox. [Plantatloni General (8. P. O. ) CCLSIII. ] New York July 10,b 1777. Sir. I was lately favored with your letter by order of Lord Geo. Germain accompanying some copys of the late Act of Parliament, and I have by this opportunity wrote to His Lordship on Indian Affairs, having the pleasure to find that agreable to my orders the Indians assembled early in May, have made some successfull attacks on the Rebels, and are now (at the desire of St W Howe) lying in readiness to joyn either this or the Northern Army, whichsoever shall first come on the Hudson's River communication. I have had for some time great hopes that a movement from hence that way would have been among the first objects, because I am persuaded of the importance of a junction with the Indians, till when the latter can act but feebly thro' the want of supplys and the mode of their warfare. However I hope the period is near at hand, and that their unshaken fidelity will meet with no farther disappointment. Capt. Claus writes me that he has got an appointment in Canada, which I know will be very pleasing to the Indians there, and will promote the Service. I take this opportunity Sir of returning you my best acknowledgements for your kind attention & civility whilst 1 was in London to which my hearing from you occasionally wou'd be an additional and a sensible obligation, for I greatly respect your character, and I am with much esteem and respect Sir Several of the King's faithful subjects in the Prov" of South Carolina, having been permitted by the Rebel Committees to withdraw from thence and to embarque, with some part of their property, on board vessels belonging to the Rebels bound for foreign Ports, some of those Vessels have been taken and brought into England: Of these the ship called the Three Sisters has lately been libeled in the Court of Admiralty here, and upon the hearing the effects on board belonging to the King's Loyal subjects were claimed by themselves, or their agents, and the Court having allowed their claim, I have thought it proper to send you the inclosed authentic copy of the sentence, that it may serve as a guide to the Court of V. Admiralty to be established at New York in similar cases. By the opportunity of a Merchant ship, I have the honor to acquaint your Lord of the death of Mr James Jauncey a Member of His Maju" Council of this Province, also of the death of Mr Rich Colden Surveyor and Searcher of the Port of New York. I have appointed Mr Samuel Vetch Bayard by Commission under the seal of the Province to succeed to the office Mr Rich Colden held; from the steady Loyalty of his Father, and the depredations made on his Estate |