Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson Volume I Part 21

LETTER x.x.x.--TO GENERAL WAs.h.i.+NGTON, October 26, 1780

TO HIS EXCELLENCY GENERAL WAs.h.i.+NGTON.

Richmond, October 26, 1780.

Sir,

The Executive of this State think it expedient, under our present circ.u.mstances, that the prisoners of war under the Convention of Saratoga, be removed from their present situation. It will be impossible, as long as they remain with us, to prevent the hostile army from being reinforced by numerous desertions from this corps; and this expectation may be one among the probable causes of this movement of the enemy. Should, moreover, a rescue of them be attempted, the extensive disaffection which has of late been discovered, and the almost total want of arms in the hands of our good people, render the success of such an enterprise by no means desperate. The fear of this, and the dangerous convulsions to which such an attempt would expose us, divert the attention of a very considerable part of our militia, from an opposition to an invading enemy. An order has been, therefore, this day issued to Colonel Wood, to take immediate measures for their removal; and every aid has been and will be given him, for transporting, guarding, and subsisting them on the road, which our powers can accomplish. Notice hereof is sent to his Excellency Governor Lee, on whose part, I doubt not, necessary preparations will be made.

I have the honor to be, with the greatest esteem and respect,

your Excellency's most obedient

and most humble servant,

Th: Jefferson.

LETTER x.x.xI.--TO GENERAL GATES, October 28, 1780

TO GENERAL GATES.

Richmond, October 28, 1780.

Sir,

Your letters of the 14th, 20th, and 21st have come to hand, and your despatches to Congress have been regularly forwarded. I shall attend to the caveat against Mr. Ochiltree's bill. Your letter to Colonel Senf remains still in my hands, as it did not come till the enemy had taken possession of the ground, on which I knew him to have been, and I have since no certain information where a letter might surely find him. My proposition as to your bills in favor of the quarter-master, referred to yours of September 27th. I have notified to the Continental quarter-master, your advance of nine hundred dollars to Cooper. As yet, we have received no wagons. I wish Mr. Lambe may have supplied you.

Should those from the western quarter not come in, we will authorize him or some other, to procure a relief, in time, for those first impressed.

We are upon the eve of a new arrangement as to our commissary's and quarter-master's departments, as the want of money, introducing its subst.i.tute, force, requires the establishment of a different kind of system.

Since my first information to you of the arrival of an enemy, they have landed about eight hundred men near Portsmouth, some on the bay side of Princess Anne, one thousand at Hampton, and still retained considerable part on board their s.h.i.+ps. Those at Hampton, after committing horrid depredations, have again retired to their s.h.i.+ps, which, on the evening of the 26th, were strung along the Road from New-ports-news, to the mouth of Nansemond, which seems to indicate an intention of coming up James river. Our information is, that they have from four to five thousand men, commanded by General Leslie, and that they have come under convoy of one forty-gun s.h.i.+p, and some frigates (how many, has never been said), commanded by Commodore Rodney. Would it not be worth while to send out a swift boat from some of the inlets of Carolina, to notify the French Admiral that his enemies are in a net, if he has leisure to close the mouth of it? Generals Muhlenburg and Nelson are a.s.sembling a force to be ready for them, and General Weeden has come to this place, where he is at present employed in some arrangements. We have ordered the removal of the Saratoga prisoners, that we may have our hands clear for these new guests.

I have the honor to be, with the most perfect esteem and respect, Sir,

your most obedient

and most humble servant,

Th: Jefferson.

LETTER x.x.xII.--TO GENERAL WAs.h.i.+NGTON, November 3,1780

TO HIS EXCELLENCY GENERAL WAs.h.i.+NGTON.

Richmond, November 3,1780.

Sir,

Since I had the honor of writing to your Excellency, on the 25th ultimo, the enemy have withdrawn their forces from the north side of James river, and have taken post at Portsmouth, which, we learn, they are fortifying. Their highest post is Suffolk, where there is a very narrow and defensible pa.s.s between Nansemond river and the Dismal Swamp, which covers the country below, from being entered by us. More accurate information of their force, than we at first had, gives us reason to suppose them to be from twenty-five hundred to three thousand strong, of which, between sixty and seventy are cavalry. They are commanded by General Leslie, and were convoyed by the Romulus, of forty guns, the Blonde, of thirty-two guns, the Delight sloop, of sixteen, a twenty-gun s.h.i.+p of John Goodwick's, and two row-galleys, commanded by Commodore Grayton. We are not a.s.sured, as yet, that they have landed their whole force. Indeed, they give out themselves, that after drawing the force of this State to Suffolk, they mean, to go to Baltimore. Their movements had induced me to think they came with an expectation of meeting with Lord Cornwallis in this country, that his precipitate retreat has left them without a concerted object, and that they were waiting further orders. Information of this morning says, that being informed of Lord Cornwallis's retreat, and a public paper having been procured by them, wherein were printed the several despatches which brought this intelligence from General Gates, they unladed a vessel and sent, her off to Charleston immediately. The fate of this army of theirs hangs on a very slender naval force, indeed.

The want of barracks at Fort Frederick, as represented by Colonel Wood, the difficulty of getting wagons sufficient to move the whole Convention troops, and the state of uneasiness in which the regiment of guards is, have induced me to think it would be better to move these troops in two divisions; and as the whole danger of desertion to the enemy, and correspondence with the disaffected in our southern counties, is from the British only (for from the Germans we have no apprehensions on either head), we have advised Colonel Wood to move on the British in the first division, and to leave the Germans in their present situation, to form a second division, when barracks may be erected at Fort Frederick.

By these means, the British may march immediately under the guard of Colonel Crochet's battalion, while Colonel Taylor's regiment of guards remains with the Germans. I cannot suppose this will be deemed such a separation as is provided against by the Convention, nor that their officers will wish to have the whole troops crowded into barracks, probably not sufficient for half of them. Should they, however, insist on their being kept together, I suppose it would be the opinion that the second division should follow the first as soon as possible, and that their being exposed, in that case, to a want of covering, would be justly imputable to themselves only. The delay of the second division will lessen the distress for provisions, which may, perhaps, take place on their first going to the new post, before matters are properly arranged.

I have the honor to be, with great esteem and respect,

your Excellency's most obedient

and most humble servant,

Th: Jefferson.

LETTER x.x.xIII.--TO GENERAL WAs.h.i.+NGTON, November 10, 1780

TO HIS EXCELLENCY GENERAL WAs.h.i.+NGTON.

Richmond, November 10, 1780.

Sir,

I enclose your Excellency a copy of an intercepted letter from Major General Leslie to Lord Cornwallis. [See Appendix, note F.] It was taken from a person endeavoring to pa.s.s through the country from Portsmouth towards Carolina. When apprehended, and a proposal made to search him, he readily consented to be searched, but, at the same time, was observed to put his hand into his pocket and carry something towards his mouth, as if it were a quid of tobacco: it was examined, and found to be a letter, of which the enclosed is a copy, written on silk paper, rolled up in gold-beater's skin, and nicely tied at each end, so as not to be larger than a goose quill. As this is the first authentic disclosure of their purpose in coming here, and may serve to found, with somewhat more of certainty, conjectures respecting their future movements, while their disappointment in not meeting with Lord Cornwallis may occasion new plans at New York, I thought it worthy of communication to your Excellency.

Some deserters were taken yesterday, said to be of the British Convention troops, who had found means to get to the enemy at Portsmouth, and were seventy or eighty miles on their way back to the barracks, when they were taken. They were pa.s.sing under the guise of deserters from Portsmouth.

I have the honor to be, with the greatest esteem and respect,

your Exellency's most obedient

and most humble servant,

Th: Jefferson.