The Royal Georgia gazette. (Savannah, Ga.) 1779-1782, November 22, 1781, Image 1

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I- , 1 %1 _ . THURSDAY, Novemesr THE • GEORGIA SAVANNAH: Printed From the LONDON GAZEITE. WHITEHALL, Aoguft 2, 1781. Extrafl of a litter front Sir Henry Clinton, o f the Batb, to Lord George Germain,one of bis Majcfiy s prin cipal Secretaries cf State, dated at Nrut-Tori the 3J of July, 1781$ received by bis Majtjly s Jhip Roebuck. My Losd, Majefty’s ship Warwick, which (T\w arrived here the 26th uit. with the yr JHt victuallers and recruit* dsftined for n this place, I had the honour to re- W u * ceire the originals cf yom Lprdfhip’s G,-s|| XTSfaf dispatches, dated t'j,e 31st of January * 7K and the 12th of February} and th day following the Carteret .nd Duke of Cumherlatid packet boat* came together into tin* port with the Engliih mail* for April and May. As tiie sudden departure of Vice Adm'ral Arbuthnot For Europe, in his Majesty’s ship Roebuck, doe* not afford tae rim* to write fa fully to- your Lordship ts-F-wish to do upon the several matters contained in your dispatches, I must therefore defer anfwcring them till the departure of the next packet, which I yropofe to expedite soon. It five**me much pleasure, however, in the mean time, to acquaint your Lordihip of the fate arrival of the three re giments from Ireland at Charleftown, together with the recruit* for this>-army, all in great health, on the 3d ult. . The inclol'ed copies of letters from LorJ Rawdon to Loti Cornwallis, aaddojve-to- me,-which- 1 received by, affairs in The province of South Carolina at the tuna t hfr Fetter* were written, .firiye. which period lltave hot heard frorti thence. Extrail of a letter from Lord Rawdon to Earl Cornwallis, dated Camp at Monk's Corner, May 24, 1781. THE situation of affairs in this province has made me judge it necessary for a time to withdraw* my fares from the back country, and I hope a recital of the c’lrcum #ance which have led to this determination will fatisfy your Lord/hip as to the expediency of the measure. After the aftion of JLhe ajth'*of April (an account of which I had the honour of transmitting to your Lordship) Major General Greene remained for feme dap behind the fart heft branch of Granny’s Quarter Creek. A fecund attempt upon his army could not in that situation be cn deitaken upon the principle* which advised the former. Tn the firft instance I made so short an excursion from my works, that 1 could ventu.e, without hazard, to leave them very nightly guarded, and I had the confidence, that, had fortune prov-d unfavourable, we.fhould raiiiy have made good our retreat, and our loss, in all probabj lity, would not have disabled us from the further defence •f the place. To get at General Greene, in this his re tired fituatiap, I mull have made ave y ext*nfive circuit in order to head rhe creek., which wouFfchave prefentftd to kirn the faireft opportunity A flipping b\* me to Camden } •nd he wa* (till fofuperior to me in numbers, that, had X left such a garrison at my post a* might enable it to {land an afTault,,my force in the field wou’d have been totally unequal to cope with the enemy’s army.. I had much to hope from the arrital of rems to me, and little to fear from any probable addition to my auugonift’i force. Whilst upon that principle I waited for my ejrpcfbd IWcouri&General Greene retired from our front, and erofitngf®! Wateree, took a po&tian behind Twenty-five Mile Creek. On the 7th of May Lieutenant Colonel ‘Watfon joined me \yitfc his detachment, much reduced in Dumber, through casualties, sickness, and a reinforcement which he had left to strengthen the garrison at George town. He trofled the Santee near it* mouth, and had xecroffed ica little below the cr.traneT'of the Congaree. Oa the night of the 7th I crofted the Wateree at Cam -TjCTrFerry, proposing to turn the fiiik iniittack the rar ts Greene’s army, where the ground wai.jjoi strong, though it was verymuch so in front. The troops had fcarcelv crofftd the river when 1 receiv ed notice-tbat Greene had moved early in the evening, upon getting intimation of my being reinforced } I follow ed him the direst read, and found him polled behind Saw ney’s Creek. Having driven in his picquet*, I examined every part of his situation. 1 found it everywhere lb strong ttm~TCs3t3 not hope to fore* it without fuffering such lof* a* must have crippled my force for any future enterprise, and-the retreat lay so open for him that I could not hope that vic tory would give us any advantage fu.Trcicntly dtcifive to Counterbalance the loss. JFbe creek (though Rightly marked H rhe ma pO runs very high Into the country. Had 1 ~<*] to get round him he would have evaded me with case, f\i, *, his num bers nill exceeded mine, I coul4*hot lbpirate my force to £x him in any point, and time (at this juncture moil im yortant to me) would have been thus unpiofuably wafted. I therefore returned to Camden the fame afternoon, after having in vain attempted todacoy the enemy into acliort, by attempting to conceal our retieat. - ! . On the 9th I published to the tropps and to thefinilitia r.y design of evacuating Camden, offering to such of the as chofc to accompany me every afultance .hat we aould give them. During the ensuing night i f-nt off all •ur baggage, 3tz. under a strong effort, and deftroved ihe‘ works, remaining at Camden, with the rest of the trace?, till ten o’dqpk the next day, in Order to cover the m. l( ch* pn the night of the ,13th I began to pr.ffjhe river ti Nel on s Ferry, and by the evening of the 14th every thing was lately aerofs. Some moanted-militia had attempted .tqharrafs our rear guard on the march, but a party of havic; au ambfj*dc, the icit of them fjgMjjMHg gave u* no further trouble. We brought oft” all the ficlc and wounded, excepting about 30, 1 who were too ill to be moved, and ior them I left an equal number cf continen tal prifoner* in exchange. We brought oft” a'l the stores of any kind cf value, destroying the rest; and we brought off, not only the miiitia who had been with us in Camden, but also all the well affected neighbours on our route, to gether with the wives, children, negroes, and baggage, of almost ill of them. ■ My firft news, upon landing at Nelson’s, was, that the poll at Motte’s houfehad fallen, it was a Gmplc redoubt, and had been attacked formally bv ftp. Lieutenant Mac pherfjn had maintained it g*Han:ly till the house in the center cf it was fat .in. flames by fire arrows, which obliged his men to threw thcrnfelves into the ditch, and furrendcr at diferetion. But as Majpi M { \cthur liad joined me with near 300 foot and so dragoons, I conceived I might, without haz arding too far, endear ur to check the enemy’* operation* on the Cong iree. On the 14t.11 ac night I irurched from Nelson s, and on the evening of the :sth 1 reached the point where the roads from Coneareps and MfCoar i’i Ferry unite. Various inf.;rmation was brought to me thither that Or:one had paffi'd tfi.e o<>n| 1 rce at M‘Coard’* Ferrv, and had poftied down the Orangeburgh r--ad. The ac count?, t ou'h nonc of them positive 01 singly frtisfaflory, correfpenoe J Ik much, that I was led to believe them, and the matter was of fu h inr i .it that it would not admit of ray periling f ve more certain information ; tl.erefore, af ter gaaHg toe troops a 1 i'Y” 1 r rest, I moved} ba kth Eutaws the -faflie night* .b..r.j.nv-thii,vg..three 1 p r ftd “IT ‘ 1;- Tly mypi-w * —fi ‘--in'l c.m-r tho/HiVioflv f: oni which }-’ . Chatjeftown fraw s itinrm.lptl funp!?.*,, lam in rra ffnefs to improve any favrtraole wccurraoce,'and I guard against any u-nto.vai I evert. • • : ~ i, , It is a feroi.daVv but not a -trifling advantage,’ tits* I have-been ab_‘e to fuppiy the t'oops with rcceftaries, for the want cf which (oc"afion!d by the Iftng interruotion of cur communications'),they fufiered ft.io.is diftrcf*.’ I am using every eflort to augment Our c-valrv, in hope* that the arrival ot fume force will fpeshly enable us to a dopt a marc active Conduft. ■’ Extrafl cf a ’utter from L:r>! RanvdiK tt T ieitWrCnl Gene-’ ral Ear! C.ur.roa lit, dated Ck-arlefiown, “June 5, 1781. Gfc.liiy4.Ai. o£ buv. To my gfcac fitisfnffion, however, I learn (by m Hagej which 1 hive round means to inte.change Lieutenant- Cu! n*l Croger) that the new works we 1 c fompl; ted r - fjre the enemy's apuroacH| th* gvritos is amp.- for the extent; an! t!ic fire o, the enemy had no ef?__i .I. eutenant lonel • ‘n'gee therefore onlv hen Js-that lilies mty r.&f 5 mfbiftre hii rrovifionVare expended. Fu..uo. t'ly we are n>win a condition ti undertake* fuccojiinj him without exposing a mdfre valuable flake} * n ’ * orn f ' : / c report of hi* provihon* which he font t rae, I truift we fisa!’ b • fully in time, A'.gti'ra is like wife bef.rg-d, but I hope in little danger. Sir jam si Wiight reprcfei ten so ftrohgly the want of troop* at Savannah that I thought it neceftkv to fend the Kng’ Amcrtra 1 regiment thither w>h a ; l difpxt'ch. ■ ° r ‘ the .3 d ,ra:ftarrt the fleet from L-elaVd arrival, having Tdouj 3* the 3a, 19th, and 30th regiinmt*, a detnehment lroin tae guilds, and a considerable body of recruit-, the whole under the command of Colonel Gould of the 30th. Lieutenant Colonel Balfour and T immediately made known to Colonel Gould the power which your Lordihip had given to us for detaining such part of the expelled reinforcement as we might conceive the f- . vice required ; And it has been fettled that the three regiments {hall all remain here until your Lordship figraifies your plcafure rc fpeaing them. I fhafl march oi the 7th towards Ninety fix, having been reinforced by the flank companies of the three new regiments. l am happy in mentioning to vour Lordship f jMmdfom; te iimutvy w aedTfhr his-Majesty’s rntereff* which has oc curred here; Conftderable difficulty havhfg arisen in the formation of cavalry, forne “of the principal inhabitant* of t.us town made a fubfefiption, to near three t iomaad guineas, which sum they requeffed I would apply to the p.u_pQi< of equipping..! corps of dnupon* m the man- f 1 * mould judge moft expedient. As I had no means of forming such a corps but by drafts from the infantry, I tn,night y >ur Loid'hip would be F i£tM^3t.a.compliment mould be paid to the 1 -yalty of the gentlemen abovemen tioned, by fixing upon men connefled with the province } I have therefore ordered the South Carolina regiment-to re cenverted into-eavalry, and 1 have the profpeft of their b:m a mounted and completely appointed in a very few days. 7 , 1 hare just had the fatisfaftion to learr. that tue King’s American regiment arrived fafe at Savannah. Ext'raS cf a utter from Lord Raw Jon to Sir Henry Clinton , dated June 17, 1781. I CANNOT in any manner givEyour Excellency a more explicit account of what has pafled in this province, and of che present slate of our affairs, than by inclofing tb your Excellency copies of the letters whiefc I havi at dif ferent periods written to Lord Cornwallis. The frtuition of the provrnee has been critical, yet I am welt convinced that numbers have joined the enemy merely to {hicli thcmfdves from the atrocious barb irity of the rebel mili tia, which has been beyond what I ever heard of among the moft lavage nations. Should we be fucccfsfui in our present enterprire, it will probably be found neccffiry to make the Santee a id Gonjareerhe b undarles of our posts, and to rrvyite the ft>nds of government to f..tt!e upon the edites of revoUers within the chain of our ftatioifT Thje back parts cf. the p.Mvince must necessarily depend upoh the country inclofcd by tliofe river* m long as we keen piT.-ffion of the ChefapcaJu, 84,178:. [N®. 143.] ‘ ROYAL GAZETTE. bylf AMESjOHNSTON. WHITEHALL, August 10, iylt. Extrafl of a letter from Lieutenant Colonel Balfoud, Com mandant cf Cbarlefiown in South Carolina, June ij, 178*.. AFTER the advantage gained by I.o*rd Rawdnn, on the 2 sth of April, over General Greene’s army, of which your Lordihip was informed by my dispatch of the. xft ultimo, the genenal ftatc of this province rendering it expedient to relinquilh the post at Camden, Lord Rawdo* therefore quitted that place, after having again offere# battle to General Greene, who, secured in a strong pofitioc behind Sawney Creek, could by no efforts bfc induced from it- On the corps Under Lord Rawdon falling back toward# this town, the enemy, by detachments, inverted the porta at Motte s house, Congarees, and Augusta, having previ"- oufty taken that at Wright’s Bluff. Thefc posts, tnf Lord, had been ertablilhedYor controuling the country, and preserving it* communications. Unfortunately, from the superiority of the enemy, and the impoflibilit/ of imme diate relief, as affairs were then circumstanced, these gar rifions were obliged to surrender, though gallantly defend ed : H rwever I have the fatisfaftion to inform yonr Lord ship, that the stores in tHm were but iflconGderable, and the-troops have fine* been exchanged, under a cartel whick has lately taken place between my Lord Cornwalii* and Major Ger.etal Greene, for the release of ali-prifoners of war in the foirthcrn diftridl. Having accomplilhed these fnnller purposes, Genera!” Greene combined hi* fbree, aftd laid close liege to Nine ty-fix, the .moft commanding arid important of all the port*. 1 h , S back , oun try, Jid , .byib ut 350 merr,.exckifive of mhitra, ar.d pul-aeier, the cnarge &T Lieu tenant - Colohel Ciftigcr, “air able and* zealous otficer. ‘ • ‘ TLirs circumstanced was this province when a rein force ment-of - three regiments from Ireland arrived; and, a* .Joor. as the r.cccffary arrangement? cpuld be made, Lord Rawdon, having under him a corps’ of hear ioco men,- proceeded to the relief,.-of Ninety fix, an undertaking, from the unfavourablenefs ‘ot the climate at this fcafon, which your Lo-dfhip knows must have been attended witli mnny difficulties and much fatigue, but which the zeal and exertion of the troops enabled them to furmcma:. General Greene, on finding this corps approaching him. tooit the rcfolution of attempting to storm the garrison, a* dattgerou* and decifrve than eominjrtd afbion wuth Lord Rawdon. On the morning of the iqth mftant he therefore made the experiment, but, by the galic.itry of the troops, was repulsed, having, at acknow On tins occasion, and during the siege, our loss was truly* inconsiderable, though at present I am unable to fpecify your Lordihip the particulars of it. J bus disappointed in his views, General Greene the enuung day raised the siege, and retired with his army be hmd the Saluda, to a strong situation within 16 miles of Ninety-fix, at which poft.Lord Rawdon arrjved on the 21 ft. 1 he effcntial service done by the troops under Colonel l rugcr, in this gallant defence of the post, which wa* clolely preffrd by the enemy, and the noble fpirjt with which they repelled the assault of all Greeae’* army, it much to® obvious to require any tribute I could pay to such diilinguifhed merit. * 4 mmmmx WILLIAM ROSS HAS for sale, at his store on the Bsy, lately poffcfTed by Samuel Douglass and Cos. Aii Aiibrtment of GOODS, Imported in the fail ftiips from London, and which will be fold on very reasonable terms forcafh, bills ‘ of exchange, or country produce ; nmongft which ate: White and coloured plains, duffil blankets, womens Icarlet cloaks and cardinals, camblets, durants, fhaJicons, printed cor deroys, rd 10 4ths cotttrtn counterpanesp and lo bed, boifter. and pillow ticks; Mar lei lies quilting; mens, womens, and boys worded and cotton hole; milled caps, womens calamanco shoes, womens plain and trimmed black (ilk hats, ditto plain and flowered black Latin car dinals, black Barcelona handkerchiefs, ditto neck cloths, 7Bth* and yard wide cotton checks, Man clieUer lbipes, cznabrigs, cambrick, c!eae lawn, ribbons, ivory and horn combs, cutlery, bridles and horse whips, carpenters planes, double wormed gimlets, haadfaws, flock and iron rim’d locks, frymgpans, boheaand greeo tea, loaf sugar, black pepper, faltpetre, small shot, cordage, &c. Also a consignment of falhionable fuperhne and second broadcloths, with trimmings which will be fold at 50 per cent, on the firft cost. FOR S A LE, The House wherein the fubferiber now lives.—Ashe intends soon to leave the province, he will be much obliged to thoff gentlemen who are iadebted to him if they wo Calf and pay fbeir accounts. JN\ HENDERfiOK) ,