The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. 02
History
The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. 02
United States -- Foreign relations -- 1775-1783; United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Sources
The enclosed list is the ministerial army upon paper. In effect it will
amount to about 15000 Germans and 18000 British; their destination I
can now give you with some certainty; 4000 Brunswickers and Waldeckers,
with 500 Hessians from Hanan, are now at Stade, a port in Hanover,
ready for immediate embarkation and destined for Canada, to be joined
by the twentyninth regiment, and 1000 drafted from the Foot Guards,
under Colonel Matthews. There is to be another embarkation in the
spring from Ireland for Canada, and the whole is to be commanded by
General Burgoyne, and Carleton I believe recalled.
The second body, being Hessians, are to march this day for Stade,
and the third on the 14th of next month; these are for Boston. Lord
Cornwallis, with six regiments, to sail immediately from Cork for
Virginia, where General Clinton is to take the command. They have
certain assurances of being joined by the Scotch in Virginia, and those
on the borders of North Carolina under the command of one M’Donald. In
the mean time, they have been directed to protect themselves under a
treaty of neutrality. Besides this land force, Lord Howe is to have a
fleet of seventytwo sail to block up the coast. For this purpose large
ships are to be stationed at the mouths of the great rivers, and the
rest are to cruise at some distance from the coast three deep, but not
in file, so as to render it more difficult to cross them. They are to
get possession of New York and Hudson’s river, so as to cut off all
south and north communications, and they have some idea of attacking
Canada too, by Montreal. Halifax is to be their naval magazine.
The Germans are commanded by two Lieutenant Generals, of whom the
eldest is named De Heister, who has some military character. This is
the favorable review of their plan. On the contrary, the whole army,
native and foreign, is averse to the service, so that it is much
apprehended, that if the provincials are dexterous in throwing among
them advantageous propositions, and faithful in performing them, the
desertion will be immense. The British troops have not one in five that
is a soldier, the rest are boys and debilitated manufacturers, just
recruited, at the reduced standard of five feet four inches. A vast
number of the best subaltern officers have quitted the service. It is
thought they will make Howe commander in chief, which must disgust the
German generals, who are much older. The expense will be immense, the
difficulty of providing magazines immense, and another campaign hardly
possible. Lord George Sackville is the minister, with absolute and
hated authority even in the Cabinet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. 02 — John Shaqi
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account