SIR,--I beg leave to introduce Mr. Thompson to you, and at the same time to thank you for the favour and protection which you have shewn him in giving him the command of a regiment of light dragoons, which, I trust, will be raised in a manner to entitle the officers of it to your approbation. Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson shows at least a spirit and zeal for the service, in quitting for a time an agreeable and profitable civil situation, in the hopes of being useful to his country, and by his military conduct, shewing himself not unworthy of the protection which you have granted to him. If you do him the honour to converse with him, you will find him well informed, and, as far as theory goes, a good officer in whatever you may think fit to employ him. I can answer for his honour and his ability, and I am persuaded he will ever feel himself attached by gratitude to you for the very kind and obliging manner in which you have protected him and the regiment under his command. I am, Sir, with great regard, your Excellency’s faithful, humble servant, GEORGE GERMAIN. On October 4, 1781, Colonel Thompson appointed Mr. Fisher, a clerk in his office, as his attorney, to receive his pay (thirteen shillings daily) and to attend to his clothing commission. He soon after left England in the ‘Rotterdam,’ a fifty-gun ship, for New York, but contrary winds compelled him to disembark at Charlestown (South Carolina). In his paper on Gunpowder he shows that he was busy during his passage: His Majesty having been graciously pleased to permit me to take out with me from England four pieces of light artillery, constructed under the direction of the late Lieutenant-General Desaguliers, with a large proportion of ammunition, I made a great number of interesting experiments with these guns, and also with the ship’s guns on board the ships of war in which I made my passage to and from America. He arrived towards the end of December. Lord Cornwallis had surrendered, and Charlestown, in Carolina, was in great danger for want of reinforcements and food. Early in 1782 Lord G. Germain wrote to General Leslie, who commanded at Charlestown: ‘I agree with you that mounted troops are the fittest for service in the southern provinces, but I cannot encourage you to expect that any will be sent from home; I am glad, however, you will have Colonel Thompson’s assistance in forming what you have. His offer to serve in your army until the season for action to the northward arrives corresponds with that public spirit and zeal for the King’s service which prompted him to quit his civil situation and engage in the military line.’ General Leslie wrote to Sir H. Clinton, January 29: ‘The army is now well clothed and recovered from the sickness and fatigue it underwent during the last summer.