in General Schuyler's letter of the 4th of February, 'that he confidently expected Congress would have done him that justice, which it was in their power to give, and which he humbly conceives they ought to have done,' were, to say the least, ill advised and highly indecent." It is a fact which cannot be told without disgrace to the medical profession, that more instances of fraud, incompetence, and neglect of duty, occurred among the Surgeons of our Revolutionary army, than in any other department of the service. No less than four Surgeons of high rank had been dismissed from the service, under the most dishonourable circumstances, at the date of this resolution; and several others had been severely censured by commanding officers, for neglecting those duties which humanity alone, independently of the obligations of their profession, should have taught them most strictly to observe. We should endeavour in vain to account for this dereliction of principle in the members of a profession, which has in every age and every country, furnished some of the noblest ornaments of human nature. The Surgeons may have been badly selected, or the temptations inseparable from the peculiar situations in which they were often placed, may have been too strong to be resisted.

A few days after this the Congress appointed Major General Gates to the command of the Northern

army.

While the American army was at this low ebb, without men, without arms, without money, except the bills of credit, which all the resolutions of Congress could not keep from a daily and enormous depreciation, every thing on the part of the enemy evinced a determination to open the Spring campaign with

more vigour than ever. General Howe, who had received the distinction of knighthood for his victory on Long Island, was ready in March to take the field with an army of twenty seven thousand men, while the whole force at the disposal of Washington was no more than four thousand five hundred, and this a mere nominal amount. What a fearful disparity was this, in a contest for life and liberty; and in a country, where the people seemed to have lost all that high sense of independence and patriotism, which first led them to resist the oppressions of the British Cabinet. Not. knowing to what point Sir William might first direct his attention, and unable to provide the means of effectual defence at any one, Washington remained at Morristown patiently waiting the result. Lord Cornwallis, who had continued at Brunswick, made the first movement. He conceived the design of attacking General Lincoln, who was posted at Boundbrook with about five hundred men ; and with this view he crossed the Rariton with a party of a thousand men, on the morning of the 13th of April, while General Grant, with a second thousand, advanced up the river on the opposite side. Notwithstanding General Lincoln's cautious measures to guard against a surprise, the neglect of his patroles enabled the enemy to advance within two hundred paces of him before they were discovered. The General's quarters were nearly surrounded by sunrise, and it was with some difficulty and considerable risk that he left the house and joined his troops, who were by this time engaged with the enemy's advance. With such immense disproportion of force it can hardly be said that an action ensued : the troops however displayed much bravery, and General Lincoln deserves infinite credit for effecting a re

treat with them through the closing columns of the enemy with the loss of only about sixty men. One of his Aids, all his papers, baggage, and three small pieces of artillery, fell into the hands of Cornwallis, who remained no longer in the place than was necessary to destroy the few articles of stores which had been deposited there for the use of the troops.

A few days after this affair, Sir William sent an expedition of two thousand men under the command of the late Governour, now Major General Tryon, General Agnew, and Sir William Erskine, for the purpose of destroying the stores and provisions deposited at Danbury. They reached it on the 26th of April, and met with no resistance, the small number of continentals posted there, having evacuated the place on their approach. The loss of stores to the Americans was very considerable--1800 barrels of pork and beef, and 800 of flour; 2000 bushels of grain, clothing for a regiment, 100 hogsheads of rum, and 1790 tents. Besides the destruction of these articles, the enemy wantonly burned eighteen houses with their furniture, murdered three unoffending inhabitants, and threw their bodies into the flames! It is painful to record such wanton acts of savage barbarity, but they have occurred too often, and are too well attested to be passed over in silence.

Generals Sullivan, Wooster, and Arnold, happened to be in the neighbourhood through which the enemy marched to Danbury; and by great activity and exertions, they succeeded in collecting about six hundred militia, with which they marched in pursuit, in a heavy rain, as far as Bethel, a little village about two miles from Danbury, which they reached late at night. Here it was determined to wait for the return

of the enemy, and attack them on the march. On the morning of the 27th General Wooster detached four hundred under Arnold and Sullivan to watch the motions of the enemy, and remained himself with two hundred at Bethel, until nine o'clock, when hearing that they had moved off on the road to Norwalk, he set out in pursuit, came up with and engaged their rear, and succeeded in taking forty prisoners; but this gallant veteran, now in his seventieth year, after displaying a Quixotic bravery for more than an hour, received a mortal wound. General Arnold had in the mean time crossed the country, and by a forced march reached Ridgfield at, 11 o'clock, through which the enemy were to pass. Here with his small party, which had been increased to five hundred by the junction of the neighbouring militia, he threw up a sort of barricado across the road and resolved to make a stand. His right flank was covered by a dwelling house and barn, and his left by a high ledge of rocks. The enemy, more than three times his number, advanced against him in two columns, with a view to outflank and surround him; a warm and brisk action ensued for about ten minutes, when the enemy succeeded in making a lodgment on the rock, and it became necessary for Arnold to retreat, which he effected with great bravery and skill, keeping up a scattering fire for the whole day. The royal Governour remained at Ridgfield all night, repeating as far as possible the scene of destruction transacted at Danbury. Four private houses were burned, and an unsucsessful attempt was made to destroy the church, for which last however, there was some apology, as it contained a quantity of provisions for publick use. The enemy continued their march early on the morn

ing of the 28th, towards Sagatuck river, which they forded, and pursuing the course of its banks, were closely followed by Arnold on the west side, with occasional and mutual cannonadings, until they reached Sagatuck bridge, where both parties being advantageously posted, an action commenced with the artillery which was kept up with great warmth for fifteen minutes, when the enemy thought proper to take up their march in rapid movement towards their shipping. Arnold pursued them to their boats, and being joined by Colonel Lamb with two hundred men, from New York (who however retreated on the first fire of the enemy, leaving the Colonel almost alone) galled their rear very severely. General Arnold displayed great skill and personal bravery through the whole of this affair. He had one horse killed under him, and another wounded. Congress voted him a horse fully caparisoned, and promoted him to the rank of Major General. Colonel Lamb was severely wounded in the back, while he was exerting himself to rally the cowardly militia who had fled in confusion upon the first appearance of danger. The loss to the enemy in this expedition was at least four hundred men, killed, wounded and taken; while that of the Americans was only about sixty killed and wounded. Their loss of stores and provisions, however, was considerable. General Wooster lingered with his wounds until the 2d of May. Thus ended the expedition under Governour Tryon, assisted by General Agnew and Sir William Erskine, with two thousand men! If it was not absolutely disgraceful, it at least added nothing to the glory of the British

name.