that no British Officer had ever expressed a contrary purpose. It has however become my duty to declare that should such a Threat be carried into Execution, it will be deemed as putting prisoners to death in cold blood, and shall be followed by the Execution of so many British prisoners in our possession. I trust however that this horrid necessity will not be introduced by you and that you will on the contrary concur with us in indeavouring as far as possible to alleviate the inevitable miseries of war by treating captives as Humanity and natural honour requires. The event of this contest will hardly be affected by the fate of a few miserable captives in war. CIRCULAR-LETTER TO THE COUNTY LIEUTENANTS. V. S. A. IN COUNCIL. March 26th, 1781. SIR,-I enclose you by express three Acts of the last session of Assembly for ascertaining the number of militia in the State exempting Artificers employed at Iron works from militia duty and remedying the inconveniences arising from the Interruption of the Draught and the procuring Clothes Provisions & waggons for the Army. On the approach of Lord Cornwallis to this State & a representation of the want of Horses to mount our Dragoons two warrants were enclosed to General Greene for impressing Dragoon horses. The persons to whom these warrants have been entrusted having taken as was said Horses of much greater value than have been allowed for that service, the GeneralAssembly directed that no further Impresses under them should be made of horses of more than the value of £50 Specie and that those of a higher price already Impressed shld be returned to their owners. We have taken such measures as were in our power to carry the Resolution into effect, but as the Impresses pasing continually from Place to Place may not be notified of the Resolutions of Government, I must beg the favor of you to take measures for making them known to any such who may be in your County and for effecting their execution. It is probable that most of the valuations have been made in paper money. From another Resolution from Assembly we are led to fix on £5000 paper, as the value above which no such Horse shall be impressed or retained. We expect to send a vessel shortly with a flag from this Place to Charles Town with tobacco to be disposed of for our Captive Officers and soldiers there. Be so good as to give notice to the friends of any of them within your County that any articles that they may think proper to send for their Relief by that conveyance shall have a free passage if ready to be delivered here by the last of April, & not too much for the share room of the vessel. The number of deserters from the British army who have taken refuge in this State is now considerably & daily augmenting. These people notwithstanding their coming over to us, being deemed in Law alien Enemies and as such not admissible to be citizens are not within the scope of the Militia and Invasion Laws, under which citizens alone can be embodied. I thought it necessary to observe this to you lest any Error in this point should creep into practice by incorporating those persons in the Militia of the State. TO THE REV. JAMES MADISON AND ROBERT ANDREWS. V. S. A. RICHMOND. March 31st, 1781. SIR,-The principle on which the Boundary between Pensylvania and this State is to be run having been fixed it is now proposed by President Reid that Commissioners proceed to execute the work from the termination of Mason and Dixons Line to the com VOL. II. -33 I pletion of five Degrees of Longitude and thence on a meridian to the Ohio. We propose that the extent of the five Degrees of longitude shall be determined by celestial observation. Of course it will require one set of Astronomers to be at Philadelphia and another at Port Pitt. We ask the favor of yourselves to undertake this business the one to go to the one place, the other to the other, meaning to add a coadjutor to each of you. Good instruments can be furnished no doubt at Philadelphia; but for the Pittsburg observations we must sollicit the proper instruments from your corporations which we will undertake to return in good order; or if injured to replace them. therefore beg the favor of you to sollicit the Loan of those Instruments. With respect to yourselves we shall furnish money for your necessary & comfortable Expenses, the covered waggon which conveys the Instruments will take any luggage necessary for your accommodation. And we will give you moreover 150 lbs of Tobacco a Day each dischargeable in current money at the rate affixed by the grand Jury at the General Court next preceding paiment. It will be necessary to proceed in this business as soon as the General mode shall have been agreed between the two States. Perhaps a meeting of the Commissioners at Baltimore will be previously requisite to settle particulars. I am to request an immediate answer to this as I delay proposing to President Reid this mode of locating the boundary until I know whether we can get the Execution of it undertaken. by Gentlemen who will do us credit and justice. TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. J. MSS. RICHMOND March 31st, 1781. SIR, The letters and papers accompanying this will inform your Excellency of the arrival of a British flag Vessel with clothing, refreshments, money &cfor their prisoners under the convention of Saratoga. The Gentlemen conducting them, have, on supposition that the Prisoners, or a part of them still remained in this State, applied to me by letters, copies of which I transmit your Excellency, for leave to allow water transportation as far as possible, and then for themselves to attend them to the Post where they are to be issued. These indulgences were usually granted them here, but the Prisoners being removed, it becomes necessary to transmit the application to Congress for their direction. In the mean time the flag will wait in James river. Our intelligence from Genl Greene's camp as late as the 24th, is, that Ld Cornwallis's march of the day before had decided his route to cross creek. The amount of the reinforcements to the enemy arrived at Portsmouth is not yet known with certainty.1 Accounts differ from 1500 to much larger numbers. We are informed they have a considerable number of Horse. The affliction of the People for want of arms is great, that of ammunition is not yet known to them. An apprehension is added that the enterprise on Portsmouth being laid aside, the troops under the Marquis Fayette will not come on. An 1 Under the command of Phillips. Enemy 3000 strong, not a regular in the State, nor arms to put into the hands of the Militia are indeed discouraging circumstances. TO MAJOR-GENERAL PHILLIPS, OR OTHER THE COMMANDING OFFICER OF THE FORCES OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY BY SEA OR BY LAND IN VIRGINIA, V. S. A. RICHMOND, March 31st, 1781. SIR,-I have duly received your favor dated New York, March 8th. The removal of the German Troops of Convention also from this State was a circumstance probably not known to you at that Date. I am as yet uninformed of the Post at which they have been stationed, but believe it to be York Town and Lancaster in Pensylvania, the nearest navigation to which is the Head of Chesapeake Bay. The permissions desired for facilitating the Delivery of the stores on board the Flag are consequently not within our Gift; but I have forwarded the applications to Congress and shall hope shortly to communicate their consent to the Gentlemen conducting the Flag. General Scott the Commanding Officer of the Virginia Line in Captivity at Charles Town, sollicited & obtained from the Commandant there a license to us to send Tobacco in any quantity for the Relief of our Officers there. I take the Liberty of enclosing to you a copy of an extract from his letter on that subject to the Commandant and the answer he received as furnished me by General Scott. I do not expect |