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Show Eriflm-tc of S I R A y D R r. w 8 X Al" E HA M M o N n. Equ'Jmce q/‘CAPTAI N MONTRESOR. ment and want of liicccfs in the very principleef it; nor did he now think the covaqueli or r-tnieriert was practicable With any FM?" in Y???» .‘iiree we could fend. The force in i777 and 1778, was made- 79'1"" 77 mix-(1mm for the (fitting that purpofe; the force of 1779 was {,4 1‘;.'(:w'c,:.,i‘:llikswile fo. Being‘allmd whether he thought hoop igc1fu1ts, {pm-equalmh:and the troops at St. Lucia, 11' recalled, a.ong Wit t e oiee Cunt}. of Amer. now under Sir Henry Clinton, would be equal? He replied not, nor any other force we could 1pare from the home defence, or that of oiir dependencies and (liltaitt policilions. I‘U'lfk 3‘ ‘77:". _ efforts to the contrary, prove the deflrué‘tion of the whole fleet. He declined to anfwer fevernl queflions of opinion put to him, relative to the operations upon land. His examination was very favourable to Sir William Howe ; and in the courfe of it Hm," Compli. he took frequent opportunities of paying the highef't compli- Laid Howe. ments to the great zeal, good conduct, and protLliional ability of the noble Lord his brother. . An attack upon \i‘.':tlhington at Valley Forge was impractica- CAPTAIN MONTRESOR. kimhcml‘mim' ble; the enemy were too mum in force, and too advantageouf‘ lV polled. The Provine'rals werenot _a contemptible enemy; they had given repeated proots of their flilll and bravery. A finé‘le defeat ar-iiled very little over fuch a people in inch :1 Country, almofl United as they Were, and a better proof need not be'sriven than that after the defeat at Brandy-wine, drove as they‘lwere from the capital, they had the confidence to attack :1 victorious army, in a few days after they had loll every advantage then enjoyed by a contpierine' enemy. T . Arnzlchr pm" He flared the force under Sir W ilham Howe and W aflnngton, 16,233 each. as to veteran troops, to be nearly equal, about 16,000 each, belides the l'rovincial militia. Being afked by Lord North what they were. refpeetively at the engagement in the. Jerfies ? At half after feven o'clock, Capt. Montrefor, who tufted as Capt. Montre- chiefeng'ineer in America was called ,- and, as it is impolliblefor called in. to follow the infinity of queliions that were put to him, we {hall juft flute the particular fubjeets on which he was interrogated. On the lines on Long-liland, he faid, they were fo very Lines on Long flrong, that the morning they were evacuated, it was with great War-d find? dc- difliculty that he and a corporal's patrole, ofdix men, could getiignf' :51?" fl" into them to view them. l‘hcy were finely elig'ned, f0 were jjgglfifim; all the works he {aw raifed by the rebels, but not judicioufly bc‘mrh; gnaw. executed. The works could not be taken by ull‘ault or florm ; they called, from thei‘ nature, for regular approaches. It would be a forlorn hope to commit naked men to llorm redoubts, Clinrnnmu-(l‘d He replied, that the rebel force which attacked Sir Henry without fafcines, lbziliiiff ladders, &c. by 6930 "RM Clinton, was from 4 to 6000 men. Lt" Q \thit was the whole force if it had come up P .4. About 14,000 ; 6000 under General Lee, and 8000, the main body, under Walhington, which did not engage. and got pollellion of the intermediate part of the lines, they could not live an inliant in them, {0 long as the redoubts on the flanks were held by the enemy. They extended in front about two tllOlliilllLl yards, from the fwainp on the left to the water. SIR ANDREW SNAPE Ilia}; 1 122.77, HAMMOND. FlffNRViflj‘"dllowe, in foine part of the Delaware, in preference to going i1 ' i ‘ 1:: "(3c round by Chefapenk, and landingr at the head of the Elke. After he had been at the bar upwards ofan hour, and was PIC" .D mwurr‘. paring to retire from it, Sir Richard Sutton, Dir. Eden, and Governor Johnftone, put a great number of quellions to him, particularly refpet‘ting the rapidity of the tides in the Delaware, and the ability of being able to make at landing good near Newcaille, or higher up. He was clear he find, that the army Inuit have met with very fingular, if not infurmountable difli‘ lies, tire-rafts, and fire-fhips; which, favoured by the wind, and by the rapidity of the llrezun, might, in fpite of the greatefl . --~‘-. culties, in one event ; and ifthey attempted a defcent nearer to the town, the whole fleet would have been expofed to the gal? Cfibl‘fi' "at"- _,.._, It was alked, if the 33d regiment and grenadiers of the army, might have penetrated P he fail, there was not room for a tingle man to petis between the. end of the line and the fwamp: but ifthe fwamp hitd not been iinpaliable, there would be no living for naked troops, under the fire of the redoubt. The 779. '532' A. S Wam- Sir A. Snape Hammond's examination was chiefly confined to mend, CW- inthe eligibility of debarking the grand army, under Sir William ‘I fthey had attempted, lines were evacuated on the night of the 28th, and he difcovered it at four o'clock the next morning. with the patrole already mentioned. He {aw the rear embarking, and fevez‘til boats (four or five) polling over to York-liland. The bringing up fufeines, ladders, fee. would have been the work of fome hours ; and if they were at hand, did not think that the lines could be taken by aliault without hazarding :1 defeat, or at leafl purcha‘ing‘ vit‘lory very dearly, and by a great lofs of lives : nor in any way, in his opinion, but by regular approaches. Relative to TWe(hington's politien in the mountain aboveRm; of attack. Quibbleton, he did not think it advifeuble to force his c:nnp.at @Ibbleton. He did not pretend to he a judge ; but, as for a: the knowledge of the particular part of the military profellion he was bred to, enabled him to give an opinion, he thought the rilk and danger greatly outweighed the probability of ruccei's. He had ,_ .C. |