Newspapers / The Weekly Raleigh Register … / Sept. 9, 1805, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
LEIGH J JLLt jrt 1 O AND abtate Oura are the p'snsof fair delightful pe?i e, Unwarp'd by p,-itv rac, tolive '. bi uihcrj. RA North-Carolm Gazette. ro l" vt -Hi.' i " ' '" " jt jrrum tl;e enquirer Vindication OF MR. JEFFERSON. 2so. 11. first atproml cft-bs tr.emy to Xkbmand. Col. Wm.Tatha-n, says:": B. at Richmond in the time of Ar ndV invasion 1780-1, and hear inc thatn express had at rived at the Governors with intelligence ot the approach of an invading enemy, immediately rode to his house, and met Governor Jkffirsos walking out He had received such an ex press, but, as other intelligence led him to suppose they were nothing more than a foraging party, un less he h:,d further information to justify the measure, he should not disturb the country by calling out the 'Militia: he would uuk. me nevertheless, if I would go down to the Mai. Gen. Steubai who was at Wilton, (six miles below Rich moi'd) and reeive his orders ll needful. The Huron d:spatched me to Genera' Ne.sonat Williams burg, where I found the town in confusion, expec ting an immediate attack ; the enemy being at anchor, and having a boat ;akmg the sun dmfyi towards the shore, at King's JMlil, (4 miles below Williams burg.) " Thev proceeded however, up the river, and I remain', d in the suit of General Nelson severaldays, when I was d. sired by him to be fa bearer of some dispatches to the Governor, of such importance, -that I must avoid ail risque of be-: ing taken. Knowing the country well, I ventured in among the plantations, until I got to that of Dr. T.uehart, n?ar the Meadow bridges,, on Chiekahontiny ; 1 lea:n: that the enemy's picket was just called in, and reared irorn the Br'u'.ges towards the main body at Richmond. ,1 followed the picket care full v, entered Mr. D uval's house, at Mount Comfort, while the doors were wet with liquors spilt by the British soldiers, ana pushed into Richmond, from whence the armv had Erst retreated. Here one of our well affected citi zcr.s (I third: eld Richard Crcruchy reivrreci me to Moses i redv.av, in Munch. s:e: who conduct d me t3 Mr. Jeff son, at a house then occupied hy UoCior n-vans, and here 1 delivered ir.v disratch, and spent part-of the evening. I un derstood the cnemv encamped that nigh: at Fcur Mile crek, a'.oul 10 or 12 mil-3 off, aui, were then on their retreat.-" In 1796, Mr. D. Ifylton, be f brt4 Doctor Vv in. Fousbee, (a person i qu-'.!iihtd to administer an olh ; made the following deposition ; Harrier, Cjintij. " T h at i n 1 7 3 1 vh c n A rr.ol d i n -vaded this place, i was living near tfe Found; at Westh.im ; that i wa;: going out fo join the Militia to oppose Arnold, when I was stout by JUL I 'vltl 3 I, T n then Governor ol the State to attend to the removal of the powder, amunitiou, irms and o tuer property bclonpiug to the p:ib he, then in the magazine near Westham : that his orders were .to have (.very thing removed with an poss'iie expedition across ibe river; thrtton the night prc( edir.g Arnold's arrival :l t!je foundry, ivjr. jetier sou w..s at the substriber's iiouie, as late as eleven or twelve ro'ciock at night, at'c.'U'-iing and giving ii rections aooutihc pul-jic :.rov,z, tv ; tnat he tnen,aid he sbou d vjj m tae river about 8 miles to b,, lam ' iy, -cross the n.-xt mo.'uin, :u;d come down to Io..hto;i s, opposite Westham, and that carriages, should be provided to takeoff the property: that this was done ; that a very considerable quanutv (I nr. pose about iiftedn ions) oi Guli-powdei-audatnunitioii, wzlh a num.- ber of arms, stores, &c. were transported as directed and thereby saved to the public ; that the enemy wefe so close to us, that I was o bliged to have about three hundred stand of arms thrown into the river. the greater part of which were af terwards recovered , that in the night preceedlng the day of inva sion, the waggons (driven by white men) employed to bring records, &c. from Richmond, by mistake attempted to eet to" the Magazine, instead of the landing on the river, and near the Magazine, overset and broke some arms, &c. 1 hat in consequence of this accident, the packages which I afterwards found contained records wer& Iodis ed at the Magrzine,and 'carriages could not be procured in time ior the removal, as the alarm was so great and. sudden, that almost eve ry person in th neighbourhood, was endeavouring to put his pro perty in a state of safety by remo 1 . -. ... i i vmg it ; that it then ana eer nus appeared to the subsc '.b.r, that the said Mr. Jefferson did every thing which the nature of th: case and his situation would admit for the public interest." (Signed) D. HYLTON. Such are the asseverations of a man, which no individual acquain ted with his character will dare to deny. Tames Curria of Richmond, well known for his talents as a Fhy sieian, and his uniform candor as a man ; thu; expresses himselt : " On application made to me, if I recollect any thing in regard to the loss of the public records and other valuable papers in the year 1781, during the invasion of the British army when Mr. Jefferson was Governor, I well remember that he appeared extremely anxious and very active, in having them removed from, Richmond, and de posited in'a place of safety, ar.d if possible, entirely out of the reach of the" enemy ; and for that and o ther du:ies of his office as Chief Magistrate, did remain in town fully us long, as was either proper or prudent for him so to do, vi h out manifest danger of becoming tue prisoner ol the invading armv, who n ere fast approaching the seat of government, without any 'effi cient force that could at that time ! be br vjUi against them to stop their mar- h ; and that his conduct was then perfectly proper, and that oi a real patriot arfd iritnd ol his country, will be very fully evinced, uy the concurrent voice of the gen tie.nen who then acted with h m in ! council, as well as the unanimous apprpvmg voice or tne V.rgmia Legislature, at the subseqttvnt meeting of Assembly of the state." A similar-request b.ingmade of a Mr. A. B. late Clerk of the Coun cil, a gentleman of the fairest cha racter, he made the following state ment : r wc-'d rmpnibpr tTiat Mr. TeT- fcrson was extremely active iiyrc- movmg all public records from ;-:;.-.v.ru,rl La I trt belicv,, the chief loss w as occasion- lj ?"e treason to expect, witnin a d iv a mistake of the waggoners lhoafs' te.iigence conveying them to the foundry ofij whether they were inend or toes, Westham, where they were .to ) taclr orce and otner; circumstan havebeen thrown over the river, I;?9- We immediately dispatched if pursued by the enemy ; Mr. Jcf- j I Gencrr Nelsou l tht;1'er coun sel son desired me as Clerk of the ! fr v Povvers to cal1 on theum!" Counril to continue wkh him, and 11 h . a m that quarter or act other, to take with me the public seal, nnl m.rh o.n,;,. I,p .!' t.!.. .... . a t " :. cured 'a servant and horse, to ca, rv x snKdi trunk containing the paners, ..a . .i. . nil i li I 111 Vi . yriif,f in I 1 - : P. 'f ' ! Irr Arnold stakine possession oi Rich- inond, Mr. Jefferson desired tn"e to proceed to Tuckuhce, where he eould come to me. I set out San set, and left Mr. Jefferson busy7 in getting off the records. (Signed) pi TT) Oct. i2, iriu Monday,-September 9, 180.'-'. Blr. John Beckley who was i then Cleik to the Virginia Legis lature and at this time Clerk to. Congress, has authorised me in his name to make the following statement: "In four davs from the arrival of Arnold's fleet,-he proceeded 150 miles ui) the river, and landed his troops in 24 miles of Richmond. The night before his march to that place, all the militia of tht State4 which could be armed, being then out under the command of Gen. Nelson, in the neighbourhood of WillLmsburgh, -apd no defence at hand for the security of Richmond but about 200 half armed Militia, under the command of Baron Steu ben, who coiilci do nothing more than cover the removal of the re cords, and militia stores across James River, from Richmond to Manchester,' and secure the boats and batteries on. the Manchester side, to prevent the enemy's pas s'.ng. lie remained in Richmond, with the last detachment of militia, that passed the river with records and btoivp, and until the enemy the next morning were entering the lower part of the town, and began to flank it with their light horse. He saw Mr. Jefferson the night before, issuing his orders, and using every exertion to remove tlie reeo.ds and stores: he aher waids saw ljim at Wesdvam, iive m i ! e s ab o v e R i . h m o n d , w h n A r noid pushed a detachment to de strov the stores, at that pla:e, an d uhith through iMr. j's exertions were almost entirely saved. A he i the British evacuated Richmond, on bis return the first man he met with was Mr. jeff rson." In addition to the testimony al rdadv cited, w e may considt r the follow ing letter to Mr. Huntingdon the President o: Congress, dated Richmond, Januaiy Oih, 1781, i an authentic source ol intelli gence, because it uab written at a lime when the circumstances were fresh in the recollection of every observer, and because it w as ad dressed to a body intimately infor med on the subject by innumerable means, and who would not have failed to have exposed the slightest attempt made to deceive them at a crisis so important, and by a man oi'such elevated standing. Sir, " It may seem odd, considering the important events wnu h have taken place in this state within the course of ten days past, that I should not have transmitted an ac count of them to your Excellencv sooner. But such has been thtir extraordinary rapidity, and such the unremitted attention they have required from all concerned in the government, that I do not recol lect the portion of time which I could have taken to commit them to paper. On the 31st of Decem ber a letter from a private gentle man to Gen. Nelson, came to my l,;,uusi noun iu uiai in tne mu;- 1 l- ...;r te ... . lj nn5 the, preceding dav, 27 j J VeS?cl3 tlUeredr thue V"' haud from tne tenor ot the letter, U , . cxlLenv-ieb , 1C4U"C !: Ul-U waiteQ luitner mteiiig um viiiieei iu:tiiei iiiivuicm-v. ?! lore we would call tor militia trom : tht middle r upper country. No rmer .at: uigea e came uum iuc 2nd of hvauarv) instant, when r T. - . , :t . - J - J ' t:,e rraer was . confirmed. It w as 1 4 . acer. nnea tney naa aavanceci up !;Jas Klvcr to Vvarraaeak bay. 4a arrangements were immeaiate- Iv taken ior caume m a sufficient I .' body of militia ,Jor opposition ; in i me n:g it oi uie oiu, we receiveu jadvice, they were at anchor opuo site Ja mei town. We then suppo. sed Williamsburgto be their o' ject. 1 he wind, how. ver, which lair, and the tide being also in their mvour, thev ascended the Fiver to! Kennon's that evening, and withj the ncxt tid came up to Wcstover ; j having on their way taken posses- sion ox seme works VG livid Hoods, bvwh'khtwo or three of jtheirvesselsrcceivedsomedamage, j but wnich were of necessity aUi'i jdoned by the' small garrison of 50 j men placed there cm the enemy's landing to invest the works. In telligence of their having quitted the station at James town, from which we supposed, they meant to land for Williamsburg, and th.it they had in the evening to Cannon's, j reached us the next morning at 5 I o'clock, ar.d was the first indication cl ir meaning to penetrate to wards this place or Petersburg. As the o' ders for draw ing the militia nere had been given out two cays, n." riirru.ti.-n (! m n"!:ll11i'SS. . . v v.tj.iiv. ll . . . . . j ... . i Kvei v effort was therefore necessa- ry to w ithdraw the arms and oiher military stores, records, &:c. irom this place. Eveiv effort was ac cordiogly made to convey them to i he foundry six miles above this, till about sun set of that day, when we learnt the enemy had come to an anchor at Wcs:over that mor i. '.!:. We then knew this and no; i.,eters'"urj was thtir object, and .ve began to carry across th rivei. many things remaining here, an J to remove what had been transpor ted to the foundry and Laboratory, to Westham the nearest crossing s ven mi es . above this place; vi-hich operation continue d till the) had approached very near. - Thry marcnecl from Westover at 2 o' clock in the afternoon of the fourth, and entered Richmond the da following. A regiment ol intantr and about 30 horse, continued w ith out, hclt'.ng to the foundry ; the. burnt that, the Boring M'rl, Magi zinc, and two odier houses, and proceded to W estham, lut nothing being in their power, there, the retired to Richmond ; the next morning thev burnt some buildings ot public, and some of piivate pio perty, with what stores remained m them ; destroyed a great quan-j lity of private stores, and about! 12 o'clock retired towards Westo ver, when they encamped within tne neck the next day. The loss is not aeurately known, ixs Jar as I have been able to discover, ii consisted, in this place ot about COO muskets, some soldier's cloath ing to a small amount, some quar ter master stores, of which 120 sides of Leather was the principle article, part of the artiii ers too s, and three waggons ; besides which, hve brass 4 lbYs. which we sm.k in the river were discovered to them, raised and carried of. Wdth'm 48 hours from the time of their lan ding, and 19 from our knowing their destination, they had pene trated 23 miles, done the whole in jury and retired. 14 Their numbers from the best ! intelligence I have had, are about j 1500 infantry, and as to their ca i valry, accounts vary from 50 to 320, the whole commanueil oy tne parricide Arnold ; our militia, dis i perked over a large tract of countr) I can be called in but slowly. On I the day the enemy advanced to this place, two hundred omy were em bodied: thev were of this town audits neighbourhood, and were too few, to do any thing. At tnh: time, they arc assembled in pr.ttx considerable bodies, on the soum sid o: ,mes river, but not yet brought to a point. On the north side, are two or three small bodie amounting in the whole to about nine hundred men. The enemy were ai 4 o'clock yesterday even ing sFill remaining in their encauap ment, at Westover, at Berkeley Neck. In the mean time, Baron Steuben, a zealous friend, has de. ac. 312. seen; led from the dijrnitv proper conim md, to (ii(.'vt our SCl:. .eRt llV.tr.-m.. TT ' v v 1! t.3. I iilS VI nance- nas m great measure sj!Diied tic want oi iorce in preventing the ene my liom croasiugthe Fiver, whi h mign: have been very fatal. He has been as ,iduou:dy employed in prepaung equipments for the mi i ua as they assemble, pointing them to a properobject, and other ofai ; s of a good coa.m.mder. ShoiAi they Joitrea little longer, and it s lound practicable to collect an ade quate lorce, I flatter mvseif t!i -v will not escape with impunity. To what place they will point their next exertions, wc cannot even con jecture. The whole country on tide waters, and adjacent to them, is equally open to similar insult." (S gned) THOMAS JiFFERSON Upon this subject we will enly add, an extr.tct ol a letter, written by Gen. John Minor of Frede ricksburg, to his friend " Th t being in company with-Gen. Stc- ven-, and others, when the charge, brought against Mr. Jtaerson by Chai-ies Symmes the present - c ol lector ol the port of Alexandria, A'os tne shoject oi conversation, Gen. S. expressed the warmest in dignation j said i: way a fahhcod lo his certain kaovsLdge ; that he. despised the idea of effecting any political purpose at the expence of truth ; ihat i: ru-j tru he and Mr. ddlered in 'dicir sentiments, but nevertheless he did- not ! Ih-ve there was a man in tne U. 'States more at tLz.i. d to the inter, sts of his country man Mr. J. if - me.; sta ted particuiais that he was at Richmond a member of the legis lature and was among the la t .who quitted Richmond, on the "alarm being prixen that the caeirv were cor.mg into the city; tnat he saw Mr. J. there, kug after he thought it prudent tnat he s'houhl be gone ; tnat he told Fun so, and urged him to be g me ; stated to idui whateffects II iS caotuie milit have ucon the state ; that a hj hud no troops he could do no ;.o sible good bv staving : Mr. I. re- ' - J - o j - phed h:s; reason for staying a; to save as many of the public recor:.i3 as possible ; that he would eff ct more by hispresenci thanbyage that he was well in uated ana e.as not apprehensive of bem taken. I tniiik lie added that he oeheved Mr. j. did not leave the citv until the enemy vere entering the" lower part of it. From thence he went to Westham, and there took mea sures to secure the public arm, lie then spoke of the affair of Charlottesville, and I distinctly " remember acquitted himself of all blame." The man must be Mind indeed who after reading the testimony here addu.ed can see " any thing indicative of timidity, unwai rant ed by any immediate movement of the enemy, and forbidden by a re gard to those duties, which belong to the station he held." mere is some testimony so trong and so conclusive that every man is capable of deducing the proper inferences. Of this nature; is the j testimony which we Have, now advanced. We sincertlv be lieve, that the:e is scarce a single individual whom this accumulated evidence will not serve to convince ihat Mr, Jefferson sd far from meeting the reproaches is entitled to the gratitude of his country, for his services during this period of the war : that to ins activ ity ar.d prudence we principally owe the preservation of most of our military stores, and some of our public re cords ; and that during th s peri lous period, his presence cf mind, his umuffkd tranquility, the un shaken spirit of his soul were not less" conspicuous than his activity and prudence. fnat Mr, Turner u'.ould rot have touched upon this part of Mr. Jefferson's history is true bat it i
The Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 9, 1805, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75