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Extract of a Circular Letter from his Excellency George Washington, Commander in Chief of the armies of the United States of America, to the Governors of the several States.

HEAD QUARTERS, Newburgh, June 18, 1783.

"For my own part, conscious of having acted, while a servant of the public, in the manner I conceived best suited to promote the real interests of my country; having in consequence of my fixed belief, in some measure pledged myself to the army, that their country would finally do them complete and ample justice, and not willing to conceal any instance of my official conduct from the eyes of the world, I have thought proper to transmit to your Excellency the enclosed collection of papers, relative to the half pay and commutation granted by Congress to the officers of the army.

"From these communications, my decided sentiment will be clearly comprehended, together with the conclusive reasons which induced me at an early period, to recommend the adoption of this measure in this most earnest and serious manner. As the proceedings of Congress, the army, and myself, are open to all, and contain, in my opinion, sufficient information to remove the prejudice and errors which may have been entertained by any, I think it unnecessary to say any thing more, than just to observe, that the resolutions of Congress, now alluded to, are as undoubtedly and absolutely binding on the United States, as the most solemn acts of confederation or legislation.

"As to the idea, which I am informed has in some instances prevailed, that the half pay and commutation are to be regarded merely in the odious light of a pension, it ought to be exploded forever: That provision should be viewed as it really was, a reasonable compensation offered by Congress, at a time when they had nothing else to give, to officers of the army for services then to be performed: It was the only means to prevent a total dereliction of the service; it was a part of their hire. I may be allowed to say, it was the price of their blood and of your independency; it is therefore more than a common debt, it is a debt of honor; it can never be considered as a pension or gratuity, nor canceled till it is fairly discharged."

APPENDIX.

Note 1.-See Page 102.

General Burgoyne, in his defence, after his arrival in England, as commander of the northern expedition, has paid a just tribute of praise to American bravery. Adverting to the action of the 19th of September, he says, "few actions have been characterized by more obstinacy in attack or defence. The British bayonet was repeatedly tried ineffectually. Eleven hundred British soldiers foiled in these trials, bore incessant fire from a succession of fresh troops, in superior numbers, for above four hours; and after a loss of above a third of their number, and in one of the regiments above two thirds, forced the enemy at last. Of a detachment of a captain and forty-eight artillery men, the captain and thirty-six men were killed or wounded. The tribute of praise due to such troops, will not be wanting in this generous nation." His observations respecting the action of the 7th of October, are expressed in the following energetic and feeling language. "The losses in the action, were uncommonly severe. Sir Francis Clark, my aid de camp, had originally recommended himself to my attention, by his talents and diligence. As service and intimacy opened his character more, he became endeared to me by every quality that can create esteem. I lost in him a useful assistant, an amiable companion, an attached friend; the state was deprived by his death, of one of the fairest promises of an able general. "The fate of Colonel Ackland, taken prisoner, and then supposed to be mortally wounded, was a second source of anxiety. General Frazer was expiring.

APPENDIX.

"In the course of the action, a shot had passed through my hat, and another had torn my waistcoat. I should be sorry to be thought at any time, insensible to the protecting hand of Providence ; but I evermore particularly considered a soldier's hair-breadth escapes as incentives to duty, a marked renewal of the trust of being, for the due purposes of a public station; and under this reflection, to lose our fortitude, by giving way to our affections, to be diverted by any possible self-emotion, from meeting a present exigency with our best faculties, were at once dishonor and impiety."

General Frazer died of his wounds on the 8th inst. Before his death, he requested that his body might be carried, without parade, by the officers of his own corps to the great redoubt and there buried, About sun set the corpse was carried up the hill, and necessarily passed in view of both armies. Generals Burgoyne, Phillips, and Reidesel placed themselves in the humble procession. As General Gates was not made acquainted with the intended solemnity, a constant cannonade was kept up, by our people directed to the hill, where the ceremony was performed. From the pen of General Burgoyne, we have the following eloquent delineation of the melancholy scene. "The incessant cannonade during the solemnity, the steady attitude, and unaltered voice, with which the clergyman officiated, though frequently covered with dust, which the shot threw up on all sides of him; the mute, but expressive mixture of sensibility and indignation on every countenance; these objects will remain to the last of life on the mind of every man, who was present. The growing duskiness, added to the scenery, and the whole marked a character of this juncture, that would make one of the finest subjects for the pencil of a master, that the field ever exhibited. To the canvas and to the page of a more important historian, gallant friend! I consign thy memory. There may thy talents, thy manly virtues, their progress and their period, find due distinction, and long may they survive, long after the frail record of my pen shall be forgotten."

The following appropriate lines, are from the elegant pen of

Mrs. Morton.

To gallant Gates, in war serenely brave,
The tide of fortune turns its refluent wave,
Forc'd by his arm, the bold invaders yield
The prize and glory of the well fought field;

Bleeding and lost the captured Ackland lies,
While leaden slumbers seals his Frazer's eyes;
Frazer! whose deeds unfading glories claim,
Endear'd by virtue, and adorn'd by fame.

Lady Ackland.-See Page 110.

Further particulars respecting the affecting story of this distinguished lady have since appeared; and from the writings of General Burgoyne and other sources, I extract the following. She accompanied Major Ackland to Canada in 1776, and was called to attend on him while sick in a miserable hut at Chamblee. In the expedition to Ticonderoga in 1777, she was positively enjoined not to expose herself to the risk and hazards which might occur on that occasion; but Major Ackland, having received a wound in the battle of Hubberton, she crossed lake Champlain, to pay her attention to him. After this she followed his fortune, and shared his fatigue, while traversing the dreary, woody country to Fort Edward. Here the tent in which they lodged, took fire by night, from which they escaped with the utmost difficulty. During the action of the 19th of September, she was exposed to great fatigue, and inexpressible anxiety for the fate of her husband, being advanced in the front of the battle. On the 7th of October, during the heat of the conflict, Lady Ackland took refuge among the wounded and dying; her husband commanding the grenadiers, was in the most exposed part of the action, and she in awful suspense awaiting his fate. The baroness Reidesel, and the wives of two other field officers, were her companions in painful apprehension. One of these officers was soon brought in dangerously wounded, and the death of the other was announced. It was not long before intelligence was received that the British army was defeated, and that Major Ackland was desperately wounded and taken. The next day she proposed to visit her husband, in the American camp. General Burgoyne observes, "Though I was ready to believe, for I had experienced, that patience and fortitude in a supreme degree, were to be found, as well as every other virtue, under the most tender forms, I was astonished at this proposal. After so long an agitation of the spirits, exhausted not only for want of rest, but absolutely want of food, drenched in rain, for twelve hours together, that a woman should be capable of delivering herself to the

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