192 Letters to the Governor and Council

April 16
Red Book
No. 30
Letter 106

of the several Services required, which shall be layed out to best
advantage, I am sorry to inform your Excellency and Honors that I
am grown too poor in your Service (and that of the Continent) to
undertake this matter without; public officers being much out of
Credit with the people at large, and as this business is to be done at a
distance from home I have no prospect of doing it with the neces-
sary dispatch without money, Col^o Yeates called on me last night to
know what prospect I had of procuring him Forage, this I mention
as I am Sensible M^r Williams has it not in his power to procure any
untill money or an order on the Treasury is sent him, Colo. Blain will
furnish a good opportunity to forward those orders to M^r Williams
and myself, and I shall endeavour to persuad him to go down the
State with me, where corn may be had on the best Terms and if
the Bay continues clear a few days, may be sent up by Craft, which
as we shall attempt from the difficulty of getting waggons I must
Intreat the earliest Inteligence be given us if any of the Enemies
Cruisers appear to be standing up,

April 17

[Jos^a Beall, Lieu^t P^s G^s Cty Bladensburgh to His Excell^y
Tho^s Simm Lee, Esq^r]

Agreeable to order I have sent the Prisoners Under Guard com-
mitted to the Care of Capⁿ William Patterson now a resident of
this Town a person who has formerly been in the regular Service
& has shewn a good deal of Spirit in Turning out on the present occa-
sion. It is with Pleasure I can asshure Your Excellency & Honors
that the Militia of this county Turned out with Spirit & alacraty
nothing but arms were wanting to have embodied a Considerable
force on the river, inclosed you have a list of those Brave men who
Attacked the Enemies boats under the Muzzalls of the Cannon of
their sniping, & secured one of their Boats & Crew out of three that
landed, and there is reason to belive that another of their boats crews
suffered very mutch as I could perceive but very few hands in her,
on her return, to their shiping, who sent another Boat off to Assist
her in geting along side. Wee have only to regret the want of some
field Peices & persons who could have managed them well, had that
been the case I think it would have been in our powers last friday to
have destroyed all their shiping excepting one that fell down Earley
in the morning, the rest had all got under way, but from the winds
springing up very hard from the North West about sun rise they
were all obliged to come to in a Cluster within about half a mile of
M^r Diggses Point where they were obliged to remain that and the
Next day, on Sunday morning they got under way earley in the
morning I sent an Express to Coll^l Lyles desiring he would observe
their motion and Act with the men under his command Accordingly,
and to let me know if they Attempted a landing below, and went
myself to broad creek to meet the prisoners, to send them to some