Head Quarters Rhode Island 13th Feby 1776.
Hond Sir. I take this Opportunity to acquaint You Colo Wanton is returned to Head Quarters upon his Parole, being set at Liberty till the Sitting of the Genl Assembly; at the first Sight of Him. my Blood felt warm & continued so for some Time in every Vein in my Body. I can truely Say with Job, had he "been sent back by my Enemies I could have born it;" but for Men, from whom I expected the greatest Protection, to set so lightly by me, my Officers & Men as to think it not worth while to detain such a Gentleman as Colo Wanton a few Days at Providence until I could be heard on the Matter: When I reflect on the Subject, and see my Enemies exulting, my Officers & Men dejected, & the grand and glorious Cause we are engaged in so much injured by it, am much put to it to bear up under my Burthens. Had not Colo Wanton been a Man well known to be an Enemy to his Country by every Person who has had the least Acquaintance with him, should not have taken it so hard. Had Colo Wan ton been Commander in Chief in this Colony, & I had treated him & his Men in the same Manner he hath treated me & my Men, I should have been put in Irons & confined in close Gaol; as long as there are so many Compliments paid to our inveterate Enemies because they are Men of Fortune, not considering their Connections are so much more extensive, & have it in their Power to do us vastly the more Mischief, which is the present Case; in my Opinion we shall make but poor Progress in the Cause of Liberty: I thank God, that he hath endowed me with Spirit & Resolution to discharge the Trust reposed in me with an honest Heart, & that I have the Testimony of a good Conscience on that Account ー However I may be censured by my Superiors, I must say, when Men's Lives are threatned for endeavouring to perform their Duty, when at the same Time they are obliged to do it, that a Person who hath been evidently guilty of all this, should be permitted to return where he can prosecute his traiterous & murderous Designs is astonishing to me ー
I had much rather go into the Field with one Hundred Men & engage with Two Hundred of Capt [James] Wallace's Men, & fight four Hours, than undergo the Feelings I have felt for an Hour past, looking upon myself as a Subject of Ridicule for my Enemies, and of the Disregard of those whom I have always taken to be my best Friends. As I remain here seemingly only as a Cypher, I desire to be called from this office as Commander in chief here, as soon as possible, as I have no Desire of tarrying where I can be of no Service to the Government, or the grand Cause we are engaged in; & sincerely wish some Person may be appointed in my Stead, who will fill the Station with Honor & Fidelity, & a Person who will have some Notice taken of him.
Capt. Devol whom I sent to conduct Col. Wanton to Providence, is Just returned but not a Line sent me from the Governor; it seems I am a Person not worth writing to.
Capt Devol informs me Colo Wanton complained much to you, of my harsh & ill usage to him, & that I would not allow him to come before me & treat upon the Matter, & that General [Charles] Lee did not use him as I had done; I would just say a Word or two in Answer to that, it so happened that I was in Company with Genl Lee when he first sent for Colo Wanton, who came immediately, offering no Threats against the Person sent to him, not requiring an armed Force to bring him, but came immediately on the first Notice, & when he was before the General, gave him no Challenges, but treated him with Deference & Respect. ー When General Lee ordered him to be sent out of Town, He sent Him to me at Head Quarters, gave Orders that I should take Charge of the sd Wanton, which I accordingly did, sent him to Mr Irish's, & ordered him to be Supplied with every Necessary he wanted; the Colo then said he was well treated by me.
I shall now give You a short Account of the Usage Col Wanton hath recived from me in taking him up this Time; A Day or two before he was taken, He came with a Complaint to me, against the Troops Stationed on Jamestown, of their burning the [torn] &C. on his Farm there, committing great Waste, upon which I immediat[e]ly Sent over or[ders] to Colo Hoxsey [Gideon Hoxie] not to Suffer any Waste to be committed on sd Island, always treating Colo Wanton as a Gentleman. After his insulting me, as you may see by the Papers I sent You, I in a genteel manner sent a Serjeant to him with a Billet, ordered him to take his Horse & Chaise & come to Mr George Irish's, which he refused to comply with, in a very Haughty Manner, Scrupling my A[u]thority. I then Saw plainly I must try whether I had any Authority or not, & accordingly sent an armed Force into the Town of Newport, which I was very loth to do, for many Reasons without the greatest Necessity: When the Col was brought out of Town, I ordered him to be conducted to mr Irish's, & sent to Mr Irish requesting him to let the Colo have every thing he wanted to make him Comfortable as to Lodging Diet, &C. About 7 oClock next Morning I sent him a Billet informing him I was about to send him to Providence, and that he must set off at Ten of the Clock, & if he wanted any Thing from Home for his Journey, he might send for them so as to be ready by that Time; this Billet He also treated with Disdain, never sent me a Scrip in Answer, nor ever asked to come before me: A Number of his Friends came to vizit him, on the Occasion, some of them came to me and desired to know if there was no Way the Affair could be settled, I told them he must go to Providence; Much more might be added, but lest I should tire your Patience I forbear. If I have said any thing amiss in the above Epistle I humbly ask Your Honor's Pardon, and at the sarrie Time assure You I only mean to Communicate to you my Sentiments freely as to a Friend ー I am with Respect [&c.]
N:B. Since I finished this, Yours of the 14th Inst. I've recieved P Lieut Riggs, by which I find You take Col Wanton's bare Word Rather than all I wrote you, with all the positive Evidence I Sent You ー Ever since I came here, the greatest Concord & Unanimity hath existed both with the Officers & Men, so that we have been very happy on that account, and notwithstanding they are all greatly Chagrin'd by Col Wanton's being Sent Back, You may be assured I will use my utmost Influence that Peace & Harmony may still remain among the Officers & Soldiers Col Wanton's Return opperates more on our Friends in the Town of Newport than Elsewhere; Twenty Men have been kept as a Watch in the Town, (being all Inhabitants of Newport,) their Business is to patrole the Wharves Night & Day, that Nothing may go on Board the Ships, who think they are now in great Danger of being kill'd or taken on Board the Ships in a private Manner. ー Yrs as above
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