To the Honble. the Delegates of the United States of America, convened in general Congress in York, in the State of Pensylvania
Silas Talbut,1 a Captain in the first Battalion raised by the State of Rhode Island & Providence Plantations, humbly sheweth, That on the first Day of August One Thousand seven Hundred & seventy six, by the Requisition of his Excellency General Washington, he entered on Board, & took Command of a Fire Ship in the Harbour of New York: That on the Night of the seventeenth of September following, being in Hudson's River, he embraced a favourable Opportunity, & bore down for the Asia Man of War, then at Anchor in said River: That he laid her on Board upon the Bow, carried away his Bowsprit, grappled her, with his main Boom in the fore Shrouds, fired his Ship fore & baft, & then, with difficulty, escaped to the Shore: 2 That for fifteen Days following he was deprived of his Sight, and otherwise much enfeebled, The Flames reaching him before he could quit the Vessell: That his Surgeons Bill and other Expences which he was necessarily obliged to pay, & hath not been refunded, amounted, besides other Losses, to upwards of one Hundred Dollars: That there were eight Men on Board Who behaved well, & were considerable Sufferers in the Enterprise. Your Petitioner is therefore Emboldened to make this Approach to your Honors, not doubting but you will order him such Relief as to Right and Justice shall appertain, And he, as in Duty bound, will ever serve you in the Cause of his Country.
Peeks Kill Sepr. 26th. 1777.
[Enclosure]
Expences & Losses in Consequence of my taking the Command of a Fire Ship in the North River & attempting to Burn one of the British Ships in sd. River—
| Paid at sundry Times for Provisions & Liquor for the Crew on |
LM. |
| Board by Orders of Col. Anderson |
£45.11.0 |
| Lent Ensign Thomas1 to support himself & Crew on Board a Schooner which he commanded & with which he Burnt a Tender of one of the British Ships but lost his Life |
37.15.0 |
| N.B. I had his Receipt, but it was burnt up with every Paper I had in my Pockets, my Cloaths being entirely burnt off my Back. |
|
| Paid my Doctor, there being no Doctor of the Army where I was carried |
12.10.0 |
| Paid my Board for seven Weeks |
7. 0.0 |
| To boarding two men to take care of me 7 Weeks |
14. 0.0 |
| To One Suit of Cloaths, my Hat, one Shirt, pair Stockings burnt off my Back, my Shoes being the only Things I had on, which were not entirely burnt My Cloaths were a good Suit of Uniform |
13.16.0 |
| |
£130.12.0 |
| |
433⅔ Dollars |
Silas Talbut
I solemnly depose & sware in the presence of almighty God, that the within Account of Monies charged as advanced paid and expended by me in manner as set forth is just and true, and that the Value (at the Time of my Misfortune) of my cloathing burnt and as charged is as near the Sum of thirteen pounds sixteen shillings as I am able to judge
Sworn and Subscribed before me at
York Town 11th. Day of October 1777.
Silas Talbut
Wm Leas One of the Justices
of the Peace for the County
of York in the state of Pennsylvania
[Enclosure]
Camp at Peekskill Septr: 26. 1777
This may certify that, as I passed from Hoebuck Ferry to Fort Lee, on the Seventeenth of September 1776 (the day after the retreat from New York,) I saw Captain Talbut, who had burnt a Fireship the Evening before, lying in a House, burnt in a most shocking manner: That Captain Talbut was then blind, and in very disagreeable circumstances, as to attendance &c.
William Eustis Senr. Surgeon
Military Hospital East: Dept:
