Brigadier General William Smallwood, Continental Army, to General George Washington, May 17, 1778

Document

Transcription

Wilmington [Del.] May 17^th: 1778

[Extract]
Dear Sir

I have inclosed you the Proceedings and sentence of a Court Martial against one Jetson¹ a person who for some time past has been not less dreaded, than famed for his Infamous Practices of Piloting the Enemy in the Night and Aiding them in kidnapping the more virtuous Inhabitants, particularly those who have Manifested an Attachment to, &, have been Active in Support of the Common Cause and depriving them by force of their Property, he lately headed a party in the Neighbourhood of Port Penn and carried off Lieu^t Hyatt of the Delaware Regiment,² who was at his fathers recovering of a wound which he had received, Striping the Family of a good deal of Property at the same time, his depredations and range have principally been in the Neighbourhood of Duck Creek & Bomba Hook³ so remote from this, that there has not been an Opportunity of Adducing several Evidences which might otherwise have appear’d against him,4 he was taken in the Thorough-fair of Duck Creek on the 12^th: Ins^t. after a Smart Engagement by Capt. Jaquet⁵ who I had detachd down to Cantwells Bridge with 50 Men to guard & Escort the removal of the Stores; Jetson was in a barge Carrying a two pounder in her Bow two Swivels & two Howitzers with one Capt: Cook who had Sixteen men Arm’d with Musquets & his Barge loaded with goods & wheat which he had traded for and was just proceeding on board of her Schooner which mounts 10 Carriage Guns and in which he has traded all this Winter loading her twice a week in that Creek without Interruption when Jaquet attacked him with 30 Men, took the barge killed wounded & took 14 among the wounded & Prisoners was Cap^t: Cook & his Mate—⁶ I have since detached Upward of 100 Men under Col^o Pope to Secure and destroy all the Craft upon these Creeks and the Enemies Store houses and Granaries upon Bomba Hook to break up their Trade with the Inhabitants and to take off all the Stock on that Island and the Shores Adjacent which might lay in their reach, and if Possible to Apprehend China Clowe and a party of 100 of his Adherents who I had understood had rendevouzed on the Island with an Intention to Fortify it and keep up a Constant Communication with the Enemy or have it in their power to secure a retreat to their Shipping, I have not yet received any Accounts from Col^o. Pope but on Friday Night a heavy firing was heard and a great light in that Quarter from which Conclude he was destroying their holds on the Island⁷ . . . I have the honor [&c.]

W. Smallwood

L, DLC, George Washington Papers, Series 4. Addressed below close: “General Washington.” Addressed on separate sheet: “His Excellency/General Washington/ ⅌ Express head Quarters/Valley Forge/W Smallwood.” Notation on cover sheet: “Public Service.” Docketed: “from/Gen Smallwood—/answer’d.”

1. “Jetson” was Joseph Judson, from Newcastle County, Del.

2. Lt. John Vance Hyatt, Delaware Continental Regiment.

3. That is, Bombay Hook, Del.

4. The court-martial proceedings of Joseph Judson have not been found. In his reply of 19 May Washington wrote: “The character you give of Jetson, makes him so atrocious, that I regret his trial and sentence are not more clear and regular. There could be no more proper object for an example; if it could be made with propriety, than the circumstances you mention designate this man to be. But the proceeding in this affair has not all that precision, authority and evidence; which are essential to affect life. The charge is laid in too general terms to be admitted either at a civil or military tribunal.” Washington then explained why the charges could not be sustained and recommended that Judson be turned over to state officials who “will at least take proper precaution to prevent his doing further mischief.” DLC, Washington Papers, Series 4. As Washington suggested, Judson was tried and convicted by a Delaware state court. James Booth to Caesar Rodney, 7 Aug. 1779, Rodney Letters, p. 312.

5. Capt. Peter Jaquett, Delaware Continental Regiment.

6. The captured schooner was Duck Creek Packet. Judson had been its master in 1777 when he “carried off” the schooner from its owners “stood down the River and Bay with her and during the Fall and part of the Winter employed her in Supplying the British Fleet with Wood.” The Petition and Memorial of James Oellers and Henry Horn, 29 July 1778, DNA, PCC, item 41, vol. 7, p. 185 (M247, reel 51). On 22 May, Smallwood informed Washington: “One of our party’s the other day took a Refugee Sloop loaded with flour, Bacon wheat &c. about 5 Miles above this on board of which I got a Ledger which brings to light the Intercourse & Transactions of a Number of People some wealthy in the Neighbourhood of Ap- paquimina, Duck Creek & Bomba Hook who have kept up a Constant trade & Communication with the Enemy. I have Transmitted Pope the black List & ordered them to be Apprehended to the Amount of Eighty.” He also wrote that the British were threatening “Vengence against this post, and are much rous’d on Account of their Intercourse on Bomba Hook & the Creeks below being Intercepted.” DLC, George Washington Papers, Series 4.

7. Rodney reported to Thomas McKean in a letter of 18 Apr. that Lt. Col. Charles Pope and a detachment of Delaware troops had attacked Cheney (China) Clow, a loyalist officer, the night of 16 Apr. and “verry soon routed” Clow’s “army” of 150 men. Pope’s men recovered “about a thousand weight of Bacon and two barrels of flower” that the loyalists had stolen from the inhabitants and stored in their “fort.” Rodney Letters, pp. 261–62. Upon learning of this rout, Rodney dispatched horsemen to pursue Clow’s detachment; fifty of Clow’s men were captured. Of these, twenty, “being single,” were sent to the Delaware Continental Regiment “to enlist or do Worse.” Clow himself escaped capture and was not taken until 1782. Rodney to Henry Laurens, 24 Apr., ibid., p. 263 and n.

Document Information

Date

1778 May 17

Volume

Volume 12

Series

American Theatre from April 1, 1778 to May 31, 1778

Naval Documents of the American Revolution

Brigadier General William Smallwood, Continental Army, to General George Washington, May 17, 1778

Document

Similar Documents