My Lord

The begining of this year I did myself the honor of congratulating your Lordship upon your promotion to the American department, which Event I may truly say, has given universal Joy & satisfaction to all the friends of Government on this great Continent, since that period, I have experienced the most complicated scenes of distress that can be well imagined, which with the Circumstances attending the refusal of the Kings powder & stores to General [Thomas] Gages order, and the consequences attending the dismembering the Forts at New Providence, I will as briefly as possible endeavor to explain; — I must therefore request your Lordships patience and forbearance.

In the Month of July 1775, during my absence from my Government (on Account of my health), there arrived at New Providence His Majesty's ship of war, the Falcon commanded by Captn Lindzie [John Linzee], with Two Transports to carry away the stores, Gunpowder, and Ordinance in his Majesty's Forts of said Islands, accompanied with a Letter from his Excellency Genl. Gage, signifying that certain intelligence had been received by him, of the intention of the Rebels in North America to seize & carry away all the Kings Powder & Stores; That in consequence John Brown Esqr. President of His Majesty's Council & then Commander in Chief of the said Islands, by & with the advice of His Majesty's Council, & on a petition & representation of the Inhabitants (that they would def end the said Stores against the Rebels) did absolutely refuse to deliver the same to Captain Lindzie, as by Copy of their petition & the minutes of council, already transmitted to your Lordship will more fully appear; That on the 3d of March following an Armed force consisting of Two Ships of 30 Guns each, Two Brigs of 16, & a Schooner of 12 Guns, besides Two Large Armed Sloops, their Compliment in all, upwards of One Thousand men infested the Island of Providence, & a formal demand was imediatly made (by a certain rebel by name Hopkins, stiling himself Admiral and Commander in Chief of the Fleets of the United Colonys) in behalf of the Continental Congress of all the Kings powder & Stores; That upon the appearance of the said Fleet off the Harbour, I did without delay summon His Majesty's Council as also the Militia & all the inhabitants to assemble & def end the said Garrisons, according to their resolution & petition to the president as already mentioned; But finding the Majority of the Council rather Backward in their assistance, I did select and Join the principal inhabitants to the Council, in order to take the General Sence of the whole; And that upon proposing to them whether they would assist me to defend his Majesty's Fortresses & Stores, there appeared 14 against defending the same, to 10 for defending them; Considering then the eminent danger the powder was in, & finding that it was the visible opinion of the whole Community, that sending away the whole of it might enrage a disapointed enemy, & induce them to burn the Town, & commit other depredations, I imediatly determined to charter a vessel in order to Ship it, which was accomplished without a moments delay by Wm. Chambers a native of England, to whom great merit is due, as at my request he instantly Cast overboard a cargo of Lumber with which he was ready to sail to Jamaica, & was the only man in the Government that would have ventured at the risque of his Life and ship to carry it away, & he sailed at 2 O Clock in the morning of the 4th of March, notwithstanding the Rebel Fleet was off the harbour, and delivered the whole (162 Large Barrels) to His Excellency Governor Tonyn at St. Augustine; —That a little after Day break the Rebels had taken possession and had made me a close prisoner at Fort Nassau, and put two Lieutts and Thirty two men to guard me in a place without food, water, bed, table, or chair, from whence I was soon after removed to the Government house for the better convenience of their officers & Men, who used at discretion all my wines & other Liquors as they did every thing else they had Occasion for; —That on the 10th day of March the Rebel Admiral sent a Number of His Sea Officers to conduct me on board his Ship, with orders to allow me but One Quarter of an hour to prepare myself for a voyage, but to what part of the world they did not themselves know; -this indulgence, I refused, adding, that I would receive no Compliments from a sett of Rebels, who by breaking thro' a proclamation issued by their admiral upon his Landing, had forfeited every degree of Honor, faith, & Confidence, upon which I was seized, Collerd, & Draged away like a fellon to the Gallows in the presence of a Dear wife and an aged Aunt both near relations to the Earl of Dartmouth who were treated with such abuse, & such Language as certainly could not be equalled at Billingsgate, & tho' I was several days Wind bound in the harbour & within an hundred yards of the Government house, I was not permitted once to see my family; -O' tempore, O'mores; -as soon as Hopkins came on board I demanded the reason of my Confinement, & the Crime for which I was to be carried away, to which he answered, "for presuming to fire upon his Troops from Fort Montagu," but the principal & original motive was, for daring to send away the powder; -On the 21st we sailed accompanied by my Secy. Mr. Babbidge & Mr. Irving, the first imprisoned for being an Officer on half pay, & the latter for being a Mandamus Councellor in So. Carolina, & in our passage to New London we fell in with his Majesty's Ship the Glasgow of 20 Guns who fought the whole rebel fleet for upwards of one hour & three Quarters; as I was eye witness to every thing that passed do think it a Common Justice to declare Captn [Tyringham] Howe a brave & gallant officer, he killed & wounded above thirty of the rebels, among the former were Two Lieutts. & a master, among the Latter, the Rebel admiral's Son, & some Others; every wounded man died, I suppose on Acct. of the unskilfullness of their Surgeons, and the want of Cloaths & Other necessarys at their Hospital, Captn. Howe was very near sending the Alfred (the admiral's Ship) to the bottom, we received seven nine pounders between Wind and Water, & for three Days they could scarce gain upon the water She made, the fire at one time was so hot, that the rebels left their Guns; what a pitty it was Captn. [James] Wallace could not get out with the Glasgow; in such case the whole rebel fleet would have fallen into our hands; — the greatest mortification I had during the action was to see a fine spirited young man (an acting Lieutt. belonging to the Bolton bomb Brig, which the rebels took the Day before) Killed by my side in the Cockpit by a nine pounder, Hopkins was so disabled in this action that he was obliged to put into New London to refit from whence I was sent to Norwich, Lebanon, Windham & Hartford in Connecticut, & Lastly to Middletown where I did not experience the same hard usuage I did at first, & at which place I remain'd till I was a few days ago exchanged, for that rebel, who calls himself Lord Sterling; I am much indebted to General Howe (with whom I had the honor to serve last war,) for this unexpected as well as distinguished mark of His favor and attention which I shall never forget; —

Before I conclude this long Letter for which I entreat your Lordships forgiveness, I beg leave to mention that the behaviour of the greater number of the Inhabitants of Bahama Islands both before & since the Rebels invested them, as also from the resolution of the Continental Congress forbiding any of their Privateers to make Captures of; or molest any of the trading vessels of that Colony, gives me the strongest reson to believe that the Rebels were invited by some of the principal inhabitants, and I beg Leave to add that I have been upon my arrival here credibly informed that the Rebel Privateers made use of the Island of [New] Providence as a harbour, & that Some of them had very Lately actually chased the same Captain Chambers whom I have already mentioned to have carry'd the powder to St. Augustine, he is just now arrived here & has given me this information, I likewise understand, that these Rebels are aided & assisted by James Gould speaker of the assembly (who mutiny'd in Fort Nassau on the night of the 3d of March last & took Eighty of my militia from me at one time) Alexr Frazer a well known rebel, Thos Duncoun, Jer. Newton, John Kemp the Younger, Jno. Bedon — Adderly & others, as also Countenanced & encouraged by some of the members of His Majesty's Council, & officers of the Crown & Customs.

From the present wretched situation therefore of the Bahama Islands, I flatter myself that your Lordship will agree with me in Opinion that it would be highly imprudent for me to return to my Government during its present abandoned state, in which his Lordship the Admiral, as well as his good brother the General agree with me in Opinion; adding that it is for the present intirely out of their power to reinstate me; — I most heartily congratulate your Lordship on the success of His Majesty's Troops, and with expectation of receiving your commands by the first Opportunity to this place, I beg leave to Subscribe myself —

My Lord

P.S. It is necessary, in my own Vindication, to acquaint your Lordship, that the removal of the detachment of the 14th regiment by Genl Gage, & the two Sloops of War by Adml. Graves occasioned my falling an easy Prey to the rebels, for I had not even a sick man left behind.

[Endorsed] R. 30th December