[Extract]

My Lord, By The Duke of Cumberland Packet Boat which arrived here on the 18th. instant I have had the honour to receive Your Lordship's circular Letter ー bearing date the 10th. day of November, notifying the King's appointment of Your Lordship to be one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State and signifying The Royal Pleasure that my future dispatches be addressed to you. pursuant to this command My Lord I have now the honor to open my correspondence with Your Lordship, and I beg leave to embrace this opportunity to offer my humble congratulations to Your Lordship on your taking upon you the high department in Administration to which His Majesty has been graciously pleased to call you and to commit to your care.

The same Packet has also brought me the honor of Your Lordships Dispatch No. 1. containing an Account of the Nature and strength of the Armament intended to be sent to the Southern Colonies; and of its readiness to proceed according to its destination. and requiring me to exert every effort to carry into execution the orders contained in Lord Dartmouth's letter of the 7th. of November, of which I have received the Copy enclosed in Your Lordship's Dispatch, the Original having reached my hands safely in the beginning of January.

I own My Lord it is difficult for me to express my amazement on finding By Your Lordship's letter, that the Armament, which I have computed to be on its way from Corke, from the very beginning of December, or sooner, is only in a state of readiness to proceed towards the latter end of that month; and I regret this unfortunate delay the more sincerely, because it has contravened a plan and purpose of mine, not originally formed but necessarily pursued, and correspondingly as I conceived after the Receipt of the orders contained in Lord Dartmouths Dispatch, that would have had the happiest effects and consequences, as the issue of it though unlucky has certainly evinced.

Moved by the pressing & reiterated assurances given me by some well affected persons living in the County of Brunswick adjacent to the station of the Ship in which I was embarked, that the people of their neighbourhood and a multitude of others of their friends & acquaintances throughout the Country were groaning under the Oppressions of the little Tyrannies they had been deluded to vest with authority under the denomination of Committees; solicited to relieve them from the self made yoke which they now found intolerable; informed by the concurring testimony of these People, and all others from the Country with whom I communicated, of the weakness of the Rebel Troops, affectedly called Regulars, who by the best efforts of their leaders, were not yet provided with arms for a third of their number, and that they were equally deficient of ammunition; persuaded too by all report of the soreness of the common people under their new fangled Government and of their disposition to revolt from it, Compassion, and sense of duty to The King's Government, and the distresses of His Majesty's Subjects, wrought upon me to attend to the wishes of these People, who invited me to their relief, by the most confident assurances, that they would engage, in a month's time, to join me with two or three thousand men. I thought upon these good presages My Lord, the happy moment was arrived, when this Country might be delivered from Rebellion, and Anarchy, that it was not to be neglected or lost, and determined accordingly, to try by the efforts of the People themselves, in such proneness to make the experiment, and while I had no prospect of aid from without, at once to restore lawfull Government.

Forming this design My Lord, I resolved to unite the strength of the numerous Highlanders, and other well affected people of the interior Counties, to the force these people promised to collect in the lower Counties, more contiguous to this neighbourhood. and it was concerted between me, and the People of Brunswick, who had made such advances to me, that they should assemble as secretly as possible, and put themselves in motion together. The day appointed for the whole to join me was the 1st. of Feb ruary ... , the Syren Frigate arrived, and brought me Lord Dartmouth's

Dispatches numbered 20, 21 & 22, which gave me the first hopes of effectual external aid ...

I furnished Mr. Maclean, my unwearied, persevering Agent, with powers to proper persons to raise and embody men; and instructions to them, being in sufficient force, to press down to Brunswick by the 15th. of February, or as soon afterwards as might be possible ...

After this, my first intelligence came by the person who had accompanied Mr. Maclean in his last Expedition into the Country. it was a verbal message from my most trusty friends, importing, that the Loyalists were in high spirits, and very fast collecting; that they assured themselves of being six thousand strong . . . that they intended to post one thousand at Cross Creek, and with the rest, I might rely on their being in possession of Wilmington (the principal town on this River, and within reach of The King's Ships) by the 20th., or 25th. of february at farthest. the time of my expecting the approach of the Loyalists being at hand, I was on my way up the River to meet them when I received this advice, that corresponded with all my hopes, and insured the accomplishment of my wishes, to restore the peace of this Country. Some communication that I had with the People of Wilmington, of whom I made a demand of a quantity of flour, still encouraged my expectations: but their change of language, soon afterwards, abated them greatly 2 having not the least intercourse with the Loyalists, I still remained in doubt, as well about the route they had taken, as concerning all reports of their operations, until the 6th. instant, [sic ultimo] that a certain Mr. Reid, who failing in an attempt to join them on their route from Cross Creek (owing to the intervention of a party of the Rebels) wonderfully escaped them, and found his way down to me. his intelligence reduced the number' of the Loyalists to 3,500 men but nevertheless assured me they were in condition to make their way good, unless they were obstructed by some unfordable water, which from a better knowledge of the Country he supposed, might happen, at a point where he computed them to be, and that it was practicable to relieve them by small Vessels; on which opinion, that I communicated to Captain [Francis] Parry of the Cruizer, that Gentleman, after consulting with the Pilots, made the necessary preparations for giving every possible succour, with his usual alacrity: but before this purpose could be executed, our intelligence from various quarters assured us, that the meeting of the loyalists was out of hope; that they had been checked about 17 miles above Wilmington by the Rebels, in an attempt to pass a Bridge on the 27th. of February, and after sustaining the loss of Captain Donald McLeod, a gallant Officer, and near 20 men killed, and wounded, had dispersed. 3 This unfortunate truth My Lord, was soon confirmed, by the arrival of Mr. MacLean, Mr Campbell, Mr. Stuart, and Mr. Mc.Nicole, who with infinite fatigue, danger, & difficulty, and by a vast [labour] made their way to the Scorpion Sloop of War, which lay at Brunswick ...

Constrained to be my own Amanuensis, for want of opportunity to obtain a better in my present situation, and writing under every possible inconvenience, in the Cabbin of a little Vessel, I am sensible this letter needs apology, which I flatter myself Your Lordships goodness will admit, when you are pleased to consider the wretched state of a man not of N eptunes element, in the tenth month of his confinement on board ship. I have the honor to be, &c,

Jo. Martin