[Extract]

... Last Evening I spent Part of the Evening wth General Heath and he told me that a Letter was Yesterday received in Town from Boston which informs that 62 of Genl How's Fleet were gone to Halifax; and that 62 More of them were comeing some Where this Way. we have no news of the Appearance of any of them here as yet; Yesterday we had a heavy Fire of Cannon & small Arms for a considerable Part of the Day down at Staten Island which lies down 9 Miles below & in Sight of the City which happened in this Manner, the Ship Dutchess of Gordon which lay about 3 Miles below the City (near the Asia) with Governour Tryon on Board, went down Yesterday Morning to the Watering Place which is at Staten Island, where 3 Companies of our Rifle Men are stationed to prevent the Ships geting fresh Water; and the Dutchess sent her Barge on Shore to get Water with 12 Men in her; as soon as they reached the Shore our Rifle Men fired upon ,them, & killed 3 & took the Barge and the other 9 Men Prisoners; on which a heavy Fire ensued from the Cannon on Board the Ship and they killed one Rifle Man; on which General Putnam immediately went down there to put Things in proper Order, from whence he is not yet returned & we are not sure that we have every particular Right, nor shall we be untill Genl Putnam arrives which will be this Day, the Ship however is gone down below out of Sight; Genl Heath says that a small Sloop of Warr arrived here on Saturday which went away Yesterday with the Dutchess, and Genl Putnam suspected That she was an Advice Boat from that Part of the Fleet that comes this Way, and that they were not far off, and that Governour Tryon in the Ship was now gone out to acquaint them with the Situation of Things in this City; this is Conjecture only, but it is very probable to be so; but We are in good Order to give them a fiery Welcome altho we have yet a great Deal of Work to do to finish the Batteries compleat and I doubt not but that by the Blessing of Heaven it is in our Power to prevent their geting any Footing here we have in the City & close by it between 7 & 8 Thousand Men now, besides the City Militia which is 4,000 more & when the other Regts now on their March arrive, we shall be about 12, beside the City Militia; General Putnam is returned and says that our People took but 8 Prisoners & killed only two, there being only 10 in the Boat in the whole and that we lost None only one was wounded, the Rest of the Account is right; 2