Letters from war, Pt. 2

[wayward_shadows]

From Lost War: Letters from British Officers during the American Revolution.


Letter from Lieutenant William Feilding (Marine adjutant) to Lord Denbigh.

				Heights of Charles Town near Boston America

My Lord

    In my last I was not able to give you any account of the
Attack of the Rebel redoubt & strong holds on the heights of Charles
Town Jun 17 for I assure your Lordsp the duty of an Adjutant at
that time & place was not a little fatiguing & afforded very little rest
even at night as we were often alarmed at the Rebels firing at the lines;
this I hope will sufficiently apologise for me. The particulars of that
action your Lordsp has heard from better hands already. I can only
say from the oldest soldiers here say that it was the hottest fire they
ever saw not even the battle of Minden which was reckoned one of the
greatest actions every gained by British Troops was equal to it. And for
the honour of the British Troops, many of whom had never seen a
Ball fired, they behaved with the greatest courage; & tho. consid-
ably inferior in numbers as well as advantage, boldly ascended the hill
jump'd into the ditch, mounted the redoubt, carried it, drove the 
Rebels from their strong breast works & gained a complete victory. In
ascending the hill our Major commandant1 was killed. 5 Officers of
the two Marine Grenadier Companys were killed & wounded & as 
many of the two light companies., besides several in the Battalion, in
the whole 1 Major. 2 Capts. & 3 Sub[altern]s Killed. 4 Capts. & 4
Sub[altern]s very badly wounded none of whom are yet recovered.
The night of that day, the Troops were employed in throwing up en-
trenchments near Charles Town neck to secure themselves from the
Rebels who kept firing at them the whole night, to very little effect as
they only killed one Officer & slightly wounded one of the men,
which Officer unfortunately had a wife & children in Boston. The loss
of our Major Commandant was not only a loss to his Family as one
of the best of Husbands & Fathers, but a great loss in the Marines &
the Army in general as a brave soldier & an excellent Officer. For this
loss, the Corps of Marines went into mourning for six weeks, as well as
for the rest of the Officers killed.
    The Rebels have thrown up many large redoubts strongly fortified 
upon the heights from Dorchester neck round to Charles Town neck
besides breast works from one hill to another well finished & extreme-
ly well planned by Engineers supposed to be French & Swedes. Their
numbers are about 17000, commanded by Generals appointed by the
continental Congress. Washington Generalissimo, Ward, Lee & Put-
nam Major Generals,2 besides several Brigadiers. Their army is said
to be above half Irish & Scotch, but far more of the former than of the 
latter, chiefly Emigrants who have settled in this Province since the
last war, & have been compelled to take up Arms Against their Sov-
ereign & Country under false pretences of having their property &
liberty secured to them.3
    State of our Loss. Killed in the Action & dead since, 4 field Officers
9 Capts. & 12 Sub[altern]s. Wounded in the Action. 3 Field Officers,
26 Capts. & 19 Sub[altern]s. The non-commissioned & Rank & File
killed and wounded are above 900.4 Many of the wounded are since
dead & they continue dying daily but some have recovered.
    The Rebels must have lost a much greater number as near 2005
were found on the field of Battle & they were discovered carrying
their dead in carts before they retreated. Their wounded must also be 
considerable. Among their killed at the redoubt was the famous Dr.
[Joseph] Warren a Major Genl. & President of [Massachusetts
Provincial] Congress; a man who inflamed the minds of the people
from the Pulpit several times in this Town.
    It is reported to day, that the Genl. of the Rebel Army had sent to
the several Towns in this Province for their Minute Men to join them
immediately as they meant to attack the Town of Boston; & that their
Answer was that they never meant to attack but to defend their own
Towns & that they would do this to the utmost, but refused the Sum-
mons.
    I thank God I never enjoyed a better state of health. I hope your
Lordsp, Lady Denbigh & the young Gentlemen are all well.

1 - Major John Pitcairn
2 - Major Generals Artemas Ward, Charles Lee, and Israel Putnam
3 - Throughout the war it was widely believed among the British that the American army was largely comprised of renegade Irishmen
4 - 226 killed and 826 wounded
5 - 100 killed, 271 wounded, 30 captured



Letter from Lord Denbigh to Lieutenant William Feilding (Marine adjutant).

						Newnham Augst. 8. 1775

Dear Grenadier

    I received yours of the 20th. of June some time ago & it
gave us all great pleasure to hear of your escape & welfare. I have
since seen Lord Sandwich & did not fail to try if any thing could be
done with him to forward your promotion. I had the satisfaction to
find his Lordship, from the accounts he receives of you from other
quarters as well as from me, very well disposed towards you. He tells
me that all promotions in the Marines will be given according to se-
niority to the Officers on Actual service where vacancies happen,
& assures me that you may depend upon the strictest justice according
to this rule;1 & that Major Pitcairn's Son (whose case is very par-
ticular) being put over all your heads is not to be looked upon as a
precedent.2 To this I will added that nothing shall be wanting on my
part at all times to make good your claims & to render every service
to yourself & Family.
    As you are always to send your letters to me in Lord Dartmouth's
packet3 there is no danger of their being opened, I therefore must
desire you not only to be very particular in your facts but also to give
your opinion freely as well of past transactions as of what is likely to 
happen in futurity. We are all very much surprized here to find that
you are still blocked up within the Walls & peninsula of Boston,
where if you continue without fresh provisions, I fear you will lose
many of your Men by sickness & desertion, & as the Rebels are I fear
in possession of Dorchester hill you are liable every day to have the
Town knocked about your ears. What is all this owing to? Surely you
have troops enough to force a communication into the Country &
oblige the Rebels to raise ye siege. And it would be more to the credit
of a British Army to die in the field than to be starve within an en-
trenchment. Another thing surprizes me still more, how General 
Gage4 could neglect taking possession of the heights of Charles Town
before the Rebels had entrenched themselves on them. But of this & 
many other things he will have to give an account himself very soon
in this Country. Ten more British regiments are just ordered to be 
sent to you, five of them from Ireland & the other five from Minorca 
& Gibraltar. The latter are to be replaced by Troops from Hanover.
    Our papers are full of complaints against Admiral Graves,5 but I
flatter myself there is no room for them as he has always bore the best 
of Characters.

1 - The promotion of a marine officer below the rank of colonel was, with few exceptions, by seniority. In 1775 there were three categories of marine officers: those serving ashore with two marine battalions at Boston; those assigned to warships; and those on the half-pay list. Sandwich, however, apparently told Denbigh that marine promotions at Boston would be by seniority among the officers of the two battalions alone. But this policy was not followed, and the marine officers who had served ashore at Boston believed they had been treated badly when the vacancies created by their casualties at Bunker Hill were filled by seniority from among the whole marine officer corps.
2 - First Lieutenant William Pitcairn was commissioned on March 2, 1773, and William Feilding was commissioned on January 22, 1763. At the time of the death of his father, William Pitcairn was 109th in seniority among the first lieutenants of the marines. Feilding was 58th. After Bunker Hill, Pitcairn was promoted over the heads of 108 first lieutenants to the rank of captain lieutenant with a commission dated July 27, 1775.
3 - William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth and Secretary of State for the Colonies, August 1772 - November 1775. On June 6 1775, Denbigh made arrangements for Feilding's letters to be sent to England in official military dispatch pouches.
4 - Lieutenant General Thomas Gage, commander-in-chief of the British army in America until October 10, 1775, when he left Boston to return to England.
5 - Vice-Admiral Samuel Graves, commander-in-chief of the Royal Navy in America until he was relieved on December 30, 1775.