s, since my last to the President, are not of any
magnitude. Three little rencounters have happened with the enemy. In the
first, General Smallwood led on a party of two or three hundred militia,
and obliged some armed vessels of the enemy to retire from a prize they
had taken at Broadway's, and renewing his attack the next day with
a four-pounder or two (for on the first day he had only muskets), he
obliged some of their vessels to fall down from City Point to their
main fleet at Westover. The enemy's loss is not known; ours was four men
wounded. One of the evenings, during their encampment at Westover and
Berkeley, their light-horse surprised a party of about one hundred or
one hundred and fifty militia at Charles City Court House, killed and
wounded four, and took, as has been generally said, about seven or
eight. On Baron Steuben's approach towards Hood's, they embarked at
Westover; the wind, which, till then, had set directly up the river
from the time of their leaving Jamestown, shifted in the moment to the
opposite point. Baron Steuben had not reached Hood's by eight or ten
miles, when they arrived there. They landed their whole army in the
night, Arnold attending in person. Colonel Clarke (of Kaskaskias) had
been sent on with two hundred and forty men by Baron Steuben, and having
properly disposed of them in ambuscade, gave them a deliberate fire,
which killed seventeen on the spot, and wounded thirteen. They returned
it in confusion, by which we had three or four wounded, and our party
being so small and without bayonets, were obliged to retire on the
enemy's charging with bayonets. They fell down to Cobham, whence they
carried all the tobacco there (about sixty hogsheads); and the
last intelligence was, that on the 16th they were standing for
New-ports-news. Baron Steuben is of opinion, they are proceeding to fix
a post in some of the lower counties. Later information has given
no reason to believe their force more considerable than we at first
supposed. I think, since the arrival of the three transports which had
been separated in a storm, they may be considered as about two thousand
strong. Their naval force, according to the best intelligence, is the
Charon, of forty-four guns, Commodore Symmonds, the Amphitrite, Iris,
Thames, and Charlestown frigates, the Forvey, of twenty guns, two sloops
of war, a privateer ship, and two brigs. We have about thirty-seven
hundred militia embodied, but at present they are di