[2 December 1775]
Dear Sir,
We have had nothing new since the reduction of Montreal, which I suppose you must have heard of. It is supposed Arnold must be in possession of Quebec by this time. If he shou’d be too weak to effect it Montgomerie will join him from Montreal. At all events we have got the most valuable part of Canada, as it cuts off all communication with the Indians, & prevents inroads on our fronteers. It wou’d give me infinite pleasure, if our affairs to the Southward wore as favorable an Aspect; it will require very vigorous efforts, to put a stop to the proceedings of Lord Dunmore. We are extremely alarm’d by an express from the Comtee. of Northhampton County to Congress1 informing that he has issued a Proclamation, declaring military Law in Virga. & offering freedom to all servants & slaves, who shall repair to the King’s standard which he has erected; that the inhabitants of Norfolk & Princess Ann Counties have taken an Oath to oppose, to the last drop of their blood, any of their countrymen who shall come in arms into their Counties. The Comtee. asks for assistance, being apprehensive that their people from their exposed situation, & the number of their slaves, will thro fear be induced to follow the example of the other two Counties. We have got the Proclamation. I have been thus full least the letters from Northhampton to our Comtee. of safety shoud be intercepted; which they were apprehensive of. This intelligence gives great concern to all the real friends of America; & subjects your countrymen, to the sneers of its disguised Enemies, & the lukewarm. Fatal consequences may follow if an immediate stop is not put to that Devil’s career.
I shoud think a sufficient force of Militia or Minute men, shou’d immediatly be sent to drive him & his adherent on board the ships; the estates of the inhabitants of Norfolk, or elsewhere, who have taken arms agst. the Country shoud be sequesterd for its defence, the proclamation burnt by the hangman, & heavy penalties inflicted on those who disperse them thro’ the Country. The patroles shou’d be very diligent. Will it not be necessary for the convention by a short Ordinance, to establish the present Laws and Judges? It wou’d contribute more than anything to the quiet & safety of the people, & security of our commerce in the spring, if the Convention2 wou’d exert themselves in fitting out small armed Vessells, to prevent small tenders from infesting the bay, & rivers; if it cannot be done in Virga. they might be procured here. Probably Virga. might spare powder for this purpose, but without very bad fortune we shall soon have it in. It is inconceivable what good effects have been produced from such a measure to the Northward, not a tender dares to come from under the Guns of the large ships; & the Vessells employ’d by the Army in Boston to procure wood & provisions are every day falling into our hands. There are small guns in several parts of Virga., a few at Hobb’s Hole & Col. Fauntleroys. The furnaces shoud be set to casting them. God prosper your deliberations.
Yr. afft. friend
Francis Light. Lee
Receiver’s copy, Virginia Historical Society.
1 A letter of November 25 from Samuel S. McCroskey, chairman of the Northampton County Committee, was received and read in Congress on December 2. See JCC, 3:395; and Am. Archives, 4th ser. 3:1669 - 71. In response to this request for assistance, which emphasized the vulnerability of this peninsular Eastern Shore county to Dunmore’s naval raids, Congress immediately directed "the Committee for fitting out armed vessels" to plan an attack on Dunmore’s ships in Chesapeake Bay and dispatched Benjamin Harrison to Maryland to prepare "two or three armed vessels" for destroying enemy ships there. Simultaneously the Northampton letter was referred to a committee whose proposals to dispatch three Pennsylvania companies to Northampton County and to encourage the people of Virginia to reorganize their provincial government were approved by Congress on December 4. See JCC, 3:395 - 96, 4034; Richard Henry Lee to the Northampton Committee, December 5; and Benjamin Harrison to Wilson Miles Cary, December 10,1775.
2 Robert W. Carter was representing Richmond County at the Virginia Convention that convened in Richmond on December 1. Am. Archives, 4th ser. 4:76.