Chap. 4. 



CIVIL POLICY DURING THE REVOLUTION. 



65 



LORD GERMAIN S LETTER. 



ARRANGEMENT WITH THE BRITISH. 



Allen were appointed agents to Congress 

 bj-^ the legislature at their session in June. 

 About the time of their arrival at Phila- 

 delphia, a letter from Lord Germain to 

 Sir Henry Clinton, commander of the 

 British forces in America, and which had 

 been intercepted by the French, was pub- 

 lished in the Pennsylvania Packet. It 

 was dated Whitehall, February 7th, 1781, 

 and among other things contained the 

 following paragraph : " The return of the 

 people of Vermont to their allegiance, is 

 an event of the utmost importance to the 

 king's affairs ; and at tiiis time, if the 

 French and Washington really meditate 

 an irruption into Canada, may be consid- 

 ered as opposing an insurmountable bar 

 to the attempt. General Haldimand, who 

 lias the same instructions with you, to 

 draw over those people and give them 

 support, will, I doubt not, push up a body 

 of troops to act in conjunction with them, 

 and secure all the avenues through their 

 country into Canada ; and, when the sea- 

 son admits, take possession of the upper 

 parts of the Hudson and Connecticut riv- 

 ers, and cut off the communication be- 

 tween Albany and the Mohawk country. 

 How far they may be able to extend them- 

 selves southward, or eastward, must de- 

 pend on their numbers and the disposition 

 of the inhabitants." 



The information contained in this letter 

 was calculated to confirm the suspicions 

 which the friends of American liberty had 

 entertained with regard to the negotia- 

 tions between Vermont and the British, 

 and did more towards disposing Congress 

 to recognize the independence of Vc-rmont 

 and to gain her admission into the union, 

 than all iier sacrifices and services in 

 maintaining the war. This letter also 

 shows that not only the British generals in 

 America were deceiving themselves with 

 the idea that Vermont was about to return 

 to her allegiance to the king, but that the 

 British ministry were also deceived, and 

 supposed that the people of Vermont were 

 generally desirous that their state should 

 be made a British province, when perhaps 

 not more than a dozen individuals within 

 the state had ever thought or spoken of 

 such an event ; and these had only coun- 

 tenanced the idea of it, when uro-ed to 

 such a measure by the British agents, 

 and then only for the purpose of keeping 

 the northern British army inactive upon 

 their frontiers, and affording the people 

 protection by their management, when 

 they could not do it by force. 



In September, 17(ril, Colonel Allen and 

 Major Fay had another interview with 

 the British agents, at which a plan of gov- 

 ernment for the colon}' of Vermont was 

 Ft. II. 9 



discussed and agreed upon by the parties. 

 It was to consist of a governor, appointed 

 by the king, but who should be a citizen 

 of Vermont; a lieutenant governor and 

 12 councillors, who should be chosen by 

 the people; and a house of representa- 

 tives, the members to be chosen by the 

 respective towns. The British agents 

 then insisted that Vermont should imme- 

 diately declare herself a British province. 

 The Vermont commissioners represented 

 that matters were not yet sufficiently ma- 

 tured for such a declaration — that the in- 

 habitants in some parts of the territory 

 were not j-ct sufficiently brought over to 

 the British interest, and, until that was 

 effected, and means provided for the pur- 

 ])ose, it would be extremely difficult to 

 defend their extensive frontiers against 

 'the United States. 



The British agents yielded this point 

 with reluctance ; but suggested another 

 proposition, which they said must be com- 

 plied with, or the armistice must be end- 

 ed, which was, that a proclamation should 

 be issued by the British general in Octo- 

 ber, during the session of the Vermont le- 

 gislature, declaring Vermont a colony un- 

 der the crown, and confirming the plan of 

 government which they had agreed upon; 

 and that the legislature of Vermont must 

 accept the same, and take suitable meas- 

 ures for carrying it into effect After 

 some farther discussion, the Vermont 

 commissioners judged it better to accede 

 to this unpleasant proposition, than that 

 the armistice should be discontinued in 

 the present defenceless state of the fron- 

 tiers ; after which, the commissioners and 

 ao-ents separated on friendly terms. 



The legislature of Vermont met at 

 Charlestown early in October, and about 

 the same time General St. Legcr ascend- 

 ed lake Champlain with a powerful Brit- 

 ish army, and landed at Ticonderoga. The 

 Vermont troops were then at Castleton, 

 under the command of General Enos. 

 General Enos and Colonels Fletcher and 

 Walbridge were now well acquainted with 

 the negotiation with the British, but the 

 army and the inhabitants of the country 

 knew nothing of it; and hence it was 

 necessary to keep up appearances, by fre- 

 quently sending out scouts to observe the 

 movements of the enemy. One of these 

 scouts, commanded by Sergeant Tupper, 

 fell in with a party of the British, and 

 some shots were exchanged. Tupper 

 was killed on the spot, and his men re- 

 treated. General St. Leger ordered Tup- 

 per's body to be decently buried, and sent 

 his clothing, with an open letter to Gen. 

 Enos, in which he expressed his regret 

 for the death of the sergeant. This com- 



