166 THE SERVICES OF LIEUT.-COLONEL FRANCIS DOWNMAN, R.A. 
October 16th .—The batteries have been firing a good deal this morn¬ 
ing 1 . This afternoon I relieved Captain Standish on the Island. A 
rebel barge with eight men deserted to us this day. 
October 17th. —We fired a good many shells from our batteries into 
the fort. 
October 18th .—I visited all the batteries on the island and fired 
several shells, which the rebels returned, but did us no mischief. We 
have it reported that General Burgoyne has been defeated, 1 and that 
General Clinton has taken Fort Montgomery and some other places on 
the North river by storm. 2 
October 19th .—I went to the batteries this morning and began to 
fire on the fort. The rebels opened all their batteries and blockhouses 
upon us; their grape shot came so thick that we could not stand to 
our guns. They damaged the middle battery so much that I was 
obliged to desist altogether from firing from it. One of our shells set 
fire to a quantity of powder in the fort. The rebels opened a battery 
from Red Bank and threw several shot over our 12 pounder battery. 
Two medium 12 pounders are fixed at this battery in lieu of the two 
rebel 18 pounders, one of which burst, the other was hauled off and 
is not to be fired any more. I returned to town, and made my report to 
the General of the damage the batteries had sustained. Orders were 
sent down not to fire any more till they were put in proper order again. 
An escort went last night to Chester to bring from the ships a 13 inch 
mortar, etc. Lord Howe and the fleet are now there. General Howe 
and the whole army are moved from Germantown close to Philadelphia, 
where redoubts are throwing up aud other works, quite from the 
upper part of the town to the Schuylkill. 
October 20th .—This morniug about 4 o'clock a firing of cannon and 
musketry was heard near Gloucester Point. We roused all hands up 
aud went to our batteries in town along the shore. We heard a num¬ 
ber of boats rowing. We thought the galleys were comiug to fire on 
the town, and just before daylight they came within hail of our sentry. 
They answered they came from our fleet. Twelve flat-bottomed boats, 
under the command of Captain Clayton, had pushed up in the night, 
and boldly run under the enemy's forts and batteries, and passed their 
whole fleet with the loss of one man. These boats come up with pro¬ 
visions etc., we imagine to facilitate a landing on the Jersey shore. 
This afternoon a great deal of cannon firing below, from our row galley 
and some of our advanced ships, and the rebel galleys and the forts 
and our batteries. This morning Major Farrington 3 came to me from 
1 The action of October 7th, in which (after a hardly contested fight against superior numbers), 
a portion of General Burgoyne’s intrenched position near Saratoga was carried at the end of the day. 
The brave and able Greneral Frazer was killed ; 200 prisoners, nine pieces of artillery, all the equipage 
of a German brigade and a large amount of ammunition (of which the enemy were much in need) 
were captured. 
2 Sir Henry Clinton on October 6th, stormed aud took forts Clinton and Montgomery situated 
on the north branch of the Hudson. The object was to open communications up the river with 
Albany, which would be useful when Burgoyne had established himself there. At this date nothing 
was known of his difficulties. 
3 Kane’s List, No. 84. 
