THE SERVICES OF LIEUT.-COLONEL FRANCIS DOWNMAN, R.A, 215 
waggons, and the works round the town are being completed with 
cannon and ammunition. 
November 25th. —General Pattison of the artillery arrived in town 
this morning. Williamson and his company are embarked in the Lord 
Howe and expected in town. They arrived the 26th. Everything 
remains pretty quiet about the town. 
December 4th, 1777.—' The army had orders to march this morning 
at 6 o’clock in two divisions, but during the night countermanded; 
everything has been pretty quiet. 
December 5th.— The army marched this night towards Chesnut Hill. 
A severe illness prevented my being out with the army. 
December 8th. —Nothing yet transpired about our army. It seems 
by report of deserters that General Gates has joined Washington with 
5,000 men, and the whole are strongly posted at White Marsh, a little 
distance from Chesnut Hill. General Cleaveland and Major Earring- 
ton went this day for New York. I wrote to Colonel James by the 
latter. This morning about 8 o’clock the whole army returned without 
doing anything, except losing a few men, about 50. They found 
Washington in great force and strongly entrenched, and an abattis be¬ 
fore him, upon a hill above White Marsh. Our general saw that they 
could not be forced without a great loss of men and without any material 
advantage attending it. A successful blow at this juncture against 
the rebels would be attended with perhaps no other circumstance than 
driving them a little further back, which would answer very little pur¬ 
pose, as all the forage both for man and beast is nearly gone for many 
miles round this place. He therefore very prudently retired after 
making several movements to induce the enemy to leave their strong¬ 
hold, but they were too wise. 
December 10th. —I made application for leave to go to New York 
for the recovery of my health, but General Howe would not grant 
it,—unkind, when I have got my illness by a fatiguing duty and 
cannot possibly do any this winter, and yet could not obtain an absence of 
only three months. He told General Pattison he was sorry I was ill 
and hoped I should be able to remain here, that I was a good officer, 
and that he had good reason to be satisfied with my behaviour. A 
little Hum not amiss now and then. A foraging party of about 7,000 
men under Lord Cornwallis went over the Schuylkill, they met with 
little opposition from the militia under General Potter and a part 
of Washington’s army whom they drove across the river over their 
own bridge, and who destroyed it that they might not be pursued by 
us. As it was we killed a good number of them, took some prisoners 
and returned to town the next day without any loss and with 300 
waggons full of forage. Lord Cornwallis and several officers are 
going to England. The 71st and the Mirbach regiments are going to 
New York. Lord Cornwallis went home in the Brilliant about the 
16th of December. 
December 22nd. —-About 10,000 of the army under the command of 
General Howe marched by the left over the pontoon bridge at Gray’s 
ferry. They extended themselves from two miles beyond Derby to 
