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A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
Journals of the Continental Congress --THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 1778
A letter, of the 28 December last, from John Baynton, pay master at Fort Pitt, was read:
Ordered, That it be referred to the Board of Treasury.
A letter, from the navy board of the eastern department ∥at Bordentown,∥ dated 16 December last, to the Marine Committee, was laid before Congress and read.
Ordered, That it be referred to the Marine Committee.
The Committee on the Treasury brought in a report, which was taken into consideration; Whereupon,
Resolved, That one million of dollars be emitted under the direction of the Treasury Board and on the faith of the United States:
That the bills shall, excepting the numbers, be of the same tenor and date as the emission directed on the 3d of December last, be numbered from the last number of each respective denomination of that emission progressively, and consist of the following denominations, viz.
That all powers and duties of Michael Hillegas, Esqr. and of the inspectors of the press, signers, and printers of the said emission, directed on the 20th May last, shall extend to the said one million to be emitted, subjected, however, to such directions and instructions as the Board of Treasury may judge expedient.
The Marine Committee, to whom was referred the letter
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of the 18 November, 1777, from the navy board for the eastern department, brought in a report, which was taken into consideration;
Resolved, That, considering the necessity of the case, the encouragement given by the said board, to man the ship Providence, be approved:
That the bounties given to seamen by the resolve of Congress of the 29 March, 1777, is not to be stopped out of their wages, but deducted from their prize money, where any future prize money is obtained:
That the said navy board be supplied with a number of blank commissions, and that they be empowered to grant commissions to officers not above the rank of lieutenants, where vacancies may happen, and the good of the service absolutely requires that they should be immediately filled, but not otherwise:
That the commissary general of purchases be directed to give an order upon the late commissary, J. Trumbull, for 500 bushels of salt, in favour of the navy board in the eastern department, unless they should be already provided therewith.
Resolved, That the remainder of the report be postponed.
The committee to whom the report on the letters that passed betwixt General Heath and General Burgoyne, and the letter from General Burgoyne to General Gates, was recommitted, brought in a report, which was read.
Adjourned to 3 o'Clock.
Three o'Clock p. m
Congress took into consideration the report of the committee, on the letters that passed betwixt General Heath and General Burgoyne, and the letter from General Burgoyne to General Gates, which was agreed to, as follows:
"That they have considered, with mature attention, the
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convention entered into at Saratoga betwixt Major General Gates and Lieutenant General Burgoyne, in October last, and find numbers of the cartouch boxes, and several other articles of military accoutrements, annexed to the persons of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers, in General army, many of which were not delivered up on the day of the surrender have not been delivered up, and that, agreeably to the spirit of the convention, and the technical interpretation of the word 'arms,' they ought to have been delivered up:
"This opinion is warranted not only by the judgment of the most approved writers, but by the interpretation and practice of British officers in similar cases in the course of the present war, particularly in the capitulation of St. John's on the 2 November, 1775:
"Your committee farther report, that there are so many other circumstances attending the delivery of the arms and military stores, which excite strong suspicions, that the convention has not been strictly complied with on the part of General Burgoyne, agreeable to its true spirit and the intention of the contracting parties, and so many instances of former fraud in the conduct of our enemies, as to justify Congress, however cautious, to avoid even the suspicion of want of good faith, in taking every measure for securing the performance of the convention, which did not impose any new condition nor tend to delay its execution. Of this nature your committee consider the resolution of Congress of the 8 November last, directing General Heath 'to cause to be taken down, the name and rank of every commissioned officer, and the name, former place of abode, occupation, size, age, and description of every non-commissioned officer and private soldier, and all other persons comprehended in the convention of Saratoga.'
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"This cannot be considered as imposing any new condition, but as a measure naturally resulting from the articles of convention, which the conquering party has a right to avail itself of, and which is strictly justifiable, had no just suspicion of the want of good faith in the party surrendering presented itself. Your committee are of opinion, that the reasons, which General Burgoyne adduces for refusing a compliance, are inapplicable to the case, and they beg leave to observe, that he is totally mistaken in his appeal to the conduct of Sir Guy Carleton and himself with respect to the prisoners released from Canada in August, 1776: for, notwithstanding his express declaration to the contrary in his letter of the 23 November last to General Heath, it appears from the original list of the prisoners released from Canada, which is herewith presented, that the provinces, counties, and towns, to which the prisoners released belonged, were annexed to theft respective names, which, for the greater security of the conquering party, were in the handwriting of the respective prisoners. Your committee, therefore, cannot but consider General Burgoyne's refusal to give descriptive lists of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers belonging to his army, when connected with his former conduct and ill-grounded assertion on this occasion, in an alarming point of view; more especially when they consider, that nine days previous to this refusal, he had, without just cause given, declared in a letter to General Gates, that the public faith, plighted in the convention of Saratoga, was broken on the part of these states:
"This charge of a breach of public faith is of a most serious nature, pregnant with alarming consequences, and deserves greater attention, as it is not dropped in a hasty expression, dictated by sudden passion, but is delivered as a deliberate act of judgment, committed to writing,
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and sent to the general with whom he made the convention; and if credit is to be given to General Burgoyne's account of himself in his letter to General Heath of the 23 November, he cannot be considered 'of so light a character as to have acted in a serious matter of state upon a sudden impression.'
"The reason on which he grounds this charge is, that the officers included in the convention, have not since their arrival in Massachusetts bay, been accommodated with quarters agreeable to their respective ranks: on which your committee beg leave to observe, that though from the sudden and unexpected arrival of so large a body of troops, the concourse of strangers in and near Boston, the devastation and destruction occasioned by the British army, not long since blocked up in that town, and by the American army which besieged them; and considering that the officers were not to be separated from their men, and that the troops could not be quartered with equal convenience in any other place within the limits pointed out and described in the convention, as there are not a sufficient number of barracks in any other part of that state; though from these, and many other unavoidable circumstances, the accommodation of General Burgoyne and his officers 'who were not to be separated from their men' might not be such as the public could wish or he expect, yet, his charge of a breach of the public faith, on this account, is not warranted either by the letter of the preliminary articles agreed on between himself and General Gates, on the 14 of October, or by the spirit of the convention, signed on the 16 of the same month; since, by an examination of these articles, it will appear, that the stipulation, with respect to the quartering of officers, was not to be construed in that rigorous sense in which General Burgoyne affects to consider it; but, on
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the contrary, that it was 'agreed to as far as circumstances would admit.'
"Your committee forbear to lay any stress on the attempt of the enemy to alter the place of embarkation from the port of Boston to that of Rhode Island or the sound so contiguous to the port of New York, which, as well as that of Rhode Island, is at present in their possession; on the seemingly inadequate number of vessels (being only 26 transports sent to Rhode Island, as appears in a letter from General Pigot to General Burgoyne, dated the 5 December) for an army consisting of 5,642 men, in a winter's voyage to Europe; or on the improbability of the enemy's being able, on so short a notice, to victual such a fleet and army for a voyage of such length; since these suspicions, however strong, unless accompanied with the express declaration of Lieutenant General Burgoyne to General Gates, as above mentioned, and his subsequent refusal to give descriptive lists of the prisoners, would not in their opinion be a warrantable ground for Congress, justly tenacious of public faith, to delay in any manner whatsoever the execution of the convention. the declaration of Lieutenant General Burgoyne, 'that the public faith is broke,' is of itself sufficient to justify Congress in taking every measure for securing the performance of the convention, which the laws of nations, in consequence of this conduct, will justify.
"These facts and opinions, your committee, in a matter of such high moment to the honor and safety of these states, esteem it their duty to report specially; and considering that General Burgoyne has not fully complied with the convention of Saratoga, particularly in not deliving up the cartouch boxes and accoutrements; that he has expressly, and without just foundation, charged these
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states with a breach of public faith; that, in consequence of this declaration, whilst in our power, he may deem himself, and the army under him, absolved from their compact, and may, therefore, have refused compliance with a measure naturally resulting from the convention, and which only tended to render his officers and men insecure in case the convention, on their part, was not complied with; considering, farther, that, from the distance between America and Great Britain, there is no opportunity of accommodating this dispute in any reasonable period of time with the sovereign of the state, in behalf of which this convention was made, and that the operations of General Burgoyne's army in America would not only defeat the main object of the convention, but prove highly prejudicial to the interests of these states; your committee submit the whole to the consideration of Congress, in order that such measures may be adopted as are consistent with the safety and honour of the United States."
Whereupon, Congress came to the following resolutions:
Resolved, That, as many of the cartouch boxes and several other articles of military accoutrement, annexed to the persons of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers, included in the convention of Saratoga, have not been delivered up, the convention, on the part of the British army, has not been strictly complied with;
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∥So it passed in the affirmative.∥
Resolved, That the refusal of Lieutenant General Burgoyne to give descriptive lists of the non-commissioned officers and privates belonging to his army, subsequent to his declaration that the public faith was broke, is considered by Congress in an alarming point of view; since a compliance with the resolution of Congress could only have been prejudicial to that army in case of an infraction of the convention on their part.
Resolved, N. C. D That the charge made by Lieutenant General Burgoyne, in his letter to Major General Gates, of the 14 November, of a breach of public faith on the part of these states, is not warranted by the just construction of any article of the convention of Saratoga; that it is a strong indication of his intention, and affords just ground of fear, that he will avail himself of such pretended breach of the convention, in order to disengage himself, and the army under him, of the obligation they are under to these United States; and that the security, which these states have had in his personal honor, is hereby destroyed.
Resolved, therefore, That the embarkation of Lieutenant General Burgoyne, and the troops under his command, be suspended till a distinct and explicit ratification of the convention of Saratoga shall be properly notified by the court of Great Britain to Congress.
Adjourned to 10 o'Clock to Morrow.
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