Memoirs Of Aaron Burr, Volume 1, Matthew L. Davis [book club suggestions .txt] 📗

Me. The Scene, On Your Discovering

Me, Immediately Changed To Something More Tender; But I Won'T Waste

Paper.

 

 

If You Should Happen To Find Dr. James Cogswell, Who Is In Colonel

Spencer'S Regiment, Please To Give My Best Love To Him, And Tell Him

He Is A Lazy Scoundrel.

 

 

It Rains, My Boy, Excessively. Does It Not Drop Through Your Tent?

Write Often To

 

 

Jona. Bellamy.

 

 

To A. Burr.

Chapter V (General Montgomery'S Answer) Pg 44

As Soon As The Guardian And Relatives Of Young Burr Heard Of His

Determination To Accompany Arnold In His Expedition Against Quebec,

They Not Only Remonstrated, But They Induced Others, Who Were Friendly

To Him, To Adopt A Similar Course. While He Remained At Cambridge, He

Received Numerous Letters On The Subject. The Two Following Are

Selected:--

 

 

From Dr. James Cogswell.

 

 

Camp In Roxbury, 9Th September, 1775.

 

 

I Am Extremely Sorry To Hear That You Are Determined On The New

Expedition To Quebec. I Am Sorry On My Own Account, As I Promised

Myself Much Satisfaction And Pleasure In Your Company: But I Am Not

Altogether Selfish; I Am Right-Justified Sorry On Yours. The

Expedition In Which You Are Engaged Is A Very Arduous One; And Those

Who Are Engaged In It Must Unavoidably Undergo Great Hardships. Your

Constitution (If I Am Not Much Mistaken) Is Very Delicate, And Not

Formed For The Fatigues Of The Camp. The Expedition, I Am Sensible, Is

A Glorious One, And Nothing But A Persuasion Of My Inability To Endure

The Hardships Of It Would Have Deterred Me From Engaging In It. If

This Excuse Was Sufficient For Me, I Am Persuaded It Is For You, And

Ought To Influence You To Abandon All Thoughts Of Undertaking It. I

Have No Friend So Dear To Me (And I Love My Friends) But That I Am

Willing To Sacrifice For The Good Of The Grand--The Important Cause,

In Which We Are Engaged; But, To Think Of A Friend'S Sacrificing

Himself, Without Any Valuable End Being Answered By It, Is Painful

Beyond Expression. _You Will Die; I Know You Will Die In The

Undertaking; It Is Impossible For You To Endure The Fatigue._ I Am So

Exercised About Your Going, That I Should Come And See You If I Had

Not Got The Scriptural Excuse,--A Wife, And Cannot Come.

 

 

My Dear Friend, You Must Not Go: I Cannot Bear The Thoughts Of It.

'Tis Little Less Melancholy Than Following You To Your Grave.

 

 

Your Affectionate Friend,

 

 

James Cogswell.

Chapter V (General Montgomery'S Answer) Pg 45

From Peter Colt.

 

 

Watertown, 11Th September, 1775.

 

 

I Cannot Retire To Rest Till I Have Written You A Few Lines, To Excuse

My Casting So Many Discouragements In The Way Of Your Journey To

Quebec. At First I Did Not Think It So Hazardous; But, Upon Inquiring

Of Those Who Had More Knowledge Of The Country, Thought It Too

Fatiguing An Undertaking For One Of Your Years; And I Find It

Altogether Against The Sentiments Of Your Friends. I Think You Might

Be Fairly Excused, Without The Risk Of Being Reported As Timid, As The

Hopes Of Your Family Depend In A Great Degree Upon You. I Should Have

Rejoiced To See You Relinquish This Expedition; But, As You Are

Determined To Pursue It, Must Beg You Not To Let Any Thing We Have

Said To You Depress Your Spirits, Or Damp Your Resolution, As It May

Otherwise Have A Fatal Effect. We Have Held Up The Dark Side Of The

Picture, In Order To Deter You From Going. You Must Now Think Only On

The Bright Side, And Make The Least Of Every Disagreeable Circumstance

Attending Your March. Let No Difficulty Discourage You. The Enterprise

Is Glorious, And, If It Succeeds, Will Redound To The Honour Of Those

Who Have Planned And Executed It.

 

 

May God Give You Health And Strength Equal To The Fatigue Of The

March, And Preserve You Safe From Every Danger You May Encounter. Make

Quebec A Safe Retreat To The Forces. I Hope To Have A Particular

Description Of Canada From You When You Return.

 

 

Don'T Turn Catholic For The Sake Of The Girls. Again I Beg You To

Forget What I Have Said To Discourage You. It Proceeded From Love To

You, And Not A Desire Of Rendering You Ridiculous. Adieu, My Dear

Friend.

 

 

Yours,

 

 

Peter Colt.

Chapter V (General Montgomery'S Answer) Pg 46

A Day Or Two After Burr'S Arrival At Newburyport, He Was Called Upon

By A Messenger From His Guardian, Timothy Edwards, With Instructions

To Bring The Young Fugitive Back. A Letter From His Uncle (T. Edwards)

Was Delivered To Him At The Same Time. Having Read The Letter, And

Heard The Messenger'S Communication, He Coolly Addressed Him, And

Asked, "How Do You Expect To Take Me Back, If I Should Refuse To Go?

If You Were To Make Any Forcible Attempt Upon Me, I Would Have You

Hung Up In Ten Minutes." After A Short Pause The Messenger Presented A

Second Letter From His Guardian, And With It A Small Remittance In

Gold. It Was Couched In The Most Affectionate And Tender Language,

Importuning Him To Return; And Depicting, In The Darkest Colours, The

Sufferings He Must Endure If He Survived The Attempt To Reach Quebec.

It Affected Young Burr Very Sensibly, Insomuch That He Shed Tears. But

His Destiny Was Fixed. He Wrote, However, A Respectful Letter To His

Uncle, Explanatory Of His Reasons For Accompanying The Army, And

Expressive Of His Gratitude For The Kindness He Had Experienced.

 

 

On Or About The 20Th Of September, 1775, The Troops Under The Command

Of Arnold Embarked At Newburyport. This Detachment Was To Penetrate

Canada About Ninety Or One Hundred Miles Below Montreal, Proceeding By

The Kennebec River, And Thence Through The Wilderness Between The St.

Lawrence And The Settled Parts Of Maine. In This Route, Precipitous

Mountains, Deep And Almost Impenetrable Swamps And Morasses, Were To

Be Passed. Arnold, In A Letter To General Washington, Dated _Fort

Weston_, September 25Th, 1775, Says:

Chapter V (General Montgomery'S Answer) Pg 47

"I Design Chaudiere Pond As A

General Rendezvous, And From Thence Proceed In A Body. I Believe, From

The Best Information I Can Procure, We Shall Be Able To Perform The

Journey In Twenty Days; The Distance From This Being About One Hundred

And Eighty Miles."

 

 

During The March Through The Wilderness, No Regard Whatever Was Paid

To Order Or Discipline. Every Man Was Left To Take Care Of Himself,

And Make The Best Of His Way Through The Woods. The Sufferings Of This

Detachment From Wet, And Cold, And Hunger, Were Excessive. From The

Latter, However, Burr Suffered Less Than Any Of His Companions. His

Abstemious Habits In Regard To Eating Seemed Peculiarly Calculated For

Such An Expedition. Both Burr And Ogden Had Been Accustomed, In Small

Boats, To Aquatic Excursions Round Staten Island And In Its Vicinity.

They Were Skilful Helmsmen, And In This Particular, In Passing The

Rapids, Were Frequently Useful. Notwithstanding This Qualification,

However, Burr, With Some Soldiers In A Boat, Was Carried Over A Fall

Of Nearly Twenty Feet. One Man Was Drowned, And Much Of The Baggage

Lost. The Weather Was Cold, And It Was With Great Difficulty That He

Reached The Shore.

 

 

"Arnold, Who, At The Head Of The Two First Divisions, Still Prosecuted

His March, Was Thirty-Two Days Traversing A Hideous Wilderness,

Without Seeing A House Or Any Thing Human. The Troops Were Under The

Necessity Of Hauling Their Bateaux Up Rapid Streams; Of Taking Them

Upon Their Shoulders, With All Their Provisions, Across

Carrying-Places; And Of Traversing, And Frequently Repassing, For The

Purpose Of Bringing Their Baggage, Deep Morasses, Thick Woods, And

High Mountains. These Impediments, Notwithstanding The Zealous And

Wonderfully Persevering Exertions Of His Men, So Protracted His March,

That, Though He Had Expected Certainly To Enter Canada About The

Middle Of October, He Did Not Reach The First Settlements On The

Chaudiere, Which Empties Itself Into The St. Lawrence Near Quebec,

Until The Third Of November.

 

 

"On The High Grounds Which Separate The Waters Of The Kennebec From

Those Of The St. Lawrence, The Scanty Remnant Of Provisions Was

Divided Among The Companies, Each Of Which Was Directed, Without

Attempting To Preserve Any Connexion With Another, To March With The

Utmost Possible Celerity Into The Inhabited Country. While Those Who

Gained The Front Were Yet Thirty Miles From The First Poor And

Scattered Habitations Which Composed That Frontier Of Canada, Their

Last Morsel Of Food Was Consumed. But, Preceded By Arnold, Who Went

Forward For The Purpose Of Procuring For Them Something Which Might

Satisfy The First Demands Of Nature, The Troops Still Persevered In

Their Labours, With A Vigour Unimpaired By The Hardships They Had

Encountered, Until They Once More Found Themselves In Regions

Frequented By Human Beings." [1]

 

 

On The Arrival Of Arnold'S Detachment At Chaudiere Pond, Burr Was

Despatched With A Verbal Communication To General Montgomery.

Chapter V (General Montgomery'S Answer) Pg 48

He

Disguised Himself As A Young Catholic Priest. In This Order Of Men He

Was Willing To Repose Confidence. He Knew That