[William Legge, 2nd Earl of] Dartmouth letter signed to [Thomas] Gage, January 27, 1775; Whitehall, [London].

From the Thomas Gage Papers, English Series

Whitehall January 27^th. 1775.

Secret.

Sir, / Although your letters by the Scarborough / represented the Affairs of the Province under your Government / in a very unfavorable light, & stated an Opposition to the Execution / of the Law which marked a Spirit in the People of a dangerous & / alarming nature, yet as they did not refer to any Facts tending / to shew that the Outrages which had been committed were / other than merely the Acts of a tumultuous Rabble, without / any Appearance of general Concert, or without any Head / to advise, or Leader to conduct that could render them / formidable to a regular Force led forth in support of Law / and Government, it was hoped that by a vigorous / exertion of that Force, conformable to the Spirit & Tenor of / the King’s Commands signified to you in my several / Letters, any further Insults of the like nature would have / been prevented, & the People convinced that Government / wanted neither the Power nor the Resolution to support / it’s just Authority, & to punish such atrocious Offences.

Your Dispatches, however, intrusted to / M^r. Oliver, and those which have been since received / by the Schooner S^t. Lawrence, and through other Channels / relate to Facts, and state Proceedings, that amount to / actual Revolt, and shew a Determination in the People / to commit themselves at all Events in open Rebellion. / The

Hon^ble. Governor Gage.

Men wanting to complete the Regiments now with you, / according to your last Returns, which amounts in the whole / to near 500. should be raised by drafting one Man a Company / from each of the Regiments in Ireland which will amount to / about 200. & by drafting one Man a Company from some / Regiments here, which will make about 60. more, and the / remaining 240. to be raised by recruiting in Ireland for / the number which (after the other mode of Supply) will be / wanted for each Regiment.

You will observe that nine Men in each Troop / of the Regiment of Light Dragoons will be without Horses, / and a large Allowance must also be made for the Loss of Horses / in the Passage. It will therefore be necessary that ample / Provision of Horses be made, & you will not fail to take the / earliest & most effectual Measures for securing a number, / not less than 200. and preparing them for Service upon / the Arrival of the Regiment.

I understand a Proposal has been made by / M^r. Ruggles for raising a Corps of Infantry from among / the friends of Government in New England. Such a Proposal / certainly ought to be encouraged, and it is the King’s Pleasure / that you should carry it into effect upon such Plan as you / shall judge most expedient.

It appears that your Object has hitherto been to act / upon the Defensive, & to avoid the hazard of weakening your / Force by sending out Detachments of your Troops upon any / Occasion whatsoever; & I should do Injustice to your Conduct, / and to my own Sentiments of your Prudence & Discretion, / if

be collected without augmenting our Army in / general to a War Establishment, and tho’ I do / not mention this as an objection, because I think / that the preservation, to Great Britain, of her / Colonies demands the exertion of every effort / this Country can make, yet I am unwilling to / believe that matters are as yet come to that Issue.

I have stated that the violences committed / by those who have taken up arms in Massachusetts / Bay, have appeared to me as the acts of a rude / Rabble without plan, without concert, & without / conduct, and therefore I think that a smaller / Force now, if put to the Test, would be able to / encounter them with greater probability of / Success than might be expected from a greater / Army, if the people should be suffered to form / themselves upon a more regular plan, to acquire / confidence from discipline, and to prepare those / resources without which every thing must be / put to the issue of a single Action.

yet, for the reasons I have already given, it / will surely be better that the Conflict should / be brought on, upon such ground, than in / a riper state of Rebellion.

It must be understood, however after / all I have said, that this is a matter which / must be left to your own Discretion to be / executed or not as you shall, upon weighing / all Circumstances, and the advantages and / disadvantages on one side, and the other, / think most advisable.

I have fully exposed to you the Grounds / upon which the Proposition has been adopted / here, & unless the situation of things shall be / very different from what they at present appear / to be, it is considered as the best & most effectual / means of vindicating the authority of this Kingdom.

Some attention must be given to the consideration / of what it may be fit to do with those who shall be / made prisoners in consequence of this Proceeding – / And here I must confess the little hope I have that / in the present situation of Things, and the / temper

a nature that every Effort must be made to / protect the Commerce of the Kingdom and the / Property of the King’s Subjects from such / outrageous Insults; and if, in any such Case, / the Assistance be afforded with Vigour and / Celerity, I trust not much will be hazarded in / the Execution, even should the Attempt / encourage the People to take up Arms, seeing / in this, as well as in the other Case, their Efforts / of Resistance must be made without Plan or / Preparation.

In such an Event as I have here supposed, / it must be considered also, that any Efforts / of Resistance on the Part of the People will be the / less to be feared, as the Scene of Action, if it / should come to Extremities, must be in / Situations, where the Naval Force, which / will receive immediate & considerable / Augmentation, may be brought to act in / Aid of the Army with full Effect.

I sincerely wish that the Information / which we have received of the State of the / Province, would enable me to instruct you / upon every Case, in which you may wish / to receive such Instruction, but in a Situation / where every thing depends so much upon the Events of / the Day, and upon local Circumstances, / your Conduct must be governed very / much

practicable, to recover into The King’s possession / those Cannon and Stores which have been taken / away in so extraordinary a manner from the / Fort at Newport.

With regard to the state of America in / general, affairs there are now come to a Crisis in / which the Government of this Country must act / with firmness and decision.

The accounts of what has already / passed in Parliament on the Subject of America / will probably reach you thro’ other channels as / early as you can receive this Letter; and I make / no doubt they will be accompanied with every / misrepresentation and exaggeration that / can have the effect to encourage in the / people more desperate Measures; you will / therefore be more than ever on your guard, and / upon no account suffer the Inhabitants of at / least the Town of Boston, to assemble themselves / in arms on any pretence whatever, either of / Town guard or Militia duty; and I rather / mention

the Expedience and Propriety of adopting / such a Measure must depend upon your / own Discretion under many Circumstances / that can only be judged of upon the / Spot.

I am Sir, / your most Obedient / humble Servant, / Dartmouth