pursued closely by Colonel Arnold, who was the first person that entered the fort, and Colonel Allen about five yards behind him. This I was an eye-witness of, being only a few yards distant. Colonel Arnold immediately Ordered the men to secure the doors of the barracks, and went himself, with Colonel Allen, to the commanding officer, Captain Delaplace, and desired him to deliver up his arms, and he might expect to be treated like a gentleman; which he immediately complied with, as did the whole garrison.

I do not recollect seeing Colonel Easton until nine o’clock, and was told he was the last man that entered the fort, and that not till the soldiers and their arms were secured, he having concealed himself in an old barrack near the redoubt, under the pretence of wiping and drying his gun, which he said had got wet in crossing the lake; since which I have often heard Colonel Easton, in a base and cowardly manner, abuse Colonel Arnold behind his back, though always very complaisant before his face. Colonel Arnold was soon made acquainted with the liberty he had taken with his character; and upon his refusing to give proper satisfaction, I had the pleasure of seeing him heartily kicked by Colonel Arnold, to the great satisfaction of a number of gentlemen present, although he (Easton)was armed with a cutlass, and a pair of loaded pistols in his pocket. I am your humble servant,

VERITAS.

Hartford, July 28, 1775.

Having by accident seen in a paper styled the American Oracle, of May 24, the paragraph relative to the taking Ticonderoga by one Colonel Easton; and being the commanding officer at that time, think I cannot, in justice to myself, do less than contradict the many particulars therein contained, knowing them to be totally void of truth. Indeed, I am quite at a loss to conjecture what could incline this same Colonel Easton to publish a conversation said to be had with me, except he, knowing that I was a prisoner, and restricted from giving any account at all of this affair, took the advantage of my situation, in order to answer his own purposes, at the total expense of his veracity; for I solemnly declare I never saw Colonel Easton at the time the fort was surprised, nor had he and I any conversation whatever relative thereto, then, or at any other time since.

WILLIAM DELAPLACE

TO THE PRINTER.

The following is an address from the inhabitants upon Lake Champlain, to the worthy Colonel Arnold, of New-Haven, who, in April last, on the first alarm of the ravage and bloodshed committed by the Ministerial Troops at Lexington, &c., marched, with his company of Cadets, from New-Haven to the assistance of his bleeding countrymen.

On his march he concerted a plan for the reduction of the very important fortresses Ticonderoga and Crown Point, which he first communicated to a member of the Committee of Correspondence for Connecticut, afterwards by letter to the Governour of Connecticut, and immediately after his arrival at Cambridge to the Provincial Congress and Committee of Safety. They approving his plan, and confiding in his judgment and fidelity, commissioned him to reduce the same, which, by his vigilance and prudence, he soon effected: and having also taken possession of the King’s sloop and batteaus, which were at St. John’s, secured the protection of all our frontiers in that quarter, and obtained the command, without the loss of one man, of an extent of country one hundred and sixty miles in length, which, in the last war, cost the British Nation two millions of money and two campaigns, under the command of some of the best English Generals, in which many thousand brave heroes fell. While we regret, and sensibly feel the loss of a Warren, and many other worthy men, in the present conflict, we have reason to rejoice that so many others, and among them an Arnold, are preserved to us, who are equally ready to risk their lives in defence of the rights and liberties of their country.

It appears that envy or self-interested views has created Colonel Arnold some enemies, Who have, in his absence, artfully endeavoured to misrepresent his conduct, and give a blamable aspect to actions which, when fairly examined, will be found to merit the highest approbation of his constituents and the publick, whose judgment, with respect to the reports to his prejudice, it is hoped will be suspended, till he can have an opportunity to vindicate his character.

A.B.

To BENEDICT ARNOLD, Esquire, Colonel of a MASSACHUSETTS Regiment, and Commander-in-Chief of an Expedition to Lake CHAMPLAIN, for taking the Fortresses on said Lake, and the armed vessel thereon, into the possession and protection of the AMERICAN Army.

We, the subscribers, the principal inhabitants on the said lake, in behalf of ourselves, and on behalf of all the inhabitants contiguous thereto, amounting in number to about six hundred families, deeply impressed with a sense of your merit, and the weighty obligations which we lie under to you in your military capacity, think it our duty to address you in this publick manner, to testify our gratitude and thankfulness for the uncommon vigilance, vigour, and spirit, with which you have achieved those important conquests, so essentially necessary for our preservation and safety from the threatened and much dreaded incursions of an inveterate enemy.

The humanity and benevolence which you have exercised towards the inhabitants of those parts most immediately affected by the present convulsions, by supplying them with provisions in their distress, render you no less worthy our admiration, than your tenderness and polite treatment of such prisoners as have fallen into your hands entitle you to the most favourable opinion of some of the regular officers, whose grateful sentiments thereon you have already received. So you are likewise, in a peculiar manner, entitled to our warmest thanks, since you have thereby, and by the proofs they have had of your prudence and valour, been the means of keeping our enemy and their scouting parties at a distance from us, to which your vigilance, in constantly employing such a number of boats on the north part of this lake, hath not a little contributed.

The humane and polite manner with which you treated your prisoners, insures to you the applause of all: you have thereby shown your adversaries a bright example of that elevation and generosity of soul, which nothing less than real magnanimity and innate virtue, could inspire.

By your vigilance and good conduct, we have been, under Providence, preserved from the incursions and ravages of an enraged enemy, to whose declared vengeance we lay entirely exposed; and therefore we cannot help expressing our sorrow at the approaching period of your removal from us.

Convinced of your competency to the undertaking of protecting us, we cannot help lamenting our situation on the thoughts of losing you, being ignorant of the experience or abilities of the gentleman appointed to succeed you. We sincerely wish you rewards adequate to your merit, and are, with the utmost gratitude, regard, and esteem, Sir, your most obliged and most obedient servants.

[Signed by a number of the principal Inhabitants, on behalf of themselves and the rest.]

Lake Champlain, July 3, 1775.

To the very respectable Inhabitants on LAKE CHAMPLAIN:

GENTLEMEN: Permit me to return you my most hearty thanks for the polite and obliging address you have been pleased to present me this day, which, as it convinces me of your esteem and approbation of my conduct in a military capacity, is more than an adequate recompense for the poor services and protection I have been happy enough to render you, which both duty and humanity required of me. I am much pleased to have it in my power, in this publick manner, to return you my sincere thanks for your support, vigilance, and spirited conduct in the publick cause, and cannot help regretting the necessity I am under of leaving you so soon. I heartily wish you the protection of that kind Providence which has so remarkably interposed in your favour heretofore, and beg leave to assure you I shall, at all times, be happy in hearing of the welfare of all the inhabitants on Lake Champlain, but of my friends in particular; and am, with the greatest respect and esteem, gentlemen, your most obedient humble servant,

BENEDICT ARNOLD.

Crown Point, July 4, 1775.