Yorktown, 26 October, 1777.
Mr. Colman goes off for Boston to-morrow. I have seized a moment to
congratulate you on the great and glorious success of our arms at the
northward and in Delaware River. The forts at Province Island and
Redbank have been defended with a magnanimity which will give our
country a reputation in Europe. Colonel Greene repulsed the enemy from
Redbank and took Count Donop and his aid prisoners. Colonel Smith
repulsed a bold attack upon Fort Mifflin, and our galleys disabled two
men-of-war, a sixty-four and a twenty gun ship, in such a manner that
the enemy blew them up. This comes confirmed this evening, in letters
from General Washington, inclosing original letters from officers in the
forts.
Congress will appoint a thanksgiving; and one cause of it ought to be
that the glory of turning the tide of arms is not immediately due to the
Commander-in-chief nor to southern troops. If it had been, idolatry and
adulation would have been unbounded; so excessive as to endanger our
liberties, for what I know. Now, we can allow a certain citizen to be
wise, virtuous, and good, without thinking him a deity or a savior.