Autograph letter signed : Chantilly, to William Shippen, Jr., 1781 04 20.

Referring to the marriage of his cousin and his hopes that she will be happy; referring to another cousin [name illegible] saying "I wish him not to be interrupted by any cause from improving those talents which nature has kindly bestowed upon him and which properly cultivated will make him useful and ornamental to his country - Tell him that I think him answerable to the Giver of such Talents for the right improvement and use of them;" discussing the assignment of certain lottery tickets to his children; commenting on the distress of living upon the broad navigable waters by the incessant depredations of the enemies piratical Vessels - both night & day we are in perpetual alarm. I am now laid up with a sprain in my knee & foot occasioned by a fall from my horse in a late engagement that we had with about 100 of them who landed under cover of a heavy Cannonade upon an inferior number of our Militia - after a pretty small action they were compelled to run to their boats & reembark, with the loss of one man killed, one deserted, and several wounded - Dr. Lee was in the battle & fought manfully - We sustained no loss - There were 2 Kings Vessels of War & 2 privateers that made this attempt upon us. We got 2 good muskets fitted & a large Boat from them with some other things. The cursed Tories & Scotch mixed have fitted out privateers from N. York to rob our shores - they take beds, cloths, plate, Negroes & every thing they can lay their hands upon - & frequently they burn the houses to boot - Arthur thinks of returning to Philadelphia in a fortnight or so. Cornwallis has at last reached Wilmington upon the Seacost of N. Carolina, much, very much crippled and disabled - I believe no general before ever travelled with a greater encumbrance of wounded men - he was frequently constrained to leave some behind as he precipitously fled - Gen. Greene has turned his march from the further pursuit of Cornwallis towards S. Carolina - Arnold is not only secure but he is reinforced, and the English are Masters of all our Waters, Chesapeake Bay & its dependencies, by which they effectively stop the navigation of Virginia, Maryland & part of N. Carolina - Our distress will be infinite until our Allies are pleased to take the command of the Sea from the English on the coast of N. America;" adding, in a postscript, "I fear the English have caught [the] Dutch with all their Breeches off, so that they will make an awkward resistance - I wish that all the world would fall upon those haughty Flanders and bring them speedily to reason, moderation & a sense of justice."