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Sir:

The Enemy is still confined to Charlotte. The small Rifle Companies I have kept hanging upon their lines have been of Service in checking their foraging Parties. They are probably 1,800 Strong, including those Loyalists they have recruited in the Southward. Besides these they have some unformed Tories who follow the Fortunes of the Army, rather a dead Weight than a Benefit.

A Colo. Ferguson in the British Service has, by a Variety of Means, been pernicious to our Interest in the West of both the Carolinas. There has such a force taken the Field against him as will probably rid us of such a troublesome Neighbour.

As the main Strength of the British in the Southern States seems collected in Charlotte, I have adopted every Measure in my Power to annoy them. I must confess I find much Difficulty

in reducing my Force to a point. Almost every Class of Citizens let their Attention rest directly upon their Property, the Loss of which seems to touch them with more Sensibility than the Loss of their Country's Freedom.

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