The New Hampshire Gazette And General Advertiser

Extract of a letter from an officer of distinction in the northern army.

"The following may be depended on as fact :-A man by the name of John Cavenaugh, 61 years of age, is now a soldier in the New York levies, and is possessed of all the activity and military abilities of a young soldier; his captain prefers him to any man for celerity of marching, and difficult enterprises, such as marching on the flanks in a rough country, carrying dispatches, and the like. He personally gave me the following account of himself:

That he was born in Ireland, in the year 1681, and was for some years of his minority a servant to an officer in the army; at 17, enlisted a soldier, and became a footman to the Duke of Marlborough for 7 years; was at the siege of Carthagena and Porto Bello: afterwards 7 years in the navy; was at the battle of Fontenoy in Flanders, and with the Duke of Cumberland against the rebels in Scotland: at the taking of Cape Breton, Quebec and the Havanna, &c. besides (while with Rogers) being repeatedly tomahawked, of which he shew me a sufficient receipt. in 1762, was at his own request discharged, came to this continent and settled at Lebanon, near Saratoga Spring, which he thinks tended to prolong his life and abilities. In 1775, went with General Montgomery to Quebec, and bore all the fatigue of a winter campaign. In 1777, was with General Herkimer, in his bloody battle: afterwards, one campaign at the White Plains. and is now a soldier for the present campaign."