[A letter from John
Wittol, Patriot, to his wife]
Gosport, Virginia
May 19
Dear Beetsie
I pray you is Well. The Lord has blessed me with health thus so far tho there is many in the camp taken strongly with a flux. The corn shuld be laid down in the Lower medow now, I reckon it is, Toms a good boy, you tell him That. Im greeved over the Chimny, it cant wait for mending. It will fall in. Mr Sawston down Mantapike owe us some good labour, you Send Tom down to Mantapike and he shoud say Im calling in the dett, & its time Sawston mend the chimny.
Here the drums of war is beeting. I told you Lord Dun. burnd the Town of Norfolk and the colim of smoke gone up for days. if that ain’t enow we hear he has hachd the most diabolical of Schemes wch is he give all his Negros the Smallpox, then he going to Reliss them on land and hopes to spredd the sickness through the Country in a great Plage. God will damn him for this Act. Surly it is meet and right he is surrunded by Negros in his little pirat fleet because there is no blacker devil than Lord Dunmor his self, there is no blacker soul no deed so dark. if more Negros knowed what this awful Scowndrel done then they wuld not run to him as they do, and so I bid you tell it out.
Rejoyce your heart now tho Beetsie, we got our cannons and we got our fireboats and Ld Dunmores Negros just sit there in there ships and there camp and we are ABOUT TO MAKE FINE WORK OF THEM. You will hear of a grate fight and you will know tis
yr loving hulsband,
J. Wittol