Desertion from such service invited the death penalty.' There were indeed examples of hotheaded disaffection that inspired such legislation. On July io, 1780, a witness accused one of these persons of saying in his presence, " that the French Fleet was come to carry off the Damned Rebel Officer Washington, who was afraid he would be hanged, and the Rebel Congress; that the Whigs were all a set of scoundrels and Rascals, and that he was persuaded the

British Troops would in a fortnight's time march through the City of Albany." T his obstreperous tory, George Rodgers by name, was apprehended and put in close confinement. 2 The troublous characters in and around Newtown, in the summer of 1780, led the Albany board to erect a sub-board at Stillwater, in order to employ rigorous measures against them. T his sub-board met there on July 19 and 20, during which time persons were summoned, examined and bound by recognizances and bail in various sums. 8 The Albany board, when desirous of learning who had gone over to the British interest, ordered the militia officers to make a return " of the Names of the Persons within their

Laxft of \'cw York. Poughkeepsie: John Holt, 1782, p. 189. * July jo, 1 1, 22, 1780. •July 22, 1780. See also August 19; September 7, 1779, for a similar sub-board at Saratoga.

Introduction 57

respective Beats" who had "lately gone over and joined the Enemy ." 1 Tories who had been judged in Vermont were, in the opinion of General Stark, not under the jurisdiction of