BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR.

CHARLES JOSEPH WILLIAM BOTTA, was born at St. George, province of Vercelli in Piedmont, in 1766. He studied medicine at the university of Turin, and was employed as physician to the army of the Alps; afterwards to that of Italy. About this time he composed an extensive work, containing a plan of government for Lombardy. Towards the close of 1798, he was sent to the islands of the Levant with the division detached thither by general Buonaparte.

On his return to Italy he published a description of the island of Corfu, and of the maladies prevalent there during his stay; 2 vols. 8vo.

In the year seven of the French Republic, (1799) general Joubert appointed him member of the provisional government of Piedmont. This provisional government having been dissolved at the arrival of the commissioner Musset, Botta was appointed member of the administration of the department of the Po. At the epoch of the Austro-Russian invasion, he again took refuge in France. The minister of war, Bernadotte, reappointed him physician of the army of the Alps; and after the battle of Marengo, the commander-in-chief of the army of reserve appointed him member of the Consulta of Piedmont.

At the commencement of 1801, he was member of the executive commission, and afterwards, of the council of general administration of the twenty-seventh military division. Botta likewise made part of the deputation which came to Paris in 1803 to present thanks to the government upon the definitive adjunction of Piedmont, and there published an historical sketch of the history of Savoy and Piedmont. Immediately after the union, he was elected member of the legislative body by the department of the Doura, the tenth of August, 1804. The twenty-eighth of October, 1808, he was created vice-president, and on the expiration of his term, was reelected

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in 1809, and proposed, the ninth of December, as candidate for the questorship. The emperor granted him soon after the decoration of the order of the Union.

The third of January, 1810, he presented to Buonaparte, in the name of the academy of sciences of Turin, the two last volumes of its memoirs. He adhered, the third of April, 1814, to the deposition of Napoleon and his family. The eighth, he accepted the constitutional act which recalled the Bourbons to the throne of France, but he ceased to make part of the legislative body on the separation of Piedmont. At the return of Buonaparte in 1815, he was appointed rector of the academy of Nanci, but lost this place after the second restoration of the king. Besides the works already named, he has published, 1. At Turin, 1801, an Italian translation of the work of Born, of which Broussonet had given to the public a French version, in 1784.

2. A memoir upon the doctrine of Brown, 1800, in 8vo. 3. Memoir upon the nature of tones and sounds, read before the academy of Turin, and inserted (by extract) in the Bibliotheque Italienne, tome I. Turin, 1803, 8vo.

4. The history of the war of the independence of America, 1809, 4 vols. 8vo.

5. Il Camillo, O Vejo conquistato, (Camillus, or Veii conquered,) an epic poem in twelve cantos. Paris, 1816. This work has received high encomiums in the European journals. Botta has contributed some articles to the Biographie Universelle, among others, that of John Adams. 6. The history of Italy.

The Translator is indebted for the preceding notice of Botta, to the complaisance of an estimable countryman and acquaintance of the Historian.

LIST OF WORKS

CONSULTED BY THE AUTHOR FOR WRITING THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WAR.

ENGLISH.

Journals of the House of Lords; Journals of the House of Commons, in folio; printed by order of the two Houses, from 1764 to 1783.

Authentic account of the Proceedings of Congress, held at New York in 1765. Almon, 1767.

Journals of the Proceedings of the Congress, in 8vo. Dilly, 1775.
Journals of Congress held at Philadelphia, for Almon, 1786.

The Parliamentary Register, &c. all the volumes from 1766 to 1783.
The Annual Register; all the volumes from 1764 to 1783.

Historical Anecdotes relative to the American rebellion, 1 vol. 8vo. 1779. The Remembrancer, or impartial repository of public events; the second edition, London, for 1. Almon, with the prior documents.

Letters on the American Troubles, translated from the French of M. Pinto, 1776.

An impartial History of the War in America between Great Britain and her colonies, from its commencement to the end of the year 1779, in 8vo. for Faulders, 1780.

The History of the Civil War in America, comprehending the campaigns · of 1775, 1776, 1777; by an officer of the army, in 8vo. for Sewall, 1781. A genuine detail of the several engagements, positions and movements of the Royal and American armies, during the years 1775 and 1776, with an accurate account of the blockade of Boston, &c.; by William Carter, in 4to. for Kearsley, 1785.

An impartial and authentic narrative of the battle fought on the 17th June, on Bunker's Hill; by John Clarke, 1775.

A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the southern provinces of North America; by lieutenant-colonel Tarleton, Dublin, 1 vol. 8vo. 1787.

Strictures on lieutenant-colonel Tarleton's History of the campaigns of 1780 and 1781, by Roderick Mackenzie, in 8vo. 1787.

The History of the American Revolution, by David Ramsay, 2 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1789.

History of the War with America, France, Spain and Holland, commencing in 1775, and ending in 1783, by John Andrews, 4 vols. in 8vo. London, for J. Fielding, 1785.

The History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment of the Independence of the United States of America, by William Gordon, London, printed for the author, and sold by Charles Dilly, 1788, 4 vols. 8vo.

An Historical, Geographical, Commercial and Philosophical View of the American United States, and of the European settlements in America, and the West Indies; by W. Winterbotham, 4 vols. in 8vo. London, 1795. The Life of George Washington, by John Marshall, chief justice of the United States, 5 vols. in 8vo. London, for Richard Philips 1804, 1805, 1807.

The Life of Washington, by David Ramsay, 1 vol. 8vo. New York, 1807, printed by Hopkins and Seymour.

Letters addressed to the Army of the United States, in the year 1783, with a brief exposition; by Buel, Kingston, State of New York, 1803.

FRENCH.

Revolution d'Amerique, par l'abbé Raynal, Londres, 1781.

Lettre adressée à l'abbé Raynal, sur les affaires de l'Amerique Septentrionale, traduite de l'Anglais de Thomas Payne, 1783.

Essais historiques et politiques sur les Anglo-Americains, par M. Hilliard d'Auberteuil, 4 vols. in 8vo. Bruxelles, 1781.

Histoire de l'administration de Lord North, et de la guerre de l'Amerique septentrionale, jusqu'à la paix de 1783, 2 vols. in 8vo. Londres et Paris, 1784.

Histoire impartiale des evenemens militaire et politiques de la dernière guerre dans les quatre parties du monde, 3 vols. Amsterdam et Paris, chez la veuve Duchesne, 1785.

Constitution des treize Etats Unis d'Amerique, Philadelphie et Paris,

1783.

Affaires de l'Angleterre et de l'Amerique, 17 vols. in 8vo. Anvers.

Voyages de M. le Marquis de Chastelux dans l'Amerique Septentrionale, pendant les années 1780, 1781, et 1782, 2 vols. in 8vo. Paris, chez Prault, 1786.

Histoire des troubles de l'Amerique Anglaise, &c. par François Soules, 4 vols. in 8vo. Paris, chez Buisson, 1787.

Histoire de la dernière guerre entre la Grande Britagne et les Etats Unis d'Amerique, la France, l'Espagne et la Hollande, depuis son commencement en 1775, jusqu'à sa fin en 1783, 1 vol. 4to. Paris chez Brocas, 1787.

Histoire de la Revolution de l'Amerique, par rapport à la Caroline meridionale, par David Ramsay, membre du Congres Americain; traduit de l'Anglais, 2 vols. 8vo. Londres et Paris, chez Frouille, 1787.

Recherches historiques et politiques sur les Etats Unis de l'Amerique Septentrionale, par un citoyen de Virginie, 4 vols. in 8vo. Paris, chez Frouille, 1788.

Discussions importantes, debattues au parlement Britannique, 4 vols. in 8vo. Paris, chez Maradan et Perlet, 1790.

Mémoires historiques et pièces authentiques sur M. de la Fayette. 1 vol. in 8vo. Paris, l'an 2, (1793).

To the foregoing works should be added, a great number of pamphlets, which, during the American revolution, were published daily, as well in England as in America and France. Lastly, even among the actors of the great events which he has related, the author has had the good fortune to find individuals as polite as well informed, who have deigned to furnish him with important manuscripts. He prays them to accept here the public expression of his acknowledgment.