- The Writings of George Washington.
- 1775.
- Answer to an Address of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. 1
- To James Warren, President of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts.
- To the President of Congress. 1
- To Richard Henry Lee, In Congress.
- To Governor Trumbull. 1
- To the President of Congress.
- To General Thomas. 2
- To John Augustine Washington.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To General Court of Massachusetts Bay.
- To Deputy Governor Cooke, of Rhode Island.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Lewis Morris. 1
- To J. Palmer.
- To the President of the Council of Massachusetts Bay.
- To the Provincial Congress of New York.
- To a Committee of the General Court of Massachusetts Bay.
- To Lieutenant-general Gage.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To Deputy-governor Cooke.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To Lieutenant-general Gage.
- To J. Palmer.
- To Sir William Howe. 2
- To Richard Henry Lee.
- To Caesar Rodney and Thomas Mckean. 1
- To the President of Congress.
- To Brigadier-general Wooster. 2
- To the Inhabitants of the Island of Bermuda. 2
- To the Major and Brigadier Generals.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To John Augustine Washington.
- To Colonel Benedict Arnold. Instructions.
- To Colonel Benedict Arnold.
- To the Inhabitants of Canada. 1
- To Thomas Everhard, Virginia.
- To Deputy Governor Cooke.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major Christopher French. 1
- To Brigadier-general Joseph Spencer.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Captain Daniel Morgan.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To the General Officers.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To Robert Carter Nicholas, Virginia.
- To the President of Congress.
- To John Augustine Washington.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the Committee of Falmouth, Casco Bay.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the General Court of Massachusetts.
- To Josiah Quincy. 1
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To Brigadier-general John Sullivan. Instructions.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Joseph Reed, Philadelphia.
- To Colonel William Woodford. 2
- To the President of Congress.
- To William Palfrey, Portsmouth. 3
- To Henry Knox. Instructions.
- To Major-general Artemas Ward.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To Aaron Willard. Instructions.
- To Lund Washington, Mount Vernon. 1
- To Richard Henry Lee.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Cooke.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To Colonel Benedict Arnold.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress. 1
- To Joseph Reed.
- To His Excellency General Howe.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To Richard Henry Lee.
- To the General Court of Massachusetts.
- To the President of Congress.
- 1776.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To Governor Cooke.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To Major-general Charles Lee. 1 Instructions.
- To the Council of Massachusetts Bay.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Colonel Benedict Arnold.
- To James Warren, Speaker Etc.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To the General Court of Massachusetts Bay.
- To Matthew Thornton. 1
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the New England Governments.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To Major-general Lee.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To Colonel Benedict Arnold.
- To Commodore John Manly.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Lee.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To the General Court of Massachusetts.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Lee.
- To Miss Phillis Wheatley.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the Commanding Officer At New York.
- To the President of Congress.
- Proclamation On the Evacuation of Boston.
- To the General Court of Massachusetts Bay.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To Colonel Thomas Mifflin, Quartermaster-general. Instructions.
- Answer to an Address From the General Assembly of Massachusetts.
- To Major-general Putnam. Instructions.
- To John Augustine Washington.
TO HIS EXCELLENCY GENERAL HOWE.
Camp atCambridge, 18 December, 1775.
Sir,
We have just been informed of a circumstance, which, were it not so well authenticated, I should scarcely think credible. It is that Colonel Allen, who, with his small party, was defeated and taken prisoner near Montreal, has been treated without regard to decency, humanity, or the rules of war; that he has been thrown into irons, and suffers all the hardships inflicted upon common felons.
I think it my duty, Sir, to demand, and do expect from you, an eclaircissement on this subject. At the same time, I flatter myself, from the character which Mr. Howe bears, as a man of honor, gentleman, and soldier, that my demand will meet with his approbation. I must take the liberty, also, of informing you, that I shall consider your silence as a confirmation of the report; and further assuring you, that, whatever treatment Colonel Allen receives, whatever fate he undergoes, such exactly shall be the treatment and fate of Brigadier Prescott, now in our hands. The law of retaliation is not only justifiable in the eyes of God and man, but absolutely a duty, which, in our present circumstances, we owe to our relations, friends, and fellow-citizens.
Permit me to add, Sir, that we have all here the highest regard and reverence for your great personal qualities and attainments, and that the Americans in general esteem it as not the least of their misfortunes, that the name of Howe, a name so dear to them, should appear at the head of the catalogue of the instruments employed by a wicked ministry for their destruction.
With due respect, I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient humble servant.
P. S. If an exchange of prisoners taken on each side in this unnatural contest is agreeable to General Howe, he will please to signify as much to his most obedient, &c.
When Ethan Allen was captured at Montreal, he was taken before the British General, Prescott, who treated him not only with extreme rudeness, but cruelty. Allen writes, that, after receiving from him much personal abuse, “he ordered one of his officers to take me on board the Gaspee, schooner of war, and confine me, hands and feet, in irons, which was done the same afternoon I was taken.”—Narrative, &c., p. 26. The account of this treatment was confirmed to General Montgomery, after he had taken Montreal; and when General Prescott fell into his hands, he gave notice to General Schuyler of his previous conduct.
Alluding to Lord Howe, a brother of General Howe, who had been slain in the last war at the attack on Ticonderoga under General Abercromby. He was an officer of great merit, and extremely popular in the colonies. The province of Massachusetts caused a monument to be erected to his memory in Westminster Abbey.—Hutchinson’s History of Massachusetts, Vol. iii., p. 71.
By sundry persons and accounts just from Boston, I am informed that the ministerial army is in very great distress for want of fresh provisions, and having received intelligence that there are two hundred fat cattle on Block Island, and some transport vessels cruizing that way in quest of necessaries for the army, I must request you to have the cattle, &c., removed from thence, immediately; and from every other place where their ships can come and take them off. It is a matter of the utmost importance to prevent their getting a supply; if they can be hindered now, the advanced season of the year, and the inclement weather, which we may expect ere long, will put it out of their power.”—Washington to Governor Cooke, 17 December, 1775.
The part of the above letter, concerning Colonel Allen, was written in consequence of an order from Congress. It had also been resolved by Congress, that an exchange of prisoners was proper, citizens for citizens, officers for officers of equal rank, and soldier for soldier.
General Howe in his reply, written on the 25th, after stating that Allen was in charge of General Carleton, and therefore outside of his command, added:—
“It is with regret, considering the character you have always maintained among your friends, as a gentleman of the strictest honor and delicacy, that I find cause to resent a sentence in the conclusion of your letter, big with invective against my superiors, and insulting to myself, which should obstruct any further intercourse between us.”
The day after receiving Washington’s letter, that is, on the 19th of December, General Howe wrote to Lord Dartmouth as follows:
“Mr. Washington, presuming upon the number and rank of the prisoners in his possession, has threatened retaliation in point of treatment to any prisoners of theirs in our power; and proposes an exchange, which is a circumstance I shall not answer in positive terms; nor shall I enter upon such a measure without the King’s orders. Your Lordship, has enclosed, a publication extracted from the minutes of the Continental Congress in reference to his Majesty’s proclamation of the 23d of August, on the principles of which Mr. Washington seems to have founded his threats.”—MS. Letter.
This proclamation declared the colonies to be in open rebellion against the crown, and all the King’s officers, civil and military, were ordered to give information of such persons as should be found aiding or abetting those, who were in arms against the government, or holding any correspondence with them, “in order to bring to condign punishment the authors, perpetrators, and abettors of such traitorous designs.” After considering this proclamation, the Congress declared and published, “that whatever punishment shall be inflicted upon any persons in the power of our enemies for favoring, aiding, or abetting the cause of American liberty, shall be retaliated in the same kind and the same degree upon those in our power, who have favored, aided, or abetted, or shall favor, aid, or abet the system of ministerial oppression. The essential difference between our cause, and that of our enemies, might justify a severer punishment; the law of retaliation will unquestionably warrant one equally severe.”—Remembrancer, Vol. i., p. 148.—Journals of Congress, December 6th, 1775.
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