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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) TO SIR WILLIAM HOWE. 1 - The Writings of George Washington, vol. VI (1777-1778)
TO SIR WILLIAM HOWE. 1 - George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, vol. VI (1777-1778) [1890]Edition used:The Writings of George Washington, collected and edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1890). Vol. VI (1777-1778).
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- The Writings of George Washington.
- 1777.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To Governor Henry.
- To the Council of Safety of New York.
- To John Augustine Washington.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- To Lieutenants Bird, Dorsey, Craig, Moore, and Gray. 1
- To Governor Clinton.
- To Benjamin Franklin, In Paris.
- To Benjamin Harrison, In Congress.
- To Brigadier-general Wayne.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress. 2
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Sullivan.
- To General Cadwalader.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Heath.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress. 1
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Lieutenant-colonel Alexander Hamilton.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To Lord Stirling.
- To John Parke Custis.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Sir William Howe. 1
- To the President of Congress.
- To Colonel Christopher Greene. Instructions.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To Brigadier-general Potter. 1
- To Lieutenant-colonel Samuel Smith.
- To Governor George Clinton.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Thomas Wharton, President of Pennsylvania.
- To Richard Henry Lee.
- To Baron D’arendt. Instructions.
- To John Augustine Washington.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- To John Hancock. 1
- To Major-general Sullivan.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Brigadier-general Forman.
- Circular to Pulaski and Colonels of Horse.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- Call For a Council of Officers.
- To Francis Hopkinson and John Wharton, of the Navy Board. 1
- To Landon Carter.
- To Lieutenant-colonel Alexander Hamilton.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Brigadier-general Varnum.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To Sir William Howe.
- To Jeremiah Powell, President of the Council of Massachusetts.
- To General Thomas Nelson.
- To Col. Theodorick Bland.
- To Brigadier-general Conway.
- To Henry Laurens, President of Congress. 2
- To the President of Congress.
- To Brigadier-general Varnum.
- To Major-general Heath.
- To Governor Henry.
- To Sir William Howe.
- To John Parke Custis.
- To Alexander Hamilton.
- To Brigadier-general Conway.
- To Major-general St. Clair, Major-general Baron De Kalb, and Brigadier-general Knox. Instructions.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Richard Henry Lee, In Congress.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- To the Officers and Soldiers of the Militia In the Counties of Hunterdon, Burlington, Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Greene.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Greene.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To George Read, President of Delaware.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the Executives of the Eastern States.
- To Major-general Conway. 1
- To Governor Livingston.
- 1778.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major General Gates.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Wharton.
- To Major-general Arnold. 1
- To Sir William Howe.
- To Major-general Heath.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To Major-general Charles Lee.
- To a Committee of Congress. 1
- To Sir William Howe.
- To Henry Laurens.
- To John Parke Custis.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To Peter Colt. 2
- To Thomas Nelson, Jr.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To Brigadier-general Wayne. Instructions.
- To Sir William Howe.
- To Major-general Mcdougall.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To Richard Henry Lee.
- To Governor George Clinton.
- An Address to the Inhabitants of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. 1
- To William Duer.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Bryan Fairfax. 2
- To Thomas Wharton, President of Pennsylvania.
- To Colonel George Baylor. Instructions.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Brigadier-general Parsons, At West Point.
- Copy of the Letter Referred to Above.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Lieutenant-general Burgoyne.
- To George William Fairfax, In England.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Robert R. Livingston.
- To Philip Schuyler, James Duane, and Volkert P. Douw, Commissioners of Indian Affairs.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To Major-general Mcdougall.
- To the President of Congress.
- To James Bowdoin, President of the Council of Massachusetts.
- To Brigadier-general John Cadwalader.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Sir William Howe.
- To the President of Congress.
- To John Ternant. 1
- To Major-general Armstrong.
- To Patrick Henry.
- To Patrick Henry.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To Thomas Mckean. 1
- To Colonel Josias C. Hall.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Colonel Mathias Ogden.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the General Officers In Camp.
- To John Banister, Delegate In Congress.
- To Major-general Mcdougall.
- To Major-general Charles Lee.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Gouverneur Morris, In Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Heath.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Henry Laurens.
TO SIR WILLIAM HOWE.
Head-Quarters, 6 October, 1777. Sir,
I cannot forbear assuring you, that I am somewhat at a loss to understand the design of your letter of the 3d instant. I can hardly believe you to be serious in remonstrating against a procedure fully authorized by the common practice of armies, countenanced by your own troops at Trenton, and obviously calculated to answer a purpose very different from that of distressing the inhabitants and increasing the common calamities incident to a state of war. If this is a consequence of it, it is an unavoidable one, and had no part in producing the measure. I flatter myself the public is sufficiently sensible, that it is not my wish nor aim to distress, but to protect the inhabitants, and know how to interpret any thing, that, with respect to individuals, may seem to deviate from this end. Nor will they be easily persuaded to consider it as any injustice or cruelty to them, that my parties should have rendered useless, for a time, a few mills in the neighborhood of your army, which were so situated as to be capable of affording them no inconsiderable advantages.
I am happy to find you express so much sensibility to the sufferings of the inhabitants, as it gives room to hope, that those wanton and unnecessary depredations, which have heretofore, in too many instances, marked the conduct of your army, will be discontinued for the future. The instances I allude to need not be enumerated; your own memory will suggest them to your imagination, from the destruction of Charlestown, in the Massachusetts, down to the more recent burning of mills, barns, and houses at the Head of Elk, and in the vicinity of the Schuylkill. I am, &c.
The letter from General Howe, to which this is an answer, was in the following words: “Head-Quarters, 3 October, 1777. “Sir,“Your parties having destroyed several mills in the adjacent country, which can only distress the peaceable inhabitants residing in their houses, I am constrained from a regard to their sufferings, and a sense of the duty I owe to the public, to forewarn you of the calamities which may ensue, and to express my abhorrence of such a proceeding. At the same time I am inclined to believe, that the outrages already committed have not been in consequence of your orders, and that this early notice will engage you to put an effectual stop to them. If not, I do in the most direct terms disclaim any share in creating the general scene of distress among the inhabitants, which such destruction must inevitably cause. With due respect, I am, &c. “W. Howe.”
It is interesting to observe, that, in the midst of solemn and important affairs, and the forms of official station, there was room for courtesy and civil acts in small things. The following note was sent on the same day that the above letter was written, and they probably were both forwarded with the same flag.
“General Washington’s compliments to General Howe,—does himself the pleasure to return to him a dog, which accidentally fell into his hands, and, by the inscription on the collar, appears to belong to General Howe.”
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