- The Writings of George Washington.
- 1778.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Heath.
- To Major-general Mcdougall.
- To General Schuyler.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette. Instructions.
- To Gouverneur Morris, In Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Richard Henry Lee.
- To John Parke Custis.
- To Gouverneur Morris.
- To Henry Laurens.
- To Landon Carter.
- To Major-general Lee. Instructions.
- To Sir Henry Clinton.
- Thoughts Upon a Plan of Operations For the Campaign of 1778. 1
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Dickinson.
- To John Augustine Washington.
- To Henry Laurens.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To Major-general Charles Lee.
- To James Hunter, Esq., Near Fredericksburg, Va.
- To Joseph Reed, Delegate In Congress From Pennsylvania.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To Major-general Arnold.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette. Instructions.
- To Major-general Lee.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To John Augustine Washington.
- To Major-general Lord Stirling and the Members of the General Court-martial For the Trial of Major-general Lee.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Clinton.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To Count D’estaing.
- To Count D’estaing.
- To Major-general Sullivan.
- To John Parke Custis.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Count D’estaing.
- To Gouverneur Morris.
- To Henry Laurens.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Major-general Sullivan.
- To Major-general Arnold.
- To the Board of War.
- To the President of Congress.
- To John Parke Custis.
- To Count D’estaing.
- To Lund Washington. 1
- To the President of Congress.
- To Henry Laurens.
- To Brigadier-general Nelson, Virginia.
- To Major-general Greene.
- To Major-general Sullivan.
- To Major-general Heath.
- To Major-general Sullivan.
- To Major General Greene.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Gouverneur Morris.
- To Count D’estaing.
- To Major-general Sullivan.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Henry Laurens.
- To John Augustine Washington.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Gouverneur Morris.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To John Parke Custis.
- To Brigadier-general Andrew Lewis, Virginia.
- To Major-general Heath.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Mr. James Hill.
- To Count D’estaing.
- To Burwell Bassett.
- To Count D’estaing,
- To the President of Congress.
- To Henry Laurens.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Joseph Reed, President of Pennsylvania.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Lund Washington.
- To Benjamin Harrison, Speaker of the House of Delegates of Virginia.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- 1779.
- To the Committee of Congress Appointed to Confer With the Commander-in-chief.
- To the Committee of Congress.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- To the Committee of Congress.
- To Brigadier-general Mcintosh.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To the President of Congress.
- To John Jay, President of Congress.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To President Reed.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette, Paris.
- To Sir Henry Clinton.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Henry Laurens, In Congress.
- To Colonel Daniel Brodhead, At Fort Pitt.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To George Mason.
- To President Reed.
- To James Warren, In Massachusetts.
- To President Reed.
- To John Jay.
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To Colonel Daniel Brodhead.
- To Burwell Bassett.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To John Jay.
- To President Reed.
- To Monsieur Gerard, Minister Plenipotentiary From His Most Christian Majesty to the United States of America.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Benjamin Harrison.
- To Brigadier-general Maxwell.
- To Brigadier-general Maxwell.
- To Gouverneur Morris.
- To the President of Congress.
- To John Armstrong.
- Circular to the States.
- To Major-general Sullivan. Instructions.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major Benjamin Tallmadge. 1
- To Major-general Sullivan.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Brigadier-general Wayne. 2
- To Brigadier-general Wayne.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To Brigadier-general Wayne.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Joseph Reed.
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Head-Quarters,Fishkill,
3 October, 1778.
Sir,
I am honored with your favour of the 27 of September, with the inclosed Resolves of Congress; a copy of which has been transmitted to Major-General Lincoln for his information and direction.
Being separated from my papers, I am uncertain whether I mentioned in my last, that, the enemy in the Jerseys having received a reinforcement and made some forward movements, I had thought it expedient to detach another brigade thither to act in conjunction with the one already there, together with Pulaski’s corps and the militia, and had sent Major-General Lord Stirling to take the command of the whole; that I had also ordered Major-General Putnam across the river for the immediate security of West Point, and moved a division of troops to this place, to be nearer that post. I have since come here myself, and propose to remain till the views of the enemy in the Jerseys are decided; though I have had no reason to alter my opinion, that nothing more than a forage is intended. By the last accounts they had drawn in their out-parties, and resumed their first bounds behind Hackinsac River, at the Liberty-Pole and Newbridge.
That part of Baylor’s regiment, which escaped, came off in the first instance, and were afterwards brought off, in so dispersed a manner, that the number has not been ascertained; but, from what I have learned, I should estimate the loss at about fifty men and seventy horses. Major Clough is dead of his wounds. This affair seems to have been attended with every circumstance of cruelty. It is a small compensation for this accident that Colonel Butler three or four days ago, with a party of infantry and horse comprehending Major Lee’s corps, surprised about an hundred Yagers below Tarrytown, killed ten on the spot, and took a lieutenant and eighteen men prisoners. The roughness of the country facilitated the flight of the rest, and prevented the success being more complete. The proceedings in the case of General St. Clair accompany this letter. I have the honor to be, &c.
P. S. I have received advices of the arrival of a Packet from England.
On the morning of the 27th of September Colonel Baylor marched with his regiment of dragoons from Paramus, and took up his quarters at Herringtown, a short distance from Tappan. Two roads led from the enemy’s camp, one on each side of the Hackinsac River, which met at a bridge half a mile below Herringtown. At this bridge Colonel Baylor placed a guard of a sergeant and twelve men, with particular orders to keep a patrol of two men on each of these roads, who were to watch the roads to the distance of a mile from the guard; and be relieved every hour. These orders were strictly obeyed, but the enemy, being early informed of the exact position of the guard and of Baylor’s detachment, by disaffected persons in the neighborhood, marched up during the night, on the west side of the Hackinsac River, till they came within half a mile of the patrol, and then sent a party through the fields at some distance from the road, and cut off the guard and the patrols without being discovered. They pushed forward and made a sudden attack upon Baylor’s men, who were taken wholly by surprise.—Baylor’s MS. Letter, October 19th.
The detachment was quartered for the night in barns, which the enemy forced with fixed bayonets, committing at the first assault indiscriminate slaughter, as far as the darkness would permit. The whole number of privates present was one hundred and four, of whom eleven were killed outright; seventeen were left behind wounded, four of whom afterwards died; and thirty-nine were taken prisoners, eight of whom were wounded. The rest made their escape. Colonel Baylor, Major Clough, a lieutenant, and the surgeon were wounded. A series of affidavits were taken by order of Congress from the men who escaped, in which the particulars of the affair were stated in detail. Several of these men were wounded in numerous places with bayonets. One of the soldiers, from whom an affidavit was taken, had received sixteen wounds; two others twelve each, another nine, and many of them from three to seven. They all testified, that the cry for quarter was not heeded by the assailants.—Sparks.
Read Oct. 7th.
“I am well convinced myself, that the enemy, long ere this, are perfectly well satisfied, that the possession of ourtowns, while we have an army in the field, will avail them little. It involves us in difficulty, but does not by any means ensure them conquest. They well know, that it is our arms, not defenceless towns, which they have to subdue before they can arrive at the haven of their wishes; and that, till this end is accomplished, the superstructure they have been endeavoring to raise, ‘like the baseless fabric of a vision,’ falls to nothing. But this, though a reason operating powerfully with me in deciding upon the point, is by no means the most weighty consideration in my mind. A measure of this kind, before the hostile disposition of France became so evident, and before the French fleet arrived on the coast, was probable, as their whole conduct was full of unaccountables, but to attempt now to detach ten thousand men, (which is I suppose half of their army,) and to divide their naval strength for the protection of it, would in my judgment be an act of insanity, and expose one part or the other of both land and sea force to inevitable ruin. I therefore conclude, that they will go there wholly, or not at all. Nevertheless I may be mistaken.”—Washington to Henry Laurens, 3 October, 1778.
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