TO JOHN PARKE CUSTIS. - George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, vol. IX (1780-1782) [1891]
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. IX (1780-1782).
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- The Writings of George Washington.
- 1780.
- To Governor Reed.
- To Major Lee.
- To Major-general Heath.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Greene. Instructions.
- To George Mason. 1
- To Major-general Gates.
- To the Board of War.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Abner Nash, Governor of North Carolina.
- To Robert Carter Nicholas.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Greene.
- To William Fitzhugh.
- To Governor Jefferson.
- To Major-general Heath. [private.]
- To John Sullivan, In Congress. 1
- To Sir Henry Clinton.
- To John Sullivan, In Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Gouverneur Morris.
- To Count De Rochambeau.
- To Major-general Lincoln.
- To Major-general Greene.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Count De Rochambeau and the Chevalier De Ternay.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To John Sullivan, In Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Benjamin Franklin, Minister Plenipotentiary At the Court of Versailles.
- To Lieutenant-colonel David Humphreys. 1 Instructions.
- To James Duane.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Governor Jefferson.
- 1781.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Brigadier-general Wayne.
- To the New England States.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Brigadier-general Wayne.
- To Major-general Greene.
- To Major-general St. Clair.
- To Lieutenant-colonel John Laurens. 2
- To the President of Congress.
- To Mrs. Sarah Bache. 2
- To Count De Rochambeau.
- To the Executives of the States. 1
- To the Officer Commanding the British Fleet At New York.
- To the Commissioners For Redressing the Grievances of the New Jersey Line.
- To Major-general Howe.
- To Robert R. Livingston.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general St. Clair.
- To John Sullivan, In Congress.
- To Governor Jefferson.
- To Mrs. Francis, Mrs. Hillegas, Mrs. Clarkson, Mrs. Bache, and Mrs. Blair.
- To Count De Rochambeau.
- To Brigadier-general Knox. Private Instructions.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Abraham Skinner.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette. Instructions.
- To Elbridge Gerry.
- To Governor Jefferson.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To Major-general St. Clair.
- To Major-general Parsons.
- To the Chevalier Destouches.
- To Count De Rochambeau.
- To Governor Clinton.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To John Mathews, In Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Lincoln.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To John Park Custis.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Governor Hancock.
- To Benjamin Harrison.
- To Major-general Heath.
- To William Fitzhugh.
- To Major-general Armstrong.
- To Benjamin Harrison. 1
- To the Board of War.
- To Major-general Lincoln.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Count Rochambeau.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Colonel John Laurens, At Paris.
- To Count De Rochambeau.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Greene.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Lieutenant-colonel Alexander Hamilton.
- To Count De Rochambeau.
- To Major Benjamin Tallmadge.
- To Lund Washington, At Mount Vernon.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To the President of Congress.
- To John Sullivan, In Congress.
- To Philip Schuyler.
- To the President of Congress.
- Substance of a Conference Between General Washington and Count De Rochambeau At Weathersfield, 22 May, 1781. 2
- To the Chevalier De La Luzerne.
- Circular Letter to the States.
- To the President of Congress.
- To John Sullivan, In Congress.
- To Major-general Greene.
- To Count De Rochambeau.
- To the President of Congress.
- To John Mathews, In Congress.
- To Governor Jefferson.
- To Colonel William Crawford.
- To Count De Rochambeau.
- To Governor Clinton.
- To President Reed.
- To Count De Rochambeau.
- To Major-general Lincoln. Instructions.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To the Superintendent of Finance.
- To Major-general Lord Stirling. Instructions.
- To Richard Henry Lee 1 .
- Questions and Replies.
- To Brigadier-general Waterbury.
- To Thomas Mckean, President of Congress. 1
- To John Parke Custis.
- To Major-general Greene.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To the President of Congress.
- Circular Letter to States.
- To the Superintendent of Finance.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To the Count De Grasse. 2
- To the Superintendent of Finance.
- To Major-general Heath. Instructions.
- To Robert Morris and Richard Peters. 1
- Circular Letter to the States.
- To the Superintendent of Finance.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the Count De Grasse.
- To Major-general St. Clair.
- Questions and Answers.
- To the Count De Grasse.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the Count De Grasse.
- To Major-general Greene.
- To Don Francisco Rendon. 3
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Lord Cornwallis.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the Count De Grasse.
- To David Ross.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the Count De Grasse.
- To Major-general St. Clair. Instructions.
- To Major-general Lincoln. Instructions.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Benjamin Dulany.
- To George Plater, President of the Senate, and Thomas Cockey Dey, Speaker of the House of Delegates, of Maryland.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To James Mchenry.
- To Major-general Greene.
- To the President of Congress.
- 1782.
- To Thomas Chittenden, Vermont. 2
- To the Marquis De Lafayette, At Paris.
- To Colonel Christian Febiger.
- Circular Letter to the States.
- Circular Letter to States. 1
- To Major-general Schuyler.
- To the Count De Rochambeau.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Lieutenant-colonel John Laurens. 2
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Heath.
- Circular to the Eastern and Middle States.
- To Brigadier-general William Irvine. Instructions.
- To Brigadier-general Knox and Gouverneur Morris. Instructions.
- To James Mchenry.
- To Major-general Greene.
- To Brigadier-general Knox and Gouverneur Morris, At Elizabethtown.
- To Colonel Matthias Ogden. Instructions.
- To the General Officers.
- To John Lewis (fredericksburg).
- To the General and Field Officers of the Army.
- To Bartholomew Dandridge.
- To Sir Henry Clinton.
- To Major-general Greene.
- To the Secretary At War.
- To the Chevalier De La Luzerne.
- To the President of Congress.
- Plan of Campaign.
TO JOHN PARKE CUSTIS.
Dobbs’s Ferry, July 25, 1781.
Dear Custis,
Your letter of the 11th covering certain proposals which were made by you to Mr. Robt. Alexander came safe by the last Post. I read the letter with attention, and think they are founded on principles of liberality and Justice as far as I can form a judgment without seeing the mortgage, or having recourse to the original agreement, and the missives which may have passed between you.
How far the purchase on your part, and the sale on Alexander’s, was a matter of speculation at the time of bargaining, you yourselves and the nature of the agreement can alone determine. If, from the tenor of your contract, you were to pay paper money—if this paper money was at that time in a depreciated state, and the difference between it and specie fixed and known,—and if, moreover, Alexander, like many others, entertained an opinion that it would again appreciate, and a paper dollar become equal in value to a silver one—it might be more just than generous, (as the money is, in fact, worth little or nothing now) to let him abide the consequences of his opinion by paying him in depreciated paper; because the presumption is that he would have made no allowance for appreciation, tho’ the former should be of equal value with the latter, pound for pound. But this, as I have before observed, depends upon the nature of the bargain, and the light in which the matter was understood at the time it was made by both parties.
If the bargain was unaccompanied by particular circumstances, had no explanatory meaning, but simply imported that so much money was to be given for so much land, to be paid on or before a certain period, it is certainly optional in you to discharge it at any time you please short of that period. But I conceive that this can only be done by an actual tender of the money, and that there is no legal obligatn. or tye upon Alexr. to take your bond (with any security whatever) but the fear of losing the original debt, or the Interest of it, by refusing the tender you propose to make him of £48,000 at this time; because I hold it as a maxim that no man can be compelled to change the nature of his debt, or alter the security of it, without his own consent.
I have before said, that, for want of the mortgage, and a knowledge of all the circumstances attending your bargain, it is impossible for me to give a decided opinion. Your proposals appear to be fair and equitable; but what views Alexander may have had, and how far he is prepared to support himself in those views, by written or other valid proof, I am unable to say. As an honest man, he ought to be content with justice, and justice I think you have offered him.
You may recollect that I disliked the terms of your bargain when they were 1st communicated to me, and wished then that you might not find them perplexing and disadvantageous in the end; as I now do, that you may settle the matter with honor and satisfaction to yourself.
It gave me pain to hear that you had been so much afflicted with sickness among your People, and that you thought your son in danger. It would give me equal pleasure to learn that he and the rest of your family were restored to perfect health. That so few of our countrymen have joined the enemy is a circumstance as pleasing to me as it must be mortifyingly convincing to them of the fallacy of their assertion, that ⅔ of the people were in their Intert. and ready to join them when opportunity offered. Had this been the case, the marquis’s force, and the other ⅓, must have abandoned the country.
I am much pleased with your choice of a governor. He is an honest man—active, spirited, and decided, and will, I am persuaded, suit the times as well as any person in the State. You were lucky, considering the route by which the enemy retreated to Williamsburg, to sustain so little damage. I am of opinion that Lord Cornwallis will establish a strong post at Portsmouth, detach part of his force to New York, and go with the residue to So. Carolina.
I returned yesterday from reconnoitring (with Count de Rochambeau and the engineers of both armies) the enemy’s works near Kingsbridge; we lay close by them two days and a night, without any attempt on their part to prevent it. They kept up a random cannonade, but to very little effect. I am waiting impatiently for the men the States (this way) have been called upon for, that I may determine my plan and commence my operations.
My best wishes attend Nelly Custis (who I hope is perfectly recovered) and the little girls. My complimts. await inquiring friends, and I am,
Sincerely and affectionately, &c.
Thomas Nelson.
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