The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• 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 THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.

Mount Vernon,Virginia,
15 November, 1781.

Not till the 5th instant, my dear Marquis, was I able to leave York. Engaged in providing for the detachment that was to go Southerly, embarking the Troops that were to go northerly, making a distribution of the Ordnance and Stores for various purposes, and disposing of the officers and other prisoners to their respective places of destination, I could not leave that part of ye country sooner.

On that day I arrived at Eltham, (the Seat of Colonel Bassett,) time enough to see poor Mr. Custis breathe his last.1 This unexpected and affecting event threw Mrs. Washington and Mrs. Custis, who were both present, into such deep distress, that the circumstance of it, and a duty I owed the deceased in assisting at his funeral rites, prevented my reaching this place till the 13th; and business here and on the road will put it out of my power to arrive at Philadelphia before the last days of the prest. month.

As this may extend to a later period than your business in that city may require, I owe it to friendship and to my affectionate regard for you, my dear Marqs., not to let you leave this Country, without carrying with you fresh marks of my attachment to you, and new expressions of the high sense I entertain of your military conduct and other important services in the course of the last campaign, altho’ the latter are too well known to need the testimony of my approbation, and the former I persuade myself you believe is too well riveted to undergo diminution or change.

As you expressed a desire to know my Sentiments respecting the operations of the next Campaign, before your departure for France, I will without a tedious display of reasoning declare in one word, that the advantages of it to America, and the honor and glory of it to the allied arms in these States must depend absolutely upon the naval force, which is employed in these Seas, and the time of its appearance next year. No land force can act decisively, unless it is accompanied by a maritime superiority; nor can more than negative advantages be expected without it. For proof of this, we have only to recur to the instances of the ease and facility with which the British shifted their ground, as advantages were to be obtained at either extremity of the continent, and to their late heavy loss the moment they failed in their naval superiority. To point out the further advantages, which might have been obtained in the course of this year, if Count de Grasse could have waited, and would have covered a further operation to the southward, is unnecessary; because a doubt did not exist nor does at this moment, in any man’s mind, of the total extirpation of the British force in the Carolinas and Georgia, if he could have extended his coöperation two months longer.

It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it every thing honorable and glorious. A constant naval superiority would terminate the war speedily; without it, I do not know that it will ever be terminated honorably. If this force should appear early, we shall have the whole campaign before us. The months of June to September inclusive are well adapted for operating in any of the States to the northward of this; and the remaining months are equally well suited to those south of it; in which time, with such means, I think much, I will add every thing, might be expected.

How far the policy of Congress may carry them towards filling their Continental battalions does not lay with me to determine. This measure, before and since the capitulation, has been strongly recommended by me. Should it be adopted by that body, and executed with energy in the several States, I think our force, (comprehending the auxiliary troops now here,) will be fully competent to all the purposes of the American war, provided the British force on this continent remains nearly as it now is. But as this is a contingency, which depends very much upon political manœuvres in Europe; and, as it is uncertain how far we may be in a state of preparation at the opening of the next Campaign, the propriety of augmenting the present army under the Comd. of Count de Rochambeau is a question worthy of consideration; but, as it lyes with Congress to determine, I shall be silent on the subject.1

If I should be deprived of the pleasure of a personal interview with you before your departure, permit me my dear Marquis to adopt this method of making you a tender of my ardent Vows for a propitious voyage, a gracious reception from your Prince, an honorable reward of your services, a happy meeting with your lady and friends, and a safe return in the spring to, my dear Marqs., your affectionate friend, &c.

P. S. I beg you to present my best respects to the Viscount de Noailles and let him know that my warmest wishes attend him.

[1 ]John Parke Custis.

[1 ]“I shall remain but a few days here [Mount Vernon], and shall proceed to Philadelphia, when I shall attempt to stimulate Congress to the best improvement of our late success, by taking the most vigorous and effectual measures to be ready for an early and decisive campaign the next year. My greatest fear is, that Congress, viewing this stroke in too important a point of light, may think our work too nearly closed, and will fall into a state of languor and relaxation. To prevent this error, I shall employ every means in my power, and if unhappily we sink into that fatal mistake, no part of the blame shall be mine. Whatever may be the winter politics of European Courts, it is clearly my opinion, that our grand object is to be prepared in every point for war—not that we wish its continuance, but that we may be in the best situation to meet every event.”—Washington to Major-General Greene, 16 November, 1781.