Jefferson, esquire. Communica stores we had not been able to get away, to burn the tion from T. public buildings at Westham and some occupied by the public at this place, and to retire to their shipping before such a force had assembled as was sufficient to approach them. I have the pleasure however to inform you that we were enabled to withdraw almost the whole of the public stores, so as to render our loss in thai article far less than might have been expected from the rapidity of the movements of the enemy, and the difficulty of procuring suddenly any considerable number of waggons and vessels. General Nelson having collected and drawn towards the enemy a body of militia on the north, and Baron Steuben done the same on the south side of the river, the enemy withdrew making descents and committing depredations at places till they reached Portsmouth, where they have since remained environed by the militia of this state and of North Carolina. On receiving intelligence of the advance of the British army under Lord Cornwallis through North Carolina, we directed one fourth of the militia of Pittsylvania, Henry, Montgomery, Washington and Botetourt, to march immediately to reinforce general Greene's army; but learning very soon after that the enemy were already arrived at or very near the Dan river, we ordered out all the militia who had arms or for whom arms could be procured, of the counties of Lunenburg, Brunswick, Amelia, Dinwiddie, Chesterfield, Powhatan and Cumberland. Colonel Lynch, who happened to be here when the intelligence was received, was instructed to carry on immediately the militia of Bedford. We at the same instant received notice that the militia of Prince Edward and Mecklenburg were already embodied, and we knew the counties of Halifax and Charlotte to be so immediately under the approach of the enemy, as that they must be embodied under the invasion law before our orders could reach them; the counties below these on the south side of James river we thought it expedient to leave as a barrier against the army within Portsmouth. The very rapid approach of the enemy obliged us in this instance to disregard that regular rotation of duty which we wish to observe in our calls on the several counties, and to summon those into the field which had militia on duty at the very time; however, the several Communicaservices of these as well as of the other counties shall tion from T. be kept in view, and made as equal as possible in the course of general service. I have the honor to be, with the highest esteem and Jefferson, esquire. Letter from General Washington. HEAD QUARTERS, NEW WINDSOR, 27th MARCH 1781. Dear Sir, ON my return from Newport, I found your Letter from favor of the 16th of February, with its inclosures, at gen. WashHead Quarters. I exceedingly regret that I could not ington. have the pleasure of seeing you, not only from personal motives, but because I could have entered upon the subject of your mission in a much more full and free manner, than is proper to be committed to paper. I very early saw the difficulties and dangers to which the southern states would be exposed for want of resources of clothing, arms and ammunition, and recommended magazines to be established as ample as their circumstances would admit. It is true they are not so full of men as the northern states, but they ought, for that reason, to have been more assiduous in raising a permanent force, to have been always ready, because they cannot draw a herd of men together as suddenly as their exigencies may require. That policy has, unhappily, not been pursued either here or there, and we are now suffering from a remnant of a British army, what they could not, in the beginning, accomplish with their force at the highest. As your requisitions go to men, arms, ammunition, and cloathing, I shall give you a short detail of our Letter from situation and prospects as to the first, and of our supgen Wash. plies and expectations as to the three last. ington. By the expiration of the times of service of the old troops; by the discharge of the levies engaged for the campaign only; and by the unfortunate dissolution of the Pennsylvania line, I was left, previous to the late detachment under the Marquis de la Fayette, with a garrison barely sufficient for the security of West Point, and two regiments in Jersey to support the communication between the Delaware and North river. The York troops I had been obliged to send up for the security of the frontier of that state. Weak however as we were, I determined to attempt the dislodgment of Arnold in conjunction with the French fleet and army, and made the detachment to which I have alluded. The In my late tour to the eastward, I found the accounts, I had received of the progress of recruiting in those states, had been much exaggerated, and I fear we shall, in the end, be obliged to take a great proportion of their quotas in levies for the campaign, instead of soldiers for three years or for the war. regiments of New York having been reduced to two, they have but few infantry to raise. Jersey depends upon voluntary inlistments, upon a contracted bounty, and I canno therefore promise myself much success from the mode. The Pennsylvania line, you know, is ordered to compose part of the southern army. General Wayne is so sanguine as to suppose he will be soon able to move on with 1000 or 1200 men, but I fancy he rather over-rates the matter. You will rea dily perceive from the foregoing state, that there is little probability of adding to the force already ordered to the southward; for should the battalions, from New Hampshire to New Jersey inclusive, be compleated, (a thing not to be expected) we shall, after the necessary detachments for the frontiers and other purposes are made, have an army barely sufficient to keep the enemy in check at New York. Except this is done, they will have nothing to hinder them from throwing further reinforcements to the southward; and to be obliged to follow, by land, every detachment of their army, which they always make by sea, will only end in a fruitless dissipation of what may be now called the northern army. You may be assured that the most powerful diversion that can be made in favor of the ington. southern states, will be a respectable force in the neigh- Letter from bourhood of New York. I have hitherto been speak- gen. Washing of our own resources; should a reinforcement arrive to the French fleet and army, the face of matters may be intirely changed. I do not find that we can, at any rate, have more than two thousand stand of arms to spare, perhaps not so many; for should the battalions, which are to compose this army, be compleat, or nearly so, they will take all that are in repair or repairable. The two thousand stand came in the Alliance from France, and I have kept them apart for an exigency. Our stock of ammunition, though competent to the defensive, is, by a late estimate of the commanding of ficer of artillery, vastly short of an offensive operation of any consequence. Should circumstances put it in our power to attempt such an one, we must depend upon the private magazines of the states and upon our allies; on the contrary, should the defensive plan be determined upon, what ammunition can be spared, will be undoubtedly sent to the southward. Of cloathing we are in a manner exhausted. We have not enough for the few recruits which may be expected, and except that, which has been so long looked for and talked of from France, should arrive, the troops must, next winter, go naked, unless their states can supply them. From the foregoing representations, you will perceive that the proportion of the continental army already allotted to southern service is as much as, from present appearances, can be spared for that purpose; and that a supply of arms, ammunition or cloathing of any consequence must depend, in great measure, upon future purchases or importations. Nothing which is within the compass of my power shall be wanting to give support to the southern states, but you may readily conceive how irksome a thing it must be to me to be called upon for assistance, when I have not the means of affording it. I am with the greatest regard, dear sir, Your most obed't. & humble servant, Letter from Duplicate. gen. Washington. It is feared that the original miscarried with the last weeks mail, which is missing, and is supposed to have been taken and carried into New York. HON. BENJAMIN HARRISON, Esq. Address of Congress to the several states. ADDRESS OF CONGRESS TO THE SEVERAL The United States in Congress assem- GENTLEMEN, We are happy to observe that the present year hath been distinguished by the reduction of a powerful British garrison in Virginia, and that our arms have also been prosperous in other parts of the United States; but to infer that our inexorable foe is subdued beyond recovery may be attended with ruinous consequences; these events will yield but momentary advantages, unless supported by vigorous measures in future. From an assurance that peace is best attained by preparations for war, and that in the cabinet of negociations those arguments carry with them the greatest weight which are enforced not only with a retrospect of important victoaies, but by a well grounded prospect of future successes, we have called upon you for eight millions of dollars and for your respective deficiencies of the military establishment. |