gen. Wash ington. southern states, will be a respectable force in the neigh- Letter from I have hitherto been speakbourhood of New York. ing 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 coinpleat, 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, VOL. I. G. WASHINGTON. X 3 Letter from Duplicate. 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. states. ADDRESS OF CONGRESS TO THE SEVERAL The United States in Congress assem bled to the legislatures of the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island & Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela ware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. GENTLEMEN, We are happy to observe that the present Address of year hath been distinguished by the reduction of a Congress to the several powerful British garrison in Virginia, and that our arins 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. Seven years have nearly passed since the sword was first unsheathed; the sums expended in so long a period, in a just and necessary war must appear moderate, nor can this demand for pecuniary aid be deemed exorbitant by those who compute the extent of public exigencies and the proportion of the requisition to the abilities of the states. Suppose not that funds exist for our relief beyond the limits of these states. As the possessions of the citizens constitute our natural resources, and from a sense of their sufficiency the standard of war was erected against Great Britain, so on them alone we now rely. But even if loans were attainable, their amount would be merely commensurate with our ability and inclination to repay, and by nothing can both be more satisfactorily evidenced than by a generous exertion amidst the languor of public credit. Arguing from the former dilatoriness of supplies, the enemy after having abandoned serious expectations of conquest by arms, anticipate it in imagination from the dissolution of our public credit. They cannot however deny the firmness of the basis on which it may be placed, when they survey the wide limits of this confederate country, the fruitfulness of its soil and the industry of its people. But the want of money is not the only source of our difficulties, nor do the enemy gather consolation from the state of our finances alone, we are distressed by the thinness of our battalions. So vulnerable does the boldness of navigation render the very bosom of these states, so dispersed in some parts is the population, and so rapid our enemy in transportation, that they seize and exhaust large districts before their ravages can be checked. The requisition for the completion of your battalions is therefore not only reasonable but indispensable. Tardiness in the collection of our troops has constantly encouraged in our enemy a suspicion, that American opposition is on the deeline; hence money, from time to time, is poured into the coffers of our enemy, and the lender perhaps is allured by the prospect of receiving it with an usurious interest from the spoils of confiscation. To whom then, rather than yourselves, who are called to the guardianship and sovereignty of your coun Address of the several Congress to states. your "Address of try, can these considerations be addressed? Joint lacongress to bourers, as we are, in the work of independence, duty the several impels us to admonish you of the crisis: We possess states. no funds, which do not originate with you-we can command no levies, which are not raised under own acts. Well shall we acquit ourselves to the world, should peace, towards the acquisition of which so ilJustrious a point hath been gained, now escape our embraces by the inadequacy of our army or our treasure: for an appeal to this exposition of your affairs will demonstrate our watchfulness of your happiness. We conjure you to remember, what confidence we shall establish in the breast of that great Monarch, who has become a party in our political welfare, by a bold energetick display of our ability. We therefore trust in your attention and zeal to avail yourselves at this important crisis, of the glorious advantages lately obtained, by a full compliance with the requisitions of men and money which we have made to you; the necessity of which bath been pointed out to us by the maturest consideration on the present circumstances of these United States. By order of Congress, December 17th 1781. JOHN HANSON, President. THE STATE OF VIRGILA Letter from Letter from General Washington to gen. Washthe Governor of Virginia. Philadelphia, 19th December 1781. CIRCULAR. ington to the governor of Virginia. Sir, You will have been furnished by his excellency the President, with the resolves of congress of the 10th instant, calling upon the several states to compleat their respective quotas of troops by the first of March next. In order to ascertain the deficiencies, I am directed to transmit to the executives of the states, returns, under particular discriptions, of the number of men each has in service. The troops of your state composing part of the southern army, it would occasion an'immense loss of time were I first to call for the returns, and then transmit them them back from hence or wherever I may happen to be; I have for that reason directed major general Greene to furnish your excellency with the state of your line and give you credit for any men you may have serving in the legionary corps or artillery, deducting that amount from the quota' assigned to you by the arrangement of the 3rd and 21st of October, 1780, will point out exactly your deficiency. I flatter myself it is needless to impress upon your excellency the necessity of complying as fully as possible with the requisition of congress above mentioned. It is a well known fact, that the critical and dangerous situation to which all the southern states were reduced, was owing to the want of a sufficient regular force to oppose to that of the enemy, who, taking advantage of the frequent dissolutions of our temporary armies, had gained such footing in the four most southern, that their governments were totally subverted or debilitated, that they were not capable of exerting sufficient authority to bring a regular army into the field. Happily, this scene is changed, and a moment is allowed us to rectify our past errors, and, if rightly improved, to put ourselves in such a situation, that we |