southern states, will be a respectable force in the neigh-Pette, from bourhood of New York. I have hitherto been speak- so ing of our own resources; should a reinforcement ar- U--J rive 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 magahines 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 soregoing 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. r 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,

& WASHINGTON.

Vol. A. - X 3

Letter, from Duplicate. . - - gen. Wash- - - te d e - e - . . - ington. It is feared that the original miscarried with the - last weeks mail, which is missing, and is supposed te have been taken and carried into New York. . . . ; HoN. BENJAMIN HARRIson, Esq.

ADDRESS OF CONGRESSToTHESEVERAL
STATES. , -

The United States in Congress assembled to the legislatures of the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island & Providence Plantalions, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Pirginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

GENTLEMEN,

- - We are happy to observe that the present {} o: year hath been distinguished by the reduction of a .."... powerful British garrison in Virginia, and that our states. 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 mea

sures 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 victodies, but by a well grounded prospect of future successes, we have called upon you for eight millions of dollars and for your respective defi

ciencies of the military establishment.

Seven years have nearly passed since the sword was first unsheathed; the sums expended in so long a pe

riod, in a just and necessary war must appear mode

rate, 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 ci-
tizens constitute our natural resources, and from a sense
of their sufficiency the standard of war was erected a-
gainst 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 inclina-
tion to repay, and by nothing can both be more satis-
factorily 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 howe.

ver deny the firmness of the basis on which it may be
placed, when they survey the wide limits of this con-
federate country, the fruitfulness of its soil and the in-
dustry 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 daes 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 ene

my, 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 call

ed to the guardianship and sovereignty of your coun

try, can these considerations be addressed? Joint la-
bourers, as we are, in the work of independence, duty
impels us to admonish, you of the crisis: We possess
no funds, which do not originate with you—we can
command no levies, which are not raised under your
own acts. Well shall we acquit ourselves to the world,
should peace, towards the acquisition of which so il-
Justrious a point hath been gained, now escape our em-
braces by the inadequacy of our army or our treasure:
for an appeal to this exposition of your affairs will de-
monstrate our watchfulness of your happiness.
We conjure you to remember, what considence 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 ad-
vantages lately obtained, by a full compliance with the
requisitions of men and money which we have made to
you; the necessity of which hath been pointed out to us

by the maturest consideration on the present circum

stances of these United States.
By order of Congress,
- - JOHN HANSON, President
December 17th 1781. - -
"Try to STAT; of Wins; ori A.

Jeller from General Washington to the Governor of Pirginia. .

Philadelphia, 19th December 1781.
{\Y. CV:\,\\t.

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

Letter from gen. Washington to the governor of Virginia.

loss of time were I first to call for the returns, and then

transmit them them back from hence or wherever I
raay happen to be; I have for that reason directed ma-
jor general Greene to surmish 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 rayself it is needless to impress upon your

excellency the recessity of complying as fully as possible with the requisition of congress above mention

ed. -
It is a well known fact, that the critical and danger-
ous situation to which all the southern states were re-
duced, was owing to the want of a sufficient regular
force to oppose to that of the enemy, who, taking ad-
vantage of the frequent dissolutions of our temporary
armies, had gained such footing in the four most south-
ern, that their governments were totally subverted or
debilitated, that they were not capable of exerting suf-
ficient authority to bring a regular army into the field.
Happily, this scene is changed, and a moment is al-
lowed us to rectify our past errors, and, if rightly im-
proved, to put ourselves it such a situation, that we