its will be in all cases necessary; but, above all things, I recommend an augmentation of your cavalry to as great an extent as possible. It may happen, that the enemy may be driven to the necessity of forcing their way through North Carolina to avoid a greater misfortune. A superiority of horse on our side would be fatal to them in such a case.

The advantages resulting from a move of the French fleet from Newport to the Chesapeake were early and strongly pointed out to Count de Barras, and I thought he had once agreed to put it in execution; but, by his late letters, he seemed to think that such a manœuvre might interfere with greater plans, and therefore he declined it. It would now be too late to answer the principal object, as, by accounts from a deserter, the troops arrived from Virginia last Friday.

Should your return to this army be finally determined upon, I cannot flatter you with a command equal to your expectations or my wishes. You know the over proportion of general officers to our numbers, and can therefore conceive where the difficulty will be. General McDougall is not yet provided for, and the Jersey and York troops are reserved for him. They are promised to him, though they have not yet joined.

In my letter to General Greene, which I beg the favor of you to forward, I have hinted nothing of what I have said to you, for fear of miscarriage. You will probably find a safe opportunity from your army to him, and you will oblige me by communicating the part of this letter, which relates to my expectation of being able to transport part of the army to the southward, should the operation against New York be declined.

I wish, as I mentioned in my last, to send a confidential person to you to explain at large what I

VOL. VIII.

16

K

have so distantly hinted; but I am really at a loss, on account of not knowing the officers better, to find one upon whose discretion I can depend. My own family, you know, are constantly and fully employed. I hope, however, that I have spoken plain enough to be understood by you. With every sentiment of affection and regard, I am, &c.

TO THE SUPERINTENDENT OF FINANCE.

Head-Quarters, Dobbs's Ferry, 2 August, 1781.

DEAR SIR, The expectation of the pleasure of seeing you has prevented me hitherto from making a communication of a most important and interesting nature. But circumstances will not admit of further delay, and I must trust it to paper. It seems reduced almost to a certainty, that the enemy will reinforce New York with part of their troops from Virginia. In that case, the attempt against the former must be laid aside, as it will not be in our power to draw together a force sufficient to justify the undertaking. The detachment, which the enemy will probably leave in Virginia, seems the next object which ought to engage our attention, and which will be a very practicable one, should we obtain a naval superiority, of which I am not without hopes, and be able to carry a body of men suddenly round by water. The principal difficulty, which occurs, is obtaining transports at the moment they may be wanted; for, if they are taken up beforehand, the use for which they are designed cannot be concealed, and the enemy will make arrangements to defeat the plan.

What I would wish you to inform yourself of, therefore, without making a direct inquiry, is what number

of tons of shipping could be obtained in Philadelphia at any time between this and the 20th of this month, and whether there could also be obtained at the same time a few deep-waisted sloops and schooners proper to carry horses. The number of double-decked vessels, which may be wanted, of two hundred tons and upwards, will not exceed thirty. I shall be glad of your answer as soon as possible, because, if it is favorable, I can direct certain preparations to be made in Philadelphia and at other convenient places, without incurring any suspicions. There certainly can be no danger of not obtaining flour in Philadelphia; and as you seem to have doubts of procuring salt meat there, I shall direct all that is at the eastward to be collected at places from whence it may be shipped upon the shortest notice. You will also oblige me by giving me your opinion of the number of vessels, which might be obtained at Baltimore, or other places in the Chesapeake, in the time before mentioned or thereabouts. I have the honor to be, &c.

SIR,

TO MESHECH WEARE, PRESIDENT OF

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Head-Quarters, Dobbs's Ferry, 2 August, 1781.

I regret being obliged to inform your Excellency, that I find myself at this late period very little stronger than I was when the army first moved out of their quarters. I leave your Excellency to judge of the delicate and embarrassed situation in which I stand at this moment. Unable to advance with prudence beyond my present position, while perhaps in the general opinion my force is equal to the commencement of

operations against New York, my conduct must appear, if not blamable, highly mysterious at least. Our allies, with whom a junction has been formed upwards of three weeks, and who were made to expect, from the engagements which I entered into with them at Weathersfield in May last, a very considerable augmentation of our force by this time, instead of seeing a prospect of advancing, must conjecture, upon good grounds, that the campaign will waste fruitlessly away. I shall just remark, that it will be no small degree of triumph to our enemies, and will have a very pernicious influence upon our friends in Europe, should they find such a failure of resource, or such a want of energy to draw it out, that our boasted and expensive preparations end only in idle parade.

I cannot yet but persuade myself, and I do not cease to encourage our allies with the hope, that our force will still be sufficient to carry our intended operation into effect; or, if we cannot fully accomplish that, to oblige the enemy to withdraw part of their force from the southward to support New York, which, as I informed you in my letter from Weathersfield, was part of our plan. Your Excellency must be sensible, that the fulfilment of my engagements must depend upon the degree of vigor, with which the executives of the several States exercise the powers with which they have been vested, and enforce the laws lately passed for filling up and supplying the army. In full confidence that the means, which have been voted, will be obtained, I shall continue my preparations; but I must take the liberty of informing you, that it is essentially necessary I should be made acquainted, immediately upon the receipt of this, with the number of Continental levies and militia, that have been forwarded, and what are the prospects of obtaining the remainder. I

will further add, that it will be equally necessary to see that the monthly quota of provision, stipulated at the meeting of the commissioners at Providence, is regularly complied with. I have the honor to be, &c.*

SIR,

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Head-Quarters, Dobbs's Ferry, 8 August, 1781.

I do myself the honor to inform Congress, through your Excellency, that, at a late meeting between the American and British commissaries of prisoners, it has been proposed by the latter to go into a full exchange of Lieutenant-General Burgoyne and all the remaining officers of convention (by composition where rank will not apply) for the remainder of our officers in this quarter, and after them for those taken at the southward. One of the terms insisted upon is, that the prisoners surrendered by the capitulation of the Cedars, to the amount of four hundred and forty-three, shall be allowed.

I have not thought myself at liberty to accede to these proposals without the concurrence of Congress, for the following reasons; that I imagine our minister at the court of Versailles has been already directed to propose the exchange of Lieutenant-General Burgoyne for the Honorable Mr. Laurens; that I do not know whether it would be agreeable to Congress to release the whole of the convention officers, before they have obtained a settlement for the subsistence of those troops; and lastly because the refusal of the ratification of the convention of the Cedars has never been repealed.

* Sent as a circular to each of the eastern States.

K*