SIR,

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Head-Quarters, near York, 31 October, 1781.

I do myself the honor of transmitting to your Excellency a letter from General Duportail, in which he explains the motives of an intended application to Congress for permission to go to France, and for the promotion of himself and other officers of his corps. I should conceal sentiments, with which I am very strongly impressed, and do injustice to very conspicuous merit, if I did not upon the present occasion offer my testimony to the distinguished abilities and services, both of General Duportail and Colonel Gouvion. Their claim to the particular attention of Congress at this juncture is founded upon the practice of Europe; sieges being considered as the particular province of the corps of engineers, and as entitling them, when attended with a success important in itself and its consequences, to the great military rewards. These officers, besides, are supported by a series of conduct in the line of their department, which makes them not depend merely upon the present circumstances.

For these reasons, I am induced to recommend General Duportail's memorial to Congress for the promotions which he specifies, and the leave of absence; the latter being by no means incompatible with the good of the service at the present period, as I am reduced, notwithstanding all my efforts, to the necessity of retiring into winter-quarters. The same principles as those above mentioned forbid me to be silent on the subject of General Knox, who is closely united with

were then in so precarious a condition, and the prospects so uncertain, that the money-holder refused to lend on such security. Governor Nelson then offered his own property as a pledge, which was accepted, and the loan was obtained.

General Duportail in the merit of the siege; being at the head of the artillery, which is the other principal instrument in conducting attacks. The resources of his genius have supplied, on this and many other interesting occasions, the defect of means. His distinguished talents and services, equally important and indefatigable, entitle him to the same marks of the approbation of Congress, that they may be pleased to grant to the chief engineer. I am, &c.*

TO THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.

Mount Vernon, Virginia, 15 November, 1781.

MY DEAR MARQUIS,

Not till the 5th instant was I able to leave York. Engaged in providing for the detachment that was to go southerly, embarking the troops that were to pro

Certificate. -"General Duportail, commandant of the corps of engineers, having signified his desire of obtaining leave to go to France for the arrangement of his domestic affairs, it is with the greatest satisfaction I embrace this opportunity of testifying the sense, which I entertain of his distinguished talents and services. His judgment in council and well-conducted valor in the field claim the highest applause, and have secured to him the esteem and confidence of the army. His plan and conduct of the attacks in the late important and successful siege of York, where he commanded the corps of engineers, afford brilliant proofs of his military genius, and set the seal to his reputation; while they entitle him to my warmest thanks. Given at Head-Quarters, 31st October, 1781."

General Duportail was promoted, on the 16th of November, according to the above recommendation, but General Knox was passed over. There was a serious difficulty in the case, owing to the local partiality of some of the members of Congress, and to the opinion of others that general principles should be adhered to. The commission of Knox as brigadier bore a subsequent date to those of James Clinton, Moultrie, and McIntosh. The members from New York, South Carolina, and Georgia would not agree to the promotion of Knox, unless those officers were promoted at the same time; and a vote for the whole could not be carried. Several trials were made, and General Washington was consulted on the

ceed 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 the country sooner.

On that day I arrived at Eltham, the seat of Colonel Bassett, time enough to see poor Mr. Custis breathe his last. 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, 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 present month.

As this may extend to a later period than your business in that city may require, I owe it to your friendship and to my affectionate regard for you, my dear Marquis, not to let you leave this country, without carrying with you fresh marks of my attachment to you,

subject after his arrival in Philadelphia. To Mr. Bee, a delegate from South Carolina, he wrote as follows, on the 8th of March.

"I am clearly of opinion, for reasons which I had the honor of detailing to you yesterday, that the promotion of General Knox singly will involve fewer disagreeable consequences, than any other method, which 1 have yet heard proposed; for I am persuaded that no officer, senior to himself, as well acquainted as I am with his extraordinary exertions to prepare without proper means the siege-artillery for the last campaign, the despatch with which he transported it, and his uncommon assiduity and good management of it at Yorktown, would think his promotion an improper reward, or any reflection upon his own merit. If extraordinary exertions do not meet with particular attention, there is no stimulus to action, and an officer has little more to do than to steer clear of courtsmartial."

The representations of the Commander-in-chief at last prevailed, and, on the 22d of March, Knox was promoted to the rank of major-general, and his commission was ordered to be dated on the 15th of the preceding November, thereby giving him precedence of General Duportail, and advancing him over the abovementioned brigadiers.

and new expressions of the high sense I entertain of your military conduct and other important services in the course of the last campaign, although 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 it 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 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

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ever be terminated honorably. If this force should appear early, we shall have the whole campaign before us. The months from 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; in which time, with such means, I think much, I will add every thing, might be expected.

me.

How far the policy of Congress may carry them towards filling their Continental battalions does not lie with me to determine. This measure, before and since the capitulation, has been strongly recommended by 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 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 command of Count de Rochambeau is a question worthy of consideration; but, as it lies with Congress to determine, I shall be silent on the subject.

If I should be deprived of the pleasure of a personal interview with you before your departure, permit me 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 for your services, a happy meeting with your lady and friends, and a safe return in the spring to, my dear Marquis, your affectionate friend, &c.*

* As soon as the plan of an operation against Wilmington was abandoned, in consequence of the French admiral declining to afford an es