To George Washington from Major General William Phillips, 6 June 1779

From Major General William Phillips

Charlottes Ville in Virginia June 6th 1779

Sir

Captain of the Troops of Convention will probably have the honour of delivering your Excellency this letter—I have obtained permission from Governor Henry and Colonel Bland for his going to Philadelphia to effect his exchange which Sir Henry Clinton has signified to me he intends to settle with your Excellency as well as for Captain Edmonstone who will set out in a few days he being at present not able to travel.1

I request your protection for these Gentlemen whose family affairs demand such attention as has engaged Sir Henry Clinton to exchange them.

Captain Featherstone ranks as a Lieutenant by the treaty of Convention of Saratoga his promotion to a Captain Lieutenancy having happened since.

I cannot suffer this Gentleman to leave Virginia without testifying to you, Sir, my sense of the polite treatment showed by all degrees of people to the Troops of Convention, I am in a particular manner obliged for much attention from Governor Henry and Colonel Bland. I have the honour to be, Sir, with much personal respect Your most humble servant

W. Phillips

LS, DLC:GW.

1. For more on the travel and exchange of captains William Featherstone and Archibald Edmonstone, see Theodorick Bland to the Board of War, 31 May, at Peter Scull to GW, 18–19 June, n.1; Board of War to GW, 12 June, and n.1 to that document; John Jay to GW, 20 June; GW to Jay, 27 June; Phillips to GW, 7 July; and JCC, description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends 14:744; see also Scull to GW, 3 Aug., and GW to the Board of War, 10 Aug., both DLC:GW, and Phillips to Bland, 29 May, in Campbell, Bland Papers, description begins Charles Campbell, ed. The Bland Papers: Being a Selection from the Manuscripts of Colonel Theodorick Bland, Jr., of Prince George County, Virginia. 2 vols. Petersburg, Va., 1840-43. description ends 1:130–1.

Archibald Edmonstone (1754–1780) was commissioned an ensign in the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards in December 1770 and apparently was promoted to captain when he became adjutant and aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen. Friedrich von Riedesel in April 1776. Edmonstone became a prisoner upon the surrender of Lt. Gen. John Burgoyne’s army at Saratoga, N.Y., in October 1777. Riedesel’s wife, Frederika, reported in her journal for summer 1779 “that Edmonstone, through the intervention of his father, had been exchanged. He [Edmonstone] was so much attached to my husband, and it distressed him so to leave him, that my husband had to urge him to return to England” (Brown, Baroness von Riedesel, description begins Marvin L. Brown, Jr., ed. Baroness von Riedesel and the American Revolution: Journal and Correspondence of a Tour of Duty, 1776–1783. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1965. description ends 88). Edmonstone reached London by November 1779 but died soon after from consumption (see Davies, Documents of the American Revolution, description begins K. G. Davies, ed. Documents of the American Revolution, 1770–1783; (Colonial Office Series). 21 vols. Shannon and Dublin, 1972–81. description ends 16:219, and Brown, Baroness von Riedesel, description begins Marvin L. Brown, Jr., ed. Baroness von Riedesel and the American Revolution: Journal and Correspondence of a Tour of Duty, 1776–1783. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1965. description ends 203–4).

Index Entries

You Are Looking At

Source Project: Washington Papers
Title: To George Washington from Major General William Phillips, 6 June 1779
Author: Phillips, William
Recipient: Washington, George
Date: 6 June 1779

Reference

Cite as: “To George Washington from Major General William Phillips, 6 June 1779,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-21-02-0088. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 21, 1 June–31 July 1779, ed. William M. Ferraro. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012, pp. 91–92.]

More between these correspondents