To George Washington from Major General Philip Schuyler, 14 October 1775
From Major General Philip Schuyler
Tionderoga [N.Y.] October 14th 1775.
As I cannot let My Dear General remain one Moment in Anxiety I acknowledge his Letter of the 6th & send this by Express.1
Mr Wooster is the Younger Brigadier of the two, but least any Uneasiness should be occasioned, I will keep him here.2
Mine of the 26 Ult: which I hope You have received will inform You where our Army is, You may be assured that Nothing but a superior Force will bring It from thence, I have already dispatched the Papers You honored me with, to General Montgomery,3 Copy of that I have just now received will be sent Tomorrow.
Fortune is very unkind to me, a violent Flux, which has renewed its Attack is reducing me so Much, that I begin to give over Hopes of Joining the Army, I hope however, that I shall not be under the Necessity of quitting this Place, where sick as I am, I can still be of Service.
Be assured my Dear General that I shall do Every Thing in my Power to promote the Weal of the Glorious Cause We are embarked in, I feel a Conscious Inadequacy which I must attone for by Assiduity. I am with the most respectful Sentiments Your Excellency’s most Obedt & Most Humble Servant
Ph: Schuyler
LS, DLC:GW.
1. Schuyler apparently enclosed the copy of Gen. Richard Montgomery’s letter to him of 9 Oct. that is in DLC:GW. Schuyler had sent another copy of that letter to Hancock on 13 Oct. (DNA:PCC, item 153). “We now have here and at the Isle aux Noix 300 Barrels of Pork & 328 Barrels of Flour,” Montgomery wrote, “so that I think You may venture to send more men than Provisions—the Season advances fast and we shall have a heavy Piece of Work to get our Cannon to the Westward, where we must have a strong Post, as it is at a Distance from Support & near the Enemy. . . . The Enemy are exceeding uneasy at the Post on the East Side & have made two ineffectual and indeed feeble Efforts to dislodge the Canadians—the Battery there is not finished—they dont love Work—I have been obliged to send them Assistance” (DLC:GW).
2. “General Wooster,” Schuyler wrote to Hancock on 13 Oct., “is just arrived here, as he was appointed a Major General by the Colony of Connecticut and that I did not know his Sentiments with Respect to the Rank he considered himself In in the Continental Army, My Intentions were to have him to remain at this Post, but assuring me, that his Regiment would not move without him, and that Altho’ he thought hard of being superceded, Yet he would most readily put himself under the Command of General Montgomery, that his only Views were the Public Service and that no Obstructions of any kind would be given by him, This spirited & sensible Declaration I received with Inexpressible Satisfaction, and he moves to Morrow with the first Division of his Regiment” (DNA:PCC, item 153). See Schuyler to GW, 26 Oct. 1775.
3. Schuyler is referring to GW’s letter to him of 4 Oct. and its enclosure concerning Arnold’s expedition.