From George Washington to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 18 January 1779
To Major Benjamin Tallmadge
Philada 18 January 1779
Dear Sir
I have your favr of the 8th inclosing No. 6 from C——.1 Your former inclosing C——s No. 5 came also safe.2 The Dragoon was detained a few days to recruit his Horse and to get some repairs to his Accoutrements. I am Dear Sir Your most obt Servt
Go: Washington
LS, in Tench Tilghman’s writing, NHi: George and Martha Washington Papers; Df, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
1. The letter designated “No. 6,” which Samuel Culper (Abraham Woodhull) wrote to Maj. Benjamin Tallmadge sometime between 12 Dec. 1778 and 8 Jan. 1779, has not been identified, but Tallmadge’s brief remarks in his covering letter to GW of 8 Jan. indicate that Culper reported on British troop strength on the eastern end of Long Island. Culper also refers to some of the unidentified letter’s contents in his letter to Tallmadge of 22 Jan., which is printed as an enclosure following Tallmadge to GW, 28 January. The American spy Abraham Woodhull, an unmarried farmer who lived in Setauket, Long Island, and cared for both of his parents, used the pseudonyms “Samuel Culper” and “Samuel Culper, Sr.” in his intelligence reports as a way to disguise his identity from the British.
2. See Tallmadge to GW, 23 Dec. 1778, and n.1 to that document.