1To Alexander Hamilton from William Gordon, 23 September 1779 (Hamilton Papers)
Tho from the expressions & innuendos in yours of the 5th instant which I received from Col Henly the last tuesday, I cannot apprehend myself treated with due respect, yet I shall not be thereby drove either to reply with asperity, or to quit my own plan of conduct. Said one of the greatest soldiers of the age in which he lived, “The business of a general is not to fight but to overcome.” When...
2To Alexander Hamilton from William Gordon, 15 November 1779 (Hamilton Papers)
In my last of Sepr. 23. I mentioned my having sent to my informer; have received an answer from him wherein he writes “As to the subject of your letter (for which I have now an opportunity to return my thanks) what was said was very confidential, & influenced by nothing but an anxious regard & attachment to our public cause. To affect the character of any one from a malignant principle is...
3To Alexander Hamilton from William Gordon, 25 August 1779 (Hamilton Papers)
Upon my return home from a visit on the monday evening I received yours without a date. However common the principle may be, on which you urge me. to an immediate direct & explicit answer , as tho’ the least hesitation or reserve might give room for conjectures, which it can be neither your wish nor mine to excite —it is certainly a false one. In many cases a gentleman may receive information...