1. GW’s letters to Howe have not been found, but they probably addressed Major General Lafayette’s baggage.

2. For Richard Kidder Meade’s letter to Howe dated 11 May communicating GW’s desire to send an escort for Lafayette, see GW to Lafayette, 8 May, and n.2.

The safety of Lafayette and his baggage presented a legitimate concern. James Robertson, royal governor of New York, reported to Lord George Germain on 18 May that Lafayette “in his way to Mr Washington’s camp nearly escaped a party General Knyphausen sent to intercept him at the Clove” (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 , 18:95–97).

3. Dominique-Louis (Louis-Dominique) Ethis de Corny (1736–1790), who had sailed with Lafayette to the United States, was commissaire des guerres, or war commissary, charged with procuring provisions for the French expeditionary army. Congress breveted Corny a lieutenant colonel of cavalry on 5 June 1780 (see 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 , 17:487–89). He returned to France in February 1781 but remained in official service to the United States until 1 Jan. 1782. Corny subsequently served as war commissary to the Swiss Guards Regiment and was honored in 1787 with admission to the royal and military order of Saint-Louis. Congregational minister Samuel Cooper, who sponsored Corny’s induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, characterized him as “a Gentleman of Letters and great Politeness” (Cooper to Benjamin Franklin, 23 May 1780, in Franklin Papers description begins William B. Willcox et al., eds. The Papers of Benjamin Franklin. 42 vols. to date. New Haven, 1959–. description ends , 32:414–16).