To John Jay from Robert Troup, 22 March 1777
From Robert Troup
Peeks Kill March 22 1777
Dear Sir,
I thought it would be best to defer writing to the Comm. of Arrangement about my late Appointment ’till Col. Livingston accepted of my Resignation.1 He, so far from being displeased, approved of my Conduct. I shall therefore not meet with the least Difficulty. By Dyckman I sent a Letter to the Committee. You will see it. I endeavoured to be as decent as possible—2 Tomorrow I shall set off for Jersey. I have not seen my Sisters for this twelve month past.3 Unless I embrace the present Opportunity I shall probably not have another during the ensuing Campaign— I wish I could see Mrs. Jay & Sister before I went. I shall make it my Business to visit the Governor’s Family.4
We have little News here. Last Night I had a long Conversation with one of my old Fellow Prisoners who came from the City the Day before Yesterday. He says the Enemy is vastly distressed for fresh Provisions. Beef sells for 2 / 6, Mutton 3 / & a Turkey 6 Dollars. The Tories are still insolent & abusive— They flatter them selves with an Idea of a speedy Conquest of America— The Prisoners were removed some Time ago to L Island— They are billeted upon the Inhabitants of Flat Bush, New Utrecht & Graves End. They indulge them selfes in Pleasures of every Kind. Dancing they are particularly fond of— A Night seldom passes without a Hop. The Behaviour of the Girls on these Occasions is truly Spirited & noble— Col. Ed. Fanning’s Regt.5 is stationed on that Part of the Island— His officers several Times engaged a Room, and made every Preparation for a splendid Ball; but the Ladies disappointed them. They declared they would not associate with them, while they could be honored with the Company of the handsome, genteel, sensible & virtuous Sons of America— When I reflect upon this Circumstance I almost regret I was so soon exchanged— It would have given me the highest Satisfaction to have tormented them— He also says they have fared much better in every Respect since the Trenton & Princeton Actions. They have now the best Feather Beds & the best Provisions the Country can produce— He says Nothing of any Preparations to leave NYork— From the best Accounts he could collect the Enemy intended to cooperate by Sea & Land in an Attempt upon Philadelphia. This opinion is confirmed by a Letter I recd. yesterday from Col. Hamilton—6 It is generally believed at Head Quarters that Phil. will be the object of their Subsequent operations— I wish our Men were raised. If our Army was properly collected in Jersey their Maneuvers might be attended with their Ruin— Yours &c in Haste
R. Troup
Honble John Jay—
ALS, NNC (EJ: 7171). Endorsed.
1. While serving as a captain in the New York militia, Troup was captured at the battle of Long Island in August 1776 and was exchanged 9 Dec. 1776. During his imprisonment Troup was named first lieutenant in Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston’s 4th New York Regiment.
2. The committee on arrangements was appointed by the New York Convention on 30 Sept. 1776 to implement the resolutions of Congress authorizing the establishment of four Continental battalions from New York for the duration of the war. The committee’s report, listing the officers for four battalions and recommending the creation of a 5th Regiment, was adopted by the Committee of Safety in November 1776. After the Continental Congress approved the “arrangements” of November, including a 5th Regiment, the committee continued in existence through the winter of 1776–77, resolving disputes over rank and providing for new commissions when officers resigned their posts. Troup wrote the committee on 21 Mar. 1777 to resign his commission in Livingston’s unit to accept a captain lieutenancy in a Continental artillery corps. , 1: 712–14, 715, 747; Cal. of Hist. Mss., 2: 53–54; Livingston to the committee, 21 Mar. 1777, , 2: 414.
3. Troup had two sisters, Eleanor and Elizabeth, both New Jersey residents. , 8–9.
4. Sarah Livingston Jay, Catharine W. Livingston, and William Livingston.
5. Colonel Edmund Fanning (1739–1818) of the Associated Refugees, or King’s American Regiment of Foot, a Loyalist unit. After the Revolution, Fanning served as lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia and of Prince Edward Island.
6. Alexander Hamilton to Troup, not located. Troup and Hamilton had shared rooms at King’s College. On 1 Mar. 1777, Hamilton was named lieutenant colonel and aide-de-camp to Washington.