George Washington Papers
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From George Washington to Major General William Heath, 10 September 1780

To Major General William Heath

Head Quarters Bergen County 10th Septemr 1780

Dear Sir

I have received your favr of the 6th with the intelligence to which it refers. should any part of the Fleet mentioned by Capt. Jotham be destined for the Continent, we must soon hear of them.1

Lest my letter of the 28th ulto in answer to yours of the 22d should have miscarried, I inclose you a Copy.2 You will find in it an answer to all your questions, except that which respects the Arms for Colo. Greenes Regt—I would not wish the new ones brought by the Alliance to be broken in upon, as they are compleatly made up for transportation;3 and since the great loss of Arms in the unfortunate stroke upon General Gates’s Army, it is more than probable we shall be under the necessity of sending a further parcel to that quarter.4 I am with great regard Dear Sir Yr most obt Servt

Go: Washington

LS, in Tench Tilghman’s writing, MHi: Heath Papers; Df, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW. Heath replied to GW on 14 September.

1. GW refers to French rear admiral Guichen’s fleet (see Heath to GW, 6 Sept., n.3).

Amaziah Jocelin (c.1744–1805) became captain of the Connecticut privateer Firebrand in September 1779. He captained a merchant ship after the war but went bankrupt in 1786. Moving to Wilmington, N.C., in 1788, Jocelin served as a customs official and navy agent and was recommended to command the revenue cutter for North Carolina (see GW to William Cooke, 25 April 1791, in Papers, Presidential Series description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series. 19 vols. to date. Charlottesville, Va., 1987–. description ends 8:134–35).

2. See GW to Heath, 28 Aug., source note; see also Heath to GW, 22 August.

3. See Rochambeau to GW, 21 August.

4. Congress ordered the Board of War on 23 Oct. to “forward all the arms which can be prepared immediately to the headquarters of the army in the southern department” (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 , 18:964). For the defeat of Gen. Horatio Gates at the Battle of Camden, see his letter to GW, 30 Aug., n.1.

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    Washington Papers
    Title
    From George Washington to Major General William Heath, 10 September 1780
    Author
    Washington, George
    Recipient
    Heath, William
    Date
    10 September 1780

    Reference

    Cite as
    “From George Washington to Major General William Heath, 10 September 1780,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-28-02-0107. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 28, 28 August–27 October 1780, ed. William M. Ferraro and Jeffrey L. Zvengrowski. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2020, p. 153.]

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