1George Washington to Joseph Reed or Colonel Cornelius Cox, 7 April 1777 (Hamilton Papers)
Morristown [ New Jersey ] April 7, 1777. Orders release of “Mr. Smith” who had been acting as a spy for the Americans and was mistakenly arrested by Major General Benjamin Lincoln. Df , in writing of H, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress. Joseph Reed had resigned as adjutant general and was residing in Philadelphia as a private citizen.
2George Washington to Joseph Reed, 16 June 1780 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Springfield, New Jersey ] June 16, 1780 . Asks Reed to send on the “city light horse.” Df , in writings of Richard Kidder Meade and H, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress; LS , in the handwriting of H, Park Collection, Morristown National Historical Park, Morristown, New Jersey.
3George Washington to Joseph Reed, 8 May 1779 (Hamilton Papers)
Middlebrook [ New Jersey ] May 8, 1779 . Discusses plans for Major General Benedict Arnold’s trial. Df , in writing of H, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
4George Washington to Joseph Reed and the Pennsylvania Council, 26 April 1779 (Hamilton Papers)
Middlebrook [ New Jersey ] April 26, 1779 . Announces postponement of Major General Benedict Arnold’s trial. Df , in writing of H, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress. Reed was president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania.
5George Washington to Joseph Reed and the Pennsylvania Council, 14 June 1779 (Hamilton Papers)
Smiths Clove [ New York ] June 14, 1779 . Encloses return of Pennsylvania battalions. States that Major General Benedict Arnold’s trial has been postponed. Sends news of enemy movements. Df , in writing of H, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
6George Washington to Joseph Reed, 27 April 1779 (Hamilton Papers)
Middlebrook [ New Jersey ] April 27, 1779 . Discusses arrangements for Major General Benedict Arnold’s trial. Regrets that only a small amount of Pennsylvania Militia will be available for Indian expedition. Discusses defense of Pennsylvania border. Df , in writings of George Washington and H, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
7George Washington to Joseph Reed, 15 May 1779 (Hamilton Papers)
Middlebrook [ New Jersey ] May 15, 1779 . Requests date of Major General Benedict Arnold’s trial. Df , in writing of H, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
8George Washington to Joseph Reed, 15 February 1780 (Hamilton Papers)
Morristown [ New Jersey ] February 15, 1780 . Thanks Reed for “announcing my election as a member of the Philosophical society.” Df , in writings of George Washington and H, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress. Reed was president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania and a member of the American Philosophical Society.
9George Washington to Joseph Reed and the Pennsylvania Council, 5 July 1779 (Hamilton Papers)
New Windsor [ New York ] July 5, 1779 . Asks for reinforcements for Major General John Sullivan. Df , in writing of H, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
10George Washington to Joseph Reed, 4 July 1780 (Hamilton Papers)
Bergen County [ New Jersey ] July 4, 1780 . States that “legislature of Pennsylvania has vested you, in case of necessity with a power of declaring Martial law throughout the state, to enable you to take such measures as the exigency may demand.” Urges Reed to use this power to complete Continental battalions. Df , in writings of George Washington and H, George Washington Papers, Library of...
11George Washington to Joseph Reed, 28 May 1780 (Hamilton Papers)
Morristown [ New Jersey ] May 28, 1780 . Discusses the “circumstances of our allies as well as our own” and emphasizes necessity of cooperation with France. Df , in writing of H, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
12George Washington to Joseph Reed and the Pennsylvania Council, 20 May 1779 (Hamilton Papers)
Middlebrook [ New Jersey ] May 20, 1779 . States that if expected number of men are raised in Pennsylvania, it will not be necessary to call out militia. Is pleased that the date has finally been set for Major General Benedict Arnold’s trial. Df , in writing of H, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
13George Washington to Joseph Reed, 19 June 1780 (Hamilton Papers)
Springfield [ New Jersey ] June 19, 1780 . Informs Reed of arrival of Admiral Arbuthnot and British fleet. Asks for “the aid of two hundred and fifty teams.” Df , in writing of H, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
14From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 14 March 1777 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found: to Joseph Reed, 14 Mar. 1777. Reed writes to GW on 22 Mar. “to acknowledge your Excellys Favour of the 14th Instt.”
15From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 23 November 1778 (Washington Papers)
I have the honor of transmitting the Committee of arrangement the inclosed from Colonel Cadwallader. It is in answer to my letter at the white-plains, which accompanied one of the committee’s on the same subject. I could wish the committee to consider, if there is any method, yet remaining, by which his scruples might be removed, and the affair settled in a conclusive and satisfactory manner....
16From George Washington to Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Reed, 15 April 1776 (Washington Papers)
Your favour of the 13th was this Instt put into my hands—scarce time enough to acknowledge, the receipt of it (by this Post) and to thank you for your great care and attention in providing my Camp Equipage—whatever the list you sent, may fall short of your Intention of Providing, can be got here; and may be delayed; as the want, or not of them, will depend upon Circumstances. I am exceedingly...
17From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 23 February 1780 (Washington Papers)
I had last night the honor to receive Your Excellency’s letter of the 16th with the papers you have been pleased to refer to me. There is certainly a good deal of weight in the observations and objections which Colo. Hazen has made, and it were very much to be wished, that the supplies of Cloathing and necessaries in every instance were perfectly equal to the officers & men respectively,...
18From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 28 July 1781 (Washington Papers)
I have been honored with your Excellencys Letter of the 18th inst. and observed with much Pleasure the Train into which the recruitg the proposed Rifle Corps is thrown—& hope they will soon be obtained. As this Body of men will be exceedingly essential to our Designs, & may be very usefully employed in Detatchments, I have to beg of your Excellency that you will be pleaced to give Orders, that...
19From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 15 September 1782 (Washington Papers)
The appeal contained in your letter of the 11th instant, is equally unexpected & surprising. Not knowing the particular changes which are alledged against you, it is impossible for me to make a specific reply. I can therefore only say in general terms, that the Employments you sustained in the year 1776—and in that period of the year, when we experienced our greater distress, are a proof that...
20From George Washington to Colonel Joseph Reed?, 27 December 1776 (Washington Papers)
I was this morning favoured with yours & thank you much for your kind congratulations & wishes. I regret much the Accident that prevented the passage of our Troops. had it not been for that cause and the Several attacks intended, had been made, I am persuaded our Plans would have succeedd to our warmest wishes. I have several Letters to write & therefore must refer you to Colo. Cadwalader who...
21From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 15 November 1781 (Washington Papers)
I have the honor to thank you most sincerely for your Congratulations conveyed in your Favor of the 27th ulto. That our Success against the Enemy in the State of Virginia, has been so happily effected, & with so little Loss— and that it promises such favorable consequences (if properly improved) to the Welfare & Independence of the United States— is Matter of very pleasing Reflections. I beg...
22From George Washington to Colonel Joseph Reed, 12 January 1777 (Washington Papers)
Yours of the eleventh is Come to hand if the account the prisoners give be true it is a very agreeable & important one. the order you Sent to Colonel Winds has interferd with a plan, Concerted by Generals Sullivan & Maxwell, whenever you have occasion to order a Movement of any part of the Army, it will be best to apply to the Commanding Officer, Lest it may, [(]as it has in the present...
23From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 15 February 1780 (Washington Papers)
I am much indebted to your Excellency for announcing my election as a member of the Philosophical Society. I feel myself particularly honored by this relation to a society whose successful efforts for promoting useful knowledge have already justly acquired them the highest reputation in the literary world. I entreat you to pres[en]t my warmest acknowledgments, and to assure them that I shall...
24From George Washington to Joseph Reed or Colonel John Cox, 7 April 1777 (Washington Papers)
I am informed, there is a certain Mr Smith, who has been lately taken up by General Lincoln as a spy & sent to Philadelphia under that character. I believe for several reasons that he is the man who was imployed by you to act for Us, in that capacity, and that the apprehending him is a mistake, which may be attended with ill-consequences. Lest he should be precipitately tried and punished, I...
25From George Washington to Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Reed, 19 March 1776 (Washington Papers)
We have, at length, got the Ministerial Troops in this Quarter on Ship board. Our possessing Dorchester Heights, as mentioned in my last, put them (after they had given over the design of attacking us) into a most violent hurry to Imbark, which was still further precipitated on Sunday Morning by our breaking Ground on Nukes hill (the point nearest the Town) the night before. The whole Fleet is...
26From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 5 April 1779 (Washington Papers)
Your favr of the 29th March reached me a day or two ago—I cannot conceive from whence can arise the antipathy of Colo. Proctor and His Officers to the Uniform adopted by all the other Regiments of Artillery. In every service, it is customary to distinguish Corps by particular Uniforms, and as Black and Red has been pitched upon for that of the American Continental Artille[r]y, it is...
27From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 16 June 1780 (Washington Papers)
The Board of War having informed me, that the city-light horse were held in readiness to march to the army, whenever I should signify the necessity of their services —I am to inform your Excellency, that in the present posture of things, they would be of very great utility, and therefore I should be glad, they might march as speedily as convenient. If they ⟨come⟩ I hope they will be able to...
28From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 9 July 1779 (Washington Papers)
Doctor Hodges will have the Honor of presenting this to Your Excellency. The Inclosed, a Copy of a Letter from Governor Trumbull, will inform you of the business he is upon. It is important & interesting and I am persuaded the Doctor will meet with every assistence that you can give him in the prosecution of it. I have the Honor &c. Df , in Robert Hanson Harrison’s writing, DLC:GW ; Varick...
29From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 16 July 1781 (Washington Papers)
I am honored with your Excellency’s Favor of the 7th. I am exceedingly happy to find that the mode of procuring the specific Supplies demanded of the state is now upon such a footing that we may hope for a full & regular Compliance in future: and I doubt not but if the other States will follow the Example, and appropriate a proportion of their Revenue to the Disposal of the Superintendant of...
30From George Washington to Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Reed, 23 April 1776 (Washington Papers)
I have been favourd with several of your Letters since I came to this place, some of them indeed after getting pretty well advanced on the Road towards Boston—My extreame hurry, with one kind of business and engagement or another, leaves me little more than time to express my concern for your Indisposition, and the interposition of other obstacles to prevent me from receiving that aid from you...
31From George Washington to Colonel Joseph Reed, 23 December 1776 (Washington Papers)
The bearer is sent down to know whether your plan was attempted last Night—and if not, to inform you that Christmas day at Night, one hour before day is the time fixed upon for our Attempt on Trenton. For heaven’s sake keep this to yourself, as the discovery of it may prove fatal to us, our numbers, sorry I am to say, being less than I had any conception of—but necessity, dire necessity...
32From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 24 June 1781 (Washington Papers)
In the course of our expected operations we shall stand in need of a species of troops, which are not at present to be procured either in this Army or in any of the States to the Northward of Pennsylvania—They are expert Rifle Men. The use of these Men will be to fire into the embrasures and to drive the enemy from their parapets when our approaches are carried very near to their Works....
33From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 15 January 1777 (Washington Papers)
The Inclosed was intended to have gone by the Express who brought me your last Letter. He came in the Evening of the 13th was desired to call early next Morning, & I have never seen or heard of him since. Many days ago I wrote to Genl Putnam (supposing him to be at Princeton) to have the Stores rescued from the hands of the Militia who had borne them off, and had no doubt but he had done it....
34From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 15 May 1779 (Washington Papers)
I have not yet been favoured with an answer to the letter which I did myself the honor to wr[i]te you on the 27th Ulto—Whatever may be the determination of the Council respecting the alternative proposed of the fir[s]t of June or July for General Arnolds trial, I am anxious to be informed of it, that no time may be lost more than cannot be avoided—If the Witnesses are to be called from...
35From George Washington to William Livingston and Joseph Reed, 17 December 1778 (Washington Papers)
To prevent as far as possible the intercourse between the inhabitants of these States and the enemy in New York, I have given positive orders to Genl Maxwell, who commands at Elizabeth Town, to permit no persons being inhabitants of or coming from any of the States to pass to Staten Island or New York without permission has been first obtained from their respective Governors or legislative...
36From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 19 June 1780 (Washington Papers)
The arrival of Admiral Arbuthnot at New York with a fleet of from sixty to seventy sail said to contain a part of the Southern army is an additional motive for extraordinary exertions at this juncture. West Point is far from being in security. Our stores and baggage in this state are almost at the mercy of the enemy, if they advance in force. A great proportion of the Jersey teams are in...
37From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 11 May 1780 (Washington Papers)
It has been represented to me by Brig: General Irvine, and by Lt Colo. Hay of the 10th Penna Regt that Michael Everly a Serjeant of that Regt was promised an Ensigncy by Colo. Humpton for his extraordinary exertions in inducing the Soldiers to reinlist, and upon many other services—From the above consideration and from the want of Subaltern Officers in the Regt I would recommend Mr Everly to...
38From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 11 June 1777 (Washington Papers)
Your favour of the 4th was given to me by Jos. Arrowsmith just as Mr Peters inform’d me, he was about to set out for Phila.—I could not resist the Inclination however of detaining him long enough to write you a short Letter to thank you, as I do most sincerely, for the friendly and Affectionate Sentiments containd in yours of the above date towards me, and to assure you, that I am perfectly...
39From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 8 May 1779 (Washington Papers)
I have delayed acknowledging the receipt of your favor of the 1st in expectation that it would soon be followed by an official one which would enable me to take final measures on the subject of the trial. The explanation with which you have obliged me gives me pleasure in the same proportion as the disagreeable inferences I had drawn gave me pain—It wounds me sensibly to see appearances of any...
40From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 30 August 1779 (Washington Papers)
By a letter from General Sullivan of the 20th I am informed that he expected to be joined by Genl Clinton at Tioga the day following—and to move forward the 23d. He expresses his apprehensions, that the stock of provisions, which he then had on hand, would not be more than sufficient, if enough, to carry him thro’ the Indian Country; and therefore wishes that a further supply may be deposited...
41From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 15 June 1781 (Washington Papers)
I have been honored with your Favor of the 17th of May and 6th of this Month. the first did not reach me until the 7th inst. “By the Rules of Promotion which existed previous to the Resolve of Congress of the 25th of May, Lieut. Colo. Carrington of the 1st Regiment of Artillery will succeed to the command of the 4th vice Proctor and Lieut. Colo. Forrest, if he remains in Service, must be...
42From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 4 March 1779 (Washington Papers)
Inclosed is a letter which I had written your Excellency, previous to the receipt of your favor by Mr Keen —If Congress have not given you official notice of their intentions relative to the defence of the Western frontier—You will be pleased to regard my letter on the subject in the light of a private and confidential intimation. I am with great regard and esteem Your Excellencys most obedt...
43From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 2 December 1777 (Washington Papers)
If you can with any convenience let me see you to day I shall be thankful for it—I am abt fixing the Winter cantonments of this army, and find so many, & such capitol objections to each mode proposed, that I am exceedingly embarrassed, not only by the advice given me, but in my own judgment, and should be very glad of your sentiments on the matter without loss of time. In hopes of seeing you,...
44From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 27 February 1779 (Washington Papers)
It is very probable, that necessity or choice, may induce us, to undertake some offensive operations against the Indians this summer in case the situation of affairs on the Sea-board will admit of any thing of this kind. At all events it will be necessary to obtain such information of the country and the avenues leading into it, as may be advantagiously applied under favourabl circumstances—I...
45From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 29 March 1779 (Washington Papers)
Since mine of yesterday, I have received the inclosed extract of a Letter from General Maxwell at Elizabeth Town; which I send lest the suggestion contained in my letter should have made a deeper impression than I intended; which was no more than to hint at the advantages which might result from a systematical plan of assembling the Militia at certain points, on any sudden exigency & with more...
46From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 27 May 1781 (Washington Papers)
I beg leave to inform your Excellency that at a late conference between His Excellency the Count de Rochambeau and myself it has been agreed that the principal part of the French Force shall march, as soon as circumstances will admit, and form a junction with me upon the North River. The enemy have so exceedingly weakened themselves by repeated detachments to support the War to the southward,...
47From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 27 December 1778 (Washington Papers)
I have had the Honor to receive Your Excellency’s Letter of Yesterday—and I am extremely sorry that it is not in my power to inform the Council, with precision, in the several points of their inquiry. The State supplies of Cloathing hitherto sent to Camp, have been but small and partial. These, I believe, have been generally issued by Officers appointed by the respective states—and comformably...
48From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 18 March 1782 (Washington Papers)
I have given The Adjt General the necessary orders respecting the matter you mentioned to me today—and he will direct the officer Commanding at the Barracks—Colonels Humpton & Nicola—& Mr Colfax (of my Guard) to be particularly attentive to the Men under their respective Commands—In confidence, I have mentd the reason to Genl Hand, but he will assign none to the Officers to whom he gives the...
49From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 26 March 1779 (Washington Papers)
I lately recd, from Colo. Proctor, a Return of the Names and Ranks of the Officers of his Regiment, which I called for in order to endeavour to settle the relative Rank of the line of Artillery —I observe that Colo. Proctor stiles his Regt “The pennsylvania State Regt of Artillery.” from whence I am led to imagine that the Regiment may have been, by some late act of Congress, returned to the...
50From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 15 June 1778 (Washington Papers)
I thank you very much for your friendly favor of this date, and your polite attention in submitting the draught of your Letter to Govr Johnston to my perusal —I return it again, but before you transcribe a fair copy I would wish to see you upon the subject of it. perhaps there are some parts of it which might receive a small alteration—In the present situation of things all corrispondence of...