To George Washington from the Board of War, 3 January 1780
From the Board of War
War Office [Philadelphia] January 3. 1780
Sir,
The Board have a Plan of Intelligence accompanied with some other Matters of which we will hereafter inform your Excellency & which being communicated to a Comittee of Congress has been approved by that Comittee. To carry this plan into Execution we have employed Major Howell late of the 2d Jersey Regt commanded by Col. Shreve.1 Major Howell desires that, to facilitate the Measures we have communicated to him, Capt. Nathaniel Bowman of that Regiment may be detached with his entire Company of Light Infantry & ordered to proceed with an Ammunition Waggon to Squan2 by Way of Freehold where he is to draw two Weeks Provision for which purpose he is to be furnished with Orders in the Commissary there. The Captain to be ordered to take his Directions from the Board of War thro’ Major Howell. We will be obliged to your Excellency to give these Orders to Capt. Bowman alone with Directions to keep his Route & Destination a profound Secret & to repair to Squan with all Expedition.3 Major Howell has selected this Officer & his Men from his Acquaintance with & Influence over them. To ensure their good Temper & Fidelity it will be ⟨n⟩ecessary that they be as well equipped as to Cloathing & supplies as Circumstances will admitt. Should your Excellency have occasion to detach any Officer into that Part of the Country it will be necessary to order him not to interfere with Capt. Bowman’s Command; tho’ we would wish no other Officer may for a Time be sent there. If contrary to our Expectations Accident should cause any Part of our Scheme to transpire & you should be informed of anything apparently wrong in the Proceedings of Major Howell or Capt. Bowman we beg you to suspend your opinion & be so obliging as to write to us on the Subject. We have the Honour to be with the greatest Esteem & Respect your very obedt servants
Richard Peters
By order of the Board
ALS, DLC:GW. Peters marked the cover “Private.” GW appended and signed the following note to the document: “received late in the afternoon of the 8th Instt.”
1. Richard Howell had resigned from the army in April 1779; see Howell to GW, 7 April, and GW to Howell, 15 April 1779.
2. Squan Beach, N.J., is located along the southeastern coast of Monmouth County (now Ocean County) on the coastal peninsula forming the northern end of Barnegat Bay (see Map 3). The area of Monmouth County known in the eighteenth century as “Squan” referred to a large extent of coastal country extending from the Manasquan River in the south to the Shark River in the north. Later, a settlement known as Squan Village (now the borough of Manasquan) was established in the southeastern part of the area. Squan Bridge crossed the Manasquan River in the western part of the region.
3. For GW’s orders to Capt. Nathaniel Bowman and the orders for the other purposes specified by the board, see GW to Bowman, 11 Jan., and the notes to that document; see also GW’s reply to the board of that date.
The board’s “Plan of Intelligence” concerned the importation, through an agent, of 5,000 blankets from New York City for army use. Bowman and his troops were wanted for the security of the cargo once it reached Squan and during its transportation across the state. Bowman was still on this mission in late March (see the Board of War to GW, 30 March, DLC:GW). Congress had authorized the plan as “practicable” and promising the acquisition of “certain articles immediately wanted for the troops at much less expence and with greater dispatch than they can otherwise be procured” ( 15:1424).