To George Washington from John Hancock, 15 July 1776

From John Hancock

Philadelphia July 15th 1776.

Sir,

In perusing the enclosed Resolves, which I do myself the Honour of transmitting, you will perceive, your Letters of the 11th & 12th Inst: have been received, and laid before Congress; and that in Consequence thereof, they have taken such Measures, as are calculated to expedite the raising the Flying Camp, & to furnish them with Articles of the greatest Use and Necessity.1

I have wrote to General Mercer, to march the Militia & Flying Camp, to Brunswick, or any other Place in the Jerseys, which he may judge best; provided it does not interfere with any prior Direction from you.2 All the other enclosed Resolves, I have likewise given Orders to the proper Persons to have executed.

I expect your several Letters, which are now before Congress, will receive a speedy Determination; and that I shall have the Pleasure of forwarding the Result on Tuesday, or Wednesday, at farthest.3 I have the Honour to be with every Sentiment of Esteem, Sir your most obed. & very hble Sert

John Hancock Presidt

LS, DLC:GW; LB, DNA:PCC, item 12A.

1. In the enclosed resolutions of 14 July, Congress appropriated $20,000 for the use of Col. Clement Biddle, quartermaster general of the flying camp, and directed him to forward flour from Trenton and “to furnish Tents, Camp Kettles, and Canteens for an Army of 20,000 Men.” Congress also empowered Biddle to appoint an assistant and to employ armorers, applied to the Pennsylvania committee of safety for musket cartridges for the flying camp, requested Fielding Lewis and the Virginia committee of safety to send lead to Philadelphia, gave brief instructions to General Mercer (see note 2), and urged the commanding officer in Pennsylvania “to forward the immediate March of the Militia to New Jersey” (DLC:GW; see also 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 , 5:558–59). A resolution of 14 July asking the New Jersey provincial congress for lead for the flying camp was inadvertently omitted from the enclosed resolutions (ibid., 558).

2. Hancock here is paraphrasing Congress’s resolution of 14 July directing him to communicate these directions to the commanding officer in New Jersey (DLC:GW; see also 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 , 5:559).

3. Congress on this date referred GW’s letters of 10, 11, and 12 July to the Board of War (ibid., 560). The following Tuesday and Wednesday were 16 and 17 July respectively.

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Source Project: Washington Papers
Title: To George Washington from John Hancock, 15 July 1776
Author: Hancock, John
Recipient: Washington, George
Date: 15 July 1776

Reference

Cite as: “To George Washington from John Hancock, 15 July 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-05-02-0233. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 5, 16 June 1776 – 12 August 1776, ed. Philander D. Chase. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1993, pp. 326–327.]

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