From George Washington to General Henry Clinton, 25 August 1779
To General Henry Clinton
Head Quarters West Point Augt 25th, 1779
Sir,
I have the honor to inclose the copy of a letter from Major General Heath, accompanied by a report from Captain Heywood, lately sent by him with a flag to your lines, representing the treatment he met with, from Colonel Wurmb, the commanding officer.1
Persuaded, that you will reprobate so gross a violation of a flag, I have no doubt, that you will take effectual measures to discountenance the indecent irregularity of Col. Wur[m]b’s behaviour, and prevent a similar instance hereafter. I have the honor to be Your Excellency’s Most Obedient servant
Go: Washington
LS, in Alexander Hamilton’s writing, P.R.O.: 30/55, Carleton Papers; Df, DLC: GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
1. See Maj. Gen. William Heath’s second letter to GW of this date, and n.3 to that document.
Benjamin Heywood (Haywood; 1746–1816), of Worcester, Mass., served in Col. John Nixon’s Massachusetts Regiment as a lieutenant from May to December 1775. He joined Nixon’s 4th Continental Infantry Regiment as a second lieutenant when that regiment was formed in January 1776, and, in September, he was appointed regimental paymaster. In January 1777, Heywood became lieutenant and paymaster of the 6th Massachusetts Regiment. By May 1779, he had been promoted to captain lieutenant. Later that year, Heywood received promotion to captain, and he served until he left the army in June 1783.
Col. Ludwig J. A. von Wurmb was commander of the Hessian corps of jägers.