From George Washington to Major General Nathanael Greene, 25 October 1779
To Major General Nathanael Greene
Head Quarters [West Point] 25th October 1779.
Dear Sir
The Board of War having directed two Thousand dried Hydes to be sent to Philada by the returning Waggons,1 you will be pleased to give directions to the Deputy Qr Mr and Waggon Master at Newberg and New Windsor to furnish Mr Hatfield the Commissary of Hydes with return Waggons for the above quantity. Mr Hatfield represents that he could often send Hides and Leather to different places by return Waggons, by which much expence would be saved, if he had a general order upon the Quarter Master and Waggon Master at Newberg or New Windsor to supply him with such upon demand, when they are not otherwise engaged. You will be pleased to give the order and put it in the inclosed, which be kind enough to seal and forward immediately.2 I am Dear Sir Yr most obt Servt
Go: Washington
P.S. I have thought it best to order General Sullivan to Sufferans instead of Warwick and have directed him to take the Route of Hacketstown—Mount pleasant—Mount Hope and pompton.3 You will therefore give orders if any necessary in your department—Be pleased to send an Express immediately here to go on and meet Genl Sullivan.
LS, in Tench Tilghman’s writing, PPAmP: Nathanael Greene Papers; Df, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW. GW signed the cover to the LS.
1. See the Board of War to GW, 9 Oct., postscript, and GW to the Board of War, this date. The Board of War wanted the hides to exchange for shoes, then in acutely short supply.
2. For a draft of the likely enclosed letter, see GW to Moses Hatfield, this date. No order for this shipment of hides from Greene to his subordinates at Newburgh and New Windsor, N.Y., has been identified.
3. For the orders, often modified, that guided the return of troops involved in Maj. Gen. John Sullivan’s expedition against the Six Nations, see GW to Sullivan, 3, 14, 20, 25, 27, 28, and 31 Oct.; see also Sullivan to GW, 5 Nov., and n.1 to that document.
In a letter to Capt. Winthrop Sargent written at New Windsor on 10 Oct., Capt. Samuel Shaw, an aide-de-camp to Brig. Gen. Henry Knox, wrote: “Sullivan has played the devil with the Indian settlements, forty odd of which it is said he has entirely destroyed. He is now on his return and will probably join the main army pretty soon. His Excellency says that he has acted up to his most sanguine expectations. His corps will be a considerable addition to our force, and as the lads seem pretty fond of fighting it is odds but they get a belly full of it” ( 299).