1To George Washington from General William Howe, 10 May 1778 (Washington Papers)
Notwithstanding the ineffectual overtures that have been hitherto made for the Release of prisoners, and for establishing a permanent Cartel which might regulate the Exchange of such as may be captured in future, I am induced from an apprehension of the sufferings of the unfortunate men in my possession during the approaching hot season, from the wants of those in yours, and from the...
2To George Washington from General William Howe, 16 April 1778 (Washington Papers)
At the earnest Request of Mrs Higgins who desires to have the Honor of waiting upon you, I am induced to trouble you with this Letter by her to offer Mr Lawrie (one of your principal Commissaries) in exchange for her Husband and Mr Clarke, both Deputy Commissaries & under the Convention of Saratoga. If this proposal meets with your approbation; I shall immediately give up Mr Lawrie’s Parole;...
3To George Washington from General William Howe, 3 April 1778 (Washington Papers)
I am concerned to find your Commissioners entertained an idea that German Town was to be a place of constant residence during their negociation, which was by no means my design, as it could not fail to give rise to disputes and jealousies by the occasional intervention of patrols so near to this City, an inconvenience only to be avoided by the Commissioners on both sides retiring after their...
4To George Washington from General William Howe, 27 March 1778 (Washington Papers)
The Commissioners formerly mentioned by me will meet the Gentlemen you have nominated in your Letter of the 22d at German Town on the 31st Inst. at 11 OClock in the morning, and Joshua Loring Esqr. my Commissary General of Prisoners will give his occasional Attendance. A Commissioned Officer with a Serjeant and twelve Dragoons will be sent from hence to attend upon my Commissioners, and I give...
5To George Washington from General William Howe, 21 March 1778 (Washington Papers)
It is with no small degree of surprize I learn that the Trumpeter attending the Serjeant of Light Dragoons, who was the bearer of my Letter to you of the 19th instt has been detained with his Horse & Accoutrements without any Reason being given for so extraordinary a proceeding further than by signifying upon a Scrap of Paper not signed by any one, that he is a Deserter from your Army. The...
6To George Washington from General William Howe, 19 March 1778 (Washington Papers)
In Consequence of an Order from Mr Thos Bradford (One of your Commissaries) to Mr Emanuel Eyre of Trenton to Ship 50 Barrels of Pork⟩ for the Use of the Prisoners in Philadelphia, and two Tons of Hay for their Cattle, Mr Eyre on the 6th Instant wrote to Mr Ferguson requesting him to apply to me for a Passport for the Shallop Polly, Isaiah Robinson Master, manned with 3 Hands, to proceed hither...
7To George Washington from General William Howe, 15 March 1778 (Washington Papers)
I have received your Letter of the 12th Instant wherein I observe you still persevere in the Procrastination of the meeting of the Commissioners. That a Measure urged by yourself as confessedly interesting to the unhappy Prisoners on both Sides, and in which I cannot conceive you to be controuled, should be thus peremptorily suspended without any Reason assigned, carries with it the appearance...
8To George Washington from General William Howe, 10 March 1778 (Washington Papers)
I cannot refrain expressing my Surprise upon the Receipt of your Letter dated on the 9th Instant, desiring that the Meeting of the Commissioners, appointed by yourself to be on the Day following, should be deferred, and to so remote a Period as the last of the Month, when you must be sensible how essential this Meeting is, to the Relief of the Prisoners on both Sides, and particularly of those...
9To George Washington from General William Howe, 2 March 1778 (Washington Papers)
I think it necessary to acquaint you that Colonels OHara & Stephens of the Kings Foot Guards are the Officers appointed by me to meet Commissioners on your Part at German Town on the 10th Instant, for the Purposes expressed in my Letter of the 5th of February. To these Gentlemen I propose to add Capt. Fitzpatrick of the same Corps, and that you may send an equal Number, this early notice is...
10To George Washington from General William Howe, 21 February 1778 (Washington Papers)
Although my Letter of the 5th Instant has in great measure anticipated the Answer requisite to your’s of the 20th and 30th of January, I shall make no Apology for troubling you with a few observations, in consequence of the papers you referred to me, which I hope will preclude any farther declamatory Complaints on your part, and well founded Remonstrances on mine, upon the Subject of the...
11To George Washington from General William Howe, 14 February 1778 (Washington Papers)
I have received the favor of your Letter of the 10th Inst., in consequence of which I shall send two Commissioners to meet those on your part at German Town on the day appointed. The distresses, which from too good authority I understand the lower class of prisoners labor under, induce me to request you will give such directions as may expedite the exchange of the non commissioned officers and...
12To George Washington from General William Howe, 5 February 1778 (Washington Papers)
By Advices lately received from Rhode Island, transmitting to me a Copy of a Letter from General Heath to Lieutenant General Burgoyne, (Copy of which is enclosed) I am informed that it is determined to detain General Burgoyne’s Troops in New England, until all Demands for their Provisions and other Necessaries are satisfied; and that this Determination is grounded, not only upon a Requisition...
13To George Washington from General William Howe, 19 January 1778 (Washington Papers)
I enclose you an Extract of a Letter from Mr Boudinot to Mr Fergusson the Commissary of Prisoners at this Place, signifying to him that it is expected, that after the 1st Day of February next, we supply all Prisoners with you, West of New Jersey, with every Kind of Provisions sent out from our Lines. and that he has it positively in Charge not to suffer our Agents to purchase any Provisions...
14To George Washington from General William Howe, 18 January 1778 (Washington Papers)
I am to acknowledge the Receipt of your Letter of the 8th Instant respecting Captain Dick and a number of American Officers said to be confined in Dungeons in England. It is a Circumstance perfectly new to me, and I shall transmit your Representation relative to Captain Dick &ca to England with my first Dispatches. I am with due respect Sir, your most obedt Servant Copy, in Robert Hanson...
15To George Washington from General William Howe, 8 January 1778 (Washington Papers)
I take the earliest Occasion, after being made acquainted with the circumstances, to make known to you the coming in of 2d Lieutt Eyre of the 23d Regiment of Foot from the Place of his Confinement in Maryland, to lay his Grievances before me, finding no Probability of being otherwise redressed—His Treatment is explained in the Representation enclosed, which by his desire is transmitted to you,...
16To George Washington from General William Howe, 21 December 1777 (Washington Papers)
I have deferred answering your Letter of the 28th November, daily expecting to receive the promised List of Prisoners in your Possession, which I was sorry to find Mr Boudinot had no Knowledge of when he met my Commissary on the 2d Instant; but having directed a Letter to be written to him on that Subject, I trust he will not longer delay so necessary a Communication, more particularly when I...
17To George Washington from General William Howe, 26 November 1777 (Washington Papers)
I am averse to Altercation, and therefore wish to be explicit, and understood in my Answer to your Letter of the 14th Instant, and to your very importunate Requisition of the 23rd. I shall never agree to a partial Exchange of Prisoners, until you have on your Part fulfilled the Cartel agreed upon; but as that Matter has already been sufficiently investigated in the Course of our...
18To George Washington from General William Howe, 9 November 1777 (Washington Papers)
Lieutenant Vallancey, who was the Bearer of General Burgoyne’s Dispatches to me, is charged with mine in Return, and will apply to you to obtain a Passport for his safe Conduct to General Burgoyne in the Massachusetts Bay, which I request may be by the most convenient Route. I am with due Respect, Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant. LS , DLC:GW . Howe was referring to his letter to John...
19To George Washington from General William Howe, 6 November 1777 (Washington Papers)
I am favored with your Letter of the 4th Instant—The general Exchange of Prisoners is so desirable a Measure in Justice to the Officers and Men immediately concerned, that I have repeatedly demanded of you a Releasement of Prisoners equivalent to those you have received, as far as the Numbers in your Possession will admit, on which Condition I could enter upon a further Exchange. The Officers...
20To George Washington from General William Howe, 3 October 1777 (Washington Papers)
Your Parties having destroyed several Mills in the adjacent Country, which can only distress the peaceable Inhabitants residing in their Houses, I am constrained from a Regard to their Sufferings, and a sense of the Duty I owe to the Public, to forewarn you of the Calamities which may ensue, and to express my abhorrence of such a Proceeding: At the same Time I am inclined to believe, that the...
21To George Washington from General William Howe, 21 September 1777 (Washington Papers)
There being some wounded Officers & Men of your Army at Howel’s Tavern & the neighbouring Houses, with whom a Surgeons Mate is left, having Orders to join me on the 23d if not sooner relieved by one of your Surgeons, I am to request you will lose no Time in sending whom you shall think proper for this Purpose with Directions to give Receipts for the wounded so delivered up as Prisoners of War...
22To George Washington from General William Howe, 12 September 1777 (Washington Papers)
The Number of wounded Officers and Men of your Army in this Neighbourhood, to whom every possible Attention has been paid, will nevertheless require your immediate Care, as I shall not be so situated as to give them the necessary Relief. Any Surgeons you may chuse to send to their Assistance, upon Application to me, in consequence of your Orders, shall be permitted to attend them. The Officers...
23To George Washington from General William Howe, 6 September 1777 (Washington Papers)
I am to acknowledge the Receipt of your Letter of yesterday’s Date, enclosing a Copy of another of the 16th July, the Original of which was received at Sea. In answer thereto I am to inform you that when you fulfill your Engagements by a general Exchange of the Officers in your Possession, & have returned the Soldiers now detained as Prisoners, for those already sent in by me, I shall consent...
24To George Washington from General William Howe, 5 June 1777 (Washington Papers)
So many Days having elapsed since my Letter to you of 22d May was dispatched without an Answer, and lest by any Accident it should not have got to your Hands, I am induced to send a Duplicate thereof, and to press my Request for your final Decision upon the Demands therein contained. With due Respect, I am Sir, your most obedient Servant LS , DLC:GW ; copy, DLC:GW ; copy, enclosed in GW to...
25To George Washington from General William Howe, 22 May 1777 (Washington Papers)
Not having received an Answer to my Letter of the 21st April, I am to request your final Decision upon the Demand I then made of the Prisoners in your Possession, both Officers and Soldiers, in Exchange for those I have returned, and for your Determination respecting the Prisoners now here, that I may my Arrangements accordingly. It is with Concern I receive frequent Accounts of the ill...
26To George Washington from General William Howe, 21 April 1777 (Washington Papers)
I have received your Letter of the 9th Instt concerning the Requisition of Lieutenant Colonel Walcott a Copy of which came enclosed. Though I ob[s]erve that Officer has meant to insist very strongly on the Justice of the Claim for the Return of Prisoners in your Possession, which was one of the Objects of his Appointment, I do not see Reason to suspect that any personal Incivility, was...
27To George Washington from General William Howe, 27 February 1777 (Washington Papers)
Some Days having elapsed since the Conference between Lt Col. Walcott and Lt Col. Harrison without hearing from You for the further Prosecution of the Business relative to Prisoners of War, I am to trouble You with my Request to have a second Meeting at the same, or at any other Place You shall appoint, and to desire You will vest Lt Col. Harrison with proper Powers for reducing to the Form of...
28To George Washington from General William Howe, 29 January 1777 (Washington Papers)
I am to acknowledge the receipt of your Letter of the 20th January 1777, in which you propose to establish Mr Lewis Pintard, a Merchant of this Town, as your Agent to reside here under Parole to transmit no Intelligence but what belongs to his Office, whose Business it shall be to provide Necessaries for such Prisoners as fall into my Hands, I have not any Objection to your appointing the...
29To George Washington from General William Howe, 23 January 1777 (Washington Papers)
Your several Letters of the 1st 6th 12th 17th and 29th December have been received: I have not troubled you with Answers to them as the Exchanges to which they relate so far as the military Line is concerned, have been regularly made. The Conditions respecting the Exchange of Prisoners not being complied with on your Part in the Manner I had a Right to expect from the Agreement subsisting...
30To George Washington from Lieutenant General William Howe, 5 December 1776 (Washington Papers)
The Persons mentioned in the inclosed List are sent in Exchange for the Officers and others against whom their Names are placed, being of equal rank & Station, altho’ this partial Mode of releasing a few at a Time upon Parole is by no Means the Mode of Exchange which from your Assurances I had a right to Expect, The Soldier has always a stronger Plea for this Justice than the Officer as his...