To John Jay from Alexander McDougall, 20 March 1776
From Alexander McDougall
Newyork 20th March 1776
Dear Sir,
I wrote you this morning pretty fully. I then forgot to inform you, that I got Mr. Nichol’s provided for, in the Second Company of first Regiment; I wish he may retrieve his Character.1 There is great want of Artillery officers and men in Canad; none are Yet gone to that important Service. A Captain Momain, who speaks French, is appointed to an Artillery Company in the Continental Service, and has raised his Company in Pensylvania.2 He is to be in a few days with you at Phila. As he speaks French he is the fitest in that department to go to Canad. It is to little Purpose to send Heavy ordinance to that Country without men to use them. The Ministerial Troops destined for Virginia, can be easier repul[s]ed, without artillery officers, than the Strong Hold of Quebec can be taken without them. It will therefore be most advancive of the Service to Send them to Canada than to Virginia. Without a Spirit of Prophecy, I forsee that unless Quebec Surrenders, for want of Provissions, the Continent will repent that General Lee was not sent there. I beg you to view these crude and incoherent thoughts with an indulgent Eye, and beleive me to be Your affectionate Humble Servant
Alexr. McDougall
Col John Jay
My best wishes wait on you and your brother Delegates; The times are exceding Critical, and important, pregnant with some very interesting event to this Country. God direct you. Adieu.
ALS, NNC (EJ: 6924). Addressed: “To/Colonel John Jay Delegate/for the Colony of Newyork/in Congress/Philadelphia.” Franked: “FREE.” Endorsed.
1. See JJ to Edward Nicoll and McDougall, 17 Feb. 1776, above.
2. Bernard Romans (1720–84) was an engineer, mariner, surveyor, cartographer, naturalist, soldier, and writer, born in the Netherlands. He had participated in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Fort George in the spring of 1775 and aided the New York Provincial Congress as an engineer in planning fortifications on the Hudson in the fall. In February 1776, he was appointed captain of the Independent Pennsylvania Artillery Company, and he subsequently participated in the Canadian campaign. He resigned his commission in 1778 and returned to writing, but in 1780 he sailed south to participate in the Southern campaign, was captured and imprisoned by the British for the remainder of the war, and died on board ship en route home. , 1: 159–61, 174, 179; , 4: 243; Lincoln Diamant, Bernard Romans: Forgotten Patriot of the American Revolution, Military Engineer and Cartographer of West Point and the Hudson Valley (Harrison, N.Y., 1985); Bernard Romans, A Concise Natural History of East and West Florida (1775; reprint, Tuscaloosa, Ala., 1999).