From George Washington to Major General Stirling, 21 October 1778
To Major General Stirling
Head Quarters Fredericksburgh October 21. 1778
My Lord,
I inclose you the extract of a letter from Governor Livingston to Congress, which they have referred to me.1 I think it not impossible, some instances of a commerce between the inhabitants and the enemy may have been tolerated for the purpose of gaining intelligence, and that this may have given rise to the whole suspicion. But lest there should be any thing more serious in it, that may require a remedy, I am to request your lordship will have the matter inquired into, in the manner you judge most effectual; and if you discover any improper connivance or concurrence on the part of the officers at Shrewsbury—that you will take proper measures not only to prevent it in future, but to punish the past. I am with great regard Your Lordships Most Obedient servt
Go: Washington
LS, in Alexander Hamilton’s writing, CSmH; Df, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
1. Neither the extract of William Livingston’s letter to Henry Laurens of 2 Oct. that was enclosed in Laurens’s letter to GW of 13 Oct., nor any other copy of it, has been identified. As GW’s remarks in this letter indicate, the extract concerned illegal trade with the enemy in the vicinity of Shrewsbury, N.J. (see also , 12:1005, and , 11:54, n.4).