21Enclosure: Josiah Harmar to Henry Knox, 4 November 1790 (Washington Papers)
I have the honor to inform you, ⟨th⟩at on the 30th September I marched with 320 federal troops, and 1133 militia, total 1453. After encountering a few difficulties, we gained the Miami village. It was abandoned before we entered it, which I was very sorry for. The villainous traders would have been a principle object of attention. I beg leave to refer you to my orders which are enclosed—The...
22Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 11 December 1792 (Washington Papers)
By the President’s command T. Lear has the honor to return to the Secretary of War the Speeches to the Chiefs of the Six Nations and to the hostile Indians which have been submitted to the President, and to inform the Secretary that their contents embrace the President’s ideas on that subject. The President observes that the Secretary will write to General Wayne respecting Corn Planter, and to...
23Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 1 September 1791 (Washington Papers)
By the President’s command T. Lear has the honor to transmit to the Secy of war a letter from Mr Andw Ellicott, to the President, proposing that Mr Joseph Ellicott should proceed immediately to Georgia to explore the head of the Oconee River preparatory to Mr Andw Ellicott’s executing his business of running the line between the territory of the Creeks & the U.S. Should the Secretary of war...
24Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 4 May 1792 (Washington Papers)
United States [Philadelphia] 4 May 1792 . Returns by GW’s command “the Instructions to Major Genl Wayne & a letter to Mr Seagrove, both of which meet the President[’s] approbation.” ALS (retained copy), DLC:GW ; LB , DLC:GW . War Department clerk Benjamin Bankson had transmitted Knox’s proposed letter to James Seagrove to Lear on the previous day and had asked that it be submitted to the...
25Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 10 July 1792 (Washington Papers)
By the President’s command T. Lear has the honor to return to the Secretary of War the enclosed letters from Governors Lee & Telfair which have been submitted to the President, and to inform the Secretary that the President requests that any answer to these letters which may require his inspection, may be submitted to him by twelve o’clock tomorrow, as he intends setting out for Virginia in...
26Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 29 December 1792 (Washington Papers)
By the President’s command T. Lear has the honor to return to the Secy of War the Speechs of Hendricks wh. have been submittd —likewise a letter from Mr Hoge to the Secy of War & the Secy’s answer, wh. expresses in its conclusion the President’s idea on the subject. ADfS , DLC:GW ; LB , DLC:GW . Knox, in his letter to Lear of 28 Dec., enclosed “speeches from Hendricks, to which I confess I...
27Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 17 September 1789 (Washington Papers)
United States September 17th 1789. “The enclosed Letter was just now received by the President of the United States from the Governor of New York; and I am directed by the President of the United States to transmit the same to you, requesting that you will, after considering the subject, give him your opinion upon the expediency of his making an official or other communication of the...
28Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 25 March 1793 (Washington Papers)
By the Presdent’s command T. Lear has the honor to transmit to the Secy of War a lettr from O. Pollock & Jno. Nicholson Esqs. requesting to be furnished with copies of certain parts of the treaty lately made by Genl Putnam with the Illonois & Wabash Indians —to wh. the President requests the Secretary will give an Answer to the effect of the enclosed sketch, wh. was intended to have been...
29Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 18 January 1793 (Washington Papers)
By the President’s Command T. Lear has the honor to return to the Secretary of War the letter & enclosures from Majr Genl Wayne, which have been submitted to the President, and the letter from Mr Greenup, upon which the President observes that if the request therein containd can be complied with, it ought to be done as he thinks it would be attended with good affects. ALS (letterpress copy),...
30Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 24 November 1792 (Washington Papers)
By the President’s command T. Lear has the honor to return to the Secretary of War the letter to Govrnor Lee—to Thomas Wilson Esq. & others —and the Copy of a letter to Genl Wayne, which have been submitted to the President & to inform the Secretary that their contents meet the ideas of the President. ADfS , DLC:GW ; LB , DLC:GW . For Knox’s letters to Henry Lee and to Thomas Wilson, see Lear...
31Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 14 November 1792 (Washington Papers)
By the President’s command T. Lear has the honor to return to the Secretary of War the dispatches from Mr Seagrove, which were submitted to the president yesterday. The President thinks there are some parts of these communications which should be laid before Congress, and requests that the Secretary will select such as may be proper & have them communicated accordingly. ALS (letterpress copy),...
32Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 18 November 1789 (Washington Papers)
I am directed by the President of the United States to transmit to you the enclosed letters which have been received by him, and which come properly under the cognizance of the Secretary of War. The letters enclosed are as follows, viz. one from Samuel McDowell, as chairman of a committee of a Convention in Kentuckey, upon Indian Affairs in Kentuckey, and containing a list of sundry tribes of...
33Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 2 February 1793 (Washington Papers)
By the Presidets Command—T. Lear has the honor to transmit to the Secy of War, for his inspection, a lettr from Govr Moultrie, enclosing a deposition relative to the murder of certain Cherokee Inds by a party of Geo[r]gians in Oct. last. And a lettr from Colo. Mentges respectg his late office & desiring another appointmt. ADf , DLC:GW ; LB , DLC:GW . See William Moultrie to GW, 8 Jan. 1793 ....
34Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 16 March 1792 (Washington Papers)
United States [Philadelphia] 16 Mar. 1792. Transmits by GW’s command a representation to the president from the county lieutenants and field officers of the District of Kentucky. ALS (letterpress copy), DLC:GW ; LB , DLC:GW . The enclosure has not been found, but it was probably similar in nature to the request of a council of militia officers in Harrison County, Va., for authorization to...
35Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 25 November 1789 (Washington Papers)
The President of the United States has directed me to return the draft of the letter which you are about to send to the Governor of Georgia and to inform you that it meets his approbations. The President of the United States wishes you to send him the copy of the Instructions given to the Commissioners — which he will return to you in a few days. I have the Honor to be with perfect respect...
36Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 30 January 1793 (Washington Papers)
By the President’s command T. Lear has the honor to return to the Secretary of War the letters from the Executives of Maryland and Virginia which have been submitted to the President; together with a draft of the Secretary’s answer to the Governor of Maryland, which meets the President’s approbation. The President desires however that matters may not be carried to extremity against Richardson....
37Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 21 November 1792 (Washington Papers)
By the President’s command T. Lear has the honor to return to the Secretary of War the enclosed letter from the Governor of Virginia, which has been submitted to the President; and to transmit a letter which the President has received from the Representatives of the frontier Counties in the Gene[r]al Assembly of Virginia. The President requests that the Secretary will take the subject of the...
38Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 28 December 1791 (Washington Papers)
Philadelphia, 28 Dec. 1791. By the president’s command, returns the reports that the secretary of war sent to GW last evening, with a letter from Colonel Pickering received at the same time, in order that any alterations necessitated by the latter might be made before the former are submitted. LB , DLC:GW . The enclosed reports apparently were those on Arthur St. Clair’s campaign and the new...
39Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 28 August 1793 (Washington Papers)
By the President’s command T. Lear has the honor to return to the Secretary of War the enclosed letter & papers from the District Attorney of New York⟨.⟩ and the draught of a letter consequent thereof to Governor Clinton. And to inform the Secretary that the President thinks the letter proposed to be written to Governor Clinton a proper one for the Occasion; yet as it is the first of the kind...
40Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 20 April 1793 (Washington Papers)
By the Presidts commd T. Lear has the honor to return to the Secy of War the letters & enclosures from Govr Blount and to inform the Secy, that the Presidt conceivg the information contained therein to be highly interesting to the U.S. requests the Se[c]y to take them into serious consideratn & report to him thereon as early as may be—and at the same time to report on the letters from...
41Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 18 December 1792 (Washington Papers)
By the President’s commd T.L. has the honor to return to the Secy of War the letters from Genl Wilkinson wh. have been submitted to the Presidt—and to say that if there be any thing in these letters wh. in the Secy’s opinion should be communicated to Congress the President wishes it might be done. ADfS , DLC:GW ; LB , DLC:GW . Knox presented the Senate on 19 Dec. an extract of a letter that he...
42Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 21 January 1793 (Washington Papers)
By the President’s command T. Lear has the honor to transmit to the Secretary of War a letter which he has just received from the Gentlemen in Congress representing the State of Georgia. The President requests that the Secretary will take the contents of this Letter into consideration and report to him thereon as soon as he conveniently can. ALS (letterpress copy), DLC:GW ; LB , DLC:GW . The...
43Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 25 November 1792 (Washington Papers)
By the President’s Command T. Lear has the honor to return to the Secretary of War General Sevier’s letter, which the President has refused, and to inform the Secretary that the President observes, that the Secretary will in his answer to Genl Sevier let him know that by accounts from the Superintendent of Indian Affairs to the Southward, the disposition of the Creek nation is very different...
44Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 1 March 1791 (Washington Papers)
By the President’s command, T. Lear has the honor to transmit to the Secretary of War the enclosed letter, which has just come to the President’s hands; signed by a number of the Inhabitants of Washington County in the State of Pennsylvania, expressing their apprehensions of the depredations of the Indians in that quarter. The President requests that the secretary will give the subject that...
45Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 23 November 1792 (Washington Papers)
T. Lear has the honor to return to the Secretary of War the two letters from Major General Wayne, with their enclosures, which have been submitted to the President, whose remarks thereon are herewith enclosed. ALS (letterpress copy), DLC:GW ; LB , DLC:GW . Lear wrote over his original date of 22 Nov. on the letterpress copy to change it to 23 November. Lear’s docket reads “23d Nov. 1792,” and...
46Tobias Lear to Henry Knox, 21 November 1789 (Washington Papers)
I have the honor to enclose you three letters from the supreme Executive of the State of Virginia upon the subject of Indian Affairs. These letters are addressed to the President of the United States, and have been duly acknowledged by him. As the President of the United States has directed me to transmit to you all letters & papers which have been received by him upon the subject of Indian...
47Enclosure: Timothy Pickering to Henry Knox, 8 October 1794 (Washington Papers)
On the 23d Ulto I sent Horatio Jones the Interpreter to Buffaloe Creek to hasten the departure of the Indians and to give them any necessary assistance on the way. I thought also that he would be able to remove any little obstructions which the British Agents might continue to throw in the way. He went directly to their principal village, assembled the Chiefs and delivered my message. The...
48Enclosure: Timothy Pickering to Henry Knox, 27 September 1794 (Washington Papers)
On the 20th I wrote you, that two runners had arrived the day before from Buffaloe Creek with a message urging me to hold the treaty there, that I had answered them that I had no authority to remove the Council fire and that the Treaty must be held at Kanandaigua. That upon receiving this answer, the runners replied that they were directed by the Chiefs to inform me that if I could not go to...
49Enclosure I: Timothy Pickering to Henry Knox, 20 September 1794 (Washington Papers)
I arrived here yesterday. Two or three hours before, two runners arrived from the Indian Council at Buffaloe Creek, with their answer to your invitation to meet me at Kanandaiguay for the purposes therein mentioned. They apologized for the delay in sending their answer, by saying that they had waited the arrival of the Chief (meaning Cornplanter) by whom their former speech on the subject had...
50Enclosure: Timothy Pickering to Henry Knox, 28 October 1794 (Washington Papers)
Various accidents have retarded the business of the treaty—among others, the death of two Oneida Chiefs—they were very old men. And the appearance of William Johnson, the British interpreter, occasioned the loss of two days. As the Chiefs told me that he had come at their request, it seemed necessary, besides mentioning my orders to suffer no British agent to intrude, to give some reasons for...
51Enclosure: James Seagrove to Henry Knox, 4 June 1794 (Washington Papers)
Since I had the honor of writing you on the 28th ultimo by Capt. Skelly, his Excellency the Governor of Georgia arrived here. I have been frequently with him since his being in town, and have conversed freely and at large on the outrageous conduct of the people of this country. I should feel a sincere pleasure in being able to inform you that any measures have been taken by this government to...
52Enclosure: Arthur St. Clair to Henry Knox, 6 November 1790 (Washington Papers)
On the 29th of last month I had the honor to inform you generally of the success that attended General Harmar. I could not then give you the particulars as the General’s letters had not reached me (the officer however who had them in charge got in a few days afterwards) it is not now necessary because he writes himself—One thing however is certain that the Savages have got a most terrible...
53Enclosure: Edward Telfair to Henry Knox, 20 July 1790 (Washington Papers)
On the 2nd inst: I received a letter from Timothy Barnard Esquire, dated Flint River the 23’rd ultimo, whereupon the enclosed proclamation of the 2’nd inst: was issued —I was hopeful that this measure would have prevented further outrage contrary however to expectation I received a second letter from Mr Barnard of date the 12’th on which my proclamation of yesterday was founded—herewith are...
54From George Washington to Henry Knox, 8 March 1790 (Washington Papers)
I have taken into consideration your letter of the 15th of last month, and I approve of the proposals therein suggested, of endeavoring to avoid a War with the Creek nation of Indians. I approve particularly of your requesting Mr Hawkins to send the letter to Alexander McGillivray a copy of which you have enclosed—and I authorize you to employ a suitable person to conduct the business, and to...
55From George Washington to Henry Knox, 22 August 1792 (Washington Papers)
In my letter of the 15th I acknowledged the receipt of yours of the 11th; since which your dispatches of the 16th are come to hand, and convey but a gloomy prospect of peace with the Indians, in either hemisphere; but shew the necessity of preparing more vigorously if possible for the dernier resort. That the Western Indians are stimulated to acts of hostility on one side, and every mean which...
56From George Washington to Henry Knox, 4 April 1796 (Washington Papers)
Before this will have reached you, you must have seen in the gazettes that I have taken the liberty (without a previous consultation) to nominate you the Commissioner for ascertaining the true St Croix & the Eastern boundary of the U. States, agreeably to the fifth article of the treaty lately entered into with G. Britain. I hope it will be convenient & agreeable for you to accept the trust,...
57From George Washington to Henry Knox, 10 April 1794 (Washington Papers)
After giving the application contained in the Memorial of Doctr White (herewith returned) all the consideration it deserves, you will report what you think can & ought to be done for the protection of the District of Mero under present circumstances. I am &c. Df , DLC:GW ; LB , DLC:GW . On the memorial presented by James White, which requested federal assistance in the defense of the Mero...
58From George Washington to Henry Knox, 26 December 1791 (Washington Papers)
(Private) Dear Sir, Philadelphia Decr 26th 1791 The enclosed is a private letter from Colo. Nicholas (an influential character in Kentucky) to the Attorney General. He put it into my hands to read; I, without having asked his permission, send it to you for the same purpose, of course the communication is confidential. My reason for sending it to you is, to shew you the uniform sentiment of...
59From George Washington to Henry Knox, 19 June 1791 (Washington Papers)
My letter of the 15th inst. mentioned that I had not received any letters from you between the 15th and the 30 of May—it should have been the 15th of April and 30th of May. By the last post from the southward I received yours of the 17th of April—which renders a duplicate of that letter unnecessary. As it appears to be alike requisite to the satisfaction of the public mind and to General...
60From George Washington to Henry Knox, 28 February 1793 (Washington Papers)
(Private) Dr Sir. [Philadelphia] Thursday Morning Feby 28th 1793 It is much to be regretted that the subject of Rations (encreased) had not been thought of and considered at an earlier period! It is to be feared a proposition at this time would be received with an ill grace. probably no attention paid to it. At the meeting you are about to have it might be well to mention the matter and know...
61From George Washington to Henry Knox, 12 April 1793 (Washington Papers)
Your letter of the 8th instt with its enclosures came duly to hand. It is painful, after the exertions Government have made to keep the Southern Indians quiet, & the expence that has been incurred to effect it, to receive such unfavorable accts from that quarter as are contained in the letters of Mr Seagroves which you have forwarded to me. From Genl Waynes Representation of the want of...
62From George Washington to Henry Knox, 4 April 1794 (Washington Papers)
Your letter of this date, enclosing one from Captn Williamson, is received. I have never entertained any doubt myself of the genuineness of the Speech which is published as Lord Dorchester’s; nor of the intentions of the B—— Government to keep this Country in a state of disquietude With the Indian nations; and also to alter the boundary between them and us, if, by any means, they can effect...
63From George Washington to Henry Knox, 10 October 1791 (Washington Papers)
Your letter of the 1st inst: I have duly recd—likewise one of the 4th, covering a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury together with some communications from Lt Colo. Beckwith. I herewith transmit you an Address & Memorial of the Officers, Civil & Military, of the District of Miro, which was sent to me by Govr Blount—I wish you to take the same into your consideration, & make a Report...
64From George Washington to Henry Knox, 30 December 1794 (Washington Papers)
The considerations which you have often suggested to me, and are repeated in your letter of the 28th instant; as requiring your departure from your present office, are such, as to preclude the possibility of my urging your continuance in it. This being the case, I can only wish that it was otherwise. I cannot suffer you, however, to close your public service without uniting with the...
65From George Washington to Henry Knox, 26 August 1792 (Washington Papers)
I have recd your Letter of the 17th inst; with it’s enclosure from Genl Wayne. Whatever Genl Wayne may require towards the equipmt of his troops for the service for wch they are designed, provided a compliance therewith be authorised by Law, I think had better be granted. powder in particular, precisely such as he desires, I would furnish him with in order that there may be no room for...
66From George Washington to Henry Knox, 13 August 1790 (Washington Papers)
The Session of Congress having closed, and it being my intention to go to Virginia as soon as the public business will permit; and wishing, during my absence from the Seat of Government, to have my mind as free from public cares as circumstances will allow; I am desireous of having such matters as may, by Law or otherwise, require the agency or sanction of the President of the United States,...
67From George Washington to Henry Knox, 25 June 1794 (Washington Papers)
(Private) Dear Sir Mount Vernon 25th June 1794. Your letter of the 18th instt came to me by the Post wch arrived in Alexandria on Monday evening. It is not more unusual than it is difficult to account for the motives wch induce Gov. M——’s either to antedate or to detain after they are written the letters which I receive from him. That there is design in it, admits of little doubt in my mind....
68From George Washington to Henry Knox and Andrew Pickens, 26 July 1793 (Washington Papers)
In addition to the information given by the Secretary of War and Genl Pickins the 24th instant, answers to the following queries are requested. ALS , DLC:GW ; ALS (letterpress copy), DLC:GW ; LB , DLC:GW . The text in angle brackets is from the letterpress copy. The memorandum to GW from Henry Knox and Andrew Pickens of 24 July , relative to the present state of the Cherokee and Creek Indians...
69From George Washington to Henry Knox, 27 August 1790 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found: to Henry Knox, 27 Aug. 1790. On 29 Aug. 1790 Knox wrote to GW , “In answer to your secret communication of the 27th instant, and the questions stated therein.” See GW to John Adams, 27 Aug. 1790 (second letter), n.2 .
70From George Washington to Henry Knox, 22 January 1792 (Washington Papers)
Upon reflection, I think it best that no mention should be made of the probability that the characters we run over yesterday will be nominated as General Officers (in case the Bill shall pass)—and, if you have disclosed the matter to Mr M——or any one else, that secrecy may be enjoined as to the Men, not the numr. In the embryo state of this business it might (especially as it respects the...