From George Washington to Major General Nathanael Greene, 22 December 1779
To Major General Nathanael Greene
Hd qrs [Morristown] Decr 22d 1779
sir
I have received your Letter of yesterday and am extremely concerned to find that you meet with such difficulties in quartering the Officers whose rank & situation require they should be lodged in the houses in the vicinity of the Army. I regret that the Inhabitants should be unwilling to give shelter to men who have made and are still making every sacrafice in the service of their Country, and that the Magistrates should refuse to give you effectual aid in a matter, to which in my opinion by a liberal & necessary construction of the law their authority is fully competent.
The dilemma is perplexing. On the one hand, nothing I wish so much as to avoid the least deviation from the line prescribed by the law; on the other, it is impossible the Officers can remain without proper covering. If the Obstacles cannot be removed so as to satisfy the law necessity decides that you must proceed in quartering the Officers yourself in such houses as the good of the service may require, having all possible regard to the circumstances of the Inhabitants, that none may be distressed or incommoded more than is unav⟨oid⟩able. To this I am persuaded your own disposition will induce you to pay the strictest attention. But before you have recourse to this step, you will make one more application to the Magistrates, which you will be pleased to do in writing, and request their answer also in writing. You will expose to them the reasonableness & necessity of their concurrence, and inform them what we shall be compelled to do, if they decline giving their assistance with cordiality & efficacy. Should they again refuse, you will then have no alternative but to do as I have mentioned.1 I am Sir with great regard & respect Yr Most Obed. servant
Go: Washington
LS, in Robert Hanson Harrison’s writing, MiU-C: Greene Papers; Df, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
1. GW’s directive prompted Greene to write Benjamin Lindsley, justice of the peace in Morris County, N.J., from Morristown on this date: “The great desire I have to deal with tenderness towards the people, and to act agreeable to the spirit and intent of the Laws once more induces me to make application to you, upon the subject of quartering the Officers of the Army; and to request your Answer in writing. Will you quarter them upon the Inhabitants agreeable to their respective Ranks and conditions, for such time and at such places, as the service may require? And do you, or do you not, conceive your self Authorisd by the Law as it now stands to execute this commision?
“If the Civil Magistrates will not quarter the Officers agreeable to the applications that shall be made to them the General [Washington] will be reducd to the necessity to quarter them by his own Authority. He has given me full powers for this purpose, but if it can be done under the sanction of Law it will be more agreeable to the Inhabitants and little less convenient to the Army. For this purpose I wish you to seriously consider the disagreeable consequences that will follow a refusal; and once more to look over the Law and see if a liberal construction will not warrant your conduct in quartering the officers upon the Inhabitants without their consent in other cases except on Marches.
“I wish you to consult with such other Magistrates upon the question as you may think necessary to satisfy your self or me in the matter. I dont wish to urge you to a measure which you dont think your self fully warranted to execute by the Laws of the Land or the practice and Sentiments of others. But I want to be convinced how far I can depend upon your Aid as a Civil Magistrate in executing this business. For this purpose I beg you to be plain and explicit with me” ( 5:198–99). No additional correspondence between Greene and New Jersey magistrates related to quartering officers in Morristown or vicinity has been identified. For details on the difficulties finding suitable winter quarters for officers, see GW to Greene, 30 Nov., n.2.