From George Washington to Brigadier General Jedediah Huntington, 23 April 1780
To Brigadier General Jedediah Huntington
Hd Qrs M[orris] T[own] 23d April 80
Dr Sir,
Your coming to Morris as you wish tomorrow will be agreeable to me, & I request that should you give permission to any of the Officers at the Post to accompany you that you would enjoin them to return at night.1 The Enemy from the occasion which brings you here may be led to think that we shall be off our guard & attempt to enterprise something. I wish you to give directions for the Troops to be in as compact order as possible, and to lay on their Arms tomorrow night. I am &c.
G.W.
Df, in Richard Kidder Meade’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
Huntington replied to GW from Springfield, N.J., on this date: “I have Your Excellencys Favor of this Date—If the Wind should be as high as today I shall be discouraged from coming to Morris town—but whether I do or not I will comply with Your Wishes respecting the Officers & Troops” (ALS, DLC:GW). GW described the weather in his diary entry for 23 April: “Wind Westerly and very fresh—at the same time clear & cold for the Season” (, 3:351). In his journal entry for the same date, New York City printer Hugh Gaine wrote: “Windy and cold all day” (, 2:85).
1. GW encouraged participation in activities related to French minister La Luzerne’s visit to Morristown (see GW to Huntington, 20 April, and the source note to that document).