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From George Washington to Samuel Huntington, 22 July 1780

To Samuel Huntington

Head Qrs Prekeniss [N.J.] 22d July 1780.

Sir,

The Committee has done me the honor to communicate a copy of their letter of the 18th to Congress containing a state of the measures they had taken & of our present prospects.1 The knowledge I have of facts perfectly coincides with their representation & the consequences they draw are so just & important that they ought to engage—& I am perswaded will engage the closest attention of Congress. I think it my duty to add that pressed on all sides by a choice of difficulties, in a moment which required decision I have adopted that line of conduct which suited the dignity & faith of Congress—The reputation of these States and the honor of our Arms—I have sent on definitive proposals of co-operation to the French General & Admiral.2 Neither the period of the Season nor a regard to decency would permit delay. The die is cast; and it remains with the States either to fulfil their engagements—preserve their credit, & support their independence or to involve us in disgrace & defeat.

Notwithstanding the failures pointed out by the Committee—I shall proceed on the supposition that they will ultimately consult their own interest & honor; and not suffer us to fail for want of means which it is evidently in their power to afford. What has been done and is doing by some of the States confirms the opinion I have entertained of sufficient resources in the Country; of the disposition of the People to submit to any arrangement for bringing them forth, I see no reasonable ground to doubt. If we fail for want of proper exertions in any of the Governments, I trust the responsibility will fall where it ought & that I shall stand justified to Congress—To my Country—and to the World.

From mis-conception or some other cause, there seems to have been not sufficient attention to the articles of Transportation—& forage, which must be the pivot of our operations. Few of the States as far as I am informed have yet put this important particular on a footing equal to the exigency—Several have agreed to furnish the horses & Waggons demanded for the field-Service of the Army; but have not provided means to transport the Provisions—Artillery Stores—Arms—Cloathing—&ca for the use of the Expedition without which it must evidently be obstructed in its very first Stage.

Congress are sensible how much I have made it a law to speak with the most scrupulous delicacy of the measures of the States, generally or particularly, and will do me the justice to believe that the plainness of my present remarks is dictated by a sense of duty—by the importance of the conjucture—and by the necessity of giving them a just view of our situation.

I beg leave to observe that from present appearances it seems to me indispensable that Congress shou⟨ld⟩ enlarge the Powers of their Committee—We have every reason to believe it will become unavoidable to exert powers, which if they have no sanction, may be very disagreeable to the people, & productive of discontents and oppositions which will be infinitely injurious.3 With perfect respect & esteem I have the honor to be Sir Yr Most Obedt & Hble Ser.

Go: Washington

ALS, DNA:PCC, item 152; Df, DLC:GW; copy, DNA:PCC, item 169; Varick transcript, DLC:GW. Congress read this letter on 31 July and referred it to the committee appointed to consider the letter of 18 July from the Committee at Headquarters to Congress (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 17:681; see also JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 17:685–88).

1In its lengthy letter of 18 July to Congress reviewing the prospects for receiving men and provisions from the states for the coming campaign with the French army, the Committee at Headquarters wrote: “The fleet and land force of our ally are arrived at Rhode Island; a few days refreshment will put the latter in condition to take the field, and the former to point its operations where it may be directed. The eyes of Europe generally, and those of all America are intently turned to Congress, and to the operations of their Army in this campaign. Those of the powers of Europe, in order to determine our character, and to judge by the event of this campaign whether it will be prudent to espouse our cause, or to throw their weight in the opposite scale: Those of America, in anxious expectation that an attempt will be made to expel the enemy from that strong hold whence they have given these States so much annoyance. The hopes of the people are raised in proportion to the exertions of the States.

“But as we cannot contemplate without horror the effects of disappointment—a⟨s⟩ we apprehend that it will be experienced from the want of exertion in some States, it behoves this committee entrusted to call forth the resources of the country, in order to enable the Army to act with vigor and efficacy in any co-operation with the force from France, To recapitulate the measures they have pursued to accomplish the object of their appointment and thereby afford an oppertunity to their constituents, and if necessary to their compatriots to judge whether they have conducted with propriety, or not, and to whom the misfortunes which will result from an inactive campaign will be justly imputable. … Thus, Sir, have we stated the prospects we have, and Congress will perceive that the General and the committee are far from being able to determine with precision what may be expected, consequently the former finds himself embarrassed and distressed in the moment when every doubt should have been removed, and when every hour is of such importance, that if not closely improved, the success of the operations will be greatly endangered. In this crisis, when the honor and reputation of Congress and their constituents are so emminently exposed; when a want of virtue and exertion clearly involves the destruction of the Empire, we conceived it our indispensible duty as public men, and part of the directing council of the federal union, charged with an important mission, plainly to expose facts without exaggeration, but with out disguise or palliation. If we had remained silent, we should have been culpable. If we had been deterred by the fear of offending, it would have argued an unbecoming pusilanimity. … The arrival of the french force, and the hopes which were afforded the commander in chief that by the exertions of Congress and the States, he would be put in condition to co-operate with the succour of our ally, rendered it incumbent on him to take the necessary steps for operation. Among other things, he directed that the flour in Sussex county should be removed with all expedition to Hudson’s river, carriages were required of this State to convey it to Warwick, in the State of New York, believing that they would be obtained, he ordered that others should be procured in that State, to convey it to Hudson’s river; upwards of an hundred of the latter went to the place, but no flour had arrived there; The Inhabitants of this State absolutely refusing to go unless they were immediately paid, although urged by every consideration which could influence their humanity, or their feelings as citizens; hence the flour, small as the quantity is, remains in Sussex, the Troops at West poin⟨t⟩ rapidly increasing in number, and a few days is to bring on another involuntary fast in that quarter” (DLC:GW). For the complete letter, see Smith, Letters of Delegates description begins Paul H. Smith et al., eds. Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789. 26 vols. Washington, D.C., 1976–2000. description ends , 15:459–67. For the final portion of the letter requesting a clarification on the extent of GW’s powers to conduct operations with the French beyond the limits of the United States, see Council of War, 6 June, n.5.

2Major General Lafayette carried GW’s proposals to Lieutenant General Rochambeau and Rear Admiral Ternay (see GW to Rochambeau, 16 and 19 July).

3Rather than enlarge the powers of the Committee at Headquarters, Congress soon dismissed it (see Huntington to the Committee at Headquarters, 12 Aug., in Smith, Letters of Delegates description begins Paul H. Smith et al., eds. Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789. 26 vols. Washington, D.C., 1976–2000. description ends , 15:569–70; see also JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 17:720).

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