From George Washington to Colonel John Lamb, 14 July 1779
To Colonel John Lamb
[New Windsor] July 14: 1779
sir
General Heath has informed me by a Letter of the 12th dated at Amewalk, that the Militia with General parsons have but very little ammunition.1 As this is a time of emergency, it may be necessary to furnish them with some, or they may be entirely destitute before they can obtain a supply from the State.2 I therefore request that you will send 25,000 Cartridges to General Heath by an early conveyance—to whom I have written with respect to the distribution.3 I am sir with esteem and regard Yr Most Obedt st
Go: Washington
P.s. He will be found below Bedford or Ridgefield towards Norwalk.
Df, in Robert Hanson Harrison’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW. The postscript on the draft manuscript is in the writing of GW’s aide-de-camp Richard Kidder Meade. The letter is addressed to Lamb at Fishkill, New York.
Lamb replied to GW in a letter of 16 July: “In compliance with your Excellency’s requisition, contained in your Letter of the 14th Instant, I have forwarded to Major General Heath, 25,000 Musket Cartridges, suitable for the Militia” (ALS, DLC:GW; LB, NHi: Lamb Papers).
1. For Brig. Gen. Samuel Holden Parsons’s appeal for ammunition, see William Heath to GW, 12 July, n.3.
2. For the British raids on Connecticut in early July and the efforts of Parsons to coordinate state militia, see GW to Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., 7 July, source note, and Parsons to GW, 9, 10, and 11 July; see also GW to Parsons, 8 and 10 July.
3. See GW to William Heath, this date.