1. This letter has not been found.

2. Howe’s aide-de-camp Captain Muenchhausen says in his diary entry for this date: “A little after six o’clock in the morning we set out to march in two columns, the baggage in front of each column, by way of Chestnut Hill to Germantown. Lord Cornwallis’ column with which our General [Howe] rode, had an exceedingly pleasant march, because the road from Chestnut Hill to Germantown is lined with many houses, most of them nice buildings. . . . General Knyphausen’s column marched two miles from us on our right and joined us at Germantown. Knyphausen’s column took a position extending from the Schuylkill to Germantown. Some of Cornwallis’ column was posted on the right side of Germantown, almost in line with Knyphausen’s corps and to the rear on the road to Philadelphia. A battalion of light infantry was placed two miles back, between Germantown and Chestnut Hill, where they had their first picket. . . . Cornwallis’ corps came to be stationed closer to Philadelphia, in fact so close that its van, which included our headquarters, was only four miles from Philadelphia” (Muenchhausen, At General Howe’s Side description begins Friedrich von Muenchhausen. At General Howe’s Side, 1776–1778: The Diary of General William Howe’s Aide de Camp, Captain Friedrich von Muenchhausen. Translated by Ernst Kipping. Annotated by Samuel Smith. Monmouth Beach, N.J., 1974. description ends , 35–36; see also Howe to Germain, 10 Oct. 1777, in Davies, Documents of the American Revolution description begins K. G. Davies, ed. Documents of the American Revolution, 1770–1783; (Colonial Office Series). 21 vols. Shannon and Dublin, 1972–81. description ends , 14:202–9; Scull, Montresor Journals description begins G. D. Scull, ed. The Montresor Journals. New York, 1882. In Collections of the New-York Historical Society, vol. 14. description ends , 458; Lydenberg, Robertson Diaries description begins Harry Miller Lydenberg, ed. Archibald Robertson, Lieutenant-General Royal Engineers: His Diaries and Sketches in America, 1762–1780. New York, 1930. description ends , 150; André, Journal description begins John André. Major André’s Journal: Operations of the British Army under Lieutenant Generals Sir William Howe and Sir Henry Clinton, June 1777 to November 1778. 1930. Reprint. New York, 1968. description ends , 52–53; Baurmeister, Revolution in America description begins Carl Leopold Baurmeister. Revolution in America: Confidential Letters and Journals, 1776–1784, of Adjutant General Major Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces. Translated and annotated by Bernhard A. Uhlendorf. New Brunswick, N.J., 1957. description ends , 117; and Ewald, Diary description begins Johann Ewald. Diary of the American War: A Hessian Journal. Translated and edited by Joseph P. Tustin. New Haven and London, 1979. description ends , 91).

3. At this place on the manuscript, GW wrote and then struck out the words: “from hence.”

4. At this place on the manuscript, GW wrote and then struck out the words: “for us.” Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, who lived at Trappe, Pa., about ten miles southeast of GW’s headquarters, wrote in his journal entry for this date: “At two o’clock in the afternoon it began to rain hard and become very cold. The rain lasted almost all night. The poor soldiers have to endure a great deal because they have no tents with them. Our barn was crowded with those who sought some shelter” (Tappert and Doberstein, Muhlenberg Journals description begins Theodore G. Tappert and John W. Doberstein, trans. and eds. The Journals of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. 3 vols. Philadelphia, 1942–58. description ends , 3:80).

5. GW probably is referring to Dietrich Welcker’s forge, which stood on the Skippack Road on the west bank of Skippack Creek.