George Washington Papers
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To George Washington from John Hancock, 27 August 1777

From John Hancock

Philada August 27th 1777.

Sir,

I have the Honour to transmit you the enclosed Resolves which Congress have passed at this critical Period, with a View to have the disaffected in the States of Pennsylvania and Delaware immediately apprehended and secured. I shall forward Copies of them to those States with the utmost Expedition, that a Measure of such Consequence may be carried into Execution as soon as possible.1

I have only Time to refer your Attention to the Resolves, and have the Honour to be with the greatest Respect Sir, your most obed. & very hble Servt

John Hancock Presidt

The Inclos’d Letter I have just Rec’d, & judging it of Consequence I send it by Express2—We have a report that General Parsons has been on Long Island, & brought off some Prisoners & Cannon, but have no particulars—I wish it may prove true.3

LS, DLC:GW; LB, DNA:PCC, item 12A. The postscript of the LS, which is in Hancock’s writing, is not included on the letter-book copy.

1. The enclosed congressional resolutions of 26 Aug. include, in addition to the ones mentioned by Hancock, a resolution recommending that Pennsylvania lend GW two brass 12–pound cannon and a resolution requesting that the Pennsylvania supreme executive council “order all the leaden spouts in Philadelphia to be taken down for the use of the laboratory” (DLC:GW; 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 , 8:677–79, and Hancock to Delaware and Pennsylvania, 27 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 , 7:560–61).

2. This enclosure apparently was Horatio Gates’s second letter to GW of 22 Aug. (see GW to Hancock, 29 Aug.).

3. For documents regarding Gen. Samuel Holden Parsons’s abortive raid of 22 Aug. on a Loyalist outpost on Long Island, see Hall, Life and Letters of General Parsons description begins Charles S. Hall. Life and Letters of Samuel Holden Parsons: Major General in the Continental Army and Chief Judge of the Northwestern Territory, 1737-1789. Binghamton, N.Y., 1905. description ends , 108–10.

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    Washington Papers
    Title
    To George Washington from John Hancock, 27 August 1777
    Author
    Hancock, John
    Recipient
    Washington, George
    Date
    27 August 1777

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To George Washington from John Hancock, 27 August 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-11-02-0074. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 11, 19 August 1777 – 25 October 1777, ed. Philander D. Chase and Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2001, p. 79.]

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