To George Washington from Henry Laurens, 27 November 1778
From Henry Laurens
[Philadelphia] 27th November [1778]
Sir
When I was writing to Your Excellency yesterday Morning I had some doubts whether General Heath’s Letter of the 2nd November referred to in the first article had been an original to Congress or a Copy derived through Your Excellency’s hands, this was at too early an hour for obtaining information from the Secretary’s Office where the Paper was lodged and the tenor of the Resolve contributed to deceive me, when I attended Congress I found it to be as I had suspected, therefore to prevent unnecessary delay I now transmit Copy of that Letter together with Copies of two from Major de Passern which General Heath refers to.1 I have the honor to be &c.
LB, DNA:PCC, item 13. The letter was carried “by Ingles.”
1. Maj. Gen. William Heath’s letter to Congress of 2 Nov. covered letters of 11 Oct. and 1 Nov. that he had received from Maj. William de Passern of the Hesse Hanau Regiment of the Convention Army, requesting to go to Europe on parole (DNA:PCC, item 157). An earlier petition by Passern had been voted down in Congress (, 12:888). For GW’s somewhat ambivalent response, see his letter to Laurens of 4 December.