To George Washington from Major General Steuben, 1 February 1781

From Major General Steuben

Richmond 1st February 1781

Sir

I had the honor of addressing your Excellency the 29 Instant informing you of the Enemies movements down to that date they remain at Portsmouth where they are throwing up some works for their defence.1

Among the greatest mischiefs occasioned by this invasion is the total derangement of all the measures we were taking for the support of the Southern Army—the calling out the Militia will necessarily exhaust our Provision & the raising the Recruits & every other supply requested from the state will be delayed at least two Months As for Arms we cannot expect a single one from the State The few they had are in the hands of the Militia & do not amount to 4000 wholly without Bayonets & the most of them in very bad order the 3000 Men Voted must therefore be armed from the Northward for should the Enemy even quit the state it cannot be supposed they will leave themselves intirely Unarmed.2

With respect to Cloathing their situation is not much better—their troops now serving to the southard are entirely Naked except Colo. Greens Detachmt whom I cloathed in tolerable manner before they marched—those at Chesterfield are as miserable as they can be—Naked & consequently Sickly. I [am] exerting myself all in my power to get them Cloathed in order to send them on to Genl Green.

From the dispersed situation of the Cavalry at the Southard I have not been able to procure returns of them the two Regiments together amount to about 300 Men badly Armed and Mounted The artillery amount to about 100 Men in as bad a situation as the other Troops.

The number of Troops of this State now in service is nearly as follows:3 Colo. Bufords Detachmt 500[;] Green 400[;] at Chesterfield 500[;] at P[orts] M[outh] 120[;] Cavalry 300[;] Artillery 100[; total] 1920.

to this add the 3000 Men to be raised & the state will be deficient near 2000 Men.

Inclosed I transmitt your Excellency Copy of a Letter from Genl Green by which you will see that Armands Corps were sent here as unfit for Service4—they Joined me the day the Enemy enterd Richmond as I had at that time only 40 Militia with me, their Services were essentially necessary I therefore orderd them to be Armed5—when Eleven of the Infantry mutinied & refused to take Arms or Act against the English alledging their being Prisoners taken with Burgoyne6—the same spirit had also began to prevail among the Cavalry but having the ringleader shot the next day, & some of the others Whipt the whole returned to their Duty7—I have procured them 30 pr Boots & a few essential Articles8 & they are now with Genl Mulenberg I should be glad to receive your Excellencys directions with respect to them.

The Governor has called the Assembly who are to meet the 1st of March9 and I propose endeavouring to get some better Arrangements made with their Militia—tho’ from the very dispersed situation of the Inhabitants & their [being] almost wholly unarmed—this Country will always be more defenceless than any of the Northern States—I have proposed to have a Battery with a Redoubt & blockhouses built at Hoods for the defense of the River—the Governor & Council have agreed to the proposal & it will be begun in a few Days.

Df, NHi: Steuben Papers. GW replied to Steuben on 20 February.

1. See Steuben to GW, 29 January.

2. For this act, raising 3,000 men to serve for the duration of the war, see Steuben to GW, 17 Dec. 1780, and n.9.

3. Steuben refers to Virginia’s Continental troops.

4. The enclosed copy of Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene’s letter to Steuben of 15 Dec. has not been found. In the letter, Greene directed Steuben to get instructions from GW on the “future employment” of the corps (Greene Papers description begins Richard K. Showman et al., eds. The Papers of General Nathanael Greene. 13 vols. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1976–2005. description ends , 6:580).

5. For the entry of British forces into Richmond during Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold’s raid up the James River, see Steuben to GW, 8 January.

6. Steuben refers to Lt. Gen. John Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga, N.Y., on 17 Oct. 1777.

7. The mutineers were Germans. Steuben sent them to Charlottesville, Va., to be held as prisoners of war (see Steuben to Greene, 30 Jan., in Greene Papers description begins Richard K. Showman et al., eds. The Papers of General Nathanael Greene. 13 vols. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1976–2005. description ends , 7:224–25). They later claimed that at the time of this incident their enlistments had expired (see James Wood to Thomas Jefferson, 20 Feb., enclosure, in Jefferson Papers description begins Julian P. Boyd et al., eds. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. 41 vols. to date. Princeton, N.J., 1950–. description ends , 4:671–73). For later desertions from Colonel Armand’s legion, see Greene to GW, 28 February.

8. See Steuben to Jefferson, 17 Jan., in Jefferson Papers description begins Julian P. Boyd et al., eds. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. 41 vols. to date. Princeton, N.J., 1950–. description ends , 4:392.

9. See Proclamation Convening the General Assembly, 23 Jan., in Jefferson Papers description begins Julian P. Boyd et al., eds. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. 41 vols. to date. Princeton, N.J., 1950–. description ends , 4:432.

Index Entries

You Are Looking At

Source Project: Washington Papers
Title: To George Washington from Major General Steuben, 1 February 1781
Author: Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin, baron von
Recipient: Washington, George
Date: 1 February 1781

Reference

Cite as: “To George Washington from Major General Steuben, 1 February 1781,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-30-02-0302. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 30, 1 January–6 March 1781, ed. Benjamin L. Huggins. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2022, pp. 339–341.]

More between these correspondents