To George Washington from Major General Robert Howe, 4 March 1780
From Major General Robert Howe
Highlands [N.Y.] 4th march 1780
Dear sir
I have this moment heard from —— an Extract of whose letter I send you,1 and also a Copy of one written to him sign’d as you will find by perusing it, the original of which I have receiv’d but must return to —— as he desires to have it again.2 I Earnestly wish the news respecting the British Fleet may be true, nor do I wholly discredit it, as I have had the Same intelligence from several hands. As he Expects his Emissary up again, and as your Excellency may wish Certain answers to be made to their enquiries, now sent which may not suggest them selves to me, I send by express that I may hear from you in time, and also to give you the Earliest information of the objects of their Enquiry, as it may give some Idea of their designs, & govern your measures to counteract them.3 I have written to —— to be informd particularly what was the contents of his letter to them, and expressive of surprise that he had not sent a Copy, tho’ I doubt not the omission was unintentional, but the check was necessary that it might not be repeated. I found & find, things here in a situation not Satisfactory; our supply of Provision not above ten or twelve days forward, and the situation of the Roads very obstructive to the transportation, Every possible Efforts & Exertions have been, and shall be made, & I hope success will crown our Endeavours. pointed orders have been written and Reiterated to Commissaries of Every sort, and I am Encouraged to think with good Effect, The states, have Exerted themselv[e]s in a manner spirited & Patriotic, and Colo. Hay deserves for his Conduct more than I can Express. Our number of Effectives at present are under two thousand, too small by many, for so important a Post, the Discipline in Cantonments (according to Custom) not so Exact or strict as it ought to be, and as it shall be, before long, for I am attending to it, from the Individual to the Aggregate, I need not mention to your Excellency that this last Paragraph is for no Eye but yours I shall do my self the Honour to write to your Excellency more fully in a few days, at present I shall not to detain the Express. The Engineers have orders to Report what they want and they will have every assistence in my power. A Fatigue has been already order’d, and are at work at West point. depend upon my Every Effort as my Duty my Ambition and inclination Combine to impell me. With Every wish for your happiness I have the Honour to be with the Greatest Respect Dear sir your Excellency’s affectionate & most obt servt
Robt Howe
ALS, DLC:GW.
1. The enclosed extract, in Howe’s writing and dated 3 March, reads: “Inclos’d I send you a letter that I last night Receivd by a spy from the army in new york, when I returnd from Fish kill to my great surprise I found two men had left a message for me to meet them, they were sent from below. I met them last night two miles below North Castle, church & was with them for two hours, & by them have answerd the letter as they were in haste to return, in a manner that can do no harm & wait your further instruction You have no doubt heard from one of your Guides on the lines who obtaind the news at second hand, that the Fleet which saild from new york, that in Distress were a great part taken by the French, which news came by one Underhill who was himself taken by the French, and who being put on Board of one of ⟨their⟩ Prison ships this —— with his Comrades & took the ship & Crew and brought them into New york. Which is a Fact, for the two men who came to me Confess it, and these men further say that the English were obliged to throw all their Horse over Board, and that the fleet was in the greatest distress, and own’d that they were in a deplorable situation, But would not own that Clinton & cornwallis were taken, but said that they had arriv’d at the southward, with a part of the Fleet, but that I think is all a Hum[bug]—and I really believe they are taken from the best accounts I can get. I shall hear in a few days, but as to my self, I rely on it to be a Fact, I expect the same men up again in a few days. I am much afraid we shall be plagued in this Quarter all the summer by the Enemy if they dont go away. It is reportd here by the way of long Island that they have Burnt their Barracks on the Island, and that another Embarkation ⟨is⟩ to take place, but I dont think from the enclosed letter, that can be the case—⟨Plese⟩ hasten to me yr Instructions” (DLC:GW). The letter was from one of Howe’s spies, possibly Elijah Hunter. The British believed that these spies were loyal to them, but in July, Joseph Stansbury, Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold’s liaison with the British high command, related that Arnold believed the opposite to be true: “Two or three Persons in whom you confide as Spies on General Howe are in his pay & often give him important intelligence” ( 462).
2. This enclosure has not been identified, but it appears to have been a copy of a letter from Capt. George Beckwith, aide-de-camp to Lt. Gen. Wilhelm von Knyphausen, who, in the absence of Gen. Henry Clinton, was commanding the British, German, and Provincial forces in the New York City area (see GW to Howe, 7 March, n.3).
3. The enclosed “enquiries” have not been identified, but GW sent his responses with his reply to Howe of 7 March.