To George Washington from Major General Robert Howe, 16 December 1779
From Major General Robert Howe
Fish-Kiln [N.Y.] 16th Decr 1779
Dear Sir
Having furnish’d —— with Expresses, And directed him to forward any Circumstances of intelligence to Morris Town, and having settled other arrangements, I shall in order to attend the Court Martial set out and hope to arrive at Head Quarters by the 20th at farthest.1 I have had some accounts from New York since I wrote your Excellency last, but they being similar to those receiv’d by me from —— and which Consequently have been Convey’d to your Excellency by his letter which I transmitted I need not here subjoin them2—I am Dear Sir with sincerest Regard and Greatest Respect Yr Exc[e]llency’s most Obt Servt
Robt Howe
ALS, MH.
Howe wrote Maj. Gen. William Heath from Fishkill on this date: “Various ways have I heard from New York, all agree that a Grand Embarkation is taking place, that Sir Harry Clinton Conducts the Expedition, the object Charls Town, in the First instance, the Ultimate end the three Southern States, which he Boasts he will restore to their former Allegiance, The Granadiers, Light Infantry and a Number of Hessians, are under Orders to be ready for immediate Embarkation, Sixty Men from each new rais’d Corps are Drafted to act as rifle Men, The Baggage of whole Regiments is already on Board, Emissaries are Employed to find out how we are Canton’d, where are our Magazines where Quarters our Genl Officers—how are they Guarded &c. &c. &c. I am laying myself out to Catch some of those Emissaries, I hope I shall succeed. I have transmitted these accounts to his Excellency by an Express that was just setting off when I receiv’d them” (MHi: Heath Papers).
1. For Howe’s service as president of Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold’s courtmartial, which resumed on 23 Dec., see his second letter to GW, 14 Dec., and the notes to that document.
2. The unnamed person presumably was the double agent Elijah Hunter, whom Howe discussed in his first letter to GW of 14 December.