To George Washington from Brigadier General Jacob Bayley, 16 February 1780
From Brigadier General Jacob Bayley
Newbury [Vt.] 16th February 1780
Sir
Since my last Letter by Mr Thompson in which was Inclosed Mr Metcalfs Letter dated at Montreal 13th Novr1 I have had no certain Accounts from Canada, but by a Torey who came to his Friends and gave them Warning to take Care of themselves as a large Party under Colo: Butler would be over to this River this Winter2—The Tories have done Mischief a little above Charlestown have stole the Towns Stock of Ammunition. We have pretty certain Intelligence from Fort Halifax on Kennebeck River informing that a Letter was Read there that great Preparations were making in Canada to make a Descent on this River,3 all put together has much Alarmed the People who have Voluntarily raised Two Companies of Sixty Men each and have placed them on the Two Passes, about halfe way to the Lake who Scout almost to the Lake,4 and as the Snow is Deep have desired that Each Inhabitant provide Each a Pair of Snow Shoes, and by Colo: Bellows Letter recd this Day he has his Regiment ready which is the lowest Regt we expect help from5 the People are ready to Defend themselves and the Public Store, the Two Companies are put under the Command of Major Whitcomb untill the last of March when we think the Danger will be over untill June, The People has Engaged to Replace the Provision if required, and to pay the Men, but if your Excellency approves of the Measures expect it will be at Public Charge, the Indians continue with Us but I have been and am Obliged to furnish them with Cloathing to Enable them to Hunt, which proves a Guard to us, and saves Provisions more than the Value of Cloathing Reducting what they Pay, and as the State of the Massachusets Bay is Interested in the Affair have applied to them to Advance something all which will be Accounted for, I shall Endeavour to be at as little Expence to the Continent as possible—I would mention one thing more. I find at Dartmouth College four Young Men from Caughnawaga and St Francois of an English Descent, Charity Scholars in their Third Year in College, who have been and now are Destitute of every Support but what they labour for,6 and One Canadian Son to Mr Holmes a Merchant at Montreal tho’ a Man of Interest it is out of his Power to Support him, he is now Naked and labours to Support himself and Pay his Tutors,7 these Scholars and the Indians have warded of[f] the Blow from us more than Once and I hope by their means it will be done agin.8 I am Sir Your most Obt Humble Servant
Jacob Bayley
LS, DLC:GW.
1. Bayley’s letter to GW “by Mr Thompson” has not been found, and “Mr Metcalfs” letter has not been identified. Bayley’s most recent known letter to GW was dated 22 Jan. 1780.
2. Bayley is referring to the Connecticut River.
3. Fort Halifax, in present-day Winslow, Maine, is located on the Kennebec River at its confluence with the Sebasticook River. The fort was built by the colony of Massachusetts in 1754–55 to defend the upper Kennebec River Valley from attack by the French and their Indian allies. As originally constructed, it included two main blockhouses, a barracks, and a main building, as well as two additional blockhouses overlooking the area from atop a nearby hill.
4. Bayley is referring to Lake Champlain.
5. Since 1776, Benjamin Bellows (1740–1802) of Walpole, N.H., had commanded a regiment of New Hampshire militia. He became brigadier general of militia in 1781.
6. A report of the money expended for tuition, board, and clothes for Indian students at Dartmouth from the St. Francis and Caughnawaga tribes, dated 2 April 1779 and signed by three trustees of the college, lists four Indians from those villages still at the college on that date: Lewis Vincent, John Phillips, Thomas Stacey, and Great Francis (DNA:PCC, item 91).
St. François du Lac, the town of the St. Francis Indians, is located in Quebec near Pierreville, at the mouth of the St. François River where it flows into the St. Lawrence River. The Iroquois village of Caughnawaga in Quebec was located on the southern shore of the St. Lawrence River, directly across from the city of Montreal. It is now an Indian reservation.
7. Hugh Holmes of Montreal, Canada, graduated from Dartmouth College in 1782 and became an agriculturalist. His father likely was William Holmes (d. 1792) of the Montreal firm of Holmes & Grant. A native of Ireland, the senior Holmes came to Canada in the mid-1760s and engaged in the fur trade. In 1778, he formed a partnership with Robert Grant. He became an original member of the North West Company in 1779. In 1790, he sold his share in the North West Company and retired from the fur trade.
8. GW replied on 15 March. He refused to endorse the raising of the two volunteer companies and recommended that Bayley write to the commissioners of Indian affairs regarding the support of the Indian youths at Dartmouth (DLC:GW). For the Board of War’s report to Congress recommending the provision of money to support these Indian students at Dartmouth, see 16:162–63.