George Washington Papers

From George Washington to John Jay, 24 May 1779

To John Jay

Head Quarters Middle Brook May the 24: 1779

sir

I received the inclosed news papers to day—and as they contain intelligence of an interesting nature I take the earliest opportunity of transmitting them to Your Excellency by Express.1 I have the Honor to be with sentiments of the highest esteem & respect Yr Excellency’s Most Obedt servt

Go: Washington

LS, in Robert Hanson Harrison’s writing, DNA:PCC, item 152; Df, DLC:GW; copy, DNA:PCC, item 169; Varick transcript, DLC:GW. Congress read this letter on 26 May (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 14:644).

1. GW may have enclosed New York newspapers that Col. Israel Shreve had enclosed in his letter to GW of 23 May (see GW to Shreve, this date). The Royal Gazette of 22 May contained a detailed account of the recent British raid on Portsmouth, Va., and its vicinity, including a list of the goods and ordnance that had been plundered; for a description of this raid, see William Maxwell to GW, 3 May, n.2.

Index Entries

    You Are Looking At

    Source Project
    Washington Papers
    Title
    From George Washington to John Jay, 24 May 1779
    Author
    Washington, George
    Recipient
    Jay, John
    Date
    24 May 1779

    Reference

    Cite as
    “From George Washington to John Jay, 24 May 1779,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-20-02-0545. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 20, 8 April–31 May 1779, ed. Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010, p. 600.]

    More between these correspondents