To George Washington from Caesar Rodney, 13 July 1780

From Caesar Rodney

Dover [Del.] 13th July 1780.

Sir,

I heretofore informed you that the several Matters recommended by your Excellency and the Committee of Co-operation, as well as those recommended by Congress were laid before the General Assembly, and since they adjourned wrote your Excellency how far they had complied with the several Requisitons,1 but I find by your Letter of the 30th Ulto2 I have not been sufficiently explicit with Respect to filling up the State Regiment to the Number of 504 Rank and File. I am sorry to inform you that the Legislature have no[t] otherwise complied therewith than by appointing Persons within the State to the Recruiting Service, owing, as I am informed by some of the Members, to the Regiment’s being to the Southward.3

I have appointed the Officers and issued Orders for assembling the Regiment directed to be raised from the militia of this State,4 and am in Expectation that they will be at the Place of Rendezvous by the Time assigned in your Letter of the 30th Ulto; however I am of Opinion that the great Bounties given for men to fill this will effectually prevent our recruiting in future the State-Regiment, which I am persuaded is of much more Importance.

You will find by the Act for furnishing Suppl⟨ies⟩ of Provisions, Forage &c., the General Assembly have invested me with certain Powers for the more speedy obtaining the same, which Powers your Excellency may be assured I shall vigorously and steadily exert for the Good of the Service.5 I am, Sir, with every Sentiment of Esteem & Respect, Your Excellency’s most obedient humble Servant

Cæsar Rodney

LS, DLC:GW; ADf, DLC: Rodney Family Papers. GW’s secretary Robert Hanson Harrison wrote on the docket of the LS: “no Answer wanted.”

1. See Rodney to GW, 22 June.

2. See Circular to the States, 30 June.

3. The Delaware council and assembly passed this resolution on 21 June (see Del. House Proceedings description begins Claudia L. Bushman et al., eds. Proceedings of the Assembly of the Lower Counties on the Delaware, 1770–1776, of the Constitutional Convention of 1776, and of the House of Assembly of the Delaware State, 1776–1781. Newark, Del., 1986. description ends , 548).

4. See Circular to the States, 2 June.

5. For these powers to draw money from the state treasury during the recess of the assembly to speed procurement of supplies, see Del. House Proceedings description begins Claudia L. Bushman et al., eds. Proceedings of the Assembly of the Lower Counties on the Delaware, 1770–1776, of the Constitutional Convention of 1776, and of the House of Assembly of the Delaware State, 1776–1781. Newark, Del., 1986. description ends , 542–43.

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Source Project: Washington Papers
Title: To George Washington from Caesar Rodney, 13 July 1780
Author: Rodney, Caesar
Recipient: Washington, George
Date: 13 July 1780

Reference

Cite as: “To George Washington from Caesar Rodney, 13 July 1780,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-27-02-0086. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 27, 5 July–27 August 1780, ed. Benjamin L. Huggins. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2019, p. 114.]

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