John Adams to Abigail Adams, 30 April 1777

John Adams to Abigail Adams

April 30. 1777

We have a fine Piece of News this Morning of the March of 2000 of the Enemy, and destroying a fine Magazine there—and the stupid sordid cowardly torified Country People let them pass without Opposition.1

All New England is petrified, with Astonishment, Horror, and Despair, I believe in my Conscience. They behave worse than any Part of the Continent.2 Even in N. Jersy 2000 Men could not have marched so far.

RC (Adams Papers).

1. The reference is to the destructive raid on the Continental stores at Danbury, Conn., from Long Island Sound, 25–27 April, by a British force under Maj. Gen. William Tryon and Brig. Gen. Sir William Erskine; see Washington’s letter to Congress, 28 April, read on the 30th (Washington, Writings, ed. Fitzpatrick description begins The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745–1799, ed. John C. Fitzpatrick, Washington, 1931–1944; 39 vols. description ends , 7:490–491; JCC description begins Worthington C. Ford and others, eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789, Washington, 1904–1937; 34 vols. description ends , 7:314); also AA to JA, 6–9 May, below.

2. The punctuation and capitalization of the MS have been retained in this passage, but in all likelihood JA actually intended a full stop after “Despair” and a comma after “Conscience.”

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Source Project: Adams Papers
Title: John Adams to Abigail Adams, 30 April 1777
Author: Adams, John
Recipient: Adams, Abigail
Date: 30 April 1777

Reference

Cite as: “John Adams to Abigail Adams, 30 April 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/04-02-02-0173. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Adams Family Correspondence, vol. 2, June 1776 – March 1778, ed. L. H. Butterfield. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963, pp. 228–229.]

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