From George Washington to Major General John Sullivan or Officer Commanding at Pompton, N.J., 21 November 1779
To Major General John Sullivan or Officer Commanding at Pompton, N.J.
West Point Novr 21st 1779
Dr Sir,
As soon as possible after receipt of this letter, you will put the Troops under your command in motion for their Winter cantonments, agreeably to the routes (which I presume has been) given to you by the Qr Mr Genl1—In case these should not have reached you—Clintons and Hands Brigades will compose part of the main Army, & must march by Rockaway Bridge and Morris Town (unless by application to the Qr Mr Genl he should point out a more direct way) to their ground. Poors Brigade is to proceed to Danbury in Connecticut—by Suffrans, & the Mountain road by Concklins—Buskirks Mill2—& Light Infantry Camp, to Kings Ferry where he is to cross as expeditiously as possible, & to apply by an Officer dispatched for the purpose, to Qr Mr Starr3 for Teams to take him forward—The Cloaths for his Brigade may meet him at the Ferry—& there he will receive more particular orders than I have time to furnish at present.4 I am Dr Sir Your Most Obet servant
Go: Washington
LS, in Richard Kidder Meade’s writing, NhHi: Sullivan Papers; Df, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW. GW signed the cover of the LS.
1. For Q.M. Gen. Nathanael Greene’s marching orders, see GW to Greene, 17 Nov., n.7.
2. GW could mean a mill on the property of Lawrence Van Buskirk (1729–1803), a Loyalist who owned an estate in Orange County, N.Y., and had served as a captain in the King’s Orange Rangers (see 227).
3. GW probably is referring to Ezra Starr, assistant deputy quartermaster at Danbury, Conn. (see also William Heath to GW, 26 Nov.).