To George Washington from Abraham Yates, Jr., 21 September 1776
From Abraham Yates, Jr.
In Convention of the Representatives of the State
of New York—Fishkill September 21st 1776.
Sir
The Convention have received your Excellency’s Letter of Septr 20th And have in consequence entered into the inclosed Resolution which I am directed to transmit: we are sorry that it is not in our Power to send down more than two fire Ships as they have no more charged in such a manner as to be depended on.1 A Committee of Correspondence has been established by the Convention for the purpose of communicating to, and receiving Intelligence from the Army—the Express will receive Orders to call upon your Excellency Daily2—and any Commands or Intelligence which your Excellency may think proper to transmit will be thankfully received, and punctually attended to by—Your Excellency’s most Obedient Servant
Abm Yates Junr President
LS, DLC:GW. The draft of this letter that the New York committee of safety approved earlier on this date is almost identical in wording to the LS (see , 1:637–38).
1. The convention on this date ordered “that Gilbert Livingston Esqr. or any other Member of the Committee for obstructing the Navigation of Hudson’s River who may now be at Pou[gh]keepsie do immediately dispatch the two fireships prepared and charged by Capt. [John] Hazelwood with proper Persons to navigate them to Fort Washington under cover of the Guns & there deliver them to the Care of such Person as his Excellency General Washington has or shall appoint to take charge of them” (DLC:GW; see also ibid., 637).
2. On 17 Sept. the convention appointed William Allison, Robert R. Livingston, and Henry Wisner, Sr., to be a committee of correspondence authorized to establish post riders between Fishkill and GW’s headquarters. William Duer was added to the committee by 22 Sept. (see ibid., 627, and Duer to GW, 22 Sept.).