From George Washington to Major General Horatio Gates, 9 July 1778
To Major General Horatio Gates
Newark [N.J.] 9th July 1778
Sir
I yesterday met yours of the 6th on the march to this place, at which, the front division of the Army arrived in the morning. They halt this day and will march again at one OClock tomorrow Morning. The other divisions follow at a days distance. I am glad to hear that every thing will be ready at Kings ferry to transport the Army and hope that measures will be taken to keep the passage open should the Enemy attempt to interrupt it—Since my last,1 we have discovered a number more of their dead, near Monmouth; the buried now amount to upwards of three hundred. The number of deserters, to every quarter, will be near if not quite one thousand. I am with Respect Sir Yr most obt and hble Servt
Go: Washington
LS, in Tench Tilghman’s writing, NHi: Gates Papers; Df, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
At “Sun Sett” on this date, Gates wrote Brig. Gen. John Glover, “I have the pleasure to send You a Copy of a Letter I this moment received from His Excellency General Washington,” and he sent orders about the escort for the grand army’s crossing at King’s Ferry to Colonel La Radière, Capt. John Winslow, and the officer commanding the detachment from West Point (all, NHi: Gates Papers).
1. See GW to Gates, 3 July.