From George Washington to Brigadier General John Tyler, 28 November 1779
To Brigadier General John Tyler
Hd Qrs Wt Pt Novr 28th 1779
Sir,
I have recd yr favor of the 18th inst. by serjt Hebberd,1 who delivered with it Richd Bird—his Pocket Book containing sundry Papers 3 half Joes two Gu[i]neas & 100 Paper Dollars inclosed in a letter from his Wife2—I have not the least doubt of his past Villainous conduct, and intentions to practice the same in future & shall therefore have him properly secured until he can be conveyed to Virginia where his offences from what appears seem most likely to meet with the punishment they deserve.3
I am much obliged by your promise of communicating such intelligence as may be important—We have nothing at all new in this quarter. I am Yr &.
G.W.
Df, in Richard Kidder Meade’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
1. The letter from Tyler to GW of 18 Nov. has not been found. The sergeant who conveyed this letter may have been Dan Hibbard, whom the Connecticut legislature arranged as an ensign in a regiment raised for the defense of the state in January 1780 (see 2:459).
2. The “sundry Papers” and letter of unknown date from Richard Bird’s wife, all apparently delivered with Bird, have not been identified.
3. GW’s first letter of 11 Dec. to Virginia governor Thomas Jefferson, written from Morristown, N.J., reads: “I inclose your Excellency a number of papers relative to a certain Richard Bird, and the money mentioned in Gen. Tylers letter. Col. Nevil takes charge of the prisoner I give your Excellency this trouble as he appears to be the person some time ago advertised in a Virginia paper for the commission of some crime” (Df, in James McHenry’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW). The enclosed papers have not been identified. Col. John Nevill commanded the combined 3d and 4th Virginia Regiments and marched south as part of the movement to reinforce the southern department (see GW to Samuel Huntington, 29 Nov., and the source note to that document).