To George Washington from Lieutenant Colonel William De Hart, 21 January 1781
From Lieutenant Colonel William De Hart
Pompton [N.J.] Janry 21. [1781]1
Sir
I am sorry to Inform your Excellency that Our Troops at this Place have followed the Base Example of the Pensyla line.2 And March’d Off last Night About Eight OClock Towards Chatham in Order to Join Our Detachment there who I have My fears will Join them I was Not in Camp at the time, & Cannot Inform Your Excellency So fully as I Could wish, I Expect Information has been forwarded sooner but for fear it should Not have Taken this Opportunity.3 I Am Sr Your Hum. Sevt
Wm De Hart.
ALS, DLC:GW. De Hart wrote and signed a note on the cover: “the Commanding Officer at Kings Ferry is Requested to forward this with the Utmost speed a[s] the Intelligence it Contains Requires speed.” GW’s aide-de-camp David Humphreys docketed the letter: “Recd the 26th Janry.”
1. De Hart mistakenly wrote “71” for the year.
2. De Hart refers to the mutiny of the Pennsylvania line (see Anthony Wayne to GW, 2 Jan., and the source note to that document).
3. See Frederick Frelinghuysen to GW, and Israel Shreve to GW, both 20 January.