Major General Arthur St. Clair to George Washington, 6 April 1781
From Major General Arthur St. Clair
Philadelphia April 6th 1781
Sir,
My Last to your Excellency was of the Second of March since which an excrutiating fit of the Gout, which still deprives me of my right hand, has rendered me almost totally incapable of business.1 as soon however as I was able to bear any motion I had myself brought down here to be at hand to forward the preparations for marching the detachment, and to keep the Assembly in mind of the necessity of recruiting the Line;2 but I cannot boast of my Success in the last instance, as there is nothing yet done in it, and the Session has already been drawn out to so great a length that I am very apprehensive the House will rise without taking the matter up. The detachment, which will consist of nine hundred & sixty rank & file properly officered to form three Battalions, will march I think in about ten days, as I have reason to hope that money will be provided for them by that time, and a sufficient quantity of Cloathing for that number setts off tomorrow for the different cantonments.3 the Arms and Camp equipage will arrive at York Town, where the Troops are ordered to Assemble, in the course of the succeeding week—I have ordered the four pieces of Artillery that are with Colo. Proctor’s regiment, with a proper detachment from it, to join this Body, as it is probable from the circumstances of the 16th Ultimo, that Genl Greene may be in want of them;4 and the route I intend the whole shall pursue is from York Town by the Head of Patapsicoe and Alexandria to Fredericksburgh in Virginia, from whence General Wayne will be best able to judge of the route he must follow to join General Greene—After this detachment marches we may possibly collect three or four hundred more of the old Soldiers, and that I think the extent we have any reason to reckon on—so that unless the Assembly takes some very decisive steps, the recruiting business will very soon be closed in this State—Whatever may be determined upon I shall take the earliest opportunity to acquaint your Excellency with it, and purpose to pay you a visit as soon as I am able to ride.
Colo: Moylan’s regiment is in such a situation that it must be a considerable time before they can possibly move; having but eighty men & fifty Horses fit for service—in want of every equipment, and no money in any of the departments to procure them—An express arrived last evening from General Greene who informs that after laying three days at the Iron Works in expectation of Lord Cornwallis’s advancing, and preparing himself for his reception, he received accounts of his having Suddenly retreated towards Cross Creek, leaving behind him all the Wounded Prisoners taken at Guilford, and his own Hospital5—Colo. Stewart of the Guards was killed in the action of Guilford—General OHara, Colo’s. Tarlton & Webster wounded and from every circumstance they have suffered very severely.6 Your Excellency must have heard of the Arrival of the reinforcement in Chesepeak we have no accounts of any operations except that they are plundering the Inhabitants on both Sides the Bay, some of the Partys7 have been up as far as the Head of Elk8—The inclosed is a return of Colo. Proctor’s regiment,9 the Cantonements are at such a distance and the conveyance so uncertain that the returns come to hand very irregularly, but I shall endeavour to have them sent on by the time and in the manner desired by the Adjutant General.10 I have the Honour to be with great respect Your Excellency’s Most Obedient and very Humble servant
Ar. St Clair
LS, DLC:GW; Df, OHi: Arthur St. Clair Papers. For the arrival of this letter, see GW to Lafayette, 14 April, postscript. GW replied to St. Clair on 25 April; see also GW to St. Clair, 8 April.
1. The gout made St. Clair’s writing very shaky, as evidenced by his short insertion and signature on the LS (see n.7 below).
2. For this initial detachment from the Pennsylvania line to the southern army, see GW to St. Clair, 26 February.
3. Before rising from its session begun on 6 Feb., the Pennsylvania assembly passed on 7 April a measure “for Emitting the Sum of Five Hundred Thousand Pounds in Bills of Credit, for the Support of the Army” and other purposes but took no action on recruiting the state’s regiments (, 10:301–8, quote on 301; see also John Mathews to GW, 16 April, n.9). The assembly did, however, direct the Supreme Executive Council to continue recruiting parties until the state’s quota was completed. The assembly also designated funds that the council could use for recruiting (see , 12:690–92).
4. St. Clair refers to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on 15 March (see Nathanael Greene to Samuel Huntington, 16 March, printed as an enclosure with Greene to GW, 17 March).
5. For the letter that likely came with this express from Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene, see Huntington to GW, 5 April, n.3.
6. British lieutenant colonel James Webster had been mortally wounded.
James Stewart (Stuart; d. 1781) joined the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards as an ensign in September 1758. He became a guards captain and lieutenant colonel in April 1775. Previous to his death at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, Stewart had distinguished himself during fighting in South Carolina (see Alexander Leslie to Francis Rawdon, 9 Nov. 1780, in , 3:41–42).
7. St. Clair wrote the previous two words above the line on the LS after “whom” had been struck out.
8. For this British detachment sent to Virginia, see GW to Abner Nash, 4 April, and n.2 to that document.
9. St. Clair enclosed a detailed return dated 2 April and headed “Monthly Return of the Pensyla. or 2nd Battallion of Artillery, commanded by Coll Thos Procter” (DLC:GW).
10. Adj. Gen. Edward Hand had urged timely returns from units positioned at a distance from New Windsor (see General Orders, 28 March, source note).