George Washington to George Clinton, 15 April 1781
To George Clinton
Head Quar⟨ters New Windsor 15th April 1781⟩
Dear Sir
The Bearer Mr Fish ⟨of Saratoga district⟩ came to me this morning, with ⟨the intelligence of⟩ which the inclosed is a Copy.1 How ⟨he obtained it from⟩ one Harris, he will inform your Exce⟨llency. Harris,⟩ whose Character perhaps your Excellency ⟨may be acquain⟩ted with, is to meet the party under th⟨e command of⟩ Ensign Smith the 20th of this month—is to ⟨convey a⟩ packet to Albany and to carry another ⟨back to them.⟩ He proposed to Fish to seize him at a place ⟨to be⟩ agreed upon and to take the letters from him. ⟨But⟩ I think a better way would be, to let him carry the ⟨letters⟩ and answers in the first instance to Genl schuyler, who might contrive means of opening them with ⟨out⟩ breaking the seals—take Copies of the contents, and then let them go on. By these means we should become Masters of the whole plot—whereas, wer⟨e⟩ we to seize Harris upon his first tour, we should break up the chain of communication, which seems so providentially thrown into our hands. Should your Excellency approve of the measure which I have suggested, you will be pleased to write to Genl Schuyler upon the subject, and desire him, should business call him from Albany, to leave the conduct of the Affair in ⟨proper hands⟩ in his ⟨Ab⟩sence,2 I have promised Fish ⟨that both he⟩ and Harris shall be handsomely rewarded ⟨if they ex⟩ecute the Business with fidelity.3
I have recd your Excellency’s favors of the ⟨30th⟩ ulto and 8th Inst.4 Every thing in my power shall ⟨be⟩ done to keep up the supply of provision to the ⟨No⟩rthward, but our great difficulty now lies in getting ⟨it⟩ from the Magazines in the neighbouring States. The Quarter Master is5 Moneyless and the people refuse to work longer upon Certificates. With the highest Respect and Esteem I am Yr Excellency’s Most obt Servt
Go: Washington
LS (partially burned), in Tench Tilghman’s writing, N-Ar: Clinton Papers; Df, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW. GW signed the cover of the LS, which is addressed to Clinton at Poughkeepsie, New York. Burned material on the LS is supplied in angle brackets from the draft, which also is in Tilghman’s writing.
1. A transcription of the enclosed intelligence report, which is dated 29 March and is anonymous, but probably from Moses Harris, Jr., reads: “Being on the frontier in the neighbourhood of Skenesborough on the 16th instant, and being taken to be a tory, were introduced to a party of the enemy from Canada, commanded by Ensign Thos. Smith, late of Albany … the whole four in number come on a plot to destroy the independence of this and the other states; it not being possible for me to betray them with safety, concluded it best to act the hypochrite for once and succeeded so far as to draw from them that the Grants [Vermont] had capitulated privately to lay down their arms on the approach of the British, which is to be done early this spring, when the British are to proceed to Fort George and take post … for which purpose they now have their boats and shipping ready framed at St.John’s and other places to bring and put into Lake George with all other preparations, even their pickets to fortify the above post with. I further learned their strength consists in Eight thousand troops and loyalists, and many in the state of New York were concerned, gentle & simple not only on the frontier but throughout.
“From the 16th at Evening to the 22d” (, 6:772–73; see also n.3 below).
2. See Philip Schuyler to GW, 4 May, and n.1 to that document.
3. Moses Harris, Jr. (c.1746–1838) swore an affidavit at Warren County, N.Y., on 16 Aug. 1832 that he had been born in Goshen, Conn., and had moved to Amenia, N.Y., by the time he became “a Minuit Man” in October 1775. He served until September 1776 in the New York militia and then spent “11 Months As first Sergeant in the [New York] State Troops from September 1776 (two terms of Inlistment) until April 1777.” He also served “as a Spy & agent from February 1781 until the October following.” Harris had at least one Loyalist relative, and he was arrested as a suspected British agent in August 1781 but quickly released. A cooper by trade, he moved to Queensbury, N.Y., soon after the war (DNA: RG 15, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800–1900; see also , 183, 185).
4. See New York Legislature to GW, 30 March. For Clinton’s two letters to GW on 8 April, see GW’s first letter to Clinton, 7 April, source note, and his second letter to Clinton, same date, n.2.
5. This word is taken from the draft; it appears as “in” on the LS.