Lieutenant Colonel Udny Hay to George Washington, 29 April 1781
From Lieutenant Colonel Udny Hay
philadelphia 29 April 1781
Sir,
I have this moment recd the enclosed letter for Your Excellency respecting the exchange of salt for Fish, and shall immedeately apply for an express to carry it on,1 a constant expectation of the Arrival of the Commissary General in Town ⟨h⟩as been the reason why the board has so long delayd ariving to Any resolution.2
If your Excellency should think proper to order the execution of this business through the channell of my Assistants, Mr Monnell near Newburgh, Major Wyekooff at Fish Kill,3 Judge Wyncoop at Esopus,4 and Colonel Stautenburgh at Albany would be the proper Persons to employ, whom I should write particularly on the subject, was I not ignorant of your Excellencys intention, as to the quantity you would wish procured, as well as the general instructions You may think proper to give on the occasion; permit me however to hint it will be necessary that the farmers employd should have an order on the Qr Master for an immediate supply of Casks, and a quantity of salt forwarded to them as soon as possible.5 I have the Honour to be w[it]h the utmost respect, Your Excellencys, most obedient and very humble Servant,
Udny Hay
ALS, DLC:GW. For the receipt of this letter, see the reference at n.5 below.
1. For the enclosure, see Board of War to GW, 25 April, found at GW to the Board of War, 1 May, n.4; see also Hay to GW, 10 April, and n.4. to that document.
2. Ephraim Blaine, commissary general of purchases, had been given an assignment away from Philadelphia (see Blaine to GW, 13 April).
3. Hendrick Wyckoff (d. 1789) served as lieutenant in the second regiment of minutemen for Dutchess County, N.Y., in 1776. That same year, Wyckoff received an appointment to act as commissary to supply the New Hampshire troops stationed in New York. He later was brigade major in the Dutchess County militia and served as a state commissary agent at Fishkill, New York. After the war, Wyckoff was a merchant in New York City.
4. Hay refers to Dirck Wynkoop (see George Clinton to GW, 26 April, n.2).
5. For GW’s directions, see David Humphreys to Nathaniel Stevens, 2 May, found at Stevens to GW, 3 May, n.1.