Major General William Heath to George Washington, 6 May 1781
From Major General William Heath
West point, May 6. 1781.
Dear General,
The enclosed news-paper came to hand the last evening; although of an elder date than the one I last sent, may be one which your Excellency has not seen.1
The officer on the lines writes me—that it was reported, a small fleet with troops on board, sailed lately from New York—and that in the course of a week, another fleet was to sail.2
The enclosed letter from General Clinton came to hand this morning. I apprehend he has written your Excellency by the same conveyance, but have thought it might not be amiss to communicate the enclosed.3 I have the honor to be With the greatest respect, Your Excellency’s Most obedient servant,
W. Heath
LS, DLC:GW; ADfS, MHi: Heath Papers.
1. The enclosed newspaper has not been identified. The last newspaper Heath sent GW was likely The Royal Gazette (New York) for 2 May (see his letter to GW, 4 May, notes 1 and 2).
2. Maj. Ebenezer Flagg had written Heath from Crom Pond, N.Y., on 5 May with this intelligence, which derived from “a person who left York a few days past” (MHi: Heath Papers).
A British expedition sailed from New York City to Staten Island, N.Y., on 1 May preparatory to embarking for Virginia (see Heath to GW, 1 May, and n.1 to that document). No other British fleet left New York City prior to the expedition’s departure on 13 May.
3. Brig. Gen. James Clinton had written Heath from Albany on 1 May: “I have been favored with your’s of the 17th instt. The Neglect of this Department in allmost every Instance has given me more Uneasiness than I can describe. The Troops have suffered beyond Measure for Want of Provision—The Spirit of Desertion has taken Place, and unless a speedy Supply is received, every Post in the Department must inevitably be abandoned.
“I have considered Spencer in the Light of a Prisoner of War, and given every Indulgance that Circumstances would justify.
“Tho the Detatchment I had sent out, did not answer my Expectations so fully as I could wish; yet several British Deserters & Prisoners of War were taken, a Number of whom I send down to the Commissary of Prisoners, not having it in my Power to maintain them.
“The Enemy have done a little Mischief on the Frontier during the last Week, their Numbers were not known: three Ships have arrived at Crown Point, and surely I am not in a Situation to oppose an Incursion into the Country.
“I thank you for the Attention you have been pleased to shew my Son; I hope he may not forfeit your Esteem.
“If anything new should turn up I beg you to forward it to me, as I appear to be almost forgotten” (DLC:GW). When he wrote Clinton on 17 April, Heath indicated his agreement with “General Washington’s opinion” that Hazleton Spencer should be treated as a prisoner of war rather than a spy and acknowledged having been with Ensign Alexander Clinton “at Dinner yesterday with his Excellency the Commander in Chief, General duportail and others” (MHi: Heath Papers; see also Heath to GW, 3 Nov. 1780, and n.1 to that document, and GW to Heath, 5 Nov., postscript). For Clinton’s handling of Spencer and the detachment sent to pursue Loyalists reportedly recruiting along the New York frontier, see his letter to Heath, 10 April, in MHi: Heath Papers.
For GW’s response to his subordinate’s concerns, see his letters to Clinton on 4, 5, and 7 May; see also Clinton to GW, 30 April–1 May.