Maryland Council to George Washington, 10 May 1781
From the Maryland Council
[Annapolis] In Council, 10th May, 1781.
Sir,
The Sufferings of our Officers in Captivity have for a long Time claimed our Attention and excited great Uneasiness which a Consciousness that we are destitute of the Means of alleviating them has much augmented;1 it has been and still is impracticable for the State to procure a Quantity of Specie adequate to that Purpose which has determined us to avail ourselves of the Propositions contained in the enclosed Paper, if your Excellency should be of Opinion it may be done consistent with Propriety, and will afford us your Assistance in facilitating a Communication with New York by Way of Flag.2 Your Excellency will perceive that no State will be allowed to dispose of any of the Monies arising from the Sale of the Articles to be sent before the Debts of the Officers are discharged; this Restriction if adhered to will prevent us from shipping any Produce, because Vessels cannot be obtained unless the Freight is paid in New York and the Owner allowed to invest it in such Goods as are not prohibited to be brought back, and therefore trust your Excellency will endeavour to affect an Alteration of it in such Manner as will most likely attain the Objects in View, the Releif of our Officers. If your Excellency has not appointed a Commissary to reside in New York and should now think it proper to consider that Subject, and no Person more deserving tha[n] Mr Charles Croxall has presented himself, it will give us great Pleasure to be informed that the Gentleman in whom we have reposed a Confidence is approved of by you, but if Sir you think it right to defer the Appointment, we hope Mr Croxall may obtain your Permission to go into New York and transact this Business for the State.3 Mr Croxall will wait upon your Excellency and communicate very fully every Thing that you may desire to be informed of which relates to his Trust.4
LB, MdAA: Council Letterbook, 1780–1787.
1. After having received petitions from the state’s “Prisoners on Long Island,” the Maryland Council sought to advance funds to “Officers then in Captivity” in order to “discharge their Arrearages of Board” (Maryland Council to Henry Sheaff, 4 Jan., in , 45:261).
2. The enclosure has not been identified, but it probably was similar to the letter Maryland governor Thomas Sim Lee and the state council wrote their delegates in Congress on this date: “It is our Intention to send a quantity of Bread Provisions and Lumber to New York to discharge Debts due from the Officers of this State, who have been and at present are Prisoners there and on Long Island and for the more decent Support of those who still remain in Captivity. But think it our Duty first to apply thro you to Congress for their Approbation, Congress we have learnt has sent a Quantity of Provisions to Charles Town lately for the Support of the Captive Officers there, and we make no Doubt but this State will be allowed the like Privilege for the Relief of their Officers, under this Impression we have offered Terms to the Inhabitants of this State for the Transportation of Provisions to New York which have been accepted, and in Consequence thereof having appointed Mr Charles Croxall who will have the Honor of delivering this. Our Agent or Commissary to reside in New York if approved by his Excellency Genl Washington until a Commissary is appointed by him. We wish you to give him every Assistance in the Conduct of this Business and further Information may be obtained of him” (, 45:430–31). Congress read the letter on 17 May and referred it to a committee (see , 20:515). The delegates conjectured in their reply to Lee from Philadelphia on 19 May that “the measure proposd cannot be carried into execution, as a report on an application to send provision to Charles Town for the prisoners there was rejected” (, 17:250). For this pessimism regarding relief measures, see Henry Clinton to GW, 21 May.
3. The Maryland council wrote Charles Croxall on this date to explain his responsibilities as commissary to assist prisoners (see , 45:431–32).
4. Congress ordered the Board of War on 25 May to “take measures for obtaining permission to send into New York and Charlestown” a sufficient amount of tobacco “to discharge the arrears due from the American prisoners” (, 20:534; see also GW to the Board of War, 16 and 29 May).