1. The enclosed return, dated 24 May, listed for the six regiments of the detachment a total of 68 commissioned officers, 13 staff officers, 70 noncommissioned officers, 37 drummers and fifers, and 755 rank and file “FIT FOR ACTION” after deductions for those sick, on command, and furloughed (DLC:GW).

2. In a letter to Col. Samuel Blachley Webb dated Monday, 28 May, William Smith Livingston, who had just come “from Phila. on Sunday,” wrote that there had “been a Mutiny in the Pennsylvania Line at York Town previous to their Marching. Wayne like a good officer quell’d it soon as Twelve of the Fellows steped out & perswaded the Line to refuse to March in Consequence of the Promisses made to them not being complied with. Wayne told them of the Disgrace they brought on the American Arms when in Jersey in general & themselves in particular. That the feelings of the Officers on that Occasion were so wounded that they had determined never to experience the like & that he beg’d they would now fire either on him & them or on those Villains in front. He then called to such a Platoon. They presented at the Word, fired and killed six of the Villains. One of the others badly wounded he ordered to be Bayonetted. The Soldier on whom he called to do it, recovered his Piece & said he could not for he was his Comrade. Wayne then drew his Pistol and told him he would kill him. The fellow then advanced and bayonetted him. Wayne then marched the Line by Divisions round the Dead & the rest of the fellows are ordered to be hang’d. The Line march’d the next Day Southward—Mute as Fish” (Ford, Webb Correspondence and Journals description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford, ed. Correspondence and Journals of Samuel Blachley Webb. 3 vols. New York, 1893–94. description ends , 2:341–42). The Pennsylvania line had mutinied in January (see Wayne to GW, 2 Jan., and the source note to that document).

The two enclosed documents report the proceedings of brigade general courts-martial held by Wayne’s order. In the first trial, conducted on 20 May, John Fortescue, a soldier of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment, was charged with “attempting mutiny” and “plead Guilty.” The court found him guilty and sentenced him “to suffer Death.” A notation on the document reads: “Fortescue was shot to Death” (DLC:GW).

In the second trial, held on 22 May, William Crofts, a matross in the 4th Continental Artillery Regiment, was charged “with Drunkenness on the Parade & Impertinent Threats of Retaliation” to a major. He pleaded guilty to the first charge but denied the second. Samuel Franklin and Thomas Wilson, soldiers in the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment, and James Wilson, a soldier in the 3d Pennsylvania Regiment, were charged with exciting mutiny. James Wilson plead that drunkenness prevented him from remembering his actions. Franklin and Thomas Wilson plead guilty. Philip Smith, a soldier in the 2d Pennsylvania Regiment, was charged with “Mutinous Expressions” and plead ignorance of the offence due to drunkenness. The court found all the soldiers guilty and sentenced them to death. A notation on the document reads: “Thomas Wilson James Wilson Philip smith & John Fortescue were shot to Death in front of the Line drawn up under Arms—one hour after trial saml Franklin & Crofts were pardoned” (DLC:GW).

3. The enclosed resignations have not been found. Lt. Ephraim Douglass evidently withdrew his resignation.

James Brooke (Brooks; 1760–1823) joined the 10th Pennsylvania Regiment as an ensign in September 1780 and transferred to the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment in January 1781.

Ebenezer Carson joined the 10th Pennsylvania Regiment as a second lieutenant in December 1776 and rose to first lieutenant in April 1777. Taken prisoner in September of that year, he was not exchanged until April 1780. He became a captain in April 1779 while in captivity. In January 1781, Carson transferred to the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment and left the army the following May.

4. The enclosure was a letter from Major General Lafayette to Wayne dated 15 May that outlined the military situation in Virginia and North Carolina and urged Wayne to hurry his march (DLC:GW; see also Lafayette Papers description begins Stanley J. Idzerda et al., eds. Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790. 5 vols. Ithaca, N.Y., 1977-83. description ends , 4:102–3).

5. Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene had engaged the British army outside Camden, S.C., at the Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill on 25 April (see Greene to Samuel Huntington, 27 April, printed as an enclosure with Greene to GW, same date).

6. Instead of the preceding six words, Wayne’s draft reads: “I shall esteem her a jilt if she will not return to our Arms.”

7. GW replied to Wayne from headquarters at New Windsor on 9 June: “It gave me great Pleasure to learn by yours of the 26th ulto that You had marched from York Town. tho’ I was somewhat disappointed as to your Numbers, as I had been made to expect they would be considerably larger. Sudden and exemplary Punishments were certainly necessary upon the new Appearance of that daring and mutinous Spirit which convulsed the Line last Winter, and nothing will make me happier than to hear that good Order and Discipline have since prevailed.

“I cannot finally accept the Resignations of the Gentlemen whose Commissions You forwarded, before the Vouchers from their Regimental Paymasters and from the Paymaster General and Auditor of the Army are lodged with me, to shew that they are not indebted to the Public.

“I earnestly wait to hear of your safe Junction with the Marquis de la Fayette” (LS, in Richard Varick’s writing, PHi: Wayne Papers; Df, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW; GW signed the cover of the LS, which is addressed to Wayne “in Virginia”).