George Washington to John Mathews, 7 June 1781
To John Mathews
New Windsor June 7th 1781
Dear Sir
I must begin this letter with an apology for having delayed the acknowledgment of your favors of the 16th of Apl & 2d of May till this time.1 and as the best excuses upon these occasions is to confess the truth, honestly, I beg leave to add that, the above letters did not reach my hands till a day or two before my departure for Weathersfield—that I did not return from that place till the 26th—and that to make the necessary arrangements consequent of the plan there agreed on have employed my time pretty much since.2
The freedom of your communications is highly pleasing to me. the portrait you have drawn of our Affairs is strictly agreeable to the life—and you do me but justice in supposing that my Mind is fortified against, or rather prepared for—the most distressing Accts that can be given of them—it would not be the part of friendship therefore to conceal any circumstance from an unwillingness to give pain—especially as the knowledge of them to a man determined not to sink under the weight of perplexities may be of the utmost importance. But we must not despair—the game is yet in our own hands—to play it well is all we have to do—& I trust the experience of error will enable us to act better in future. A cloud may yet pass over us—individuals may be ruined—& the Country at large, or particular States, undergo temporary distress; but certain I am, that it is in our power to bring the War to a happy conclusion.
My public letters to Congress, & in a more especial manner, my private communications to Governor Rutlidge, will bring you fully acquainted with the situation of things in this quarter, and the prospects before us—how far we shall be able to extricate ourselves from the first and realize the latter, time only can shew3—I have great expectations from the appointment of Mr Morris, but they are not unreasonable ones—for I do not suppose that by Art magick, he can do more than recover us—by degrees—from the labyrinth into which our finance is plunged.4
I am very sorry for the disagreeable situation of our suffering Soldiery at Charles Town, and wish they could be relieved without adding to the pressure under which we at present groan. how far it is in General Greene’s power to liberate, by exchange, our Prisoners in that quarter I know not; but all the authority I can give to do this he has, reserving the Troops of Convention5 from his disposal. With these I have plague enough—in a late interview between the two Commissaries of Prisoners, Mr Loring refused to Exchange General Burgoyne unless the Prisoners taken at the Cedars are allowed for, which is opposed by a resolve of Congress. and has actually refused to pay a debt of Privates which three Months ago he promised to do6—Mrs Washington who has been very unwell for sometime past joins me in respectful complimts to Mrs Mathews7—I have the ⟨honr⟩ to be—Dr Sir Yr Most Obedt & Affecte Hble Servt
Go: W——n
ADfS, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
1. Mathews enclosed his letter dated 16 April when he wrote GW on 2 May. The earlier letter reviewed political and financial affairs; the later one discussed European matters and potential prisoner exchanges in the southern department.
2. GW had departed for Wethersfield on 18 May (see The Wethersfield Conference and Aftermath, 14 May–16 June, editorial note).
3. South Carolina governor John Rutledge had arrived at GW’s headquarters on 5 June “with representations of the situation of Southern affairs, & to solicit aids.” GW explained “the plan of Campaign to him & candidly exposed the true State of our Circumstances.” The discussion seemingly “convinced” the governor “that no relief” could be sent from the northern army until “we had acquired a Naval Superiority and” could “transport Troops by Water” (entry for that date in , 3:377–78).
4. Congress had elected Robert Morris superintendent of finance on 20 Feb. (see , 19:180). For Morris’s acceptance of the office, see GW to Morris, 12 May, n.2; see also Morris to GW, 29 May (first letter).
5. After this word, GW wrote “only” but then struck it out.
6. See Abraham Skinner to GW, 19 May. For the congressional stricture on the exchange of British prisoners for Americans captured at the Cedars in Canada on 20 May 1776, see John Sullivan to GW, 2 March 1778, n.5; see also William Thompson to GW, 30 May 1776, and n.3 to that document.
7. For Martha Washington’s illness, see GW to John Parke Custis, 31 May 1781, and n.2 to that document.