1. Chantilly was Lee’s plantation along the Potomac River in Westmoreland County.

2. Lee’s most recent correspondence with GW took place in May 1779, while Lee was a delegate to Congress (see Virginia Delegates to GW, 6 May, and GW to the Virginia Delegates, 25 May). The supposed discord between Lee and GW arose from rumors regarding a faction in Congress opposed to GW (see James Craik to GW, 6 Jan. 1778, and n.1 to that document; see also McGaughy, Richard Henry Lee description begins J. Kent McGaughy. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia: A Portrait of an American Revolutionary. Lanham, Md., 2004. description ends , 137–39).

3. The British raid on Charlottesville had taken place on 4 June. Lt. Gen. Charles Cornwallis wrote Gen. Henry Clinton on 30 June that he “took advantage” of Major General Lafayette’s “passing the Rhappahannock and detached Lt Colonels Simcoe and Tarleton to disturb the Assembly then sitting at Charlotteville and to destroy the stores there, at Old Albemarle Court House and the Point of Fork, moving with the infantry to the mouth of Bird Creek near the Point of Fork to receive those detachments. Lt Colonel Tarleton took some members of the Assembly at Charlotteville and destroyed there and on his return 1,000 stand of good arms, some clothing and other stores, and between 4 and 500 barrells of powder, without opposition” (Saberton, Cornwallis Papers description begins Ian Saberton, ed. The Cornwallis Papers: The Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in The Southern Theatre of the American Revolutionary War. 6 vols. Uckfield, England, 2010. description ends , 5:104–7, quote on 104; see also Theodorick Bland to GW, 19 June). Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton later wrote that he had conducted the raid “with one hundred and eighty dragoons … and seventy mounted infantry” (Tarleton, Campaigns description begins Banastre Tarleton. A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781, in the Southern Provinces of North America. 1787. Reprint. Spartanburg, S.C., 1967. description ends , 295–96; see also Boatner, Encyclopedia description begins Mark Mayo Boatner III. Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. New York, 1966. description ends , 216–18; Kranish, Flight from Monticello description begins Michael Kranish. Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War. New York, 2010. description ends , 275–87; and Thomas Jefferson to William Gordon, 16 July 1788, in Jefferson Papers description begins Julian P. Boyd et al., eds. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. 45 vols. to date. Princeton, N.J., 1950–. description ends , 13:362–65).

4. Thomas Jefferson’s term as Virginia governor had expired officially on 2 June. Dudley Digges had resigned as president of the executive council, leaving William Fleming, a member of the council, to act as governor until the legislature assembled in Staunton elected Thomas Nelson, Jr., as governor on 12 June (see Selby, Revolution in Virginia description begins John E. Selby. The Revolution in Virginia, 1775–1783. Williamsburg, Va., 1988. description ends , 282–83).

5. The enclosed letter from Lee to Massachusetts delegate James Lovell, written at Chantilly on this date, reads: “After acknowledging the receipt of your favor of May 29th last I beg you to accept my thanks for it—It is now a long time since I have been of opinion that our plan of secrecy in Congress was productive of consequences fatal to the American Cause and fertile of good to its enemies only—For whilst good men obey the injunction of secrecy, bad ones communicate without reserve such intelligence to our enemies as benefit them whilst the friends of America by being kept in the dark are exposd to ruin e’er they are aware of danger—I have not been able to explain your enigmatical Letter by any communications that our delegates have made so far as their informations have reachd me. My mind is therefore perplexd with an infinity of doubts without having any certain clue to guide me thro’ the Labarynth—I have not seen the Gazette you mention & therefore want my ‘pole’—but it is impossible for a person so attentive as I have always been not to know that the final & fierce designs of our Enemy’s are levelled at us, and thro’ us, I apprehend at the liberties of North America—for however feeble the resources of this Country may have been under republican Government, if once it is placed under the Sword of a Conqueror such efforts and such resources will appear as to put the liberties of the rest in very eminent peril. I love liberty and wish that the whole human race enjoy’d it; and I have a peculiar affection for that of the eastern part of this Union. Let me entreat you therefore Sir, & your worthy Associates from the east, not to slumber a moment over our present actual State; decision, dispatch, and much wisdom are indespensably necessary, or I verily believe we shall soon be lost to ourselves and you. I do not write under any influence of vain apprehensions, but from the cool, considerate dictates of judgment founded upon good materials. A very great majority of the people of this Country are good whigs & very determind to maintain their independence, and being so, how they came into their present state of thraldom is beside my present purpose to inquire. Like good physicians the Congress will consider that the inordinacy of the symptom must be subdued, before application can with safety be made to the cause. The fact is, the enemy by a quick collection of their force, & by rapid movements, are now in the center of Virginia with an Army of regular infantry greater than that of the compounded regulars and militia commanded by the Marquis & with 5 or 600 excellent cavalry—that our new assembly has from various causes not yet convend—that before the Legislature had fully assembled at Charlottesville in the very heart of our Country they were dispersd by the british Cavalry 500 in number with as many mounted infantry—that Governor Jefferson having resignd, and no successor appointed, and the next to him in authority Mr Digges having been made prisoner, this Country is, in the moment of its greatest danger, without government, abandond to the Arts & the Arms of the Enemy, both which are push’d with the greatest zeal. I clearly see that in this State of things, that wanting a rudder in the storm, the good Ship must inevitably be cast away—Congress alone can furnish the preventative—The temper of the people here, and a thousand other considerations point to the remedy—Let Gen. Washington be immediately sent to Virginia, with 2 or 3000 good Troops—Let Congress as the head of the Federal union, in this crisis, direct that until the Legislature can convene and a Governor be appointed, the General be possessed of dictatorial powers, and that it be strongly recommended to the Assembly when conven’d to continue those powers for 6. 8 or 10 months as the case may be. And the General may be desired instantly on his arrival in Virginia to summon the members of both houses to meet where he shall appoint, to organize and resettle their Government—You may be assured Sir, that if this is quickly done, and Arms & Amunition forwarded, that the Enemies possessions in the South will be very few, and the prospects they may propose to themselves from a Truce thus renderd abortive. Whilst this system is pushed, it will be of great consequence to press hard for a superior marine force to cover these Southern waters—I well know your philanthropy, and I am sure that you will exert every power you possess to prevent the immediate ruin of this State and of course the danger that will ensue to the rest—Let the friends to the South, and the eastern wise Men be assembled, and consider of this plan—let it be proposd and pushd into immediate execution in Congress—The time is short, the danger presses, and commensurate remedies are indispensable. The influence, the judgment, the experience of General Washington will command infinite exertions here—but then he ought to be well supported with all that Congress can do. We have some reason to fear that our collected stores in the North forke of James River under protection of Baron Stuben with 7 or 800 Men new levies have been seized and destroyed by a superior force of the enemy” (DLC:GW). Lovell’s letter to Lee dated 29 May has not been identified, but see Lovell to Samuel Holten, same date, in Smith, Letters of Delegates description begins Paul H. Smith et al., eds. Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789. 26 vols. Washington, D.C., 1976–2000. description ends , 17:276–77.

6. Lee sent a letter from John Augustine Washington, presumably to GW, that has not been found. GW subsequently wrote his brother on 15 July (DLC:GW).

7. Lee’s letters to Theodorick Bland and Joseph Jones have not been identified.

8. For Major General Lafayette’s concerns about the British cavalry, see his letter to GW, 3 June, n.1.

9. Major General Steuben had taken his Virginia levies to Point of Fork, where the Rivanna River joins the James River, and where Virginia authorities had deposited military stores. Upon the British approach, Steuben hastily withdrew his troops and some of the stores to the south side of the Fluvanna River. The British rapidly crossed the Rivanna River, took Point of Fork, and captured large quantities of arms, ammunition, gunpowder, and provisions (see Steuben to Lafayette, 30 May, and 3 and 5 June, and Lafayette to Steuben, 31 May, in 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 , 4:147–48, 150–51, 166–67, 170–71; see also Simcoe, Operations of the Queen’s Rangers description begins John Graves Simcoe. Simcoe’s Military Journal: A History of the Operations of a Partisan Corps, Called the Queen’s Rangers, Commanded by Lieut. Col. J. G. Simcoe, during the War of the American Revolution . . .. 1844. Reprint. New York, 1968. description ends , 212–23, and Selby, Revolution in Virginia description begins John E. Selby. The Revolution in Virginia, 1775–1783. Williamsburg, Va., 1988. description ends , 279–81). For Lafayette’s dissatisfaction with Steuben, see his letter to GW, 18 June.

10. In his reply to Lee on 15 July, GW denied any discord between the two men and explained the necessity of his remaining with the army in New York (DLC: Lee Family Papers).