Major General Robert Howe to George Washington, 18 June 1781

From Major General Robert Howe

West Point 18th June [1781]

Dear Sir

I have recd Intelligence that the Enemy are encamping at East Chester in Force.

The Mode by which it comes tho’ not absolutely authentic is credible—I therefore think it my Duty to Transmit it.1 With the greatest Respect I am Dear Sir your obedient Servant

Robt Howe

LS, DLC:GW. GW’s secretary Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., wrote the year on the docket.

1. The source of Howe’s intelligence has not been identified. Hessian major Carl Leopold Baurmeister wrote in his dispatch from New York City on 15 July: “Since the 14th of June the troops have been encamped on the islands close to this city,” except “the corps of Refugees, five hundred strong, is cantoned between East Chester and Westchester” (Baurmeister, Revolution in America description begins Carl Leopold Baurmeister. Revolution in America: Confidential Letters and Journals, 1776–1784, of Adjutant General Major Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces. Translated and annotated by Bernhard A. Uhlendorf. New Brunswick, N.J., 1957. description ends , 448).

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Source Project: Washington Papers
Title: Major General Robert Howe to George Washington, 18 June 1781
Author: Howe, Robert
Recipient: Washington, George
Date: 18 June 1781

Reference

Cite as: “Major General Robert Howe to George Washington, 18 June 1781,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-32-02-0375. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 32, 6 May–4 July 1781, ed. William M. Ferraro. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2023, pp. 485–486.]

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