George Washington to Lieutenant Colonel David Cobb, 30 June 1781
To Lieutenant Colonel David Cobb
Head Quarters Peekskill 30th June 1781
Dear Sir
The inclosed Letter to the Count de Rochambeau is of very great Importance, & requires the utmost Secrecy in its Communication—this Idea you will convey to the Count before its delivery—to effe[c]t which you will first converse with the Chevalr Chattalux on the Mode of its Communication1—Its Object is to inform the Count, that I have in Contemplation A very sudden surprize of some Post of the Enemy which will be of very great Importance in our Operations, & which we have very flattering Expectations of obtaing—to cover & Support which if obtained we shall Want the Aid of the French Army2—in which Case it will be necessary for the Count to push on his Troops with greater Haste than he at present intends, & by a different Rout from that now in Idea3—The Dukes Legion to Advance4—the Movements which I would wish to be made by the French Army are particularized in My Letter to the Count—which you will see—It will be for you to impress the Gentlemen with the Importance of their Motions to support our Operations—as it will be to little Purpose for us to obtain Advantages which we may not be able to maintain.
As the Count with his Troops is now in a very disaf[fec]ted pa[r]t of the Country & the Tories will be ve[r]y desirous to give eve[r]y Information in their Power; the most profound Secrecy will be necessary5—Secrecy & Dispatch must prove the Soul of Success to Enterprize—This Idea you will imp[r]ess with Energy—using your best Discretion in the Mode.6
Df, in Jonathan Trumbull, Jr.’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW. Cobb was with the French army (see Cobb to GW, 29 June).
1. See GW to Rochambeau, this date.
2. For plans to attack British posts on northern Manhattan Island, see GW to Benjamin Lincoln, 1 July.
4. Brigadier General Lauzun’s legion was involved in the planned attack (see GW to Lauzun, 1 July).
5. Lieutenant General Rochambeau’s aide-de-camp Ludwig von Closen wrote in his journal entry for 29 June that Newtown, Conn., was “full of Tories” (, 87). For more expansive observations on Loyalists in that area, see French lieutenant Clermont-Crèvecœur’s journal entry for 28 June in , 1:30.