Theodorick Bland to George Washington, 2 July 1781
From Theodorick Bland
Fairy Hill near the falls of Shuilkyll [Pa.]1
July 2d 1781
Sr
In my last I had the honor to inform Yr Excelly that your letter which came enclosed to me directed to the Govr of Virginia was forwarded by express2—the departure of the Chevr de La Luzerne for camp affords me this opportunity, of acquainting your Excellency that your request respecting the Rifflemen from this state has been this day enforced by a requisition of Congress, in the terms containd in your letter but not without some opposition from the delegates of this state, which excited no small surprize in me seeing the requisition was in every sense so necessary and proper3—the Exertions of Rhode Island and some of the other States make a happy Contrast to this disposition. We have great reason to believe from a letter of Col: Cary Sp: of the Sen: of Virginia, that Ninety Six fell before General Greene the latter end of May, as he mentions having seen a letter from a Capt. Pearce of the 24th of may who says the Enemy had made a Sally but were repulsed with Considerable loss & there was little doubt but that a few days wd deliver it into our hands.4 the same fate it is expected wd befall Augusta, but of this no certain intelligence has come to hand officially5 It may be some Satisfaction to your Excelly to be assured that Col: Cary has informd us that altho the Enemy have penetrated so far and in such force into our Country (Virginia) not twenty People have Joind them, and not one of those Natives, except Negroes—and a universal and unanimous Spirit of oposition prevails among all ranks of People. the same accounts inform us that the Marquis is above Six thousand strong6—& that Lord Cornwallis is extremely weakend by sickness and desertion—the latter was lowdown on James River, & the Marquis below Richmond within 20 miles of him.7 I was Sorry to find on waiting on Mrs Washington that she has been indisposed, and hoping that the Country air will be more beneficial to her than the Town have requested that she will take up her Quarters with us at this place which I have some hopes she will do in a day or two as soon as she has rested from her fatigue8 We have no news from Virginia but what I have already related except, that Mr Nelson has been elected Governor—Mr Hardy and Mr McDowal Counsellors, Mr Blair & Mr Edmd Randolph added to and Mr M. Smith Subtracted from the Delegation to Congress.9 With most fervent wishes for a Happy and Successfull campaign I am with the greatest Sincerity and most perfect respect Yr Excellys Most obedt Serv.
Theok Bland
ALS, DLC:GW. Bland wrote “hond by the Minister of France” on the cover. French minister La Luzerne reached GW’s camp on 6 July (see the entry for that date in , 3:390). GW replied to Bland on 8 July (Vi).
1. Ferry Hill was located just east of the Schuykill River roughly four miles northwest of Philadelphia (see , 116).
2. See Bland to GW, 19 June.
3. See GW to Joseph Reed and to Samuel Huntington, both 24 June; see also Huntington to GW, 3 July, and n.2 to that document.
4. The letters from Archibald Cary and Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene’s aide-de-camp William Pierce have not been identified, but see Joseph Jones to GW, 3 July. The British evacuated Ninety Six, S.C., in early July (see Greene to Huntington, 20 June, printed as an enclosure with Greene to GW, 22 June).
5. For the capture of the British post at Augusta, Ga., see Greene to GW, 9 June, n.1.
6. For the strength of Major General Lafayette’s army, see his letter to GW, 18 June.
7. For recent operations in Virginia, see Lafayette to GW, 28 June.
8. For Martha Washington’s illness and departure from headquarters, see GW to John Parke Custis, 31 May, and notes 2–3 to that document.
9. The Virginia legislature had elected Thomas Nelson, Jr., as governor on 12 June.
Samuel Hardy (c.1758–1785), a lawyer from Isle of Wight County, Va., had been a member of the House of Delegates since 1778 and was appointed to the executive council in June 1781. Hardy was chosen a delegate to Congress in June 1783 and served until his death.
Samuel McDowell (1735–1817), a veteran of the French and Indian War, had been a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and a militia colonel. He served on the executive council between June and October 1781. McDowell later moved to Kentucky and became president of the convention that drafted the state’s first constitution.