To George Washington from Brigadier General Anthony Wayne, 30 September 1779
From Brigadier General Anthony Wayne
Fort Mont[gomer]y [N.Y.] 30th Sepr 1779
Dear General
I took the Liberty to mention to you yesterday the expediency of having two more pieces of artillery added to the Light Corps—I could wish for two Light [field pieces]1 or Grass Hoppers which with the two we now have under Capt. Pendleton2—will be sufficient to give Confidence to our own people & some degree of Apprehension to our Enemy—for altho’ I have but Little Opinion of the Execution done generally3 yet I know it has a very happy Effect on the minds of Soldiers as well friends & foe’s—from this motive I could wish to have them—even if they should not be fully manned.
We shall move tomorrow morning at 8. OClock4—Interim I am your Excelen[c]y’s Most Obt & very Hume Sevt
Anty Wayne
ADfS, PHi: Wayne Papers.
1. At this point on the draft, Wayne crossed out the words “Six Pounders”; he apparently replaced them with the words “field pieces” on the letter that GW received (see GW to Wayne, this date).
2. James Pendleton (1754–1815), of King and Queen County, Va., joined the 7th Virginia Regiment as an ensign in February 1776 and became a second lieutenant the following April. He resigned from the regiment in January 1777, but, the following month, he joined 1st Continental Artillery Regiment with the rank of captain. Pendleton served to the close of the war.
3. Wayne wrote the words “by Artillery” after this word, then marked out the word “Artillery.”
4. Wayne was preparing to move his Light Infantry Corps from the vicinity of Fort Montgomery to the area of Haverstraw Forge, N.Y. (see Wayne to GW, 28 Sept.; GW to Wayne, 28 and 29 Sept.; and GW to Stirling, 29 Sept.).