Editorial Note

In response to a dispatch of 10 March 1782, in which Washington requested that Virginia lend or give artillery to the continental army, Governor Harrison in Council readily assented, provided that Washington “send for” the heavy brass siege cannon and replace them with “an equal number of pounds of field artillery” (Fitzpatrick, Writings of Washington description begins John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington, from the Original Sources, 1745–1799 (39 vols.; Washington, 1931–44). description ends , XXIV, 52–53; Journals of the Council of State description begins H. R. McIlwaine et al., eds., Journals of the Council of the State of Virginia (3 vols. to date; Richmond, 1931——). description ends , III, 62; McIlwaine, Official Letters description begins H. R. McIlwaine, ed., Official Letters of the Governors of the State of Virginia (3 vols.; Richmond, 1926–29). description ends , III, 178). The commander-in-chief agreed and directed General Henry Knox, continental chief of artillery, to expedite the transfer, but by 9 July, after having conferred with General Benjamin Lincoln, secretary at war, Knox had seemingly concluded that the army would be the loser if the proposed exchange should be made (Fitzpatrick, Writings of Washington description begins John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington, from the Original Sources, 1745–1799 (39 vols.; Washington, 1931–44). description ends , XXIV, 112, n.; LC: Washington Papers).

Harrison, meanwhile, was finding that his original estimates of the number of siege cannon in Virginia had been exaggerated and that many of the pieces were at the bottom of the York, the Pamunkey, and other rivers. In compliance with directives from the executive and the House of Delegates, dated 25 February and 22 May, respectively, Colonel William Davies, commissioner of war, had been endeavoring to recover, assemble, repair, and render an accounting of Virginia ordnance and other military stores (Journals of the Council of State description begins H. R. McIlwaine et al., eds., Journals of the Council of the State of Virginia (3 vols. to date; Richmond, 1931——). description ends , III, 50, 96; Minute Book, House of Delegates, May 1782 description begins Minute Book, House of Delegates, May 1782, MS in Virginia State Library. description ends , p. 50; Calendar of Virginia State Papers description begins William P. Palmer et al., eds., Calendar of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts (11 vols.; Richmond, 1875–93). description ends , III, 132, 151, 168–69). Although Davies on 7 June submitted a progress report, which Harrison laid before the House of Delegates, the work of locating and raising the submerged cannon continued throughout the summer and autumn of 1782 (ibid., III, 195, 289, 290, 304, 311, 341, 378; Journals of the Council of State description begins H. R. McIlwaine et al., eds., Journals of the Council of the State of Virginia (3 vols. to date; Richmond, 1931——). description ends , III, 103, 122, 124, 218).

Finally on 25 November the House of Delegates revived the original issue by naming a committee, with Arthur Lee as chairman, “to prepare powers and instructions for the delegates of this State in Congress, to negotiate and exchange with the United States, the heavy brass cannon of this State, for brass field pieces and howitzers.” The report of the committee, submitted by Lee on 25 December, was adopted by the House on the same day and by the Senate on the next (Journal of the House of Delegates description begins Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia; Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg. Beginning in 1780, the portion after the semicolon reads, Begun and Held in the Town of Richmond. In the County of Henrico. The journal for each session has its own title page and is individually paginated. The edition used is the one in which the journals for 1777–1786 are brought together in two volumes, with each journal published in Richmond in 1827 or 1828, and often called the “Thomas W. White reprint.” description ends , October 1782, pp. 36, 81, 82).