52661Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
German lieutenant general Wilhelm von Knyphausen temporarily commanded at New York while British general Henry Clinton directed the siege of Charleston, South Carolina. Believing that GW’s main army was weak, Knyphausen decided to launch an attack into New Jersey. In a letter written to George Germain nearly a month after his expedition, the German general explained his thinking: “Having...
52662Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
GW suspected that British commander in chief Henry Clinton would immediately launch an offensive in the Hudson River region upon returning from South Carolina with part of his army. GW’s intelligence led him to believe that Clinton’s objective would be the strategically important post of West Point. When he learned that the British commander had returned to New York City, GW ordered the...
52663Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
Lieutenant General Rochambeau had suggested in August that he and Rear Admiral Ternay meet GW to devise a strategy for taking New York City from the British. GW promised to meet them when it was safe to do so and directed Rochambeau to specify a location. Rochambeau chose Hartford, and GW then picked 20 Sept. for the gathering. Erroneously convinced that a fleet under French rear admiral...
52664Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
Maj. John André’s sterling career as a British army officer ended abruptly because of his role in Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold’s treachery. His correspondence concerning Arnold began in May 1779 and became more frequent over subsequent months. Loyalist liaisons Joseph Stansbury and Jonathan Odell facilitated the communications between Arnold and André, usually sent in code. A lull in the letters...
52665Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
Fig. 2. Engraving of Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold by H. B. Hall from a portrait by John Trumbull. Benedict Arnold’s treacherous design to allow the British to capture West Point and even GW has elicited commentary since its discovery in late September 1780. In presenting documents from GW’s involvement with this notorious incident, the editors have attempted to array all primary sources pertinent...
52666Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold recruited Joshua Hett Smith—who came from a family with significant Loyalist connections but had served as a spy for the Continental army—to assist with the consummation of his Fig. 3. The Beverly Robinson House, on the east bank of the Hudson and just downriver from West Point, played a key role in the Arnold conspiracy (see map 5). (Appleton’s Cyclopædia of American...
52667Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
The unwillingness of the French expeditionary force to leave Rhode Island to combine with the Continental army for a concerted effort to oust the British from New York City frustrated both Major General Lafayette and GW. The two men again felt frustration when logistical failures foiled an opportunity to overwhelm an enemy force on Staten Island, New York. Not wanting to see the entire...
52668Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
E ditorial N ote The Society of the Cincinnati was instituted at Fishkill-on-Hudson on 13 May 1783 when a group of army officers adopted an Institution (or constitution) based on a draft drawn up by Henry Knox the month before. On 19 June 1783 the founders of the society elected GW its president. Although GW signed the Institution, he appears to have done nothing about the society until 23...
52669Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
On 15 May 1784 the Virginia house of delegates agreed “to draw up an address to his excellency General Washington, expressive of the thanks and gratitude of the House of Delegates for his unremitted zeal and services in the cause of liberty; congratulating him on his return to his native country, and the exalted pleasures of domestic life.” A committee of nine delegates was named, and the...
52670Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
With the aid of Sir James Jay, Lady Huntingdon in 1784 developed a proposal to send out from Britain at her expense pious men and women to settle on the American frontier. There, by example and by their efforts, they would convert the Indians to Christianity and at the same time improve the conditions in which the Indians lived. Even before she developed this plan, Lady Huntingdon had sought...