To George Washington from Major Henry Lee, Jr., 16 December 1779
From Major Henry Lee, Jr.
Freehold [N.J.] 16th Decbr 79.
Sir.
Such has been the disposition of the British fleet since the first expectation of the Count De estaign that no time would admit my passing troops on the hook but in a storm.1
I have taken advantage of the four which have happened since in this county,2 & after most laborious endeavors have been each time defeated by the lowness of the tides (having many bars to cross) occasioned by the violence of the winds.
My attempts have been made with the greatest secrecy. The garrison have received no notice of them, so that the enterprize may still be carried into execution.3
The season is getting cold, & my men are perfectly bare of cloathing, having not yet received the annual allowance for 79.4 I therefore propose to wait for a change in both the above circumstances as they are very important towards the success of the attempt.
My last accounts from N. York mention no appearance of excu[r]sions, or embarkation of troops.5 The British General it is supposed awaits the arrival of a packet which is daily expected.
My intelligence from the fleet indicates a probability that an attempt will be made on the Count de Grass.6 They are ready for sea & are waiting for a frigate which had been dispatc⟨hed⟩ on the first notice of the Counts being in chesapeak, to Admiral Parker.7
No doubt the plan is to meet a reinforcement from Admiral Parker if to be spared, previous to any attempt. I have the honor to be sir with the most profound respect Your Excellencys most obt sevt
Henry Lee Junr
ALS, DLC:GW.
1. Lee is referring to British-controlled Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Vice Admiral d’Estaing had decided not to come north with his French fleet after being defeated at Savannah on 9 Oct. (see Planning for an Allied Attack on New York, c.3–7 Oct., editorial note).
2. Storms of snow or rain had struck the Monmouth County, N.J., area on 26 Nov. and 5, 6, and 15 Dec. (see entries for those dates in 2:71–73).
3. An attack on British forces at Sandy Hook occurred in January 1780 (see Lee to GW, 13 and 17 Jan. 1780, and GW to Lee, 16 Jan., all DLC:GW; see also GW to Lee, 25 Sept. 1779).
4. For efforts to procure clothes, see Lee to Joseph Reed, 23 and 31 Dec., in 1st ser., 8:56–57, 67; see also 12:235.
5. For GW’s eagerness to confirm reports of a major British detachment from New York, see his letter to Samuel Huntington, 29 Nov., and n.1 to that document; see also Lee to GW, 30 Nov., n.4.
6. For the erroneous intelligence of Admiral de Grasse bringing a French naval squadron to Chesapeake Bay, see Philip Schuyler to GW, 18 Nov., and n.2 to that document.
7. Vice Adm. Peter Parker then served as British commander in chief at Jamaica.