To George Washington from Major General Arthur St. Clair, 14-15 January 1781
From Major General Arthur St. Clair
Morristown, N.J., 14–15 Jan. 1781. “Negotiations with mutineers; settlement of the enlistment question; quietness of the British; wish to return to Pennsylvania; detachment to be ordered to the Pennsylvania huts.” The remainder of the letter reads: “Janry 15th. Since writing the above I have received Your Excellencys Letter of the 12th and can now inform You with certainty that Terms are agreed on,1 as I have mentioned above and the Commissioners are busy in settling with the Men and discharging them, upon which the[y] give up their Arms—They have also given up the british Emissarys & they were executed three Days ago2—It now appears that Force is out of Question. I shall, however in obedience to your Desire go down to day and see how Matters go on, and give you a circumstantial Account as soon as possible. … I believe it is doubtful whether the Ennemy have left Staaten Island—they had not three Days ago which was about the Time I had been informed that they had returned.”
ALS, DLC:GW. The summary of the portion of the ALS written on 14 Jan. is quoted from , 3:1679. The first page and most of the second page are so badly faded as to be illegible. Only the date on the first page and the portions of the letter written on 15 Jan. are now legible. GW’s aide-de-camp David Humphreys docketed the letter: “Not Ansd.”
1. See GW to St. Clair, 12 January.
2. See Continental Congress Committee on the Pennsylvania Line to GW, 10–11 Jan., and notes 3 and 7 to that document.