To George Washington from George Clinton, 28 October 1779
From George Clinton
Fishkill [N.Y.] 8th Clock P.M. 28th Oct. 1779
Dear Sir,
On my arrival at this place, the letters, of which the enclosed are Copies, were deliverd me.1 If the accounts contained in them are true, and they appear too well authenticated to admit of Doubt, our frontier Settlements especially—those of Albany and Tryon Counties, if nothing farther is to be apprehended, will be greatly exposed to the Ravages of the Enemy. From Genl Ten Broecks Letter your Excellency will be informed of the Measures he hath taken to cover the Country, But if the Enemy’s Force is as formidable as is represented, it will not be in his power to prevent the desolation of some of the most valuable Settlements.2
I am informed that some of the Massachusets Militia have assembled at Clavarack;3 where tis said they are to wait further orders—They are without Provisions, or a Commissary to provide for them, and are very distressing to the Inhabitants on whom they are quartered, and who are obliged to supply them. If these Troops (on the present Occasion) were ordered to Albany from whence they might be brought to this Quarter nearly as expeditiously as from their present Situation, I believe it would answer a very valuable purpose.4 I am &.
G. Clinton
Copy, in George Augustine Washington’s writing, enclosed in GW to Samuel Huntington, 30 Oct. 1779, DNA:PCC, item 152; copy, DNA:PCC, item 169.
1. The enclosures apparently are described in a letter from Col. Goose Van Schaick to Clinton written at Albany on 26 Oct.: “The inclosed is Copy of a letter from Colo. Van Dyk which I transmit to your Excellency by Express together with a letter from Brig. Genl Ten Broeck. The General is now in Tryon County to which place I shall proceed with the utmost dispatch” (DNA:PCC, item 152; see also 5:329–30). Col. Cornelius Van Dyck’s letter to Van Schaick, written at Fort Schuyler, N.Y., on Monday, 25 Oct., 4:00 A.M., reported “that Colo. Johnson with a thousand Indians is on his way to this place; besides a large body of regular troops.” Van Dyck’s letter continues: “previous to this party’s setting out a small scout had been sent from Oneida to Oswego, who discovered a large encampment at that place. They were told by some of the Enemy Indians, that they had a number of heavy Cannon and Mortars with them, that the Regulars were to beseige this fort and in the mean while the Indians would destroy the Country down as far as Schenectady. I shall immediately dispatch a scout to the Oneida Lake who will return this evening when I shall transmit you what discoveries they make. How far the Regular troops with the Artillery may be depended on I will not take upon myself to say—But I believe it a fact that a large number of Indians are on their way. I forgot to mention that one of the enemy Indians had informed one of ours that a large party of Indians had gone on to cut off the communication between this place and the [German] Flatts” (DNA:PCC, item 152; see also 5:330–31).
2. A copy of the enclosure from Brig. Gen. Abraham Ten Broeck to Clinton, written at Stone Arabia, N.Y., on 26 Oct., reads: “I inclose your Excellency a copy of a letter received by Express from Col. Rensselaer; in consequence of which I have ordered Colo. Wempels, Lansings Quackenboss’s Schoonovers [Van Schoonhoven], Schuylers, and Van Bergens, Regts to march immediately to this place” (DNA:PCC, item 152). The letter from Col. Henry Killian Van Rensselaer to Ten Broeck that prompted the latter’s action was written at Fort Herkimer, N.Y., on 23 Oct.: “I have this moment received a letter from Col. Van Dyck that there is a large party of Troops & Indians on this side Oswego—he writes that about five days ago he sent a few Indians with a Corporal from his regt who unluckily fell in with the advance party of the Enemy and were made Prisoners—they were continued Prisoners, until they came to a place called Salmon Creek on the Oneida Lake where they dismissed the Indians but still kept the Corporal Prisoner—there are no Troops as yet arrived at this Post—a speedy reinforcement will I believe be much wanted” (DNA:PCC, item 152).
3. Claverack, N.Y., is about fifteen miles west of the Massachusetts border.
4. For compliance with this request, see GW to Clinton, 29 Oct., and n.1 to that document. GW had asked for this Massachusetts militia as part of his preparations for possible combined operations with a French fleet under Vice Admiral d’Estaing (see Planning for an Allied Attack on New York, c.3–7 Oct., editorial note).