To George Washington from Major Henry Lee, Jr., 29 December 1779

From Major Henry Lee, Jr.

Mon: Courthouse [N.J.] Decbr 29th 79

sir

Yesterday I informed Congress of the sailing of the second fleet1—I now do myself the honor to advise your Excellency, that one hundd sail with horse & foot on board under convoy of five ships of the line & two frigates, left sandy hook on the evening of the 26th2 Yesterdays storm must have injured them exceedingly, as they had got but a little distance from the coast3—It is reported that the General & Admiral are both with this fleet4—Col. Armand has reached this post.5 I have the honor to be with the most perfect respect Your Excellencys most ob. servt

Henry Lee Junr
Ma[jo]r com[mandan]t l[igh]t d[ragoons]

ALS, DLC:GW.

1. Lee apparently is referring a letter he wrote Pennsylvania delegate James Searle on 27 Dec.: “I again trouble you for the information of congress. The second fleet left the hook on the 26th 100 sail, five ships of the line, two frigates Admiral Arbuthnot—It is reported that Sr Henry is with the troops—They consist of horse & foot” (DNA:PCC, item 78). The docket on Lee’s letter indicates that Congress read the communication on 30 December.

2. For prior intelligence and an overview of the British departure for an expedition against Charleston, S.C., see Anthony Wayne to GW, 26 Dec., and the source note to that document; see also GW to Samuel Huntington, 27 December.

3. The storm on 28 Dec. distressed but did not unduly damage the British fleet that recently had left Sandy Hook, N.J. (see diary entries for 28 and 29 Dec. in Gruber, Peebles’ American War, description begins Ira D. Gruber, ed. John Peebles’ American War: The Diary of a Scottish Grenadier, 1776–1782. Mechanicsburg, Pa., 1998. description ends 319; Lydenberg, Robertson Diaries, description begins Harry Miller Lydenberg, ed. Archibald Robertson, Lieutenant-General Royal Engineers: His Diaries and Sketches in America, 1762–1780. New York, 1930. description ends 207; Hinrichs, “Diary,” description begins “Diary of Captain Johann Hinrichs.” In The Siege of Charleston: With an Account of the Province of South Carolina: Diaries and Letters of Hessian Officers From the von Jungkenn Papers in the William L. Clements Library. Translated and edited by Bernhard A. Uhlendorf. Ann Arbor, Mich., 1938, pages 103–363. In University of Michigan Publications: History and Political Science, vol. 12. description ends 110–13; and Burgoyne, Diaries of Two Ansbach Jaegers, description begins Bruce E. Burgoyne, ed. and trans. Diaries of two Ansbach Jaegers: Lieutenant Heinrich Carl Philipp von Feilitzsch and Lieutenant Christian Friedrich Bartholomai. Bowie, Md., 1997. description ends 97–98).

4. Lee is alluding to the British officers Gen. Henry Clinton and Vice Adm. Marriot Arbuthnot.

5. For orders directing Colonel Armand’s command to Monmouth County, N.J., see GW to Armand, 23 Dec.; see also GW to Lee, 28 December.

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Source Project: Washington Papers
Title: To George Washington from Major Henry Lee, Jr., 29 December 1779
Author: Lee, Henry Jr.
Recipient: Washington, George
Date: 29 December 1779

Reference

Cite as: “To George Washington from Major Henry Lee, Jr., 29 December 1779,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-23-02-0579. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 23, 22 October–31 December 1779, ed. William M. Ferraro. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2015, pp. 771–772.]

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