To George Washington from Lieutenant Colonel William De Hart, 13 January 1780
From Lieutenant Colonel William De Hart
Paramus [N.J.] Janry 13. 1780
sir
Upon the Rect of your Excellys Instructions Respecting Provisions I Immediately Call’d on the Justices of the County who Met Me this Afternoon who I find Heartily Dispos’d to Comply with your Requisition’s1 Very fortunately I find A late law that will Answer Our Purpose’s2—And I flatter Myself I shall Collect the Supply’s in A few Day’s Under the Authority of it. I shall have the Most Difficulty in Collecting the Cattle As fast As the supply’s Come in I shall send them forward. the Justices have Requested Partys with them to go to several Disaffected Neibourhoods, which I shall grant them, from A Misapprehension in My Detachment Many Almost Naked Men & Some whose times Are Expir’d Were sent With Me Expecting to serve on the Detachment Only A few Days Which Encreases the Duty to[o] Much On the Well Cloath’d Men—And I Am Much Harras’d with the Well founded Complai⟨nts⟩ of the Naked Men to Return to Camp I have Detain’d them Apprehending that More Mouths at Camp, Would be prejudicial, but the Dutys Now On Hand Require My Compliment of Effective Men, I Would beg leave to suggest that If Two Captains four Subalterns & One Hundred Rank & file Were Sent Me, I Could Compleat My Party & Send Back, Every Necessary & Equal Number of Officers & soldiers—such Officers & soldiers Remaining of the Old Detachment being Now furnish’d With A Tolerable Idea of the Country We Are in A Much Better situation than on Our first Coming to this place.3
the Intercourse with the Inhabitants & Enemy in this Quarter has Now become so Inconsiderable As to be Productive of No Mischeif’s I have had Since My being at this Place Two British & Two Hessian Deserters Come to Me, Two left Me to Go to the Enemy, One of Which Was Catch’d by One of Our scouts, I have had Ev⟨er⟩ since I Came to this place to supply Myself with provision I believe I have done it with little or No Offence to the Inhabitants Major Torry who I have Sent to Morris Town & Will be the Bearer of this, will Inform Your Excellency of Any Particular I May have Omitted. I Am Sr Your Most Hum. servt
Wm D. Hart
ALS, DLC:GW.
1. For GW’s instructions, see GW to De Hart, 8 January. For GW’s requisitions, see Circular to the New Jersey Magistrates, 7 January.
2. De Hart most likely is referring to “An ACT for procuring Provisions for the Use of the Army, and other Supplies for carrying on the War, and for settling the publick Accounts of this State,” passed by the New Jersey legislature on 25 Dec. 1779 (, 41–47 [chapter XVII]). The law, passed in response to Congress’s resolution of 14 Dec. (see 15:1377–78) asking the states to furnish quotas of supplies, set up an administrative infrastructure for the procurement of provisions, including the assignment of contractors for each county.
3. For GW’s orders assigning De Hart to the command of a detachment to patrol the area north and east of Paramus, N.J., see GW to De Hart, 22 Dec. 1779; see also General Orders, 21 Dec., source note.