In the Continental Congress on June 15, 1775, Thomas Johnson, delegate from Maryland, moved the unanimous election of George Washington, Esquire, as General and Commander-in-Chief of all the forces raised or to be raised by the United Colonies in defense of their liberties. The motion was carried as put and in the course of his speech accepting the trust Washington said: "As to pay, Sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress, that, as no pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to have accepted this arduous employment, at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit form it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses. Those, I doubt not, they will discharge, and that is all I desire."

These accounts had to be reduced to a common basis, so they were translated, where necessary, into "Lawful" or coin currency value, generally called "hard money." the rate of exchange varied throughout the war and varied with the locality, the different Colonies having each its own currency. While in New England Washington kept his account, as he had started them, in terms of Pennsylvania currency. The New England rate of exchange at the beginning of the Revolution was six shillings to the Spanish milled dollar, or piece-of-eight of seventeen penny-weight; but specie value itself fluctuated during the war and computation of the exchange was an ever exasperating task.

Debit Entries

1775, June—James Mease, a Philadelphia merchant, later Commissary to the Pennsylvania troops and, for a time, Clothier-General of the Continental Army. One of the horses was "a bay, warranted sound," purchased from Thomas Wellbank, of Philadelphia, for £39.

1775, June 22—Dr. Peter Renaudet, a Philadelphia physician

The phaeton harness from William Todd was neatly ornamented with brass and the sum of £7. 15s. includes certain alterations and a "chair saddle."

The saddlery item was for leather work and canteen repairing, saddle, bridle stirrup leathers, coat straps, etc., purchased from Elias Botner, 0024William A. Forbes, and Christopher Binks. The letter-case or portmanteau was of Russian leather and was bought from Robert Aiken, a Philadelphia bookseller and publisher, at a cost of £3.

Benjamin Hemmings, a Philadelphia stableman. He appears to have accompanied Washington to Cambridge.

The Commander-in-chief left Philadelphia June 23, accompanied by Major-Generals Charles Lee and Philip Schuyler, two of the four Major-Generals first appointed by Congress, Joseph Reed, Thomas Mifflin, and Samuel Griffin, who was Aide-de-Camp to Lee and later became Colonel and Deputy Adjutant-General of the Flying Camp, an organization afterwards succeeded by the Light Infantry. The route from Philadelphia to Cambridge was by way of Trenton, New Brunswick, Newark, Hoboken, New York City, which was reached June 25, Kingsbridge, New Rochelle, New Haven, Hartford, Wethersfield, Springfield, Worcester, Watertown and Cambridge, which was reached July 2. The next day Washington took command of the troops then besieging Boston and appointed Thomas Mifflin his Aide-de-Camp and Joseph Reed his Military Secretary. Mifflin later became Quartermaster-General of the Continental Army, Brigadier and Major-General, delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania, and member of the Board of War. His jealous ambition led him to join the infamous "Conway Cabal" against Washington. Joseph Reed later became President of the State of Pennsylvania.

CREDIT ENTRIES

1775, July—This gun was sold to a chairman of one of the committees appointed by several of the counties of Massachusetts to purchase arms for the militia.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1775, July—the sundry sums expended include an item for upholstery work by Joseph Cox, in New York City, a portmanteau trunk, writing paper, sealing wax, and other stationary from Hugh Gaines, the New York Printer and publisher, who later cast his lot with the Loyalists, and £7 10s. 6d. for wine purchased from Abraham Duryee, the New York merchant, a member of the New York chamber of Commerce and one of the Committee of One hundred that managed the affairs of the city.

1775, July 5—Nicholas Sparhawk's account was for 9 yards of Damascus cloth for table linen, purchased from [William] Vans & Sparhawk, Salem merchants.

Samuel Griffin's account was for part of the expenses of the journey from Philadelphia to Cambridge.

The east coast of Boston Harbor was through Winnisimmet, or what is now Chelsea and East Boston.

1775, July 15—The item of $333 ⅓ marks the beginning of the official secret service activities. Some information was sent in to Washington by a Mr. Hitchborne, and James Lovell, later a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress, was active in securing intelligence through spies; but how many and who were employed during the siege of Boston is not known.

The Marblehead regiment was the 21st Massachusetts, commanded by Colonel John Glover. It took eight days' cleaning to render the house habitable. This was the house of John Vassal, now known as the Craigie-Longfellow house.

1775, July 19—Ebenezer Austin was engaged as steward at Headquarters July 12, 1775, at £7 10s. per month for the services of himself, his wife and daughter. The separate account book kept by him is a small, hand-ruled blank-book, about 7 X 8 inches in size and shows the daily expenditure for butter, milk, eggs, beef, vegetables, etc., for the“family,” as the Commander-in-Chief and his staff were called. This account was balanced every week or ten days and cleared by warrant on the Paymaster-General. The monthly expense averages of $1000, though in the first months of the war it was well below that figure. It is interesting to note that among the first entries, soon after Washington's arrival in Cambridge, is one for the purchase of oysters.

1775, July 24—The French cook was Adam Foutz, later a member of the Commander-in-chief's Guard.

CREDIT ENTRIES

1775, July 19—Colonel Joseph Trumbull was a son of Governor Jonathan Trumbull, of Connecticut. He had been Commissary-General of Connecticut troops, a delegate to the Continental Congress, and was, at this time, Commissary-General of stores of the Continental Army. Later he became Commissary-General of purchases and member of the Board of War; but resigned from ill-health in April, 1778, and died in July of that year.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1775, August 1—William Howe, a Cambridge shopkeeper. His account was for cloth and thread.

1775, August 5—A complete list of the names of the servants at Headquarters in 1775 is difficult to give. Those we know were Edward Hunt, a cook; Mrs. Morrison, kitchen-woman; Mary Kettel, washerwoman; Eliza Chapman, Timothy Austin, James Munro, Dinah, a negro woman, and Peter, a negro man; William Lee, Washington's body-servant and generally known as “Billy,” was there, of course.

1775, August 8—William Vans, of Vans & Sparhawk. The account was for tea, tablespoons, a cask of Madeira, bottles, corks and other sundries.

1775, August 17—Daniel Isley, a Watertown, Massachusetts, carter. His account was for transporting Brigadier-General Benedict Arnold's baggage from Casco Bay to Cambridge.

1775, August 18—Giles Alexander, a tailor employed at Headquarters from July, 1775, apparently to the end of the war. This account was for miscellaneous tailoring work done for the servants.

Reuben Colburn, of Gardinerstone, on the Kennebec River. This account was for sawing planks preparatory to building batteaux for Arnold's expedition into Canada.

1775, August 25—James Campbell's voucher does not particularize the necessaries and that of Jehoiakim Youkin is missing from the Washington Papers.

1775, September 1—The particulars of this theft of the Commander-in-Chief's pistols do not appear to be available.

1775, September 7—Isaac Pierce, Jr., was Aide-de-Camp to Major-General Horatio Gates.

1775, September 7—Colburn's account was for expenses in sending Dennis Getchell and Samuel Berry as scouts to explore the route for Arnold and report on the obstacles to be encountered. Colburn raised a company of artificers and marched with Arnold against Quebec.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1775, September 7—Samuel Blatchley Webb was Lieutenant in the 2d Connecticut Regiment and Major and Aide-de-Camp to Major-General Israel Putnam; later he became Lieutenant-Colonel and Aide to Washington and Colonel of one of the Sixteen Additional Continental Regiments. He was wounded at White Plains and at Trenton, was captured by the British in 1777 and held prisoner for a number of years. Major Christopher French, of the 22d Foot, British Army, had been seized by the civil authorities of Pennsylvania in 1775, while on his way to join Gage at Boston. he was held a prisoner of war for about five years and during the first months of his imprisonment addressed a constant stream of letters to Washington complaining of ill-treatment received by himself and other British prisoners.

1775, September 18—The south and west shore of Boston Harbor was through the Roxbury lines, whence came the final move of seizing Dorchester Heights which compelled the British to evacuate Boston.

CREDIT ENTRIES

1775, August—James Warren, a Plymouth merchant, was appointed Paymaster-General of the Continental Army July 27, 1775. He resigned in August, 1776, and later became president of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts.

1775, August—Eleazer Oswald, an Englishman who came to America in 1770. He served as a volunteer under Arnold in the Quebec expedition and this was the unexpended balance of the money advanced him to bear his expenses to join that expedition at Ticonderoga. He was taken prisoner in the assault on Quebec, December 31, 1775. He became Lieutenant-Colonel of the 2d Continental Artillery and was praised for bravery at Monmouth. He left the army in July, 1778, and joined William Goddard in the publishing business. He was related to Richard Oswald, the principal British negotiator of the peace of 1783 which ended the Revolutionary War.

1775, August—James Barrett [spelled here Barry] was Chairman of the Committee of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, to purchase arms.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1775, September 28—Ebenezer Gray was Lieutenant in the 3d Connecticut Regiment and later Regimental Quartermaster of the 11th Continental Infantry and Lieutenant-Colonel of the 6th Connecticut Regiment. this expense was for carrying the printed copies of Washington's Address to the Canadians to Arnold just before the latter started on the Quebec expedition.

1775, September 28—William Van's account was for Madeira wine.

1775, September 28—Oswald's account was for a part of his expenses to Ticonderoga.

1775, October 2—Expenses at the Mystic were incurred in an inspection of the left wing of the army under the command of Lee, which reached from the center, at Cambridge, to the Mystic or Medford River.

1775, October 3—The vouchers for the field bedstead, curtains, etc., are not among the Washington Papers.

1775, October 3—The mare purchased from White was a bay. He signed the receipt for payment, “Anthy. W: Outerbridge White.” Later he became Lieutenant-Colonel of the 3d New Jersey Regiment and Lieutenant-Colonel of the 4th and 1st Continental Dragoons and Colonel of the latter in 1780. He was captured by Tarleton in South Carolina in 1780, but was exchanged in time to participate in the Yorktown Campaign.

1775, October 6—William Ritchie, a Cambridge merchant. The account was for Madeira wine.

1775, October 10—William Ryan's account was for gelding a pair of stallions.

1775, October 30—Josiah and Moses Fessenden were frequently employed by Washington as express riders and it was no uncommon thing for bearers of dispatches from Headquarters to keep the saddle, day and night, with changes of mounts, until the dispatches were delivered. We have no positive data on which to calculate the speed of these riders, but there is ample evidence to show that the time made was excellent. This account of Moses Fessenden was for carrying dispatches and orders for armed privateers then fitting out at Salem, Derry, and Plymouth.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1775, November 5—George Baylor served on Washington's staff as Aide until appointed Colonel of the 3d Continental Dragoons, January 9, 1777. As a reward for his bravery at Trenton he carried the news of that victory to Congress. His command was surprised at Tappan, New York, in September, 1778, and he was severely wounded by a bayonet thrust through the lungs. Later he became Colonel of the 1st Continental Dragoons. This account was for postage, silk thread, and buckram.

1775, November 30—Elijah Bennett; perhaps the most trusted of all the official express riders. This account was for carrying dispatches to Major-General Schuyler, then at Ticonderoga.

1775, December 1—Otway Byrd, Aide-de-Camp to Major-General Charles Lee. This and succeeding accounts were for his pay as Aide.

1775, December 5—John Dunlap, an Irishman who came to America and entered the printing business with his uncle, Thomas Dunlap, in Philadelphia, when eighteen years old. In November, 1771, he commenced the publication of The Pennsylvania Packet, one of the best known and widely read newspapers of the Revolution. He was appointed printer to the Continental Congress and it was from his press that the first printed copies of the Declaration of Independence were issued. He was an officer in the Philadelphia troop of cavalry, and during the discouraging year of 1780 he advanced £4000 to the Continental Army with which to buy provisions. The account here entered was for stationery supplies.

1775, December 19—William Van's account was for Madeira, 108 bottles, bought October 11, and 109 bottles, October 22.

1776, January 9—Austin's household accounts show that from August to December, 1775, milk was furnished to Headquarters by a Joseph Smith.

1776, January 9—Nowhere is Washington's open-handed charity so well shown as in his accounts, both public and private, the detailed statements of which note numerous gratuities and gifts to deserving indigents. The distress of the wives and children of the Marblehead and Cape Ann soldiers may have been a result of the precipitate enthusiasms for enlisting at the beginning of the war, which often times left families illy provided for when the men remained away longer than had been expected.

1776, January 20—Pascal N. Smith, a Cambridge merchant. His account was for one pipe of Madeira wine.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1776, January 25—Matthew Irwin, a Cambridge merchant. The account was for furniture-cloth and linen.

1776, January 29—Baylor had been sent to Norwalk, Connecticut, on business connected with the fitting-out of privateers to cruise against the British.

CREDIT ENTRIES

1775, December 26—Colonel James Frye's Massachusetts Regiment.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1776, February 5—The articles purchased by Baylor were cakepans, saucepans, candlesticks, and like miscellany from William Lowder, of Cambridge.

1776, February 7—In Austin's accounts are items, under February 12, for slippers and mending shoes for Lady Washington and for sewing done for the servants by Margaret Thomas.

1776, March 2—Thomas Patton's account was for a saddle, cloth-holster, and snaffle-bridle. The frequency of expense items for saddle repairs or for new saddlery is evidence both of the time spent in the saddle by the Commander-in-Chief and also of his fastidiousness in all matters of horsemanship.

1776, March 4—Dorchester Heights were seized and fortified the night of March 4. This move placed the British forces in Boston in jeopardy, and on March 16, when the works were pushed to Nooks Hill on Dorchester Point, Boston laid open to bombardment and rendered untenable. March 17, the British evacuated the town. Washington entered Boston March 20.

1776, March 19—William Bartlett was Continental Agent for Armed Vessels at Beverly, Massachusetts. This account was for a cask of porter, 2 cases of claret, 32 gallons of spirits, and 4 loaves of sugar.

1776, March 23—Friedrich Wilhelm, Baron Woedtke, a Major in the Prussian Army under Frederick the Great, was one of the foreign officers who came to America to aid the Colonies. Congress appointed him a Brigadier-General in March, 1776, and ordered him to the Northern Army. Washington's cash advance was to help defray the expenses of the journey thither. Woedtke died in July, 1776, at Lake George, before he rendered any service of importance.

1776, March 25—William Hollingshead, a Boston merchant. His account was for case-knives, forks, camp-cups, and other utensils.

1776, March 28—Joseph Stanbury, the poet and Philadelphia merchant who later sided with the British. The account was for cut-glass vinegar cruets and salt-cellars.

1776, March 30—These men had returned from Arnold's disastrous expedition against Quebec and the receipt specifically states that the advance is made to enable them to join their commands, from which they had been detached for service on the Canadian expedition, and was to be repaid from the money due them in back pay. Birmingham and Feely belonged to Captain Daniel Morgan's Virginia Riflemen and Burns to Captain William Hendrick's company of Thompson's Pennsylvania Rifle Battalion.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1776, April 1—The memoranda of accounts for secret service expenditures were carefully destroyed and it is now impossible fully to identify many of the American spies. Later in the war Major Benjamin Tallmadge was placed in charge of the Secret Service, and in the Washington Papers is a letter from him in which he incautiously mentioned the name of one of his spies. It has been so heavily scored over by the pen of the Commander-in-Chief as to defy deciphering and Washington's answer to Tallmadge's letter contains a sharp rebuke to the major for having needlessly exposed the spy to such a risk of discovery.

1776, April 2—Captain Oakley may possibly be Miles Oakley, of the 4th Massachusetts Regiment, sent to Providence in connection with the reported British intention to invade Rhode Island.

1776, April 2—Steacy Read's account was for making and mending halters.

1776, April 2—Jonathan Hastings, Continental postmaster for the district of Boston and Cambridge. The Continental Post Office had been established in 1775 with Benjamin Franklin as Postmaster-General and was then furnishing an even better service than the old Royal Mail. Washington used it where the importance of his letter did not seem to demand rapid transit or secrecy, for the Commander-in-Chief's mail was frequently tampered with at various times during the war. Richard Bache succeeded Franklin as Postmaster-General in November, 1776.

1776, April 2—Among Austin's household accounts is an interesting item of fish sent to Headquarters in March, 1776, which includes 239 pounds of cod, and one of April 2, from Zaccheus Morton, a Cambridge baker, for bread furnished from February 26 to April 2, at a cost of £6 8s.

CREDIT ENTRIES

1776, March 29—Dummer Jewett, Chairman of the Committee of Essex County, Massachusetts, to purchase arms.

1776, March 30—Colonel John Mitchell, Deputy Quartermaster-General.

1776, April 3—James Barrett, Chairman of the Committee of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, to purchase arms.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1776, April—This inspection of the harbor islands was to decide on the location of fortifications necessary for defending Boston.

1776, April—Among the household accounts from March 12 to April 3 is one for 113 quarts of milk delivered by Parsons Smith, of Cambridge, at a cost of £1 5s. 1/2d.; one for bread baked by Zaccheus Morton, of Cambridge, from February 26 to April 2, £6 8s.; one for tailoring work done by Richard Peacock, Cambridge, and an account with Elisha Avery, Commissary at Cambridge, for cider, red wine, soft soap, and candles. Among the uncharged vouchers for this period which are, however, entered as separate accounts in the back of the daily expense book, are entries of purchases from Mrs. Ann Van Horne and Lloyd Danbury for wine; from John Clark, a New York merchant, for a mahogany case and ivory-handled and black-handled table knives; from Elizabeth Moore for table linen; John Deas and Dorothy Shewcroft for furniture; and from a Mr. Rhinelander for crockery.

1776, April 4—Elizabeth Hunt was one of the washerwomen at Cambridge. Her account on April 4 was for £1 1s. 0d.

1776, April 6—Governor Nicholas Cooke, of Rhode Island. the expenses incurred were those of Emanuel Pliarne and Pierre Penet on their journey to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia. It was reported at camp that these two French gentlemen had brought twenty tons of powder to Washington; they had been of undoubted assistance to the Colonies, and before they returned to France Penet was brevetted Aide-de-Camp to Washington, the only honorary aide ever appointed to the Commander-in-Chief.

1776, April 13—After the evacuation of Boston the British fleet and troop ships lay in the lower harbor, out of range of cannon-shot for ten days. When they finally sailed, their destination could only be conjectured, though it was assumed to be New York. There were rumors of an intent against Rhode Island and then against New London; but the British has actually sailed for Halifax and Sir William Howe's expedition did not arrive at Sandy Hook until June 29. This uncertainty as to where the fleet would appear caused Washington to take the route along Long Island Sound. He left Cambridge April 4 and passed through Providence, Norwich, New London, and New Haven, arriving at New York April 13. Lieutenant-Colonel William Palfrey, who kept the expense account of this journey, was Aide-de-Camp from March 6 to April 27, 1776, and afterwards Paymaster-General of the Continental Army from July, 1776, to November, 1780, when he was appointed United States Consul to France. He was lost at sea on the voyage to his post.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1776, April 13—Majors Richard Cary and George Baylor. Cary was appointed Aide, June 21, 1776; but served only a short time. Congress later advanced the rank of all aides to the Commander-in-chief to Lieutenant-Colonel.

1776, April 15—Six regiments and all the Riflemen started from Cambridge on their march to New York, March 18, the day after the British evacuated Boston. The rest of the army followed after the British fleet sailed from the harbor. The troops marched from Cambridge to New London and there embarked for New York under the protection of the small Continental Navy, of which Commodore Ezek Hopkins was Commander-in-Chief. The express sent to him was to convey warning of the rumored intention of the British to blockade New London where the Continental troops were then embarking.

1776, April 15—One of the measures adopted to retain the Indians on the side of the Colonies was to have the chiefs visit Headquarters, where they would not only be entertained with becoming dignity, but opportunity could be found to impress them by a display of the strength of the army.

DEBIT ENTRIES

The Account here shifts into New York Currency

1776, April 25—The reconnoitering tours of Staten and Long Islands and the North River [as the Hudson was often called] were, in anticipation of the arrival of the British, to devise plans to dispute their landing.

1776, May 11—Robert Porter, a Philadelphia merchant. His account was for a pair of leather-covered canteens and kitchen bottles.

1776, May 11—Benjamin Harbeson, a Philadelphia merchant. His account was for a nest of camp-kettles, canisters and tin dishes.

1776, May 11—Plunket Fleeson, of Philadelphia. His account was for making a large dining marquee, with a double front and another large marqueewith an arched “chamber tent” of ticking; 52 yards of red striped Flanders ticking, a large baggage tent, with pins, cord, poles, etc.; 18 walnut camp-stools, studded with brass nails, 3 walnut camp-tables, and 3 iron clamped packing cases. this and sundry other accounts are receipted to Andrew Hodge, Jr.

1776, May 28—Major John G. Frazier, Assistant Deputy Quartermaster and Major of the 6th Continental Infantry. He purchased this hair traveling trunk from John Head, a Boston merchant.

1776, June 4—John Sparhawk, a Philadelphia bookseller. The maps were a series of “The Topography of North America and the West Indies.”

FROM May 14 to June 4 there are vouchers of John Bower, of New York, for making bed curtains, £12, and John Martin, of Philadelphia, for making a green baize bookcase, 8s. ½d., which are noted by William Simmons, one of the Treasury clerks who audited Washington's accounts at the close of the war, as: “These vouchers we do not find charged in the Genl's account.”

1776, June 4—Washington left New York, May 21, for Philadelphia, having been requested by Congress to appear before it to concert plans for the military activities of the coming campaign. He passed through Amboy, New Jersey, May 22, and arrived at Philadelphia May 23. The expense account of the journey was kept by Robert Hanson Harrison, who had been appointed Lieutenant-Colonel and Aide, November 5, 1775, and Military Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief, May 16, 1776. In this capacity he served until March 25, 1781, when he resigned to become Chief Justice of the State of Maryland. Washington offered him a 1632place upon the Supreme Court of the United States in 1789, which he declined. The route of the journey to Philadelphia lay through Paulus Hook, Brown's Ferry, Elizabethtown, Newark, Woodbridge, and Amboy, [a short tour of inspection of Staten Island and adjacent places was made to fix upon possible places for fortification], Hicks's Tavern, Brunswick Ferry [Jacob Hyde, ferryman], Princeton, Trenton, Neshaminy Ferry, Red Lion Tavern, and Philadelphia. Among the items of expense in Philadelphia are: the tavern bill of Daniel smith; Jacob Hiltzheimer's [who in February, 1778, was Continental Agent for the purchase of wagons] and Benjamin Fleming's [Hemming's?] stablage bills; Benjamin Randall for board and lodging; and 7s. 6d. to a lame rifleman returning to Virginia.

The expense of Washington's return journey to New York is meager of details. Minnie Voorshies, of Brunswick, and William Graham, at Elizabethtown, figure in the expenditures, and the concluding expense appears to have been a dinner eaten at Samuel Fraunces's alias Black Sam, in New York City. Washington was in New York by June 7.

1776, June 14—Baylor's account was for the expenses incurred by Washington on his journey from Boston to New York and some expenses in the latter city. It covers the dates from April 4 to April 18 and includes, among other items, stockings, tailoring work, and an ink-stand.

1776, June 26—Duryee's account was for Madeira wine for Major-General Charles Lee.

For June 27 there is a voucher from Samuel Fraunces, tavern-keeper in New York, for one dozen bottles of Madeira wine, which is not entered in the accounts.

CREDIT ENTRIES

1776, May—Mrs. Mary Smith acted as housekeeper at Headquarters from April 12 to June 26, 1776. She appears to have remained at Headquarters until July, when she was succeeded by Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, of New York City, who was paid £50 a year for her services.

1776, June 26—James Mease and Samuel Caldwell, Clothier-General and Deputy Clothier-General, respectively, of the Continental Army.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1776, June—Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York.

1776, June 26—Captain Caleb Gibbs, afterwards Major-Commandant of the Commander-in-Chief's Guard. While never an Aide-de-Camp to Washington, he was, of course, on duty at Headquarters and performed considerable secretarial work. He accompanied Hamilton on that delicate mission to obtain from Major-General Horatio Gates, after the Saratoga victory, Morgan's Riflemen and other troops so greatly needed for the reinforcement of Washington. When Mrs. Mary Smith's services terminated as housekeeper, Gibbs took charge and exercised general supervision over matters at Headquarters until transferred from the Guard to the 2d Massachusetts Regiment in 1781. He was wounded at Yorktown. Among his household accounts for this period is one for baking bread, in April, from William Lowder, and a similar one from Philip Oswald for the months of June, July, and August. Michael Sice furnished bread from August 17 to September 4.

1776, July 15—Timothy Wood, a cobbler. His account was for half-soling a pair of boots for William Lee, Washington's body servant, and for making shoes for another servant.

1776, July 15—George Lewis, Aide to Washington by special appointment. Her served from May, 1776, until some time in the year 1777.

1776, July 15—Fort Lee, on the Jersey side of the Hudson River, nearly opposite West 160th Street.

1776, July 23—Among the accounts covered in under household expenses is one for washing by a Mrs. Marschalk, July 27; and one of John Osborne's for furniture, August 12; Thomas Marston, for Madeira, in September; and Andrew McAlpine and Alexander Milne, for vegetables, for the latter month.

1776, September 1—The record of servants at Headquarters for the year 1776, while probably not entirely complete, furnishes us with the following names in addition to those mentioned in the preceding year: Patrick McGuire, who came from Philadelphia to act as steward and served from May, 177, until March, 1778; Hannah, the negro servant of Rev. John Mason; she was to receive 40s. a month which were to be left in the hands of Captain Gibbs until £58 had accumulated, after which she was to receive her wages herself to be applied to the purchase of her freedom; Servant Jack and Sailor Jack [these two appear to be different individuals]; Margaret Thomas, who did sewing in February, 1776, and 1836washing from October, 1776, to February, 1778; Negro James; Stephen Sims; Negroes Lydia, Jenny, Cato, and Isaac, the latter a servant of Captain John Johnson, of Bergen county, New Jersey. He was to receive 40s. a month of his wages of £7; he also cooked for Washington from June, 1777, to June, 1780; John and Frank, hostlers; a Mrs. Lake and Peggy. John Whitehead also served at Headquarters from April, 1776, for one year at a wage of $5 per month.

The period between August 9 and September 1, for which there are no entries, was crowded with activity. Sir William Howe's army had arrived in New York Bay from Halifax, July 3, and on August 7 Sir Henry Clinton, with the force that had been repulsed at Charleston, arrived and landed. August 22 the combined British forces landed at Gravesend Bay, Long Island, and met and defeated the Continental Troops under Major-General John Sullivan, in what is known as the Battle of Long Island, August 27. Washington took command of the shattered force and, in person, directed the skillful retreat on the night and morning of August 29-30, by which the army was extricated from its dangerous position and afforded a temporary breathing spell on Manhattan Island.

DEBIT ENTRIES

On September 13 the main body of the Continental Army was moving slowly northward toward the high ground of Harlem Heights and Kingsbridge, as a council of war had decided that it was impossible to hold New York City. September 15 the British crossed from Long Island and landed in Kip's Bay, which is about at the foot of East 34th Street. The panic of the American troops on this occasion has furnished us a record of one of the rare instances of Washington's rage overbalancing his judgment. The next day these same troops checked the British at Harlem Heights and for a fortnight thereafter the two armies faced each other without accomplishing anything of moment. An attempted flanking movement by the British, up Long Island Sound, then compelled Washington to give ground and the Continental forces gradually fell back to Valentine's Hill, the British following. Another test of strength was made at White Plains, October 28, with indecisive results; but it served to stop the further advance of the British.

1776, October 2—Richard Peacock's account was for tailoring work, mending clothes for William and the coachman, furnishing linings and thread and mending Peter's breeches.

1776, October 25—Plunket Fleeson's account was for making a mattress of wool and hair.

1776, October 25—Jean Louis Imbert, a French engineer officer who had been given a commission as Captain of Engineers in the Continental Army.

On November 6 the British fell back toward Kingsbridge, inclining toward the Hudson, which induced Washington to send the larger part of the army across into New Jersey. November 16 Fort Washington was attacked and, after some resistance, surrendered and Cornwallis crossed the river in pursuit of Washington. Weakened by the loss of the troops surrendered at Fort Washington and by the delay of Major-General Charles Lee's division to join him, it became impossible to hold Fort Lee in the face of the British advance, so it was evacuated and the retreat through the Jerseys began. The British were so close at Washington's heels that at Newark their advance guard entered one side of the town as the Continental rear left the other. The line of retreat lay through Hackensack, November 18; Newark, November 24; New Brunswick, November 29; Princeton, and Trenton, which was reached December 3. Washington crossed the Delaware December 8, seized all the watercraft and destroyed the bridges. When the British reached the river there was not so much as a plank left to aid them in crossing. On Christmas night Washington2040made his daring dash over the ice-choked river at McKonkey's Ferry and on the morning of December 26 surprised and routed the Hessians at Trenton. From this point to the close of the war Washington's military genius completely controlled the situation, and from this point onward the progress of the war steadily developed toward the final victory for the Colonies, though this could not have been clearly perceived at the time. Long Island, Fort Washington, and Fort Lee were results from entrusting matters to the hands and judgment of his officers. The heavy losses of troops and munitions at Fort Washington and Major-General Charles Lee's purposeful and criminal delay, compelled the retreat through the Jerseys. The surprise at Trenton marked the point from which Washington no longer deferred to the opinions of his generals when those opinions conflicted with his own judgment. Trenton, brilliant exploit though it was, failed of being more than a raid through Cadwalader's inability to cooperate as ordered; but he succeeded in crossing the river the next day and moved forward to Burlington. December 30 Washington again crossed into Jersey with plans matured to strike at the British base of supplies at Brunswick. The Trenton reverse shook the complacency of the enemy and his troops were rapidly concentrated at Princeton while reinforcements were hurried from New York City.

A memorandum of hard money, sent to Washington from Philadelphia by Robert Morris on December 31, shows the scant sum of 410 Spanish milled dollars, 2 English crowns, 10½ English shillings, and ½ a French crown, amounting to £155 9s. 6d. Pennsylvania currency, or £124 7s. 8d. lawful money. These and other funds and the Continental bills enabled Washington to hold the time-expired and dissatisfied New England troops until the army reached its winter quarters at Morristown. [See note to Credit Entries, 1777, January, post.

1776, December—Gibbs was absent only occasionally, and not continuously, in transporting the baggage of Headquarters, during the movements of the troops, as the record shows he was in action at White Plains, at Trenton, the Assanpink, and at Princeton

DEBIT ENTRIES

1777, January 1—Joseph Reed, Lieutenant-Colonel and Aide to Washington and Adjutant-General of the Continental Army from June, 1776, to January, 1777.

1777, January 1—No vouchers for these sundry expenses are not to be found among the Washington Papers.

1777, January 1—From the Warrant Books of the Commander-in-Chief we find that Lawrence Mascoll was paid August 23, 1776, for going into the enemy's line to obtain information and September 29, Joshua Davis was paid for a like service. Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Reed expended $238 for secret services, January 25, 1777, and February 4 Nathaniel Sacket was paid $500 for his efforts to obtain secret intelligence. Major-General Adam Stephen was granted $200 for secret service expenditures in April, 1777, and in May Major-General Benjamin Lincoln was given $450 for arms and secret service.

January 2 the British advanced in force from Princeton. Moving toward Trenton in three columns they soon came in contact with the Continental advance guard which was strongly reinforced and gave ground but slowly. Some idea of the stubbornness of this resistance may be formed from the fact, stated by Trevelyan in his American Revolution, that the British advance did not reach the houses of Trenton until four o'clock in the afternoon. In the face of Washington's resistance it had taken them eight hours to advance eight miles. Three times Cornwallis attempted to cross the unfordable Assanpink at the bridge and three times he was bloodily repulsed. He was not facing dispirited troops nor yet defeated ones! That night Washington stole away and the next morning struck and scattered the British regiments that lay across his path at Princeton. Rapidity of movement was everything; but the heavy fighting of the day before and the midnight march in zero weather had taxed the endurance of his troops to the limit. It was physically impossible for his weary soldiers to make the forced march necessary to reach Brunswick before the approaching reinforcements from New York, or even much in advance of Cornwallis's outwitted but now rapidly moving troops from Trenton. The Brunswick part of the plan was abandoned and the army turned northward toward Morristown where the militia was gathering. The Continentals reached Somerset Court House, January 3, and bivouacked at Pluckamin that night, twenty-six miles north of Princeton, having broken through the British lines and not only reached a position of safety, but one actually threatening Cornwallis's entire line of communication with New York. The army went into winter quarters at Morristown as Cornwallis precipitately fell back to Brunswick and Amboy, leaving all of West Jersey free.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1777, January 12—The Memorandum Book referred to is not now among the Washington Papers.

1777, February—Colonel George Weedon commanded the 3d Virginia Regiment, He was Acting Adjutant-General in February, 1777, temporarily filling the place left vacant by Joseph Reed.

1778, March 8—Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, who succeeded Mrs. Mary Smith in July, acted as housekeeper until the end of the war.

1777, April 11—Benjamin Hemmings, the hostler.

1777, April 19—The memorandum for the amount given to Greene is in the handwriting of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Hanson Harrison, for $10 hard money, from His Excellency's private stock. The secret service of this period was more or less of a haphazard affair and was largely conducted by the commanders of the dragoon outposts and picket officers on the lines. While in New Jersey the secret intelligence was obtained through patriotic country folks, as there were then few regular secret service agents. Later in the war the service was developed into a machine that rendered invaluable assistance to the Commander-in-Chief. During this period a Mr. Smith was captured and sent into Philadelphia, charged with being a British spy. Washington ordered his release, as he was, in reality, an American spy; at the same time the Commander-in-Chief cautioned that the release or escape must be so managed that no suspicion would be aroused as to the man's true character.

CREDIT ENTRIES

1777, February 14—Major-General John Sullivan. This and the preceding entry are explained in the notes to the Debit Entries 1776, December, ante. Regarding this Morris credit Washington wrote to James Milligan, Comptroller of the Treasury, in 1784, during the settlement of these accounts: “£124. 7. 6. I remember to have received;—the time and circumstances of it being too remarkable ever to be forgotten by me.”

DEBIT ENTRIES

1777, June 1—During the campaign around Trenton the management of the secret service was largely in the hands of Major John Clark, Jr., who had been Aide to Major-General Nathanael Greene, and was then Major of the 2d Pennsylvania Battalion of the Flying Camp. Later he became the Auditor of Accounts for the Main Army.

1777, June 1—John Parke Custis, the only son of Martha Washington, was Captain of Virginia Militia and acted as a volunteer, extra aide to Washington, but without rank or appointment as such, during the Yorktown campaign. He contracted camp-fever from exposure at that siege and died at Eltham, Virginia, November 5, 1781.

1777, August—Colonel Stephen Moylan, formerly Muster-Master-General of the Continental Army. Appointed Aide to Washington, March 6, 1776, and Quartermaster-General in June of that year; he resigned, as Quartermaster-General, but acted as Aide-de-Camp until appointed Colonel of the 4th Continental Dragoons, June 5, 1777. The horse purchased from him was one captured from the British light cavalry.

1777, August 28—The army remained in winter quarters at Morristown until May 28 when it moved to Middlebrook. There it remained until June 24; it advanced to Quibbletown June 25 on the retirement of the British from Brunswick to Amboy. To this threat Sir William Howe at once replied by advancing with his whole force and Washington fell back to Middlebrook. July 1 the British again retreated and this time crossed over to Staten Island, leaving Jersey entirely free. Washington then returned to Morristown—the accounts show that on July 3 he stopped at Bullion's Tavern and the expense totaled £3—as a central location from which aid could be given to either the Highlands of the Hudson or Philadelphia in case the British moved either way. An advance up the Hudson to meet Burgoyne's expedition from Canada being the more probable, Washington moved Sullivan's brigade toward that river as far as Pompton and, on July 11, the entire army marched to Suffern's Tavern at the entrance of Smith's Clove, a valley or gorge, behind the West Point Mountains. The daily expense account shows that on July 11 £2 11s. was paid to Mr. Hathaway for the use of his house near Pompton Plains; July 14 Mrs. Van Twiller, near Suffern's, was paid £5 12s. 6d. for the use of her house and the trouble caused thereby. This same day the General Orders are dated from Van Aulen's. Suffern's was reached July 15 and July 21 a letter is dated from “11 miles in the Clove”; this was at Galloway's, who was paid, July 23, £4 5s. for the use of his house. On receiving intelligence of Howe's fleet having sailed from Sandy Hook, Washington immediately moved south and July 23 the army was at Ramapo, New Jersey; July 25 it reached Pompton;2448July 26 the accounts show an expense of £2 5s. for the use of house room at Mandeville's; July 26 Washington was at Morristown; July 28 at Flemingtown; July 29 a Mrs. Lowry was paid £1 2s. 6d. and that same day the troops began crossing the Delaware at Coryell's Ferry, sixteen miles above Trenton. August 1 Washington inspected the river defenses of Philadelphia, Fort Mifflin on Mud Island, Fort Mercer at Red Bank, and the fortifications at Billingsport on the Jersey side of the Delaware. He was at Marcus Hook, now Linwood, eighteen miles southeast of Philadelphia, and dined and supped at Chester, Pennsylvania, that same day. August 2 he returned to Philadelphia. The British fleet, after entering Delaware Bay, put out to sea again July 31 and the Continental Army waited at Schuylkill Falls until August 8 before Washington, hearing nothing of the fleet, again started the army slowly back toward the Hudson. From August 4 to 8 the orders are dated from Colonel Hill's Roxboro. August 5 Daniel Smith was paid £263 4s. for the use of his tavern during this period of uncertainty. August 6 Washington was at Germantown, and August 13 there is an item of 17s. 6d. paid to Colonel Henry Hill's servants in gratuities for their trouble in cleaning the house in Indian Queen Lane, one mile east of Schuylkill falls, after Headquarters left it. At Neshaminy Camp, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Washington received word that the British fleet had been seen off Sinepuxent, Maryland. The army halted, and Washington established his Headquarters at Mrs. Moland's house, a stone dwelling, about half a mile above Hartsville on the old York Road, known then as Cross Roads, Pennsylvania. Here he remained until August 23, when definite information was received that the British fleet was actually in the Chesapeake Bay. Mrs. Moland was paid £5 5s. for the use of her house and furniture and through Philadelphia to Berby and Wilmington, which was reached as the British commenced landing at the Head of Elk, as the head of the Chesapeake Bay is called. On the reconnoissance of August 26 Washington, with all of the cavalry except Sheldon's regiment, went within tow miles of the Head of Elk. August 27 the accounts show an item of £63 12s. paid to George Forsyth, at Wilmington, for lodging. August 29 to September 2 Washington spent in examining the country and the different roads, and the expense account from August 30 to September 2 shows bills at Elk, at Eagle Tavern, Chester, Derby, Ciscill's, and Christiana Bridge, Delaware. On September 3 the first encounter with the British took place at Wilmington and September 6 the army marched to Newport, Delaware, there or four miles from Wilmington and about eight or ten from the enemy. September 9 the orders are dated from Birmingham, and that day the Continentals fell back to Chad's Ford on the Brandywine and there awaited the British.

DEBIT ENTRIES

September 11, 1777, occurred the battle of Brandywine, in which Cornwallis, through Sullivan's misinformation, succeeded in outflanking Washington and compelling his retreat. [In daily expense account there is an entry under date of February 7, 1778, of £22 10s. paid to Benjamin Ring at Brandywine.] September 12, Washington was at Derby and Chester, Pennsylvania, and the next day at Schuylkill Falls. September 14, the army recrossed the Schuylkill, and advanced to Buck's Tavern, about nine miles northeast of Philadelphia. September 15, the orders are dated near Warren Tavern and the expense account shows £3 10s. paid to Mr. George [?] Syngs for breakfast and £9 4s. to Mr. Waggoner at the Sorrel House Tavern, Radnor township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The next day the Continental Army engaged the enemy near White Horse Tavern, when a heavy rain set in and rendered the ammunition useless. The Continentals then marched to Yellow Springs, five miles to the northward, and the expense account shows that Mr. Malin was paid, September 16, £7 10s. for the use of his house “and trouble—[rainy day].” On the 18th £7 10s. was paid to Mr. Olds at Reading Furnace, and on the 19th, Washington breadfasted at Mr. Kennedy's at Fatland Ford, the account being £3 10s. for sundries and trouble. The army recrossed the Schuylkill this day and moved down the east side of the river to Pott's Grove, Washington using William Antin's house at that place, September 26, and paying him £5 10s. for this use and the extra trouble caused. This same day the British took possession of Philadelphia and the Continental Army reached Pennypacker's [or Pennebecker's, formerly Paullin's or Pawling's] Mills the next. September 29, £5 10s. was paid for the use of the house at “Paullin's Mill” and the extra trouble caused and Washington reached Skippack September 30. [March 6, 1778, there is any entry in the expense account for £7 15s. paid to Owen Caney, at Paullin's for sundries.] October 2, at Worcester, Pennsylvania, the orders are dated from Peter Wentz's and Joseph Smith's house was used by the Commander-in-Chief; the accounts show a payment of £2 5s. for this and the trouble caused and for sundries to the amount of £11 19s. 6d. The next night the army moved to attack the British at Germantown; but the delay at the Chew House and a heavy morning fog interfered with the planned cooperation of the various brigades and caused confusion on the field, from which the troops unaccountably retreated at the very moment that victory seemed assured them. October 4, Headquarters were at Peter Wentz's and he was paid £2 10s. for butter, vegetables, etc. October 5, the Headquarters were at Perkiomen and on the 8th the Commander-in-Chief expended £5 for the use of a house and the trouble caused at that place.

October 9, Washington was at Towamencin, and the expenses show an item, under October 16, of £28 5s. 4d. paid to Frederick Wampole [spelled “Wambole” in the accounts] for the use of his house and the trouble caused2652thereby. The army moved to Worcester in an effort to divert the British into lightening the pressure they were exerting upon the forts on the Delaware and, on October 19, Sir William Howe drew in his troops and commenced throwing up earthworks and redoubts around Philadelphia. On this day Peter Wentz's was again used as Headquarters, the bill being £7 13s. 5d. for food supplies and £1 2s. 6d. extra for the trouble caused in the house. The Delaware River forts, after stubbornly resisting bombardment for nearly a month, were evacuated when they had become mere ruins and, on December 4, the whole British army advanced against Washington. A series of skirmishes ensued until the British again withdrew into Philadelphia, December 8; on December 11, the Continental Army took up its march for winter quarters at Valley Forge. Here it built huts and, until they were ready for occupancy, Washington continued to live in his tent, in order to share with his troops the discomforts of the season. According to the expense account Christmas Day was the date on which he left his tent for more comfortable quarters in the house of Deborah Hewes.

The location of this house cannot, as yet, be definitely fixed. Deborah Hewes, who had been Deborah Pyewell Potts, the wife of Thomas Potts, married Caleb Hewes, or Hughes, after the death of her first husband in 1762; Caleb Hewes also appears to have died before the end of 1777. After the battle of Brandywine the buildings at Valley Forge were destroyed by a British raiding party, on or about September 21, 1777, and there is no credible evidence to show that any of them were repaired before Washington arrived in December of that year or that Isaac Potts owned the stone house at that time, which is believed to have been the Headquarters, or had anything to do with the iron works before the close of the war. In 1773, Joseph Potts, the then owner of the Forge, conveyed an undivided moiety in the Mount Joy Forge to William Dewees, who had married into the Potts family and had been acting manager of the Forge since 1771. In the Dewees claim before Congress from 1794 to 1832 and before that, in his petition to the Continental Congress in 1785, for reimbursement for the loss by the British destruction of his entire property, he styles himself the proprietor and owner of Valley Forge. Washington so calls him in the general order of April 29, 1778, and, in the schedule of the property destroyed, which Dewees gives with his petition to the Continental Congress the first item is that of “Two large Stone Dwelling Houses” which he values at £600. These facts are fully sufficient to cast grave doubts upon the prevailing belief that what is now called the Isaac Potts House was in habitable condition during the winter of 1777-78, and until all the facts respecting Mrs. Deborah Hewes can be definitely determined the belief in the Isaac Potts Headquarters is called seriously into question. The statement that Washington's2753Headquarters were at Pott's house appears to rest largely upon tradition which has little better foundation than the recollection of aged individuals many years after the Revolution. [See note under1778, June 18, post.]

1778, January—The campaign to save Philadelphia was rendered more difficult by the fact that the country through which Washington manoeuvered was filled with loyalists. It was well-nigh impossible for the Commander-in-Chief to obtain intelligence of the enemy's movements, and to this, in large measure, may be attributed the success of Cornwallis's flanking movement at Brandywine. However, the Warrant Books give us the names of at least two firm patriots—October 23, 1777, Henry Hesmire was paid $160 for secret services, and, on April 11, 1778, Jacob Bankson was paid $100 for similar services.

1778, January 29—Among the household expenses for this period is an agreement with Peggy Lee to wash for the Commander-in-Chief for forty shillings per month and to do the washing for the military family for four shillings per dozen pieces. Margaret Thomas had done this work from October, 1776, and, apparently, she continued to do washing until April, 1779. At Valley Forge occurred what is probably the first public recognition of Washington's birthday. The Daily Expense Account shows that the band of Colonel Thomas Proctor's 4th Continental Artillery apparently took it upon itself to serenade the Commander-in-Chief, for we find under date of February 22, 1778, the following entry: “Cash paid the 22d Inst. to Proctr. band by the G.O. ...15s.”—“G.O.” being here properly translated, “by the General's order.”

1778, June 5—Captain John Barry, of the Continental Navy. When the British blockaded the Delaware River, Barry joined Washington's army for the time being and rendered valuable service with the artillery during the Trenton campaign.

1778, June 18—Early in the morning of June 18, the British evacuated Philadelphia and commenced their march across Jersey to New York. The news reached Washington about 10 o'clock a.m., and in half an hour three brigades of Continentals were in pursuit; in the afternoon three more brigades followed and the rest of the army broke camp and marched early the following morning. For this day there is a receipt among the Washington Papers, and also an entry in the Daily Expense Account, of £100 Pennsylvania currency paid to Mrs. Hewes for the use of her house and furniture at Valley Forge. There is no evidence in the Washington Papers to show that Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge were in the stone house, afterwards owned by Isaac Potts.

DEBIT ENTRIES

The route of the army was by way of Doylestown and Coryell's Ferry. the orders for June 19 are dated from Doctor Shannon's, and on June 20 £1 17s. 6d. were distributed in gratuities to Shannon's servants. June 21, at Coryell's Ferry, John Fell was paid £6 for breakfast, dinner, and supper for the Commander-in-Chief and his suite. June 23, in Hopewell, New Jersey, the orders are dated from Hunt's house and Richard Holcombe was paid £10 17s. 6d.; June 25, Washington was at Kingston; June 26, at Cranberry; and June 27, at Penolopen and Englishtown. Early in the morning of June 28, the army moved on Monmouth and about noon came in contact with the enemy. The British were forced from the field and, that night, leaving their dead and wounded behind, they retreated so silently that Poor's Brigade, which lay nearest them, was unaware of the movement. On discovering the enemy's escape, Washington, the next morning, took up his march toward the Highlands of the Hudson by way of Englishtown, Brunswick, and Paramus. July 14, £4 10s. were distributed to Mrs. Provost's servants, near Haverstraw, New York, and July 15, at that same place, Jacob Hardin's bill amounted to £3 8s. July 17, there is an entry of £2 8s. paid a boatman on the Hudson for carrying Washington to West Point, and July 19, the Commander-in-Chief's orders are dated from Delavan's house on the east side of the river. July 21, he was at Wright's Mills, White Plains, and from there he wrote to Thomas Nelson, in Virginia: “It is not a little pleasing, nor less wonderful to contemplate, that after two years' manoeuvring and undergoing the strangest vicissitudes, that perhaps ever attended any one contest since the creation, both armies are brought back to the very point they set out from, and that which was the offending party in the beginning is now reduced to the use of the spade and pickaxe for defense.” Yet he could, with truth, have pushed the parallel further and likened the retreat of the British across the Jerseys to the retreat of the Continentals before them through the same region in 1776.

July 27 and 28, there are items amounting to £30 18s. 10d. paid to Reuben Wright, of White Plains.

1778, September—The result of this reconnoiter was to encamp the army for the winter at Fredericksburg, in Dutchess County, New York, as a central location from which to protect either the Highlands of the Hudson or New England.

CREDIT ENTRIES

1778, August 3—Daniel Sullivan, an Indian Interpreter from Fort Pitt, Pennsylvania.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1778, September—Washington was at West Point September 19 and there is an expense item of £9 12s. for victualing the servants at Jacob Mandeville's this same day, which was, however, not paid until November 18, 1779.

1778, September 6—Brigadier-General Charles Scott, whose headquarters were at Bedford, New York. The second installment of 25 guineas, September 25, was receipted for by James Paton, Lieutenant, 2d Continental Dragoons, then acting as aide to Scott. We have a record that one A. R., who, doubtless, was Asher FitzRandolph, of Woodbridge, New Jersey, went into New York City during the campaign of 1778, eight different ties to obtain intelligence; but whether or not he was one of Scott's spies cannot be definitely stated. In 1780, he was employed as a secret agent by Colonel Moses Hazen, of the 2d Canadian Regiment. September 28, Thomas Wicks was paid $234 for secret services, and November 15, a spy by the name of I. Jagger, though this may have been an alias, obtained and sent in an accurate return of the British forces in Westchester, at Harlem and other places. John Vanderhovan, of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, was active in obtaining intelligence in October, 1778, and rendered important services in this respect during the remainder of the war. Members of his family, Cornelius and Elizabeth Vanderhovan, assisted him. He corresponded with Major Benjamin Tallmadge and with Headquarters direct, over the signatures of “Littel D.” and ”L. D.,” and, either as a means of obtaining information, or to allay suspicion, he appears to have enlisted in the Loyalist Regiment of The Guides and Pioneers. Major Tallmadge, of the 2d Continental Dragoons, was placed at the the head of the Secret Service for the Main Army in 1778 and developed it to a high point of efficiency. He correspondence with the various spies under the alias of John Bolton. Sir James Jay, a brother of John Jay and a scientist of considerable repute, furnished Washington with a chemical compound which was used by the American spies as an invisible ink. It could be brought to view only by painting the communication with a “counterpart” or reacting mixture. Many of the secret communications were written with this mixture between the lines of an ordinary letter, in ordinary ink; but usually they were sent in the form of a blank sheet, or sheets preceded by an inconsequential communication.

1778, October 4—On British reinforcements going to the posts on Staten Island and in New Jersey and a display of other signs of activity in that quarter, Washington ordered Major-General Israel Putnam across the Hudson to protect West Point and went himself to Fishkill. The rumors and appearance of an intent to evacuate New York rendered it expedient to put the army in a position to protect Boston in case of an 3058 attempt on that city. Washington, therefore, established the Continental troops in winter quarters stretching over the arc of a great circle swinging from Danbury, Connecticut, over to the Hudson River, through the Highlands and down to Middlebrook in New Jersey. This would serve to cover New England and permit of speedy concentration of the troops to protect the Highlands or the Middle States, whichever way the British might turn. Three brigades went into winter quarters in the vicinity of Danbury and Washington's visit thither was to examine the country to fix upon their location. The Commander-in-Chief's Headquarters were not established at Middlebrook until December 13, although he set out from Fredericksburg November 28. November 17, £20 1s. were paid to Reed Ferriss for sundries furnished for the family on September 25, at Fredericksburg. November 28, John Keane [as it is spelled in the accounts] at Fredericksburg was paid £57 12 s. for the use of his house. November 29, Washington was at Fishkill; December 4, he was at Elizabethtown; December 6, at Paramus; on December 8, he retraced his steps and was again at Elizabethtown, having learned that Sir Henry Clinton had sailed up the Hudson with a considerable force. The British commander, however, proceeded only as far as King's Ferry and, without attempting anything, returned to New York City. December 12, the orders dated from Raritan and December 13, Headquarters were at Middlebrook.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1779, February 6—Washington left Middlebrook December 22, and arrived at Philadelphia that same day. Congress desired to consult with him as to plans for the campaign of 1779. The Commander-in-Chief returned to Middlebrook February 5

1779, February 15—Major-General Alexander McDougall, commanding in the Highlands. John Laurance had been Paymaster of the 1st New York Regiment; but at this date was Judge-Advocate-General of the Continental Army, as which he acted until June, 1782.

1779, March 3—Colonel William Malcom, who had been Colonel of one of the Sixteen Additional Continental Regiments and Adjutant-General of the Northern Department, and was them commanding a regiment of New York Levies.

1779, March 15—Colonel John Mitchell, Deputy Quartermaster-General and a trusted friend of Washington's.

1779, June—That part of the army that has wintered at Middlebrook commenced its march toward the Highlands, June 2, in consequence of the rumored intention of a British movement in that direction. The line of march was by way of Morristown, Troy, Pompton, Ringwood, and Smith's Clove. The accounts show a payment, June 4, 1779, to John Wallace, at Middlebrook, for the use of his house and furniture for winter quarters, of $1000, or £375. June 5, the orders are dated at Ringwood; June 6 at Slott's, and June 7, Smith's Tavern. June 19 in Smith's Clove there is an entry of £15 4s. to Francis Smith for 19 dinners. By June 23, the Commander-in-Chief was established in Headquarters at New Windsor; July 15, his letters are dated from Fort Montgomery in the Highlands and July 17, the orders are dated from Stony Point.

1779, July—The British had moved up the Hudson and fortified Stony Point, and on June 6, they bombarded the small American redoubt on Verplanck's Point, on the opposite side of the river. Aided by their ships, a land detachment succeeded in capturing the work that same day. This put the enemy in complete possession of King's Ferry and blocked the most convenient thoroughfare across the Hudson, interfering greatly with the communication between New England and Middle States. A counter move was made in the form of an assault on the Stony Point works, and on the morning of July 16, “Mad Anthony” Wayne at the head of the light infantry took the place by storm at the point of the bayonet. August 15, a warrant for $1500 was given to Wayne to be distributed among the first five men who had entered the works at Stony Point. After the capture it was found impracticable to hold the Point3262against bombardment from the British ships in the river, so the works were demolished and the place evacuated, July 18. Two days later the British again took unmolested possession; but voluntarily evacuated the post toward the end of September

CREDIT ENTRIES

1779, June—Washington had requested these five hundred guineas from Congress and they were forwarded to him through Major Auguste Despini`eres reached America in March, 1777, before Lafayette, and was commissioned by Congress a Major in the Continental Army.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1779, November 6 - December 23—Among the itemized expenses covering the months of November and December, 1779, is one of December 8 of a payment of £102 to Lieutenant-Colonel Tench Tilghman for the expenses of the Commander-in-Chief and suite from West Point to Pompton, which Washington reached November 30, and back. December 23, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Kidder Meade was paid £82 10s. for expenses of the General and suite from West Point to Morristown. Washington's return to West Point from Pompton, before going to Morristown, is but one of the unsuspected disclosures of his movements that a close scrutiny of his accounts reveals. On Christmas Day of this year there is an item of £15 paid for a band of music.

1780, January 29 - March 28—According to the household expenses Daniel Dyer was an assistant cook at Headquarters in January, 1780, and Sergeant Bildad Edwards, of the Guard, acted as steward in March of this year. Hannah Till was added to the servants at Headquarters in June, 1780, and James Dady served as hostler in October. We have no complete record of dismissals or how long the various servants were at Headquarters; but it is improbable that new ones were added to the force without some of the old ones being dropped. We have an expense item of £17 10s. for the expenses of Major Caleb Gibbs in going to meet Mrs. Washington, and to Philadelphia, February 14, 1780. On March 28, is an entry of £487 10s. paid to Lewis Luther, John Greag, and David Marony for cleaning and stoning Mrs. Ford's well. Mrs. Theodosia Ford was the widow of Jacob Ford, Jr., at whose house the Morristown Headquarters of this period were established. There is also an item under March 15, 1780, for plastering work done on this house, amounting to £75. April 7, a dinner for the Commander-in-Chief and his suite at Springfield cost £21 7s. 6d.

1780, April 14—This visit to Elizabethtown and outposts of the army was a tour of inspection in company with the Chevalier de la Luzerne, the French Minister to the United States and Don Juan de Miralles, the unofficial representative of the Spanish Court. The latter died at camp two weeks later and was buried at Morristown with all military honors.

1780, June 15—The British advanced from Elizabethtown Point against Springfield Heights, or Short Hills, the next day. The enemy then fell back to Elizabethtown. Washington remained at Springfield until June 22, when he moved with the larger part of the troops toward Rockaway Bridge and Whippany, leaving Major-General Nathanael Greene in command at Springfield. We have a voucher, dated June 21, 1780, for $1015 given to Greene for contingent expenses while on this command. Also there is one, of this same date, for Major-General Henry Knox's expenses to Trenton, whither he had gone to arrange for forwarding flour to the3366Hudson River, amounting to $1200, and one for $60 to Briant Durant for repairing Washington's spyglass. June 22, Jacob Briant, of Springfield, was paid $800 for sundries furnished while Washington stopped at his house. June 25, Uzal Coe, at Whippany, was paid for cheese, mutton, and lodging, $180. On this date also Mrs. Doremus, at Pequanock, was paid $40, presumably for the use of her dwelling. June 28, Isaac Vanderbeck, at Totaway Bridge, was paid $452, and July 1, an account of Mr. Hopper, at whose house in Ramapo, Washington established his Headquarters, September 6, was settled for $200. The orders from September 5 to September 18 are dated Steenrapie. July 29, Washington distributed $50 in gratuities to the servants at Colonel Theunis Dey's, at whose house in Preakness he had established his Headquarters the beginning of July.

Toward the end of July Washington moved the army toward the Hudson. He himself crossed the river and was at Robinson's house, July 30 and at Peekskill the 31st. During this period many of the expense vouchers are for express-rider services: William Dunn rode express to Trenton, June 18; Joseph Hunter, a light dragoon, in Moylan's regiment, arrived with dispatches from Newport, Rhode Island, respecting the French troops, and his expenses amounted to £260 7s.; Hugh Mooney rode express to Congress at Philadelphia, June 26, and Charles Tatum and John Miller, likewise, in the first week in July. Among the vouchers for August is one dated the 8th at Tappan, to Mrs. Talman, for $80.

1780, August 29—Colonel Morris Graham, commanding one of the regiments of New York levies.

1780, September 2—Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Kidder Meade served as Aide-de-Camp to Washington from March 2, 1777, to the end of the war, and among the memoranda of this account is an item of $600 to Major Sebastian Bauman, of the 2d Continental Artillery, who was conducting some artillery range experiments at West Point.

1780, September 11—Richard Humphreys, a Philadelphia merchant from whom were purchased tablespoons and cups by Colonel Clement Biddle, Commissary-General of Forage until June, 1780; Quartermaster-General of Pennsylvania from September, 1781, to the end of the war, and a friend of Washington's.

1780, September 11—Bergen County, New Jersey, and Bergen Neck. On this reconnoiter Washington went into the vicinity of Hackensack.

Washington left the Hopper House, September 18, for Hartford, Connecticut, to confer with Lieutenant-General Comte de Rochambeau and Admiral Chevalier de Ternay, the commanders-in-chief of the French land and naval forces that arrived in Rhode Island, July 12.

1780, September 30—There seem to be no receipts preserved of the expenses of this journey to Hartford.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1780, October 16—John Mercereau, a Captain of New Jersey militia, commenced his secret service operations as early as 1777 and furnished valuable information throughout the war. At this time he enlisted the services of four spies whose identities may be guessed at : P. R., who received six guineas per month; J. C., probably John Cork, at four guineas per month; A. R., who was Asher FitzRandolph, at four guineas, and J. M., who probably was Mercereau's brother Joshua, at four guineas. Joshua later served as Deputy Commissary of prisoners and was sent by Washington on a confidential mission to Rutland, Massachusetts, to mingle with the Hessian prisoners of war captured at Saratoga and endeavor to alienate them from the British by the usual method of offering them freedom, exemption from military service, and farm land, in return for taking the oath of allegiance to the United States. Baker Hendricks, here mentioned, was a Captain of the New Jersey militia, and the five guineas given him were for John Vandruver, a spy in New York City. Baker was probably the brother of John Hendricks who sometimes sent in secret intelligence over the signature of Elizabeth Vanderhovan.

1780, October 16—It was impossible for Tallmadge's spies to get their intelligence through British lines to the north of New York City, so the back-door route, by the way of Long Island and Westchester County, was used. The agents in this circuit had, in addition to the invisible ink, a cipher for their communications and many of their reports are a difficult succession of numerals and decimal points that well concealed the information forwarded.

1780, October 18—Colonel Lewis, a chief of the Caughnawagas, a tribe of New York Indians. He was the friend of Major-General Philip Schuyler and frustrated the efforts of Joseph Brant to enlist the Caughnawagas in the British cause.

1780, November—The army was distributed in winter quarters at Morristown, Smith's Cove, the Highlands of the Hudson, and Albany, and Washington selected New Windsor as his Headquarters and sent Major Gibbs from Preakness, November 21, to select a house at the former place for that purpose. The Commander-in-Chief's route from Morristown was as given in this entry, for the detailed expenses of which vouchers are not now among Washington's papers. December 8, the orders are dated from New Windsor.

1780, November 15—Timothy Pickering was Colonel and Adjutant-General of the Continental Army from June, 1777, to January, 1778, and Quartermaster-General from August, 1780, to July 1783, succeeding Major-General Nathanael Greene in the latter position.

CREDIT ENTRIES

1780, December 14—Tench Tilghman volunteered as Aide to Washington in August, 1776, and served without pay or rank until April, 1777, when he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel and Aide and served to the close of the war. Washington conferred upon him the honor of carrying to Congress the dispatches announcing the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1781, February—Lieutenant William Colfax, of the Commander-in-Chief's Guard. He had enlisted as a private in the 13th Continental Infantry in May, 1775. Discharged at the end of the year he enlisted again. He was Sergeant-Major of the 10th Continental Infantry and was wounded at White Plains; discharged again, he was appointed Ensign in the 1st Connecticut Regiment, became Second Lieutenant in 1778, and at Valley Forge was assigned to the Commander-in-chief's Guard. He became Lieutenant-Commandant of the Guard in 1781; was wounded again at Yorktown and served to the close of the war. From 1781 on, he acted as general superintendent of Headquarters and cashier to Washington.

In this month occurred what is, probably, the first public celebration of Washington's birthday, just as Proctor's band gave the first public recognition of that event in 1778 at Valley Forge. Comte de Rochambeau, with true French politeness, declared a holiday for the French troops, February 12, 1781, as February 11 of that year fell on Sunday. Washington was born February 11, 1732, and the Gregorian calendar was not officially adopted by England until 1752. In the readjustment then necessary to harmonize the calendar and begin the year January 1 instead of March 25, eleven days were omitted between September 3 and September 14 in 1752, which caused Washington's birthday in 1753 and all succeeding years to fall on February 22.

1781, May—On receiving dispatches from France, Rochambeau requested an interview with Washington, who set out, May 18, for Wethersfield, Connecticut, the designated place of meeting, which he reached the next day. At his conference a joint attack on New York City was decided upon and Washington returned to New Windsor, May 25. [See entry under March 10, 1782, post.]

DEBIT ENTRIES

1781, August—Captain William Dobbs, of Fishkill, New York, sea captain and pilot; the other pilots were: Daniel Shaw, Patrick Dennis, Abraham H. Martlings, of Peekskill, and Captain William Redfield, of Connecticut. They waited at Baskingridge, New Jersey, for the expected French fleet under Comte de Grasse until the latter part of August.

1781, August 28—The news that Chesapeake Bay was De Grasse's intended destination caused a sudden shift of plans. The attempt against New York was secretly given up and measures taken to transport the allied American and French armies to Virginia to cooperate with De Grasse. The armies crossed the Hudson at King's Ferry, August 21 to 25, and the march to New Brunswick was so skillfully managed as to create the impression at New York City of an intended attack by way of Staten Island with the cooperation of De Grasse's fleet which was known to be coming. Trenton was reached, August 29, and Philadelphia August 30, before Sir Henry Clinton, in New York, awoke to the real meaning of the movement. Washington himself left Philadelphia for the South, September 5.

CREDIT ENTRIES

1781, February—Lieutenant-Colonel John Pierce was appointed Paymaster-General, January 17, 1781, and served in that capacity to the end of the war.

1781, March—Mr. Burwell was Deputy Paymaster-General Jonathan Burrall, who served in this capacity from January, 1781, to the close of the war.

CREDIT ENTRIES

1781, October—David Ross, at one time Major in Grayson's Additional Continental Regiment, and at this time Commissioner of Trade for Virginia. Thomas Pleasants, Jr., a Virginia merchant. Robert Morris, Superintendent of Finance of the United States.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1781, September 8—Daniel Grant, owner of the Fountain Inn, Baltimore. His account was for eight dinners for Washington and his suite and also for seven servants. September 9, sixteen horses were cared for by him.

1781, September 8—Lieutenant-Colonel William Stephens Smith appears to have been the Aide who accompanied Washington. He had been Aide to Sullivan and also to Lafayette. He served as Aide to the Commander-in-Chief from July, 1781, to the end of the war. His account gives the route taken by Washington and Rochambeau from Philadelphia to Baltimore as: Chester, Wilmington, Delaware, Christiana Bridge, Wormsley, Susquehannah Ferry, Darling's, Nottingham, and Baltimore.

1781, September 8—Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., was at this time Military Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief.

1781, September 17—The route from Mount Vernon to Williamsburg was by way of Colchester, Dumfries, Garrat's, Fredericksburg, Bolling, or Bowling Green, Aylett's, Frank's, and Williamsburg, which was reached September 14.

1781, September 17—The interview with Comte de Grasse on board the French flagship, Ville de Paris, off Cape Henry, settled the general plan of operations against Cornwallis at Yorktown. The allied armies besieged that place September 28, and, three weeks later, October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered.

1781, October 31—The tailoring work was done by William Riley and was for a pair of riding breeches for William. Another voucher shows that there were two new servants at Headquarters at this time, one named Barton and the other Philip Wamsley or Walmsley.

1781, October 31—The express-rider was Richard Woolfolk, Jr.

1781, November 1—John Likley, a Philadelphia merchant. The tea was purchased when the army passed through that city in September.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1781, December 1—Colonel Trumbull's expense account shows the route to have been Bryrd's [spelled “Bird's” in the voucher], Hanover Court House, Lynch's, Bowling Green [spelled “Bolling Green” in the previous voucher], Garrat's, Dumfries, Colchester, and Mount Vernon.

1781, December 1—Colonel Smith's voucher for the expenses of a part of the military family from Colonel Basset's, at Eltham, to Mount Vernon, gives the route as: Frank's, Ruffin's Ferry, Slaughter's, Aylett's, Bowling Green, Todd's, Fredericksburg, Garrat's, Dumfries, Colchester Ferry, and Mount Vernon.

From Mount Vernon to Philadelphia the route was: Alexandria, Rawlin's Tavern, South Ferry, Annapolis, and Baltimore. From Baltimore to Philip's Ravern, Susquehannah Ferry and Susquehannah Tavern, Head of Elk, Christiana, Delaware, Wilmington, Chester, Schuylkill, and Philadelphia which was reached November 26.

1782, March 20—Lieutenant-Colonel John Laurens, who was a volunteer Aide to the Commander-in-Chief in 1777 and was regularly appointed in March, 1779, had gone to France under orders of Congress to urge the grant of further loans from the French Court. After returning to America he was killed in a skirmish at Combahee Ferry, South Carolina, in August, 1782.

1782, March 22—Among the items of expense in Philadelphia is one for the purchase of a pair of large bear-skins from Dugee & Stephens. The Commander-in-Chief remained in Philadelphia, by the request of Congress, until March 22, 1782, when he set out for Newburgh, on the Hudson. The places from which Washington's letters are dated show that he passed through Trenton, Morristown, and Pompton.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1782, March—William Engle's account was for capturing a deserter from the 5th Massachusetts Regiment.

1782, June—Washington arrived at Albany June 26; at Saratoga, June 29; Schenectady, June 30; he returned to Albany this same day and reached Newburgh July 2.

1782, July—The Commander-in-Chief reached Philadelphia, July 14, in response to a request from Comte de Rochambeau for an interview. He left Philadelphia to return to Newburgh July 24.

1782, July—George Evans, at the City Tavern. The account runs from July 15 to the 24th and shows three dinners, July 21; five breakfasts, July 23; two breakfasts, July 24, and four “gentleman's breakfasts” this same day at a cost of fifteen shillings. There were punch and beverages, beer and cider and three bottles of wine for the sick included, as was also $185 on a former account for St. Patrick's Day, while Washington was in Philadelphia prior to going to Newburgh.

1782, July—The account of expenses to Pott's Grove and Bethlehem was kept by Trumbull and gives the route taken as: Pott's Grove, Bethlehem, Bethlehem Ferry, Easton, Warwick, Robinson's Ferry, and Moravian Mills.

1782, July—Major Benjamin Walker, formerly Aide to Baron Steuben and Lieutenant-Colonel and Aide to Washington from January, 1782, to the close of the war. His account shows miscellaneous payments made to David Claypoole, stationer and publisher in Philadelphia, at the City Ravern, at Bennet's, Robinson's Ferry, Haslet's, Sussex Court House, Baird's, and Chester.

1782, August—Captain John Pray, of the 1st Massachusetts Regiment, was in charge of the scout boats on the Hudson River and this account was for ten guineas for secret services.

1782, September—Major Tallmadge's voucher is dated September 15, for secret services. There is a record of I. Jagger having gone into New York City three times in September, 1781, presumably in an effort to obtain information as to Sir Henry Clinton's measures to relieve Cornwallis. Another spy, whom we know only as “S. M.”, reconnoitered the enemy three times in September, 1782, and “S. W.” performed the same service on the lines at Kingsbridge and Fort Knyphausen in October of this year. The daring of the American secret service agents by this time4290is attested by the presence among Washington's Papers of a general return of the strength of the entire British Army on April 1, 1782; a huge official tabular statement bearing the signature of the British Adjutant-General. Such a paper could have been obtained only from the Headquarters itself of the British Army.

1782, September—The French troops from Yorktown had joined the Continental Army, September 14, and the allied forces were encamped at Verplanck's Point on the Hudson. Philipsburg, more correctly Philipse Manor, at what is now Yonkers, New York.

1782, October 10—The post at Dobb's Ferry was designated the official place at which flags of truce and all communications from the enemy must be received.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1782, November—There are no vouchers of expense for this tour to Poughkeepsie now among the Washington Papers. The Hudson was crossed, presumably at Esopus, and Washington was at Kingston, November 16. What the Commander-in-Chief called the western frontier of New York could not, at this time, have been so very far west of Kingston, hardly farther than the Catskill Mountains, as he was again at Newburgh November 19.

1783, March 10—this Sheldon account [probably Thomas Sheldon] dated back to the journey from New Windsor to Wethersfield in May, 1781. It was for the entertainment of the General and suite at Litchfield, Connecticut, probably on the return journey, May 24.

1783, April—The Secretary at War was Benjamin Lincoln, formerly Major-General in the Continental Army. He had been forced to surrender to the British at Charleston, South Carolina, and, as a sort of poetic justice, Washington placed him in charge of the ceremonies of the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Ringwood was in Passaic County, New Jersey, about thirty miles northeast of Morristown. The British prisoners of war were under guard in camps at Frederick, Maryland, Winchester, Virginia, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and a few hundred at Reading, Pennsylvania. The arrangements were to free them as rapidly as possible. The Frederick and Winchester prisoners were to march to either Baltimore or Wilmington, Delaware, there to embark on vessels to be sent for that purpose by Sir Guy Carleton; the Pennsylvania prisoners to embark at Philadelphia or march overland to Elizabethtown, New Jersey, there to be turned over to the British.

1783, May—This interview with the British Commander-in-Chief was at Washington's request and was held at Dobbs's Ferry. The meeting took place May 6, on a British warship in the Hudson River. The contractors for supplying provisions to the army at this date were Daniel Parker & Company. Parker was a New York merchant; he was later appointed by Washington as one of the United States Commissioners to superintend the embarkation of the British at New York City.

Birdsall's was probably Benjamin Birdsall's in the Newburgh precinct.

Washington's quarters during the two days' stay were at Major Johannes Joseph Blauvelt's, at Orangetown.

Apparently Washington returned to Newburgh by water. But it is not known whether he went up the river in one of Captain Pray's guardboats or in his own barge.

DEBIT ENTRIES

This note, made July 1, 1783, after balancing the account that day, related to the accounts which were adjusted and cleared December 4, 1783, on Major Benjamin Tallmadge's voucher. [See under that date.] It is to the credit of the American spies of the Revolution that no claims were made in after years for payment for the valuable services rendered. With the close of the war, the withdrawal of the British troops, and the disbandment of the Continental Army, the matter ended.

DEBIT ENTRIES

Major-General Alexander McDougall. This expenditure for secret services was made while he was in command in the Highlands in 1781.

CREDIT ENTRIES

The depreciation in value of the Continental bills was early and rapid; not the least of the causes of which was the generous counterfeiting of them by the British, who indulged their humor at times by furnishing the Loyalists with counterfeit notes with which they could pay their Continental taxes. A glance at Washington's table is sufficient to show the financial depths to which the currency sank. Congress attempted to stem the tide by establishing a lawful rate of depreciation, a measure as futile as it was economically inane.

DEBIT ENTRIES

Austin's Memorandum Books, two in number, are small paper-covered octavo volumes, dating from July 18, 1775, to April 4, 1776. They contain the daily record of expenditures at Headquarters for food supplies, together with some items of expense of a miscellaneous nature.

DEBIT ENTRIES

The Household Expense Book, kept by Gibbs, is a folio volume dating from July 15, 1776, to November 21, 1780. It shows the daily expenditures at Headquarters for supplies of all kinds, foodstuffs and miscellaneous articles purchased, bills paid for the use of houses for Headquarters, repairs of all kinds, to clothing and accouterments, gratuities to servants, etc., etc.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1783, July 1—Washington submitted his expense account for the entire war to the Continental Board of Treasury on this date and this page duplicates page 96 ante, in accordance with the marginal note thereon. With Mrs. Washington's traveling expenses the Commander-in-Chief's account with the public was closed to date, the balance due Washington being £1972, 9s., 4d.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1782, August 5—The expense account of this Northern Tour is on a folio sheet, in the handwriting of Martha Washington, among the Washington Papers. It is headed “Expences [in which those of Governor Clinton and other gentelmen who accompanied me are included] on a Tour to Crown point to the Northward—and Fort Schuyler and Otsege lake to the westward.” The account shows expenses at: Kinder Hook; Cohoes and the ferry near them; the widow Javer, whose bill was £11 4s.; Saratoga, going and returning; tavern at Fort Edward; Fort George, going and returning; carrying place between Lake George and Champlain, where the boats were transported; Crown Point; Putnam's Point; Ticonderoga; Fort Edward; Ball's Town; the tavern five miles from Schenectady—while at Schenectady Washington is said to have stopped at Colonel Henry Glen's; tavern at old Fort Johnson; Fort Rensselaer and German Flats. From various sources it appears that Washington was accompanied on this trip by Governor George Clinton, Brigadier-General Edward Hand, Lieutenant-Colonel David Humphreys, Washington's Aide, Alexander Hamilton, and Lieutenant-Colonel Nicholas Fish, of the 2d New York Regiment.

A rough memorandum, noted as “Cash laid out to the Westward for the family,” shows that supplies were purchased in Schenectady from Robert Lewis and Alexander Mercer; an account paid to Mr. Foxes at Fort Herkimer; Dr. Petrie was paid for a horse; Lieutenant Thornton, possibly John Thornton, of Colonel Marinus Willet's regiment of New York levies, for two sheep and butter; a Mrs. Warmmout's bill was £15, Adam Leip's was for horse-keeping, and John B. Van Eps's for ferryage.

1783, August 5—The Deputy Paymaster-General was Jonathan Burrall.

1783, August 22—The expense account of this journey to Princeton where the Continental Congress was then sitting, was kept by Lieutenant-Colonel Benjamin Walker and shows the route to have been: West Point to Tappan, Hackensack, Acquackanonck Ferry, Elizabethtown, Brunswick, and Princeton. At Princeton there is an expense account from a Mr. Winters, from August 23 to 31, showing among other things the purchase of four watermelons on August 27.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1783, October 6—This Trenton account was on the journey back to West Point and is lacking in details of value.

1783, October 9—Christopher Beekman's tavern in Princeton.

1783, November 3—Philip Wamsley, or Walmsley, of New York, a servant who accompanied Washington from West Point to Mount Vernon.

1783, November 10—James Dady, a private in the Guard, to which he had been detailed at Valley Forge in March, 1778. Ebenezer Carleton and Adam Foutz were both members of the Commander-in-Chief's Guard. The extra wages for faithful service to Carleton and Foutz “at Providore” is a pen slip which renders the meaning doubtful. It may be that these two acted as stewards, or as providers, at sundry times and that the gratuity was for the extra services. The assistant in the stable was probably Stephen Amos, a private in the Guard. The name of the Hessian cook appears to have been Renor Baker.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1783, November 14—Lieutenant-Colonel Benjamin Walker's expense account shows the route from Rocky Hill to have been: Brunswick, Elizabethtown, Second River Ferry, Hackensack, Tappan, King's Ferry, and from King's Ferry to West Point by barge.

1783, November 17—The interview with George Clinton at Poughkeepsie was to arrange to take possession of the city of New York on its evacuation by the British.

1783, November 21—The Commander-in-Chief moved down toward New York, on the east side of the Hudson, as the British preparations to evacuate neared completion. Lieutenant-Colonel David Humphreys had been Aide-de-Camp to both Putnam and Greene; he acted as Aide to Washington from June, 1780, to the end of 1783. Congress voted him a sword for his services. His account shows the expenses of the dragoon guard while at Tarrytown as rendered by Sergeant Extine. Lieutenant-Colonel Walker's account shows expenses with the Commander-in-Chief at Pugsby's [Stephen Pugsley's? in Dutchess County], the ferry at Tarrytown, and Hunt's Tavern.

1783, November 21—Joseph Appleby's at Philipse's Manor, New York.

1783, November 26—William Shattuck, of New Hampshire Grants, had been commissioned by Washington to arrest Luke Knoulton, Judge and Town Clerk of Newfane, Vermont. He and Samuel Wells, of Brattleboro, had been ordered arrested by the Continental Congress on the ground that they were carrying on a seditious correspondence with the British. A previous attempt to seize these two men had failed because of a warning, sent to them, it was charged, by Jonathan Arnold, a delegate to the Continental Congress from Rhode Island.

At Samuel Fraunces's Tavern in New York where Washington established his quarters from November 26 to December 4, the expense was £113 1s. 3d., and notes an entertainment given, November 30, at a cost of £35. The selection of Fraunces's Tavern furnished an interesting sidelight upon Washington. Fraunces wrote to the Commander-in-Chief in August, 1783, asking for a certificate of his services to the patriot cause to stop the mouth of calumny. The request complied with August 18, in the form of a letter that, from Washington, was unusual, both in wording and length. Its broad, general acknowledgment of the value of Fraunces's services is such as to justify the idea that Washington had but hearsay knowledge of the matter, were it not for the fact that the length 53132of the document is out of all proportion to the usual terse paragraph which the Commander-in-Chief wrote on such occasions, when he did not indeed decline to make any acknowledgment. The will to oblige Fraunces is plainly evident; but the restraint of expression is equally so. When it is remembered that the tavern-keeper had been in New York City during the entire time of the British occupation, from 1776 to 1783, and that in August, 1783, the British still held possession of the city, the reason for Washington's cautious use of words seems plain. Only the alias under which Fraunces sent secret intelligence is missing. And the last touch is given by Washington making use of the tavern for his lodgings for over a week. Can we say that this tavern was selected because Washington realized the indefinite character of his written certificate? Certainly the patriotism of Samuel Fraunces has never been questioned since December 4, 1783.

1783, December 4—Tallmadge's account finished up the expenses for secret services. It gives only two names in full, I. Jagger and John Cork. The other spies are entered by initials only. The first on the list is I. K., who is paid ten guineas; the next is A. R., who was, as has been before stated, Asher FitzRandolph; S.C., Jr., who was Samuel Culper, Jr., which was an alias; J. D., who may have been John Vandruver; J. H., who may have been John Hendricks; G. S., S. M., and S. W. are the other initials given. Their identities probably will never be known.

1783, December 4—A Spanish doubloon was a gold coin, so called from being double the value of a Spanish pistole; it was worth about eight dollars. A johannes was a gold coin of Portugal, so called from having first been minted in the reign of King John. A half-joe was worth about four dollars and a half.

1783, December 8—Lieutenant-Colonel David Cobb was a surgeon in 1775. He acted as Aide to Washington from June 1781. This account shows the expenses of the Commander-in-Chief on the journey from New York City to Philadelphia. The route was by way of Elizabethtown, Brunswick, Princeton, Trenton, Bristol, Neshaminy Ferry, and Philadelphia.

1783, December 8—It is possible that the £3 paid to the bargemen from New York accounts, to that extent, for the entry of expenditures by the Commander-in-Chief himself. The vouchers show a stay at the City Tavern, Philadelphia,—then managed by Patrick Cunningham,—December 8, and the morning of December 9. On the 8th, there is a charge for dinner to Washington and three other gentlemen and also for fourteen other dinners, which were, of course, for the servants and the retinue. December 9, the account was for fourteen breakfasts. In the city the dragoon escort was stationed at Mrs. Mary Robinson's on Seventh Street. Her account shows that the escort consisted of nine dragoons.

1783, December 8—Bezaleel Howe was Captain in the 1st New Hampshire Regiment. He had been wounded at Stillwater and was detailed to the Commander-in-Chief's Guard at Newburgh, September 5, 1783. He transported Washington's papers and heavy baggage to Mount Vernon from the last Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief at Rocky Hill, New Jersey, leaving that place, November 9.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1783, December 13—Washington was in Philadelphia in attendance on the Continental Congress and submitted his account on this date for the preceding six months. The two pages of accounts that follow show the very last items of the public expenses of the Commander-in-Chief, the settlement of which, by a Treasury warrant, was not noted by Washington in this record.

DEBIT ENTRIES

1783, December 13—Among Washington's accounts during his stay in Philadelphia is one of Jacob Hiltzheimer for stabling horses from December 9 to December 14; one of Henry Moses, for saddlery and leather work, December 14; and one of Thomas Craig, December 15, for the board and lodging of five servants.

1783, December 23—General George Washington resigned his commission, as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, to the Continental Congress, at Annapolis, Maryland.

1783, December 27—Lieutenant-Colonel Walker's account for the traveling expenses from Philadelphia to Annapolis shows the route taken to have been by way of Chester, Wilmington, Head of Elk, Susquehannah Ferry, Bush Town, Leggit's, Baltimore, Mrs. Urquehart's, and Annapolis. From Annapolis to Mount Vernon he went by way of South River Ferry, with no mention of specific places beyond that point. This statement of 149 60/90 Dollars is reckoned in Pennsylvania currency which had been made the basis of value by Congress while sitting in Philadelphia. The Spanish milled dollar was equivalent to 7s. 6d., or 90 pence, Pennsylvania currency, so that a Pennsylvania penny was considered one-ninetieth of a dollar.

1783, December 28—Humphreys had to return to Connecticut, Cobb to Massachusetts, and Walker to New York. Washington was home at Mount Vernon on Christmas Day, 1783.

When Washington's accounts were finally settled, the skilled accountants of the Treasury found that there was a discrepancy of 89/90 of one dollar more due to Washington than his accounts showed. James Milligan, then Comptroller of the Treasury, indulged in a most unusual proceeding when he drew off the totals from the Treasury books and transmitted them to Washington. Impelled by the enthusiasm of the trained accountant he paid the tribute of professional admiration to the remarkable accuracy and precision shown in keeping straight a record of a complicated mass of accounts through a period of eight stormy and trying years. In his letter of January 13, 1784, transmitting this r`esum`e of accounts, Milligan wrote: “As all accounts when liquidated are regularly entered in the Treasury Books, and the original papers carefully filed, it is not deemed necessary, for Accountants to receive any official papers, unless a Warrant for the balance, if any due; But your Excellency having in your Accounts, clearly displayed that degree of Candor & truth, and that attention you have constantly paid to every denomination of Civil Establishments, which invariably distinguish all your actions. I could not resist the inclination I felt, of transmitting you these papers, in hopes it may prove a matter of some satisfaction to you.”