Details
WASHINGTON, George. Letter signed ("G:Washington") as Commander-in-Chief, Continental Army, to Brigadier General John Glover (1732-1797), text of the letter in the hand of aide-de-camp David Humphreys, Head Quarters, New Windsor [N.Y.], 9 May 1781. 1 page, large folio, slight fold separations, scattered dampstains and some soiling, ink blot in one corner
WASHINGTON MARSHALLS HIS OFFICERS FOR THE OPENING OF THE YORKTOWN CAMPAIGN
Washington rather curtly summons Glover to rejoin the main army in the Hudson Highlands. Glover's regiment, raised in Marblehead, Massacusetts, from men accustomed to ships and the sea, had undertaken the critical night evacuation of Washington's army over the Hudson after the Battle of Long Island; later they manned the boats that made possible Washington's crossing of the Delaware. At this date, Washington had begun to consider plans for the summer campaigns. He writes: "As some of the Recruits begin to arrive and more may daily be expected, and as the season for opening the Campaign is fast approaching; it behooves every Officer (particularly every one of high rank), to be with the Troops of his Command at this moment, to organize, discipline, and prepare them for the field. I shall expect, therefore, that you will commence your return to the Army, as soon as it is possible to be done, after the receipt of this Letter..."
Glover was not the only high-ranked officer whose absence rankled the Commander-in-Chief. On the 7th he wrote to Maj. Gen. Robert Howe, who had spent the winter in Boston, and on the 8th to Brig. Gen. Jedidiah Huntington, whom he rebuked rather sharply for having enjoyed a five-month absence from his command. A few weeks after this letter, Washington received news that the French fleet under de Grasse had agreed to collaborate in the summer campaigns, making possible the dramatic encirclement and seige of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
WASHINGTON MARSHALLS HIS OFFICERS FOR THE OPENING OF THE YORKTOWN CAMPAIGN
Washington rather curtly summons Glover to rejoin the main army in the Hudson Highlands. Glover's regiment, raised in Marblehead, Massacusetts, from men accustomed to ships and the sea, had undertaken the critical night evacuation of Washington's army over the Hudson after the Battle of Long Island; later they manned the boats that made possible Washington's crossing of the Delaware. At this date, Washington had begun to consider plans for the summer campaigns. He writes: "As some of the Recruits begin to arrive and more may daily be expected, and as the season for opening the Campaign is fast approaching; it behooves every Officer (particularly every one of high rank), to be with the Troops of his Command at this moment, to organize, discipline, and prepare them for the field. I shall expect, therefore, that you will commence your return to the Army, as soon as it is possible to be done, after the receipt of this Letter..."
Glover was not the only high-ranked officer whose absence rankled the Commander-in-Chief. On the 7th he wrote to Maj. Gen. Robert Howe, who had spent the winter in Boston, and on the 8th to Brig. Gen. Jedidiah Huntington, whom he rebuked rather sharply for having enjoyed a five-month absence from his command. A few weeks after this letter, Washington received news that the French fleet under de Grasse had agreed to collaborate in the summer campaigns, making possible the dramatic encirclement and seige of Cornwallis at Yorktown.