- Title: General George Washington Signed Military Dispatch
- Date: 1778
- Medium: Original Document
- Condition: See condition at bottom of description
- Inches: 21 3/4 x 17 1/4 [Frame]
- Centimeters: 55.24 x 43.81 [Frame]
- Product ID: 308085
Washington Battles the British and their Iroquois Allies in New York and Pennsylvania
Letter Signed, "G:Washington," as Commander-in-Chief, to General James Clinton, requesting that he inform Goose Van Schaick that he is to bring his regiment to Fort Schuyler [Stanwix] and relieve Peter Gansevoort; also conveying his intention to send Philip Van Cortlandt and his regiment on an expedition to the frontier. Text likely in the hand of Washington’s Aides de Camp, (Lieutenant Colonel) Richard Kidder Meade or (Captain) Caleb Gibbs.
"I have determined to send Col. Van Schaicks regiment to Fort Schuyler to relieve Col. Gansevoort. You will signify this to Col. Van Schaick that he may be prepared for it--So soon as the Cloathing, expected in Camp, arrives, he shall have an order for a competent supply and will then proceed. He can mention the matter to Col. [A. Hawkes] Hay, who will be looking forward to a provision of Vessels to convey the Regiment to Albany.
"It is also my intention to send Col. Cortland [sic] on an expedition to the Frontier. His regiment will proceed immediately to Poughkeepsie, and he himself will go on before to consult Governor Clinton--I have written to him on the subject."
In anticipation of a larger campaign the following year to disrupt the repeated raids on frontier settlements in New York and Pennsylvania by Loyalists and those Iroquois who were sympathetic to the British, Washington sent Goose Van Schaick to Fort Stanwix in the fall of 1778.
Note on Headquarters location at time of letter
During the Revolutionary War, George Washington used The John Kane House as his headquarters when the Continental Army was garrisoned in the area. Although at the time the town was called Fredericksburg, it is located on East Main Street in Pawling, New York, United States.
When the Revolution started, John Kane was initially on the Patriot side, as he had been elected to the Provisional Congress of New York in 1775. After the first year of the war, he switched sides and became a Loyalist, convinced the cause was hopeless. Accordingly, his house and property were confiscated by the New York State Legislature, and the following year, in September 1778, George Washington moved in when the Continental Army wintered in the area, where they could move on either New England or New York City at short notice. Kane retreated to the safety of British lines for the remainder of the war, while his family went to Nova Scotia. He received a lifelong pension from the British in 1783, when the war ended, and returned to the Pawling area. Since he could not legally live in or repurchase his home, he lived the remainder of his life with his children.
Condition: Mild age toning, scattered light foxing, marginal chipping, minimal paper loss at folds, early silking to separations at folds top and bottom. Strong, bright signature with no loss, in all a pleasing and substantial piece of American Political history.