Washington, George, as Commander of the Continental Army

Letter signed as Commander of the Continental Army ("Go: Washington"), the body of the letter in the hand of  Robert Harrison, 2 pages (12 1/4 x 7 1/2 in.; 311 x 190 mm), integral blank docketed on verso, Head Q[uarte]rs Middlebrook, New Jersey, 9 May 1779, to General James Clinton with instructions regarding the number of troops and artillery to take to the New York border for a rendezvous with General Sullivan; dampstaining and  marginal browning, splits at horizontal folds.

Frank T. Siebert (Sotheby's, 21 May 1999, lot 191)

Writings, ed. Fitzpatrick, 15:29–30

Letter signed as Commander of the Continental Army ("Go: Washington"), the body of the letter in the hand of Robert Harrison, 2 pages (12 1/4 x 7 1/2 in.; 311 x 190 mm), integral blank docketed on verso, Head Q[uarte]rs Middlebrook, New Jersey, 9 May 1779, to General James Clinton with instructions regarding the number of troops and artillery to take to the New York border for a rendezvous with General Sullivan; dampstaining and marginal browning, splits at horizontal folds.
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Fortifying the Sullivan Expedition, one of the most brutal American offensives during the War for Independence.  In early 1779, Washington developed a strategic plan at his Middlebrook, New Jersey, headquarters, for the upcoming campaign season. Although much of the military activity had shifted to the southern colonies, Washington's army sat in a virtual stalemate with the British army entrenched within New York City.

Washington gambled that a quick strike into the Iroquois' central New York homelands could eliminate a key British ally without significantly weakening his forces outside New York. In fact, this expedition would be the only major campaign of 1779 in the North. The command of the expedition fell to New Hampshire's John Sullivan and would emerge as one of the larger of the Continental Army's offensives during the American Revolution. It was an act of reprisal to break the Iroquois Confederation, a Native American political and military alliance that included the Seneca, Cayuga, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, and Tuscarora tribes. The Iroquois, with the exception of the Oneida and Tuscarora, openly sided with Great Britain to protect their homelands.

In the present letter, Washington instructs Clinton how many troops and artillery he should take to Tioga, Pennsylvania, on the New York border, where he would rendezvous with Sullivan: "The Rifle Company is to march with the Troops.  I did not mention it particularly as I considered it attached to Col. Butler's Regiment, and that the order for their march would comprehend it.  With respect to Artillery: the propriety of taking any or how much with you will depend and must be decided by yourself on a consideration of circumstances  If you form a junction with General Sullivan at Tioga—He will have as much with him as he shall judge necessary—which may supersede the necessity of your carrying any; if it should be finally determined that you are to operate up the Mohawk river . . . you will consider the practicability or rather facility and the ease of carrying them and the smaller the number and the Lighter the pieces the better  . . . ." 

The expedition was delayed until mid-August 1779. Once underway, Sullivan and Clinton descended upon the Indian villages of Newtown, Kendaia, Canadasaga, Genesee, Canandaigua, and Honeaye—among others—burning crops and dwellings as they went. Sullivan considered the campaign, which concluded at the end of September, an outstanding success. He boasted to Congress that "every creek and River has been traced, & the whole Country explored in search of Indian settlements" and that there was "not a single town left in the Country of the five nations." The army had wiped out at least forty villages, accomplishing the effectual destruction of the Iroquois nations, and pushed those who survived to the greatest practible distance from their own settlements and from those of the Patriot settlers.

Washington's praise of Col. Van Schaick refers to the latter's actions while serving under Clinton. In April 1779 Van Schaick attacked the Onondaga Indians which Washington applauds in the letter: "The Enterprize commanded by Colo. Vanschaick merits my approbation and thanks, and does great honor to him ... Congress has been made acquainted with the whole of the Enterprize and its success." Van Schaick received the official thanks of Congress one day after Washington wrote this letter to Clinton. A fine letter from the Revolutionary War period with Indian interest.