Washington, George, as Commander-in-Chief

Letter in the hand of Robert Hanson Harrison signed ("G:^{o Washington"), one page (13 x 8 1/4 in.; 328 x 208 mm), Headquarters [Bergen County, New Jersey], 13 September 1780, to Captain William Dobbs, ordering him to be in readiness to proceed to Rhode Island on the shortest notice; browned, repairs to fold separations with the loss of about three words, silked and inlaid on paper.}

Fitzpatrick  19:43–44

Letter in the hand of Robert Hanson Harrison signed ("Go Washington"), one page (13 x 8 1/4 in.; 328 x 208 mm), Headquarters [Bergen County, New Jersey], 13 September 1780, to Captain William Dobbs, ordering him to be in readiness to proceed to Rhode Island on the shortest notice; browned, repairs to fold separations with with the loss of about three words, silked and inlaid on paper.
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The intrigues of espionage. "By a variety of Accounts received through different channels and which from correspondence between them appear to be probably true, it would seem as if Your and Capt. Shaw's services may be called for again ... I wish You to keep the matter an entire secret ...," writes Washington covertly to Captain William Dobbs. Dobbs served as a regular in Captain Richard Varick's company under Colonel Alexander McDougall's regiment, and also as a harbor pilot on clandestine intelligence missions under direct orders from George Washington. Nathaniel Shaw Jr. also operated in the same orbit as an intelligence agent and harbor pilot.

Washington simultaneously instructs Dobbs to be prepared to march on the quick to Rhode Island. "You will be in readiness to proceed to Rhode Island on the shortest notice, either from Myself, Count De Rochambeau, or the Chevalier De Ternay. I inclose a Letter for Captain Shaw to the same effect ..." In July 1780, the French army of some 5,000 troops under Rochambeau arrived in Newport. This base was the key to the French naval position and was a continuous impediment to British strategy. The garrison was reinforced by American militia as occasion demanded. However, Rochambeau remained inactive for eleven months, owing to his reluctance to abandon the French fleet blockaded by the British in Narragansett Bay. He would not begin the long march to Yorktown until June 1781.