‘We have
been so baffled by the weather, that we only arrived here last night. I Believe we shall find no difficulties in
procuring a sufficient body of volunteers for the New York expedition. The unhappy accounts form Canada seem to animate these people, rather
than depress them. We have now occasion
for exertion and decision. I am apprehensive that the Congress must be
inspired by you They have just given a
strong, and, I think, unfortunate instance of indecision. Colonel Waterberry had raised a
regiment. The regiment was equipped and
ready for embarkation. They were to have
landed in Oyster Bayk, and to have attacked the tories on Long Island.
Lord Stirling was to have attacked them on the other side,--all this by
order of Congress; when suddenly colonel Waterberry received an order to
disband his regiment, and the tories ar to rmain unmolested, till they are
joined by the King’s assassins. Governor
Trumbull, like a man of sense and spirit, has ordered this regiment to be
reassembled. I believe it will be ready
on Sunday, the day on which I shall march from this town.
‘I shall
send immediately an express to the Congress, informing them of my situation, an
dat the same time conjuring them, not to suffer the accursed provincial
Congress of New York to defeat measures, so absolutely necessary to our
salvation. The affairs of Canaday I suppose will very soon, if not
instantly, require a very considerable force from this province. Neither will the circumstances of New York admit of its being too much stripped
of men, for which reason I should think it advisable, immediately, to raise
some additional regiments in Massachusetts Bay.
Adieu, dear General; God prosper you, and the arms of virtue. Yours most affectionately,
‘Charles Lee’
The
intelligence of General Lee’s destination reached New York, about the time of his arrival in New Haven, and it created a panic scarcely
less agitating, than would have been produced by a discharge of fire rockets
and hot shot from the
From The Life of Gouverneur Morris: With Selections from His Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers; Detailing Events in the American Revolution, The French Revolution, and in the Political History of the United States, by Jared Sparks, Volume 1, Boston: Gray & Bowen, 1832, p 75. Some minor edits may have been made, but an attempt has been made to preserve the original spelling. Although some effort has been made to correct the limitations of OCR technology, if you find an error please report it to jvinci@colonialhall.com.
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