From George Washington to Brigadier General John Stark, 8 October 1778
To Brigadier General John Stark
Fishkill 8th October 1778.
Sir
I have been favd with yours of the 31st Augt and 7th 15th and 28th Septemr.1 The subject of Mrs McNeils petition comes under the notice of the Qr Mr General.2 General Mifflin, who was in that Office at the time the grievance complained of was committed, has lately had one million of dollars put into his hands for the purpose of discharging all old demands,3 and I see that Colonel Hughes is appointed to adjust and settle all those in the State of New York. To him therefore Mrs McNeil must apply—The proceedings of the Court Martial held at Schohara never came to hand. The inclosed paper, which appears by the indorsement to have contained the proceedings, was all that you sent.4
The Qr Master should make a reasonable compensation to those persons who take up shot or any Stores from5 the North River and deliver them to him.
I have laid your several complaints against Colo. Lewis before the Qr Mr General. Colo. Lewis has sent down a vindication of his conduct and desires a proper enquiry, which the Qr Mr General must make.6
I would not have you build Barracks at Fort Edward. The troops now there may winter at Saratogha where are good Barracks for 300 Men. If there should be a necessity of keeping a small command at Fort Edward,7 a Hut or two may be easily erected for that purpose.8 If Colo. Butler undertakes the Unadilla expedition I hope he may have success. I am glad to hear of the blow struck by the Oneida Indians upon the Rear of Brants Party. I am Sir Your most obt Servt
Go: Washington
LS (photocopy), in Tench Tilghman’s writing, DLC:GW, series 9; Df, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
1. Stark’s letter to GW of 7 Sept. has not been found.
2. Mrs. McNeil’s petition, which had been enclosed in Stark’s letter to GW of 31 Aug., has not been identified. For GW’s favorable opinion of the way in which she supported her claim for recompense of her loss, see his letter to John Welles, Eleazer Wales, and Edward Chinn, 22 Sept. 1779, DLC:GW.
3. For Congress’s resolution of 17 Sept. appropriating this money, see , 12:921.
4. A copy of the proceedings of the court-martial of Richard Roach at Schoharie, N.Y., on 21 Aug. is in DLC:GW (see Stark to GW, 31 Aug., n.3). The following sentence appears at the beginning of the next paragraph on the draft manuscript: “Your letter of the 7th Sepr never reached me untill the 24th of the same month, when the Batteau men were immediately sent up.”
5. The draft reads “out of” instead of “from.”
6. For Col. Morgan Lewis’s defense of his conduct, see his letter to GW of 11 Sept., and his letter to Charles Pettit of 9 Sept. in Pettit to GW, 15 Oct., n.2.
7. At this place in the text, the draft includes the words: “during the Winter.”
8. In making this decision, GW followed the advice that Philip Schuyler had given on this matter in his letter to Robert Hanson Harrison of 7 Oct. (see Schuyler to GW, 7 Oct., n.1).