To George Washington from William Livingston, 26 December 1779
From William Livingston
Mount holly [N.J.] 26 Decr 1779
Dear Sir
I was honoured with your Excellencys official Letter of the [ ] instant1 & your personle Letter of the 21 which accompanied it—last Evening when the Assembly was on the point of Adjourning to February, but the favours which I immediately laid before them, prevailed on them to stay out this day—I suppose they will readily make provision for the better subsistence of the Militia when called out on an Invasion, & provide for the Expences of compleating the Beacons2—The Power already lodged in the Governor of calling out the Militia on such an Occasion, is adequat to the Case; but whether the peopl will as cherefully come as heretofore, considering the general depreciation of Patriotism, I can not determine. I always hope the best.
Your Excellency’s Surmizes are certainly not without foundation, & we ought ever to be guarded agt every probable Event. I must own I have not been without my Suspicions that the Embarkation was altogether Strategem.3 I hoped by now that if the British duly consider the wretched Situation of their affairs in the West Indies, & soon at their own doors,4 they will think their Troops in New York more usefully employed at a greater distance from home, than by making a partial havoc in the State of New-Jersey, which comparatively will weigh so little in their national Ballance, and General Clinton is more able to bear a great deal of clamour, than a great deal of Enterprize, or I am much mistaken in the Baronet. I have the honour to be with the highest Esteem & most affectionate regard.
ADf, NN: William Livingston Papers, Letterbook.
1. For this “official” letter, see GW’s first letter to Livingston, 21 December.
2. The New Jersey General Assembly received on 25 Dec. GW’s “official” letter to Livingston “intimating the strong Probability of the Enemy’s Intentions to invade this State, and entreating that a Plan may be concerted to call out the whole Militia of this State in case of such an Event, to be furnished with ten Days or a Fortnight’s Provision,” and assigned five members to “report their Opinion thereon” the next morning (, 110). The committee proposed resolutions on 26 Dec. that read: “WHEREAS His Excellency General Washington has signified to the Legislature that there is a strong Probability by the Preparations and present Appearances of the Enemy that they are meditating an Invasion against this State, requesting in such Case that the Whole of the Militia thereof may be called out to oppose them, with Provisions for each Man for fourteen Days: And whereas it is necessary that Measures be taken for the most vigorous Exertions in case of such an Emergency, that the Force of the State be immediately drawn out for the common Defence thereof; Resolved, That in case the Whole or any Part of the Militia of this State shall, before the End of the next Sitting of the Legislature, be called into actual Service for the Defence of the State against the common Enemy, and shall be required to carry their own Provisions with them, such Officer, non-commissioned Officer and Private, who shall furnish himself with Provisions, shall be allowed therefor, over and above the present Pay and Bounty, the Sum of Ten Dollars per Day for each Day he so furnishes himself, in Lieu of Rations; to be paid in every Case by the Paymaster appointed to pay the Militia, being annexed to their Payroll, and properly certified and authenticated” (, 110–11). The assembly adopted these resolutions and sent them to the New Jersey Legislative Council for concurrence.
Upon learning on the same date that “some of the Beacons erected in this State have been burned, and others may be decayed or out of Repair,” the assembly adopted a resolution: “That His Excellency the Governor and the Privy-Council be requested to employ proper Persons to repair the said Beacons, and to erect others in such Places as may be most convenient for that Purpose; and that he lay an Account of the Expences attending the same, or for establishing any other conventional Signal, before the Legislature at their next Sitting, for their Allowance and Payment” (, 111). The assembly then sent this resolution to the New Jersey Legislative Council for concurrence.
In a message to the assembly also dated 26 Dec., the council reported its concurrence to the resolutions “relative to fixing Beacons” and “giving an additional Bounty, in Lieu of Rations, to the Militia if called into actual Service before the End of the next Sitting of the Legislature” (N.J. Gen. Assembly Proc., 26 Oct.–26 Dec. 1779, 112; see also , 46).
3. For confirmation of a major British embarkation from New York to the southern states, see Anthony Wayne to GW, this date, and the source note to that document.
4. Livingston probably is alluding to French and Spanish plans to invade England that never came to fruition (see Samuel Culper, Jr., to John Bolton, 29 Oct., and n.3 to that document, printed as an enclosure to Benjamin Tallmadge to GW, 1 Nov.; see also Lafayette to GW, 12–13 June, and n.17, and GW to Gouverneur Morris, 6 Nov.).