To George Washington from Lieutenant Henry Willis, 27 June 1780
From Lieutenant Henry Willis
White House [N.Y.] June 27th 1780
sr
The inclose’d just came to hand from Captn Lawrence, it contains the number of the enemies vessels & land forces in the river.1 I have the honour to be your most Obedient humble Sert
Henry Willis Lt L.D.
ALS, DLC:GW. The cover reads: “pr Dragoon.”
Willis wrote GW on 28 June from King’s Ferry, N.Y.: “Nothing has transpired yet respecting the movements of the enemy up the river.
“The last accounts yesterday evening from below officially transmitted to this post mention the enemy to be retired below Fort Washington & that nothing hostile appears in the river at present” (ALS, DLC:GW; “⅌ Dragoon” is written on the cover).
1. Willis is referring to the Hudson River. The enclosed letter from Lt. Jonathan Lawrence, Jr., to Joshua Hett Smith, dated 26 June, reads: “Mr Lawrence has returnd from the Mountain the list of the Vessels you have at Bottom, they have been considerably augmented last night, or yesterday, Capt. Blauvelt went over the river this afternoon, one of our good friends Informd him that Genl Clinton was momently expected on board the fleet with a Reinforcement and that their object was the Fort that 5000 Troops were certainly on board the fleet who kept themselves as Close as possible Mr Lawrence could see but very few.” The vessels listed were: twenty-eight ship-rigged vessels, one of them a sloop of war; one snow, a transport; one snow, a privateer; four brigs; two schooners; five sloops; fourteen “of Musqueta fleet”; and fourteen “on their way down” (DLC:GW).