To George Washington from Colonel Elisha Sheldon, 19 July 1780
From Colonel Elisha Sheldon
Cortlands Manor1 [N.Y.] July 19th 1780
Sir
By the Resolution of the Assembly of the State of Connecticut, I am informed about 240 men from the Regts of Horse of that state are ordered to be Drafted to serve in the Contl Army till the Last of Decr ensuing.2 Some of those Drafts have already joined my Regt and as I have recd no Instructions respecting them. I take liberty to write your Excellency on the subject. The matter in which I wish to be Determined is the service to which those Levies shall be appointed, whether to serve on Horseback or on foot, and if the latter, whether to Join the Dismou[n]ted of my Regt, or whether they shall be ordered to the Battalions of Sd state. I must in justice to most of the Levies which have already joined, observe that they are tolerably mounted and well armed; They insist on the previliege of serving on Horseback, as by their constitution, but at the same time would observe that those who are not properly armed have been Informed that they cannot in their present Condition expect to act as mounted Dragons If your Excellency expects service for more Horse than are now in the field, I doubt not a number might be selected for that purpose well armed and accoutred, while the rest might be of service among the Dismounted if so ordered. I wish your Excellenceys Directions in the premises, that the men may be properly arranged and disciplined without loss of time. I have the Honor to be with the greatest Respect your Excellencys most obt and very Humble Servt
Elisha Sheldon Colo. L.D.
ALS, DLC:GW.
GW replied to Sheldon on 20 July from headquarters in Bergen County, N.J.: “I have recd yours of the 19th—General Parsons had written to me before on the subject of the Men drafted from the Militia Horse, and I informed him that I could not consent to their joining your Regiment or any Corps of Horse—All the Levies are wanted for the Battalions of Infantry, and if there has been any misunderstanding between these Men and the State, as to the mode of service, they must settle it themselves. But I cannot conceive that it was ever in contemplation that they should serve on Horseback as the law calls only for Foot—You are to let them know that they must join the Infantry or procure others in their places” (Df, in Tench Tilghman’s writing, DLC:GW; copy, DLC:GW, ser. 9; Varick transcript, DLC:GW). For the exchange of letters with Brig. Gen. Samuel Holden Parsons, see Parsons to GW, 24 June, and n.7.
1. The manor house originally built by Stephanus Van Cortlandt in the 17th century as the seat of his extensive land patent was located near Croton (now Croton-on-Hudson), New York. Still standing, the house “Situated just where the road from Sing Sing to Croton Landing crosses the wide mouth of the Croton River … commands a magnificent view of the broad Tappan Sea. In former times the ferry across the Croton River mouth, which was the only means of reaching the country above without making a wide detour, had its northern terminus near the mansion” (, 164–68; quote on 167).
2. The act of the Connecticut legislature specified that 226 recruits were to come from the troops of state cavalry (see , 3:29–31).