under the act concerning officers, soldiers, sailors & marines, who of course are obliged to go: but we would rather call the willing into this service.

TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.

W. MSS.

RICHMOND, April 10th, 1780.

SIR,-The state of the recruiting business in this Country is as follows: There are some draughted soldiers in different parts of the Country, but they are so far, so disposed, & enlisted for so short a time that we have not thought them worth the expense of gathering up. There is recruits raising under a standing law concerning Officers, Soldiers, Sailors & Marines, these are enlisted for the war by a person resident in each County, we have an Officer appointed who rides the circuit of the County once in two months to receive these men at certain places of Rendezvous, he has just finished his circuit, and we have sent on about fifty of these recruits under the command of Captn. Minnis to the Southward. All the Officers of the Virginia Line now in the State, who have (according to a request of the executive) applied for recruiting instructions & money, have received them. These have been given with a particular view of reenlisting such Soldiers of their respective Regiments, as are discharged, or are entitled to a discharge. I hear they are tolerably successful; as to the 1st & 2nd State Regiments particularly, there not having been money in the treasury enough to reenlist them at the time they became entitled to discharges, their Officers (as I am informed) postponed paying them off, gave them

furloughs to visit their friends till the 1st of May, at which time they were to Rendivous [sic] at Williamsburg & Fredericksburg, and it was hoped money would then be ready for reenlisting them, in the meantime considerable sums have been furnished the Officers, and more will be provided, and there is good reason to hope this Judicious [sic] of their officers will enable us to recover most of them. Colo. Harrison's Regiment of Artillery is very considerably recruited. Under the preceding state of things, I do not know of any immediate Service with which we need to trouble you perhaps you could be instrumental in giting orders from the proper authority for such of the above Regiments as are not ordered to the Southward to march thither by fifties as far as they are recruited. We have such orders for all other new recruits not yet regimented; but I do not consider those as orders authorizing the march of men raised by the Officers of a particular Battalion for their Battalion, and that not under marching orders.

TO GENERAL BARON DE riedesel.1

1

RICHMOND, May 13, 1780.

SIR,-Your several favors of Dec. 4, Feb. 10, & Mar. 30 are come duly to hand. I sincerely condole with Madame de Riedesel on the birth of a daughter, but I receive great pleasure from the information of her recovery, as every circumstance of felicity to her, yourself or family is interesting to us. The little

1 From the original in the possession of Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet of New York. In the Washington edition the date of this letter is erroneously printed May 3d.

attentions you are pleased to magnify so much never deserved a mention or thought. My mortification was that the peculiar situation in which we were, put it out of our power to render your stay here more comfortable. I am sorry to learn that the negotiations for the exchange of Prisoners has proved abortive, as well from a desire to see the necessary distresses of war alleviated in every possible instance, as that I am sensible how far yourself & family are interested in it. Against this however is to be weighed the possibility that we may again have a pleasure we should otherwise perhaps never have had, that of seeing you again. Be this as it may, opposed as we happen to be in our sentiments of duty & honor, and anxious for contrary events, I shall nevertheless sincerely rejoice in every circumstance of happiness or safety, which may attend you personally. And when a termination of the present contest shall put it in my power, to declare to you more unreservedly how sincere are the sentiments of esteem and respect (wherein Mrs. Jefferson joins me) which I entertain for Mad'me de Riedesel & yourself, and with which I am, Sir, Your most obedient & most humble servant.

TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES.

(BENJAMIN HARRISON.)

V. S. A.

IN COUNCIL, June 8, 1780.

SIR,-According to the advice of the General Assembly we have proceeded to take measures for selling six hundred thousand weight of the public Tobacco. To do this as readily as possible

we determined to allot for this purpose the Tobacco at the nearest Warehouses, and particularly four hundred thousand at the warehouses at or near the Falls of James River and on Appomattox.

We have now an offer for this quantity to be paid for at the market price, the Crop Tobacco on the 19' instant, the transfer in bills on Philadelphia, to be drawn now, but not payable till six weeks hence. As it was probably the sense of the Assembly, that this sale should be for ready money, we have not concluded this agreement, till we know whether it will be approved, nor should we have entertained such a negociation but that we have no prospect of selling for ready money. The Credit of the Gentlemen proposing to purchase is such in Philadelphia, as will probably render their Bills immediately negociable there. It is necessary for us to give them a definative answer today.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

(SAMUEL HUNTINGTON.)

C. C.

RICHMOND, June 9th, 1780.

SIR, I had the honor of receiving your requisition for 1.900,000 Dollars & of laying the same before the General Assembly then sitting. They immediately took measures for complying therewith. As we had not the money in our treasury it became necessary to raise it partly & principally by a sale of property, and partly by borrowing. These operations requiring some time it is absolutely impracticable, however earnest their desires have been, to place it in Philadelphia by the day proposed. I hope however I shall not be disappointed in my expectations of being able to send from hence by the 20th inst. nearly the whole sum or perhaps the whole in money, or in good bills

on Philadelphia paiable on such short day as will render them equal to money.'

On receiving from the board of war notice of the aids which would be necessary to forward on the Maryland and Delaware lines, I consulted with your Deputy Quartermaster in this State, and gave him every aid & power which he asked. He left me with the most confident assurance that waggons to move the whole corps should be with them in two days from that time. Why he quitted his station and State at the moment when every exertion was called for to forward a respectable body of troops to the relief of a sinking State & Army should seem to be worth enquiring. The mortifications I have experiienced from the repeated disappointments which flowed from the devolution of his duties on Deputies acting without a head, without concert, or communication with one another, have been as great as if they had been really the cause of those unfortunate events they were calculated to produce. The artillery & Ist. division moved after a few days' delay only; but

1 On June 30, 1780, Jefferson wrote to the President of Congress : "By Mr. Foster Webb you will receive in part of the requisition of Congress of 1.953,200 Dollars, the following sums, to wit 650,000 Dollars in money, and bills for 780,2398 Dollars, making in the whole 1.430,2398 Dollars. There remains a deficiency of 522,960 dollars which I hope to be able to send on within four weeks from this time. I should have been very happy to have been enabled to have sent on the whole, in money, and by the day prescribed: but be assured it was absolutely impossible. There is less money than our contracts had authorized us to expect, as you will perceive by comparing the sum sent with that I had mentioned to you in a former letter. This has been occasioned by a breach of contract in those to whom we had sold property to raise the money. Instead of this they have given us bills, which are sent on and I hope will be paid so that no disappointment may happen."

VOL. 11.-20