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TO MAJOR-GENERAL LORD STIRLING.
Head-Quarters, near Dobbs's Ferry, 11 July, 1781.
My Lord,
While I am with the detachment of the army below, you will remain in command here. Your principal attention will be paid to the good order of the camp, and the security of the baggage and stores left in it. There will be no need of advanced pickets, as you will be fully covered in front. The camp guards should he vigilant, and the officers commanding them should see that the men are not permitted to straggle, or to plunder the baggage of the officers and soldiers.
The greatest harmony having hitherto subsisted between the French and American soldiers, your Lordship will be particularly careful to see that it is not interrupted by any act of imprudence on our part ; and, as Baron Viomenil, who will command the French line, is older in commission than your Lordship, you will take the parole and countersign from him daily. It is scarcely probable that the enemy will make any attempt upon the camp, while so respectable a force is near their own lines. Should they do it, it must be by water. The officer commanding the water-guard will communicate anv movement to Colonel Greaton at Dobbs's Ferry, who will give immediate intelligence to you, which you will of course transmit to Baron Viomenil. The party at Dobbs's Ferry being for the purpose of erecting a work there, they are not to be withdrawn for camp duties. I am, &,c.
- Dobbs Ferry
- Source:
- The Writings of George Washington Being His Correspondence, Addresses, Messages, and Other Papers, Official and Private, Selected and Published from the Original Manuscripts. Vol VIII, Jared Sparks, 1839
