The writings of George Washington; being his correspondence, addresses, messages, and other papers, official and private, selected and published from the original manuscripts; with a life of the author, notes and illustrations. By Jared Sparks.

510 WASHINGTON'S WRITINGS. [APPENDIX.
been very rapid, and performed in the best order. Owing to the
activity of Lieutenant-Colonel Stevens, a train of artillery had been
provided at Philadelphia; and, notwithstanding some disappointments, particularly that relating to the want of vessels, no delay
should have been imputed to us in this cooperation.
" Having received your letter, by which the sailing of the French
fleet became a matter of certainty, I determined to transport the
detachment to Annapolis, and did it for many essential reasons.
The navigation of the Bay is such, that the going in and out of
Elk River requires a different wind from that which is fair for going up and down the Bay. Our stopping at Annapolis, and making
some preparations on the route to Carolina, might be of usnto deceive the enemy; but, above all, I thought with your Excellency,
that it was important both to the success of tfie operation and the
honor of our arms, that the detachment might be down to cooperate; and, from the time when the French were to sail, and the
winds that blew for some days, I had no doubt that our allies would
be in the Chesapeake before we could arrive at Annapolis.
"Owing to the good dispositions of Commodore Nicholson, whom
I requested to take charge of our small fleet, the detachment was
safely lodged in the harbour of Annapolis; and, in the conviction
that my presence here was necessary, not so much for preparations
(which Baron Steuben provided), as for settling our plans with the
French, and obtaining an immediate convoy for the detachment,
I thought it better to run some personal risk, than to neglect any
thing that could forward the success of the operation, and the glory
of the troops under my command.
"On my arrival at this place, I was surprised to hear, that no
French fleet had appeared, but attributed it to delays and chances
so frequent in naval battles. My first object was to request, that
nothing should be taken for this expedition, which could have been
intended for, or useful to, the southern army, whose welfare appeared to me more interesting than our success. lMy second object was, to examine what had been prepared, to gather and forward every requisite for a vigorous cooperation; and, besides a
number of militia that would have amounted to five thousand, I
can assure you, that nothing would have been wanting to ensure
a complete success.
"As the position of the enemy had not yet been reconnoitred,
I went to General Muhlenberg's camp near Suffolk; and, after he
had taken a position nearer to Portsmouth, we marched down with
some troops to view the enemy's works. This brought on a trifling