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.

PART II.] THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 75
sult of the second council of war. I have so high a
respect for the opinions of the gentlemen, who composed it, that I should have been satisfied had they
barely mentioned their adherence to their former determination; but the new arguments, which have been
introduced in favor of the detention of the fleet at
Rhode Island, leave me no room to doubt the propriety of the measure.
I am so fully convinced, that your Excellency will
make no unnecessary delay in your march, that I have
only occasion to repeat my former request, that it may
be commenced as soon as circumstances will admit.
My last accounts from the Marquis de Lafayette were
of the 3d of June. The British army, in very considerable force, were then between Richmond and Fredericksburg; their destination was uncertain; but firom
their superiority they were at full liberty to go wherever they pleased. The enclosed copy of a letter from
the President of Congress to me will give the latest
intelligence from South Carolina.
Your requisitions to the Count de Grasse extend to
every thing I could wish. You cannot, in my opinion,
too strongly urge the necessity of his bringing a body of
troops with him, more especially as I am very doubtful,
whether our force can be drawn together by the time
he proposes to be here. Now four thousand or five
thousand men, in addition to what we shall certainly
have by that time, would, almost beyond a doubt, enable us with the assistance of the fleet to carry our object. It is to be regretted, that the Count's stay upon
the coast will be limited. That consideration is an additional reason for wishing a force equal to giving a
speedy'determination to the operation.*
* The French fleet in the West Indies, under the command of Count
de Grasse, was designed to operate in the waters of the United States