[15 July to 21 July 1778]
Memorandum of Sundry Transactions from my Leaving Rhinebeck in the State of New york till my Arrival on board the Hector of 74 Guns Commanded by Captn: Mories1 Viz:
on Wednesday the 15th: July Sett out from Rhinebeck in order to Meet Fredrick Jay Esqr-2 to Consult with him about our business, as Agents for the Patriotic Trading Company and Arrived about noon met Mr Jay and Concluded to Set out for Boston in a few Days in order to purchase Some goods, on Thursday 16th- News Came of the Arrival of the french Fleet off Sandy hook, I was importuned to go on board to Assist them, in Endeavouring to gett into Some port or in the Sound between Long Island and New-york the Main, I accordingly in the Evening of Said day Set out in Company with Capts Benson and Smith from Poughkeepsie and the Next Day 17 I arrived at General Washingtons head Quarters,3 had horses provided for Us to proceed to the fleet then Laying at Sandy hook on Saturday the 18th- Sett out and got five miles beyond Elizabeth Town where we all Lodged Mr Hamilton the Generals Aid De Cong Came in Compy with us4 Sunday the 19th. we all arrivd at Black point and on monday morng the 20th: went on board the Languedoc the French Generals Ship of 110 Guns5 the 21rst: went on board the Lectures6
D, RPJCB, Jonathan Lawrence Journal.
1. French Navy ship of the line Hector, Capitaine de vaisseau Pierre de Cheylan, comte de Moriés du Castellet, commanding.
2. Frederick Jay (1747–1799) was the younger brother of John Jay. He had been an agent in the Dutch East Indies and at Curaçao before setting up his own firm in New York in 1773. He was a member of the New York General Assembly from 1777 to 1783. In a letter to John Jay of 7 July 1779, he described Lawrence as "a very good man.” John Jay: The Making of a Revolutionary; Unpublished Papers 1745–1780, ed. Richard B. Morris, et. al. (New York, Harper & Row, 1975), p. 610.
3. Washington's headquarters were at Haverstraw, New York.
4. Col. Alexander Hamilton, aide-de-camp to Washington. In a voucher dated 28 July, Hamilton sought reimbursement for $48 that he had paid for the “Expences of travelling for myself[,] five pilots, horses & servants” from Haverstraw, New York, to Black Point, New Jersey. Hamilton Papers 1: 530.
5. French Navy ship of the line Languedoc was the flagship of comte d'Estaing.
6. That is, Hector.
