Letter to Colonel Benedict Arnold

Sir: The Congress have received yours of the 19th and 23d of May, ult., per Captain [Jonathan] Brown and Captain [Elisha] Phelps, a copy of which has been sent to New Hampshire. They highly approve of, and take great satisfaction in the acquisitions you have made at Ticonderoga, Crown Point, on the Lake, &c. As to the state you are in respecting men, provisions, &c. we have advices from Connecticut and New York, that ample preparation is making, with the greatest dispatch, in those two Colonies, from whence you may depend on being seasonably supplied. They are sorry to meet with repeated requests from you, that some Gentleman be sent to succeed you in command; they assure you, that they place the greatest confidence in your" fidelity, knowledge, courage and good conduct, and they desire that you at present dismiss the thoughts of quitting your important command at Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Lake Champlain, &c.; and you are hereby requested to continue your command over the forces raised by this Colony, posted at those several places, at least until the Colony of New York or Connecticut shall take on them the maintaining and commanding the same agreeable to an order of the Continental Congress. To Colonel Benedict Arnold, Ticonderoga

P.S. We have just received the intelligence by a Letter from Governour [Jonathan] Trumbull, that the General Assembly have ordered a thousand men to march immediately to re-enforce the Army now at Crown Point, Ticonderoga, &c., as also five hundred pounds of powder, &c. The Congress further advise that in case your present necessity requires it, you make use of the one hundred and sixty Pounds you found on board the Sloop, for the service of this Colony, you accounting for the same to this or some other Congress, or House of Representatives of this Colony; and they hereby assure you that this Colony will repay it whenever it shall be ordered by the Continental Congress, and that you also complete the raising the number of four hundred men, in the pay of this Colony, if you judge it necessary.

To the House of Assembly of Connecticut

Gentlemen,  We gratefully acknowledge the receipt of your favour of the 27th ultimo. We fully concur in opinion with you, that maintaining a post at Ticonderoga or Crown Point, is of the utmost importance; therefore take particular satisfaction that you have on this subject so early and repeatedly expressed your minds to the Continental Congress. By private intelligence of the 28th ultimo, sent to Captain Joseph Trumbull, we are informed that the Provincial Congress of New York do not understand the resolve of the Continental Congress, concerning said fortresses, to extend so far as to wholly dismantle them, but so far only as to supply any fortification that may be built at the south end of Lake George; which resolve, in this sense of it, they are with dispatch executing. Therefore, in our present distressing situation, we have postponed sending further assistance to Captain Arnold, especially since New York have not requested it.

To the Hon. William Williams, Speaker of the House of Assembly of the Colony of Connecticut.

To the Provincial Congress of New-Hampshire

Gentlemen,  We send you enclosed a copy of a letter from Colonel Arnold, commander of the Troops at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, together with a copy of a letter from the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the Colony of Connecticut, by which you will be acquainted with the present situation of those fortresses, and the measures necessary to be taken for securing and defending so valuable acquisitions. You will doubtless agree with us in sentiment, that it is a matter of the greatest importance that those places remain in our possession, in order to secure our frontiers from the depredations of our enemies, if they should attempt to attack it from that quarter, of which there appears to be great danger.

It was the agreement of this Colony, that four hundred men, and one hundred pounds in money, should be raised for the reduction of the place; and it is our determination to contribute our full proportion toward securing the acquisition. By the letter from the Speaker of the House of Representatives for Connecticut you will find that that Colony have voted to send immediately to their assistance four companies, and five hundred pounds weight of powder, and we suppose that the troops are upon the march there. And we most earnestly request that you would contribute your endeavburs likewise for the speedy and effective security of the aforementioned places, which, considering the importance of the affair, and the ready disposition which you have discovered for the defence of the common cause, leaves us no room to doubt of your compliance therewith.

To the Provincial Congress of New Hampshire.