Dragoons, Troop Movements, Creek Hostility
Document 1796In a largely illegible letter, Wayne seems to be reporting on the state of the military deployment in the southwest that is a response to the hostile actions of the Creek Indians. Also addresses the time and difficulty of transporting large numbers of troops across the frontier.
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Now I have all images. Let me transcribe the full document — a letter from Anthony Wayne, dated 29 August 1796, which spans pages 3–5 of the reel (pages 1 and 2 being an archival illegibility notice and the outer wrapper/docket leaf).
[29 Aug. 1796 / Anthony Wayne] [seal]
[undecipherable]
N° [undecipherable] [undecipherable]
Sir
[undecipherable] [undecipherable] for the [undecipherable] of
[undecipherable] letter[s] of the [undecipherable] ultimo [undecipherable] [undecipherable] ones
of the [undecipherable] and [undecipherable] to their [undecipherable] [undecipherable] Officers
and [undecipherable] agreeable to the late Act of Congress, for as-
certaining & fixing the [undecipherable] establishment[s]. [undecipherable]
be done immediately as to [undecipherable] and Men, but [undecipherable]
[undecipherable] be [undecipherable] the [undecipherable: necessity]
[undecipherable: of purchasing]
to mount the whole Troop. There not being more than
[undecipherable] — [undecipherable] [undecipherable] horses belonging to the
[undecipherable] and not half of them [undecipherable] performing
a March to Georgia. The difference of [undecipherable]
between [undecipherable] Defiance where the main body of
the Dragoons are now in [undecipherable: Garrison], and [undecipherable]
or place where the late [undecipherable] [undecipherable] held with the
Creeks, is then [undecipherable] — say nearly [undecipherable] hundred
English miles, and when the meandering of the
path, and difference of [undecipherable], say about [undecipherable]
[undecipherable] east are taken in to view, it cannot be tra-
velled in less than eight hundred and fifty miles
by the most direct route, which will be by [undecipherable]
Washington, [undecipherable] in Kentucky, and
[undecipherable] miles in the [undecipherable] western [undecipherable]
however the [undecipherable] will not have but about
[undecipherable] [undecipherable] and [undecipherable] to travel, [undecipherable]
[undecipherable] need to [undecipherable] [undecipherable] Kentucky to [undecipherable]
place the [undecipherable] [undecipherable] [undecipherable] [undecipherable]. [undecipherable]
will also be some difficulty in procuring forage
on the road, but that [undecipherable] be surmounted —
We will now suppose them arrived safe on
the [undecipherable] of Georgia, say at [undecipherable]. The place where
the [undecipherable] are [undecipherable] [undecipherable] to enter, agreeable to
[undecipherable] usage and custom, [undecipherable] [undecipherable] [undecipherable] in
that [undecipherable]. One Troop of Dragoons [undecipherable] be [undecipherable] more
than a [undecipherable] in the [undecipherable] to [undecipherable] their passage, or
to guard or watch [undecipherable] [undecipherable] [undecipherable] a [undecipherable], [undecipherable]
this, that the Creeks [undecipherable] [undecipherable] make their [undecipherable]
[undecipherable] excursions on horse back. [undecipherable] [undecipherable] from [undecipherable]
having [undecipherable] taken from them in one [undecipherable] near [undecipherable]
in the year [17]92 [undecipherable] of [undecipherable] hundred, and in
another [undecipherable] [undecipherable] [undecipherable] and three hundred — [undecipherable]
[undecipherable] [undecipherable] abounds in [undecipherable] and they always
carry on a [undecipherable] war in the manner [undecipherable] [undecipherable]
[undecipherable] of, [undecipherable] I [undecipherable] a very unpleasant
proof in the year [17]88 when they [undecipherable] and [undecipherable]
on to their [undecipherable], from [undecipherable] [undecipherable] of mine on
the [undecipherable] [undecipherable], between [undecipherable] and [undecipherable] hundred
head of cattle, my own property, at the same time
they [undecipherable] [undecipherable] the [undecipherable] board from that [undecipherable]
to the [undecipherable] and [undecipherable] [undecipherable] [undecipherable] [undecipherable]
[undecipherable] I am [undecipherable] of opinion that one Troop
of Dragoons can be of little service in that Quarter,
[undecipherable] not some [undecipherable] [undecipherable] be [undecipherable]
to give intelligence of any [undecipherable] hostilities
and is there not [undecipherable] or [undecipherable] in the [Gov-
ernment] of Georgia to prevent [undecipherable] on
[undecipherable] [undecipherable] If not, two such [undecipherable] [undecipherable]
that we now have, would not be sufficient [undecipherable]
[undecipherable] [undecipherable] of that State from so powerful a people
as the Creek Nation —
The Troop shall however be ready to move
at the shortest notice. The [undecipherable] [undecipherable] be procured
in the course of a few days [undecipherable] [undecipherable] not [undecipherable]
await the purchase [undecipherable] [undecipherable] orders
[undecipherable] I have the honor to be
Your most Obt
Huml Sert
Anty Wayne
[L.S.]
[undecipherable]
[undecipherable: James McHenry] [undecipherable]
[undecipherable: Secretary] of War
Type
Autograph Letter Signed
Description
In a largely illegible letter, Wayne seems to be reporting on the state of the military deployment in the southwest that is a response to the hostile actions of the Creek Indians. Also addresses the time and difficulty of transporting large numbers of troops across the frontier.
Date
08/29/1796
Author
Recipient
Sent from
Detroit
Collection
Document number
1796082940201
Page start
1
Notable persons
James McHenry
Anthony Wayne
Creek Nation of Indians
Creek
Indians
Dragoons
cavalry
English
Notable locations
Detroit
Georgia
Fort Defiance
Coleraine
Fort Washington
Lexington
Kentucky
Knoxville
South Western Territory
St. Marys
Indian Lands
Notable items
act of Congress
military establishment
horses
saddles
bridles
longitude
on foot
forage
former usage and custom
excursions on horseback
cattle
property
seaboard
intelligence
hostilities


