Post-War Letters

Calendar February 28, 2015
Letters, Post-War, Richard Howell, Correspondence, Governorship

Letters written after the Revolutionary War, including correspondence from Richard Howell’s time as Governor of New Jersey.1 Howell served as Governor of New Jersey from 1793 to 1801, elected annually for six consecutive terms.2 As governor, he commanded New Jersey militia forces during the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, leading an expedition to western Pennsylvania in response to President Washington’s call for troops.3 Primary source letters from his governorship have not yet been digitized for this page; key archives to consult include the New Jersey State Archives (Trenton) and the New Jersey Historical Society. For related earlier correspondence, see the Revolutionary War Correspondence section.

Pre-War Letters

Calendar February 28, 2015
Letters, Pre-War, Richard Howell, Correspondence

Letters written before Richard Howell goes to war.1

  1. Richard Howell (1754–1802) was born in Gloucester County, New Jersey, and read law under Joseph Ellis in Burlington, N.J., prior to the Revolution. His pre-war political engagement included participation in the Greenwich Tea Burning of December 22, 1774 — one of the few documented acts of colonial protest outside of Boston — and service on local Committees of Correspondence in Cumberland County. Primary source letters from this period have not yet been digitized for this page; for context on his wartime service, see the Revolutionary War Correspondence section. ↩︎

Revolutionary War Correspondence

Calendar February 28, 2015
Revolutionary-War, Correspondence, George Washington, 2nd New Jersey Regiment, William Maxwell, Israel Shreve, Black Point, Monmouth, Intelligence, Spy Network

This page collects excerpts from primary source correspondence, drawn from The Writings of George Washington and the George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, documenting Major Richard Howell’s role as an intelligence officer and field commander during the Revolutionary War.1

Richard Howell’s Intelligence Operations, 1778–1779#

The greater part of the New Jersey soldiers’ time was occupied by such mundane duties as mounting guard, cutting wood, and maintaining garrisons in several towns in the area. There were occasional opportunities during this period for excitement or at least a change in the mundane rounds of daily living.