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.

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.