Livingston’s next year and half were spent on state and personal issues. Some people sought to send him sent back to Congress where they felt that he could do the most good but Livingston found more than enough work to occupy himself in New York.[i] In addition to his campaign to rid the army of the presence of Israel Putnam, Livingston sought promotion for his younger brother Henry Beekman Livingston. He also fought against an increasingly lower class and, in his opinion, an increasingly despotic state government.
In the spring of 1778 Livingston sought to rebuild his house and his mother’s house, but to do
so he needed men to perform the labor. In April he wrote to Governor George Clinton;
“I am informed that your Excellency has granted exemptions to work men employed in rebuilding the houses destroyed last fall by the enemy. As I meet with great difficulty in procuring hands for want of such exemption for three hands for my Mother & as many for myself—two Carpenters & one Mason for each.”[ii]
Clinton responded;
“I have not yet granted any Exemptions to Workmen employed by the People who were burnt out last Fall nor do I think it would be prudent until the Drafts for filling the Continental Battalion are completed when that is done I will chearfully furnish you with your full Proportion.”[iii]
In May, Robert R. Livingston wrote to Clinton again on the subject of exemptions from Rhinebeck;
“As the draft is now over in the Manor & at this place to fill up the regiments, I must beg the favor of exemptions for three men for my mother & as many for me, as our work is at a stand for want of them. Indeed, I have been detered from beginning till I should receive it.”[iv]
Clinton finally relented in late May and issued exemptions for three carpenters and two masons for “Mrs. Judge Livingston.” On June 3, 1778 three more men from the Livingston area were also exempted.[v]
Livingston wrote to Washington in an attempt to secure promotion for his brother Henry Beekman Livingston. Rather than being a simple case of attempted nepotism, with Livingston attempting to use his influence and relationship with Washington to advance his brother. It was, in fact, another very shrewd military idea from Livingston. His brother had proven himself to be one of the most able field commanders in the army at that time.
Henry, four years younger than Livingston, had joined the army in 1775. He raised a company of men in northern Dutchess County. Local legend says he drilled them on the lawn of the Beekman Arms Tavern. Henry was commissioned a Captain in the 4th New York Regiment. His regiment was assigned to the Canadian Campaign under the command of his brother- in- law General Richard Montgomery. Montgomery had promised to take care of Henry who even then exhibited the contentious attitude that would ultimately destroy his military career. Henry decided his company was moving too slowly and he feared missing out on the action. He left his company in the charge of a junior officer at Fort Ticonderoga and headed north himself so as to be part of any fighting that occurred. He served as an aide- de- camp to another officer in order to be present for the fall of St. Johns. After the fall of Montreal Montgomery sent him to Congress with dispatches regarding the capture of the city. This was a rather generous move by Montgomery. It removed Henry from the danger of combat, and from the danger of embarrassing himself due to his attitude. It would also benefit him career wise in that tradition dictated that the officer that delivered the news of a significant victory would receive promotion. Congress voted to present Henry with a sword and promised him a promotion.
In the spring of 1776 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the 2nd New York. He was first sent to the Hudson Highlands where he supervised the construction of the forts there. Surprisingly, he handled a difficult situation that met him there diplomatically. A local militia colonel refused to leave the post despite the fact that his men had been discharged. Rather than react loudly or violently, Henry essentially ignored the man until he left.[vi]
Henry Livingston was then sent with three companies of the 2nd New York’s men to eastern Long Island to build fortifications. They were equipped with two cannon but no shot for them. When the British landed west of Henry, trapping him and his men behind enemy lines and cutting them off from Washington. Henry and his men were not with the rest of the continental army as they abandoned first Long Island and then Manhattan. Henry stayed on Long Island on his own for as long as he could. He wrote to Washington to ask his advice but Washington responded that he could not offer any. Henry and his men raided farms and British supply depots sending hundreds of cows and pigs across Long Island Sound to Connecticut where they would benefit the Continental Army and of course deprive the British of them. He became such a thorn in the side of the British, that former Livingston political rival and newly minted loyalist officer Oliver DeLancey put a price on Henry’s head, a fact that Henry was inordinately proud of. In early September Henry took his men across the sound to Connecticut. He made at least one more raid onto Long Island, which captured 3,129 sheep and 400 cattle. He then he began planning a reinvasion of Long Island that never happened.[vii]
Later in 1776 he was promoted to Colonel of the 4th New York Regiment, which was one of several regiments under the command of General Alexander McDougal in the Hudson River Valley. Henry was nearly thrown out of the army when he publically criticized McDougal’s decision to retreat and abandon supplies from a probing British thrust North of New York City. He later said that he hoped McDougal would be demoted so that he could “Cain him”. His choice of words makes it unclear if he meant to simply thrash him or if meant a more biblical sense of the phrase “Cain” and perhaps intended to murder him.[viii]
The 4th New York was sent to join the northern army when reinforcements were called for, which also conveniently got Henry away from McDougal. They were going to oppose General John Burgoyne’s thrust from Canada. Henry acquitted himself well at both battles of Saratoga. During the second Battle of Saratoga Henry, having fought in the wheat field, broke ranks and took his regiment to join Benedict Arnold’s charge on Breymann’s Redoubt. He claimed to have been the second man into the redoubt, behind only Arnold and then only because Arnold was on horseback and he was on foot. Robert R. Livingston wrote to Washington;
“He distinguished himself bothe on the nineteenth of Septr & on the 7th of Octr where he and his regiment assaulted & carried the redoubt in which the brave Genl Arnold was wounded, & has recd the warmest commendation from the galland officer under whose eyes they fought. My brother entered into the service in the first year of the war, & has during the curse of it, been honoured with the approbation of your Excellency, Genl Schuyler, Genl Montgomery, & Genl Arnold, & has recd a sword from Congress together with the promise of preferment. Since which he has had the mortification to see in many instances, people inferior to him in birth, education, & military reputation as well as of less standing in the army advanced above him by a superior address in conciliating the favour of those in power an act of which he is totally ignorant (& what is still worse) disinclined to Learn.”[ix]
Livingston went on to recommend the formation of a corps consisting of militia, cavalry and light infantry that his brother could command. In his response letter Washington seemed amiable to the idea of the corps, though he felt it could not be formed at that time, and said that Henry could certainly put in a claim for command but that it was far more likely to go to someone like Daniel Morgan were the corps to actually be formed.[x]
Livingston responded to Washington that he was not trying to seek office merely for his brother but for a respected officer. He included the following extract from a letter from a member of Benedict Arnold’s staff about the Battles of Saratoga.
“On the 7th Octr the conduct of your corps fell more immediately under the inspection of Genl Arnold. He thinks it but justice to you & them to observe that great part of our success that day was owing to the gallant part they acted in storming the enimys works & the alertness and good order they observed in the pursuit.”[xi]
Horatio Gates chose Henry Livingston to deliver a message to British General Clinton in New York City condemning the senseless destruction in the Hudson Valley. Clinton disregarded the letter from Gates because it was improperly addressed but made several notes on papers he kept making it apparent that he did not approve of the destruction in the valley.[xii]
Henry then rejoined his regiment in time to encamp with them at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. Unlike many other continental officers Henry remained with his men for the whole winter, excepting a brief time when he became ill and had to be removed about seven miles from the camp to recuperate. He wrote letters to his brother and to Governor George Clinton hoping for more supplies to clothe and feed his men. He wrote that his men had no liquor, tea sugar or vegetables and that all soldiers were lousy.[xiii]
In the spring of 1778 Henry was once again hero during the Battle of Monmouth. Henry was in command of a select battalion of about 380 men, who he referred to as light infantry, rather than in command of his own regiment. Henry and his men were assigned to the command of General Charles Lee. Lee’s division was about four miles ahead of the main body of General Washington’s army when they made contact with the rearguard of General William Howe’s British Army. Lee, who had no faith in the fighting ability of the American army immediately ordered a retreat which caused several units under his command to fall into chaos. Thanks to the Baron Von Steuben’s training at Valley Forge and sheer force of will Henry was able to hold his men together and retreat in good order. This however meant that theirs was a fighting retreat and Henry’s major, a man named Dickinson was killed by British fire and his lieutenant colonel succumbed to the heat. As one of the few units in the advance corps in any kind of fighting shape Henry received orders to take his battalion to cover artillery that was now arriving to fire upon the British. Henry and his men held that line under heavy fire from the British, protecting the artillery until Washington was able to rally Lee’s troops and bring up the rest of the army. By the time the fighting was done one third of Henry’s battalion had been killed or wounded. During their defense of the artillery a musket ball passed through Henry’s thigh but he remained in the field. That night, with his men dispersed back to their home units, the wounded Henry was briefly given command of General Poor’s brigade to prepare for a possible British counter attack, which never came, much to Henry’s lament. He wrote to his brother Robert that had they come to grips with the enemy again “I should have taken ample revenge.” For the first time in the war Washington’s army had held its own in a standup battle with the main British army and had in fact been left in command of the field at the end of the battle, in large part due to the command of Henry Livingston. Henry stayed with the army to recuperate. Later that summer his recovery was noted in a letter from George Clinton to Chancellor Livingston following a visit to army headquarters.[xiv]
Henry got his wish to command light infantry later that year, when having taken a leave of absence, he happened to be in Rhode Island during the battle of Rhode Island. He reported to the army and the Marquis de Lafayette gave him command of the light infantry under his command. He later commended Henry for his service there. With no promotion for any of his gallantry forth coming Henry resigned from the army in early 1779.
In January of 1778 Robert was placed back in the position of planning the defenses of the Hudson River. He was named as one of five Fortification Commissioners by the state government along with John Sloss Hobart, Zephariah Platt, Henry Wisner and John Hathorn. Their first report pointed out all of the problems, particularly in the ground itself, of defending the highland forts. The commissioners also recommended West Point as the best place to anchor the new defenses of the river. They would require three hundred less feet of chain to block the river at West Point than at Fort Montgomery, and with some preparation the high ground that could possibly command the fortification at West Point could also be defended. The army ultimately agreed with the commissioners, over the opinion of some European born engineering officers.
New York’s politics, following the invasion of 1777, became much more rancorous. The public was expected to pay more and more taxes as New York desperately sought to pay for more men, more arms and more fortifications. The memory of the destruction wrought by the British was fresh in the minds of New York’s leaders as Joseph Brant and other leaders of royalist forces were raiding the northern and western borders of the state with terrifying frequency. Even in the Hudson Valley the constant threat of loyalist plots, abetted by British agents slipping out of New York City and through patriot lines, put everyone on edge.
Increasingly the government of New York was being run by what Livingston considered a lower class of people. From the gubernatorial elections that were held in June of 1777, just a couple of months after the new constitution was put into place, it was clear that the landed gentry like Livingston would, despite their best efforts, not have complete control of this new government. In that election the gentry’s candidate, General Philip Schuyler, a wealthy land owner in his own right, had been soundly defeated by General George Clinton, the choice of the common people. Clinton, no rude farmer, was a lawyer in the Hudson Valley but was viewed as more connected to the people than Livingston, Schuyler, Jay and Morris. In October of 1779, upon hearing that John Jay would be departing for Spain, Livingston wrote him a farewell letter including his thoughts on the state of New York politics; “I was going to give you a long detail of State politics, but they are now unworthy of your attention. Besides that, I by no means feel myself disposed at this moment to view them in any other than the most contemptible light…”[xv]
As Livingston’s disgust with the State government was building, the legislature passed a law that ratified all of the actions of the Council of Safety that had run the State from the time of independence until state constitution went into effect. Many of these policies were not favored by the wealthy and it was believed that the Council of Revision would veto the bill. When the Committee convened in April of 1778 the Chancellor was absent and a quorum could not be achieved. The bill passed by default. John Jay laid the blame squarely on Livingston for not attending to his governmental duties. Yet, in light of the Chancellor’s previous few months with the British destroying his and his mother’s homes, the fact that he was not focused on the State in early 1778 was understandable.[xvi]
Taxation became a problem for Livingston shortly thereafter. The state government began to treat the wealthy as an unending supply of money. Livingston’s cousin, Robert the Third Lord, was nearly bankrupted by the government’s financial practices. The state paid him for his iron goods in state script which was often worth less than the paper it was printed on. Even the local shoemakers would not accept it leaving the grandchildren of one of the richest men in the state barefoot. Even worse was that despite the state government paying him in script for his goods they expected the Third Lord, and other land owners, to pay their taxes in hard currency.
Robert R. Livingston himself was particularly hard hit by taxes. After he left New York to return to Congress in late 1779 his taxes only got worse and he was not there to fight for himself in person. On May 18, 1780 he wrote to Clinton from Philadelphia; “I have drawn upon the treasury for the amount of my taxes, having no other way to discharge them while here & as the State is greatly in my debt I hope they will answer my bills.”[xvii] It does not seem to have done him any good. The next day he wrote to Clinton again;
“On the last assessment I was rated at £3300. By a letter recd. yesterday from my Agent I am informed that I again rate at £9000 & that the whole of my income notwithstanding the most assiduous endeavor to collect it does not amount to 600 Bushls. of wheat. I have no personal property & occupy a small farm which does not half pay the expense of cultivating it. The profits of a valuable profession & my whole timeI have devoted to the publick for a very trifling compensation which I have seldom recd. but to give to others who I thought more distressed than myself together with considerable additions out of my private fortune.”[xviii]
In June of 1780 he wrote to Clinton again; “I wrote to you on the subject of my tax. I am informed that instead of nine thousand it is nearly £15000, so that my annual tax am’s to upwards of £50000; my income is not £10000. I do not wish to get rid of ay burthen which others bear; all I ask is that the Legislature will not suffer advantage to be taken off the absence of their servants; but either have the charge open till I am [at] liberty to return & controvert it, or by making the proper inquiries themselves do me justice.”[xix] In short, he felt that once again the legislature was taking advantage of his perceived wealth and remote location and that “Taxation never can go beyond what a man can spare after necessaries of life are afforded out of his income.”[xx]
In addition to taxation Livingston was also concerned with the requisitions being made by the government on Livingston Manor, as well as the actual treatment of the militia. Livingston Manor was often treated as if it belonged to both Albany County and Dutchess County, and was called upon to send men to the musters of both counties. In September of 1778 Livingston brought his concerns on this matter directly to Governor Clinton. He wrote;
“No part of the state has suffered half so much by the oppressions of quarter masters & Commissaries, or done more duty, they, having been frequently called upon for a quota of men to go to the northward, & another the southward besides large demands for waggons. At a time when every fourth man was called down, every sixth was summoned by Genl. Ten Brock to go to the Northward. Of the whole number of waggons in the Manor which does not exceed 200, I will undertake to prove the 30 were lost last campaign to the northward & near one hundred horses for which no compensation has been allowed.”[xxi]
Taxes were passed by the state government but it was the county government’s responsibility to collect them. The nebulous borders of the counties at the time only added to the tax burden on Clermont and Livingston Manor. Both Albany and Dutchess counties felt that Livingston lands fell within their borders and felt free to levy taxes on them accordingly much like they declared militia quotas. This problem did not go away either. In 1781 he was still complaining about being taxed in both counties.[xxii]
The burden placed upon Livingston Manor by the state government was as bad as that placed upon it by the British. Not only were the products of the farms being seized, but so were the tools upon which the farms were run. In addition Livingston felt that the requirements put upon the men of the manor by the government were onerous. In actuality the government of the state was beginning to threaten Livingston’s livelihood and that of his family, which hinged in part on the success of his tenants. Clinton’s response to the complaints consisted of an expression of his disapproval of the actions of the quartermasters and a less than gentle scolding about the actual turnout of militia men from the Manor which in response to his orders to turn out furnished “some Times not a Man”.[xxiii]
At this time the treatment of loyalists in the state also came to the forefront. A former member of Livingston’s social club, Egbert Benson, pushed the Act of Attainder, also known as the Confiscation Act, through the state legislature. The bill named many of the state’s most prominent loyalists and former members of the colonial government, including William Tryon, John Watts, Oliver Delancey, Isaac Low, John Johnson, Guy Johnson Frederick Philipse and Beverly Robinson, and declared that all of their property was forfeit. Furthermore it banished them from New York and sentenced them to death if they returned. More troubling was a later clause that allowed the same to happen to other people in the future based on the testimony of as few as one witnesses. Land taken from the land lords would be given to their tenants, if the tenants had forgone the king, a truly troubling clause for a landlord like Livingston. Other property would be sold at a public auction. Livingston and the Council of Revision vetoed the bill but when it was returned it was passed over their veto. [xxiv]
Livingston wrote the Council of Revision’s initial report on the bill. He called it “repugnant to the plain and immutable laws of justice which no state can with honor throw off.” He went on to explain how the bill denied the accused “of a trial by jury, to which the Constitution implicitly entitles every subject how deep so ever his guilt.” The Chancellor strongly disagreed with the newly elected men of the legislature and assembly trying to change the Constitution he had helped to write two years earlier. He later wrote that the bill was “directly contrary to the spirit of the Constitution, and to the attention which is due to the rights of the subjects of this state.”[xxv]
Livingston was disgusted with this bill. He wrote “never was there a greater compound of folly, avarice and injustice, than our new Confiscation Bill…” [xxvi] He immediately saw the opportunities to abuse it were many. Some could level an accusation against another person to settle an old score, clear themselves of a debt or simply because they wanted the property of their neighbor without any actual evidence of loyalist activity. Livingston had written to Gouverneur Morris, than in Philadelphia, to complain about the bill. Morris responded in part; “What you may be able to do and had far to restrain others from Doing I know not…I have seen virtuous Labors so often overthrown that I am inured to it.”[xxvii]
Disgusted as he was by the bill, Livingston was not above taking full advantage of it once it was on the books. Oliver Delancey’s front row pew at St. Paul’s Chapel in New York City was seized and auctioned off along with the rest of his property under the act. Livingston bought it despite the fact that he would be unable to use it until the British were driven from the City. He no doubt felt a small bit of satisfaction taking one more thing away from his family’s old enemies the Delanceys.[xxviii]
At about this time John Jay was chosen to represent America at the court of Spain. Livingston was chosen by New York to replace Jay in Philadelphia. Livingston was a good choice for Congress because, of course he was an experienced congressman. Jay hoped that Livingston would take the job, he wrote: “Your Manners, Abilities & Address will give New York great Advantage in contested Matters…”[xxix] It was a chance for the members of the state government to get rid of Livingston, who was opposing their more radical efforts. For Livingston it was a chance to escape what had been a series of defeats. In March of 1779 Livingston wrote to Jay from Poughkeepsie;
“When on the other hand I look back upon my past life and compare my age with the several important stations I have held, as I hope without discredit, when I reflect upon the weighty business in which I have been engaged, and above all when I consult my own heart, I am ready to cry out with the petulant Marcus…That I am weary of the little paltry politics of this place I confess.”[xxx]
From the burning of his home to his loss of faith in government he had helped to create, being sent back to Philadelphia at the end of the year was a chance for him to make a positive difference again.
[i] “To Alexander Hamilton from George Clinton, 5 March 1778” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives .gov/documents/Hamilton/01-01-02-0392[Last update: 2016-03-28]) Source: The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol 1, 1768-1778, ed. Harold C. Syrett. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp 436-437.
[ii] Robert R. Livingston to George Clinton April 11, 1777 (This letter is misdated in the published papers) The Public Papers of George Clinton Volume I p 710.
[iii] George Clinton to Robert R. Livingston undated The Public Papers of George Clinton Volume I p 711-712
[iv] Robert R. Livingston to George Clinton May 2, 1778 Public Papers of George Clinton Volume III p 254
[v] A List of Exempts Public Papers of George Clinton Volume III p 421
[vi], “From George Washington to Lieutenant Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston, 4 May 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-04-02-0166. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 4, 1 April 1776 – 15 June 1776, ed. Philander D. Chase. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1991, pp. 201–202.], “To George Washington from Lieutenant Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston, 14 May 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-04-02-0238. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 4, 1 April 1776 – 15 June 1776, ed. Philander D. Chase. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1991, pp. 300–301.]
[vii]“To George Washington from Lieutenant Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston, July 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-05-02-0395. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 5, 16 June 1776 – 12 August 1776, ed. Philander D. Chase. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1993, pp. 533–534.] , “To George Washington from Lieutenant Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston, 31 August 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-06-02-0150. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 6, 13 August 1776 – 20 October 1776, ed. Philander D. Chase and Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1994, pp. 184–185.], “From George Washington to Lieutenant Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston, 4 September 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-06-02-0176. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 6, 13 August 1776 – 20 October 1776, ed. Philander D. Chase and Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1994, pp. 217–218.], “To George Washington from Lieutenant Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston, 11 September 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-06-02-0226. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 6, 13 August 1776 – 20 October 1776, ed. Philander D. Chase and Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1994, pp. 282–284.], “To George Washington from Lieutenant Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston, 24 September 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-06-02-0302. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 6, 13 August 1776 – 20 October 1776, ed. Philander D. Chase and Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1994, pp. 390–392.] , “To George Washington from Lieutenant Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston, 14 October 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-06-02-0426. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 6, 13 August 1776 – 20 October 1776, ed. Philander D. Chase and Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1994, pp. 566–568.]
[viii], “To George Washington from Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston, 29 March 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-09-02-0017. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 9, 28 March 1777 – 10 June 1777, ed. Philander D. Chase. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999, pp. 13–14.]Dangerfield Chancellor Robert R. Livingston p 98.
[ix] “To George Washington from Robert R. Livingston, 8 December 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-12-02-0527. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 12, 26 October 1777 – 25 December 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. and David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002, pp. 579–580.]
[x] “From George Washington to Robert R. Livingston, 27 December 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-13-02-0017. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 13, 26 December 1777 – 28 February 1778, ed. Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2003, pp. 19–20.]
[xi] “To George Washington from Robert R. Livingston, 14 January 1778,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-13-02-0195. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 13, 26 December 1777 – 28 February 1778, ed. Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2003, pp. 234–237.]
[xii] Dangerfield Chancellor Robert R. Livingston p 104-105.
[xiii] “To George Washington from Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston, 10 February 1778,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-13-02-0417. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 13, 26 December 1777 – 28 February 1778, ed. Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2003, pp. 500–501.], Dangerfield Chancellor Livingston p 470.
[xiv] Henry Beekman Livington to Robert R. Livingston, June 31, 1778. Transcription by J. Kochan in the David Library of the American Revolution. Original letter Rutgers University Special Collections & Archives, Alexander Library; Acc 3097.
[xv] Robert R. Livingston to John Jay October 6, 1779 Johnston, Henry P. The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay 1763-1781 G.P. Putnam and Sons, New York 1891, p 245-246.
[xvi] Stahr John Jay p 86
[xvii] Robert R. Livingston to George Clinton May 18, 1780 Public Papers of George Clinton Volume V p 717
[xviii] Robert R. Livingston to George Clinton 19 May 1780 LDC Volume 15 p157.
[xix] Robert R. Livingston to George Clinton June 29, 1780 Public Papers of George Clinton Volume V 896-897
[xx] Robert R. Livingston to George Clinton May 19, 1780 LDC Volume 15 p 157.
[xxi] Robert R. Livingston to George Clinton September 23, 1778 Public Papers of George Clinton Volume IV p 75-76.
[xxii] Robert R. Livingston to unknown 3 June 1781 Clermont State Historic Site.
[xxiii] George Clinton to Robert R. Livingston September 23, 1778 Public Papers of George Clinton Volume IV p76-77.
[xxiv] The New York Act of Attainder, or Confiscation Act passed 22 October 1779, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick archives.gnb.ca/exhibits/forthavoc/html/NY-Attainder.aspx, Countryman A People in Revolution p 187.
[xxv] Street, Alfred B. Council of Revision of the State of New York William Gould, Publisher, Albany 1859 p220-222.
[xxvi] Countryman, Robert A People in Revolution: The American Revolution and Political Society in New York 1760-1790 W.W. Norton and Company, New York 1981 p 207.
[xxvii] Gouverneur Morris to Robert R. Livingston August 24, 1779 LDC Volume 13 p 412
[xxviii] Young, The Deomcratic Republicans p 64.
[xxix] John Jay to Robert R. Livingston and Gouverneur Morris September 29, 1779 LDC Volume 13 p 595
[xxx] Robert R. Livingston to John Jay March 4, 1779 in Morris, Richard B. John Jay: The Making of a Revolutionary p 570 Livingston is comparing himself to a character in Joseph Addison’s Cato, A Tragedy which was one of the most influential works of the 18th century. Patrick Henry, Nathaniel Hale, even George Washington used quotes from the play during the war.