At a glanceNot a cipher · 5 marks, 4 kinds
- The letter
- Brig. Gen. William Smallwood to George Washington, from James Mechlans Tavern, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 19 September 1777, on his march to join the main army.
- Where
- The signed original is privately owned (Joseph Rubinfine, 1994); a Sprague transcript is in the George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress. Printed in the Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series 11, p. 272.
- What it is
- Clear English. Five words were erased on the original and replaced by the marks *, §, §§, †, §. The editors wondered whether they were a simple code.
- Why it is not a cipher
- § stands once for a number of men and once for a route or carrier. One sign with two unrelated meanings is not a substitution; the marks are footnote-style blanks.
- Still open
- The five erased words. They are not in the letter and were not found elsewhere; the original and the Sprague transcript were not seen.
01 The letter
Smallwood had been sent with the Maryland militia to harass the British rear after Brandywine (11 September 1777). On 17 September Washington told him to “form a junction with the Main Army as soon, as you possibly can” and named Warwick Furnace on French Creek as his next halt. Two days earlier Smallwood had written that he was “afraid the Express has fallen into the Enemys hands”. The letter of the 19th, sent from a tavern in West Caln Township, reports that Colonel Mordecai Gist has joined him and that he is marching. Its numbers and its intentions were erased before it went.
The edition’s text, with the marks as printed:
Last Night Colonel Gist joined me he has * Troops—our united Force amounts to §. I am now on my march and rest assured every Effort shall be exerted to §§—as expeditiously as possible which I hope to effect Tomorrow—the Shameful neglect in the Commissarys Department throws many Obstacles in my way and retards my March … I have—† this County Lieut. and others of Integrity with me but cannot ascertain my Route so precisely as to point it out. my Baggage I shall send by §—but believe I shall fall more down to the Right with the troops.
No image of the letter is available: the original is in private hands and the Library of Congress transcript was not reached. The full text, with each mark and the slot it fills, is in the repository’s transcription.txt.
02 The marks
| Mark | Slot | What fits the slot |
|---|---|---|
| * | “he has * Troops” | a number: Gist’s strength |
| § | “our united Force amounts to §” | a number: the combined strength |
| §§ | “exerted to §§ as expeditiously as possible” | a verb phrase; Washington’s order of the 17th makes “join you” or “form a junction” likely |
| † | “I have—† this County Lieut.” | a verb or participle |
| § | “my Baggage I shall send by §” | a route, place or person |
Three things decide the question. The marks are the printer’s reference marks used for footnotes, not invented cipher signs. The same mark, §, fills a number in one place and a route or carrier in another, so it cannot stand for one word, letter or figure. And the editors report that the words were erased on the original: the information was taken out of the letter, not written into it in another form. Whatever the marks referred to, a message carried by word of mouth or a slip sent separately, it is not with the letter.
Five marks of four kinds would in any case be far too few to recover a key from.
03 What remains uncertain
- The five erased words. The reading of §§ as the junction with the main army is an inference from Washington’s letter, not a decipherment; the numbers and the baggage route are unknown.
- Whether the marks are Smallwood’s own or the transcriber’s rendering of blank erasures. The Sprague transcript at the Library of Congress would show how they were copied; it was behind a bot check when tried. The conclusion does not depend on it.
04 Sources
- Smallwood to Washington, 19 September 1777: Founders Online, from The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series 11, ed. P. D. Chase and E. G. Lengel (2001), p. 272.
- Washington to Smallwood, 17 September 1777: Founders Online (PGW RW 11:260).
- Smallwood to Washington, 15 September 1777: Founders Online.
Transcription, notes and profile: targets/smallwood1777/. Catalogue of open targets, no. 486, removed.