Hammond,
got Beckley to enclose it to me for his exequatur I wrote to Sir John
that it must come through Mr Hammond enclosing it back to him. He
accordingly then sent it to Mr. Hammond.
[* In the margin is written, by Mr. Jefferson; 'Impossible
as to Hamilton; he was far above that.]
In conversation with the President to-day, and speaking about General
Greene, he said that he and General Greene had always differed in
opinion about the manner of using militia. Greene always placed them
in his front: himself was of opinion, they should always be used as a
reserve to improve any advantage, for which purpose they were the finest
fellows in the world. He said he was on the ground of the battle of
Guilford, with a person who was in the action, and who explained the
whole of it to him. That General Greene's front was behind a fence at
the edge of a large field, through which the enemy were obliged to pass
to get at them; and that, in their passage through this, they must have
been torn all to pieces, if troops had been posted there who would have
stood their ground; and that the retreat from that position was through
a thicket, perfectly secure. Instead of this he posted the North
Carolina militia there who only gave one fire and fell back, so that the
whole benefit of their position was lost. He thinks that the regulars,
with their field-pieces, would have hardly let a single man get through
that field.
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