* It was at this time that the close and confidential intimacy which existed between Washington and Colonel Joseph Reed was disturbed by a letter from Lee to the latter. It will be remembered that Reed was with Washington at Cambridge during the siege of Boston, and was the most confidential friend of the commander-in-chief. On the 21st of November he wrote a letter to Lee, from Hackensack, in which, pointedly alluding to Washington, he complained of the indecision of officers, at the same time complimenting Lee for his opposite quality. This letter was answered in a tone and spirit little calculated to command the respect of Washington for either party. Reed had left camp before its arrival, and, as usual, his letters were opened by the commander-in-chief. In this way the latter became acquainted with its contents. Free explanations were made, and mutual confidence was afterward restored, which continued through life. ** Following the account of Wilkinson, in his Memoirs (who was with Lee at the time), historians say that a Tory communicated the fact of Lee's presence at White's Tavern to Colonel Harcourt. There is no positive evidence that such was the fact; on the contrary, it is asserted, in the Historical Collections of New Jersey, that one of the compilers of that work was informed by Colonel J. W. Drake, of Mendham, that the individual was a Mr. Mackelwraith, an elder of a Presbyterian church, who was surrounded in the road by Harcourt and his men, pressed into service, and compelled to show them Lee's quarters. When the assailants arrived, the guard were sunning themselves on the south side of the house, and were suddenly separated from their arms; hence the feebleness of their resistance. [[[Capture of General Lee.--Longevity of the Captor's Horse.--Biography of Lee.--His Division commanded by Sullivan.]]] {223}the morning of the 13th of December, dispersed the guard, and captured the commander. * Lee had just finished a letter to General Gates when the dragoons appeared. So sudden was the arrest, and so quick was the departure, that he was hurried away on horseback, bare-headed, nothing but slippers on his feet, and a blanket coat on his back, and conveyed in safety to New York. General Sullivan, who was taken prisoner at the battle on Long Island, in August previous, had been exchanged, and was now with Lee's division of the army. [Illustration: 8231] On the capture of Lee the command devolved on Sullivan, and he soon afterward crossed the Delaware and joined Washington. General Lee was an able and efficient officer, and his loss, at that time, was very severely felt. The estimation in which the enemy held his services may be understood by the declaration, "We have taken the American palladium." His disobedience is indefensible; yet, viewing subsequent events in their various relations, that very disobedience was probably instrumental in working out greater good than compliance would