On the twenty-first day of January, Howe withdrew two thousand troops from Newport, R.I., to reënforce the garrison of New York. Generals Spencer and Arnold, then at Providence, R.I., with about four thousand troops, were ordered by Washington, whenever practicable, to attempt the capture of Newport; but they regarded their force as inadequate for the purpose. General Parsons, then upon recruiting service in Connecticut, was also instructed to make a descent upon Long Island; but his force was hardly equal to the movement, for want of suitable boats. All these external signs of American watchfulness and activity were as nettles to irritate the British Commander-in-Chief, while he sat, powerless, in his sumptuous headquarters at New York. Knox was sent by Washington to Massachusetts to enlist a battalion of artillery, and during his trip mentioned Springfield as the proper site for the establishment of a laboratory and gun-factory. General Schuyler, of the northern army, was instructed to draw from New England the entire force required to resist the anticipated advance of Carleton from Canada. Washington assigned as a special reason for this limitation, that “troops of extreme sections could not be favorably combined.” Besides this, he proportionately relieved New England from sending troops of her own from her borders, which would be most exposed in case the invasion from Canada materialized. General Maxwell was stationed at Elizabethtown to watch tories and the movements of the British. Orders were issued repressing plundering done by the militia, of which complaint had been made. Similar outrages had been perpetrated by British and Hessian troops in the vicinity of New York; and Washington followed up his own ideas of civilized warfare, by sending to General Howe a protest, and a demand for similar remedial action on his part. At this period, a correspondence occurred as to the position of General Charles Lee, then a prisoner of war in General Howe’s custody. It was for a time quite in doubt whether Lee would be treated as a prisoner of war, or be shot as a deserter from the British army. The pledge of Washington, that he would hang an officer of equal rank if Lee were executed, ultimately secured Lee’s exchange. During the month of March, a ship from France landed at Portsmouth, N.H., another invoice of military supplies; and a second soon after reached Philadelphia with a large cargo. These timely accessions of material of war amounted to twenty-three thousand fusees, one thousand barrels of powder, and blankets and other stores. On the second of March, Washington communicated to Robert Morris, of Philadelphia, some of his personal studies of General Howe and his plans. The following are pertinent extracts: