“Being in Want of Money”: Cash Flow Problems in the North and Canada
Holmes Letter
Posted on October 4, 2025
“Being in Want of Money”: Cash Flow Problems in the North and Canada
In October 1775, life at Fort Ticonderoga was quieter than it had been in August and September. Most of the thousands of troops who had gathered at or passed through Ticonderoga on their way to Canada had left, joining General Richard Montgomery’s army at the siege of Fort Saint-Jean. The garrison was not the hive of activity that it had been, but it was far from empty, and it was now a vital link in the supply chain between the army in Canada and Northern Department headquarters in Albany.
One of the regiments stationed at Ticonderoga that October was the 4th New York Regiment. 250 years ago today—October 4, 1775—the regiment’s colonel, James Holmes, wrote to the Northern Department’s commander, Philip Schuyler. He had a simple request: “The Regiment under my Command being in Want of Money and I not knowing exactly the Amount of Pay now due, but being confident that four Thousand Dollars will not exceed what is due to the regiment, I beg of You to give me a Warrant on the Paymaster General for that Sum.”
Cash flow problems like these were not uncommon in the army. Officers like Holmes had to placate their impatient soldiers while waiting for money to pay them to arrive. The lack of money in the Northern Department affected more than just Ticonderoga. Schuyler had a supply of Continental paper money, but no access to specie, or gold and silver coins. While he could send paper money to Ticonderoga to pay American troops like Holmes’, Canadian farmers and suppliers did not accept paper money, insisting on gold and silver.
Schuyler sent letters to Congress begging them to send a supply of specie north. They responded by sending nearly $17,000 worth of coins north on October 10 escorted by members of the Philadelphia Light Horse. They arrived at Ticonderoga on October 20, allowing Schuyler to send desperately-needed currency forward to Canada. By then, the 4th New York Regiment had likely already been paid with easier-to-obtain paper money; they continued their service at Ticonderoga throughout the fall.
Learn more about Holmes’ letter (object ID MS.1936) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/29973