The task of moving some 7,000 American and French soldiers with all of their supplies and artillery some 450 miles by land and water required careful planning. Washington turned to his superintendent of finance, Robert Morris, to collect the money needed for such an undertaking.
"I directed the Commissary General … to cause the deposite of three hundred Barrels of Flour, three hundred Barrels Salt meat, and twelve Hogsheads of Rum to be made at the Head of Elk [at the northern tip of the Chesapeake River in Maryland] … he sent down a Deputy some days since; and I expect all will be ready there. I am much more apprehensive on the Score of Craft [boats], both in Delaware & Chesapeak. I have written to the Quarter Master of Maryland & Delaware, Mr Donaldson Yates, to exert himself in procuring the Craft. I have written to the Governor, and to several of the most eminent merchants in Baltimore, to extend their assistance and influence in expediting this business. Foreseeing the necessity of Supplies from Maryland & Delaware, I have written in the most pressing Terms, to the Governors and Agents to have the Specific Supplies required of them by Congress in readiness for Delivery to my order … But still I fear you will be disappointed, in some degree, as to the Shipping; and that I shall be compelled to make purchases of provisions, which if it happens must divert the money from those payments to the army that I wish to make … and very much doubt if it will be possible to pay the Detachment [American soldiers] a months pay as you wish, therefore it will be best not to raise in them any expectation of that kind."
Robert Morris to George Washington, 28 August 1781www.founders.archives.gov