From John Jay to Marinus Willett, 27 April 1776
To Marinus Willett
[Ph. 27. Ap. 1776—]
Sir
It is much to be regretted that ^all^ human Affairs are liable for liable to Errors & Imperfections, and that real as well as imaginary Evils are so widely spread thro the World.
The Subject of your Letter merits ^deserves^ attention, it is however unnecessary for me to repeat what I have already said relative to it, and ^except^ again to assure you that my Endeavours shall not be wanting to obtain for you an appointment. equal to your Merit. General Schuyler’s Letter does you Honor, & had it ever been made known to the Members of Congress befo a litt a few months sooner, I am confident it would have had all the Influence you would have wished.1
I hope Care will be taken of the officers you allude to—Men who deserve well of their Country, claim are intitled to its Regard. For my own Part I
would cheerfully render them omit no ^& in my opinion no^ opportunityies of distinguishing and rewarding merit ought to be omitted
I am glad your Indisposition is removed, & hope it will not be some ^long before an^ occasion of ^again^ calling you to the Service of your Country will present itself.2 I am Sir your most obdt. ^very hble^ Servt
J.J
Dft, partly damaged, NNC (EJ: 12761). Endorsed.
1. See Willett’s undated letter to JJ, above.
2. On 29 Apr. 1776 the New York Committee of Safety wrote the New York delegates recommending the promotion of either Major Barnabus Tuthill or Captain Willett to replace Major Joseph Benedict, who, “conceiving himself unfit for that Office,” had resigned (DNA, EJ: 5131). The committee reported that Willett “was in service during the last war, and was Captain in the last Year’s New York Levies and with an Attention to his rank as second Captain in the first Battalion and when Captain Wiesenfels who was the first Captain, was promoted to a Lieutenant Colonelcy, We recommended Captain Willet for the Majority; but by some Mistake, as we conceive, Captain Benedict, the second Captain of the fourth Battalion was preferred to him.” The committee then quoted Schuyler’s letter to the provincial congress, describing it as one of 4 Mar., though, as noted at Willett’s letter, it is printed in , 2: 121, under the date of 27 Feb.
In their reply to the Committee of Safety of 5 May 1776, the New York delegates reported that Congress had appointed Major Tuthill, rather than Willett, to succeed Benedict (, 3: 625). In November 1776, Willett became lieutenant colonel of the 3rd New York Regiment, and in July 1780 he became lieutenant colonel commandant of the 5th Regiment of the Continental Line. His best-known exploits are his 1777 victory over the British under Barry St. Leger at Fort Stanwix (Fort Schuyler) and his participation in 1779 in the Clinton-Sullivan expedition against the Iroquois. From 1780 until the end of the war, he commanded New York State troops in the Mohawk Valley.