George Washington Papers

To George Washington from Colonel Thomas Church, 12 October 1775

From Colonel Thomas Church

Prospect Hill
Octobr 12th 1775.

may It please Yr Excellency

My Surgeon, and Mate being upon command in the Detachment under Coll Arnold I applied to Doctr Church to recommend Doctr Richmond, (who was then joint Surgeon with Doctr Fisk in Col. Hitchcocks Regiment) to your Excellency, to be Commissionated as Surgeon to my Regiment. He informed Me that the Power of supplying any Vacancies in the medical Department was vested by the Congress solely in Him. He therefore appointed the sd Doctr Richmond Surgeon to my Regiment. Which Appointment Doctr Richmond will present to Yr Excellency, and will inform You of any further Particulars respecting this Matter.

some Doubts have arisen whether this Appointment is legal or not; this therefore is to request Your Excellency, to determine upon the Matter. and if the Appointment appears to Yr Excellency to be legal to ratify It accordingly. if illegal, I request Yr Excellency to reappoint and Commissionate the sd Doctr Richmond Surgeon to my Regiment.1 I am Yr Excellency’s most obedient humb. Servt

Thos Church Coll of 15th Regt

LS, in Ebenezer Richmond’s writing, DLC:GW.

1Dr. Benjamin Church’s warrant of 21 Sept. 1775 appointing Richmond as surgeon of Col. Thomas Church’s Rhode Island regiment is in DLC:GW. For further information on Richmond’s case, see Richmond to GW, 21 Dec. 1775. Richmond served as a surgeon’s mate in Col. Daniel Hitchcock’s regiment during 1776. Caleb Fiske later became surgeon of a Rhode Island militia battalion and a justice of the court of common pleas for Providence County. The surgeon who accompanied Arnold to Quebec was Dr. Isaac Senter (1755–1799).

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