George Washington Papers

General Orders, 5 August 1779

General Orders

Head-Quarters Moores-House [N.Y.]
Thursday Augt 5th 1779.

Parole Mecklenburgh— C. Signs Upsal. Otho.

The board of General officers appointed in the order of the 8th of July last to settle the relative rank of the Colonels of Artillery, so far as it still remains unsettled and the rank of the regiments of Artillery are requested to meet again tomorrow morning, 10 ôclock, at the President’s quarters for the final determination of the points refered to them.1

Some additional papers will be submitted and General Knox, at the request of the board will attend to give information on the facts necessary to be ascertained.2

Major General Lord Stirling and General Woodford being on detachment, Generals Irvine and Gist will replace them—The board will now consist of Major General Putnam President, Major Generals, Greene St Clair Baron De Kalb & Brigadier Generals Irvine and Gist.

Captain Keene of the 11th Pennsylvania regiment is appointed Aide-De-Camp, pro tempore to Major General St Clair vice —— Giles a Prisoner and is to be respected accordingly.

The Pay-Masters of the Artillery regiments and companies and of the Massachusett’s, Connecticutt and North-Carolina regiments in camp are to make out rolls for the hundred dollars gratuity due to the soldiers in their respective corps in consequence of the resolution of Congress published in orders of the 8th of July last3 and present them to the Deputy-Pay-Master General that they may be examined and Warrants granted for the sums that shall be due;4 The business with respect to the other troops is not quite ready.5

There is to be no bathing between the hours of 8 and 5—and the custom of remaining long in the water is to be discontinued, as it is too relaxing and injurious to health—It is also expected that the soldiers in this kind of recreation will observe more decency than they usually practise. These orders to be read to and impress’d upon them by their officers.

The Court of Inquiry whereof Colonel Clark was President appointed to inquire into certain complaints exhibited against Coll Armand by Colonel Vandeburgh and Mr Jonas Adams of this State, beg leave to report to the Commander in Chief as their opinion, “That the complaints exhibited against Colonel Armand by Colonel Vandeburgh and Mr Adams are so far supported as to render a trial necessary.[”]6

The Commander in Chief directs a General Court Martial to sit at the ussual place tomorrow morning ten ôclock for the trial of Colonel Armand.

Colonel Stewart to preside.

Colonel Gouvion, Lieutenant Colonels Ford, Dubuisson & Littlefield; Majors De La Neuville, Leavensworth & Ville Franche Captain Du Ponceau and a Captain from the Maryland Pennsylvania and Connecticutt Lines and the Garrison to attend as Members.7

Varick transcript, DLC:GW.

A transcript of another orderly book from GW’s headquarters continues the general orders: “A sergt & 6 men from the Maryland line and a corporal and six from the Penna to be sent to New Windsor to guard the magazine of provision at that place. They are to parade at the orderly office to-morrow morning 8 o’clock” (NN: Bancroft Collection).

1For GW’s original directions to this board, which GW had first ordered in May, see GW to a Board of General Officers, 28 May. For GW’s dissatisfaction with the board’s earlier deliberations and his supplementary guidance to the board, see GW to a Board of General Officers, 6 August. The board, after a delay to obtain papers and information, met on 8 Aug. and conveyed its decisions on the ranks of the colonels and the regiments to GW (see Board of General Officers to GW, 8 Aug.). The decisions were published in general orders on 10 August.

3This resolution granted the gratuity to those soldiers who had enlisted for the duration of the war prior to 23 Jan. 1779 (see JCC, description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends 14:758).

4The warrants for these gratuities began to be issued as early as the next day, with one issued to pay 216 soldiers in Col. Samuel Wyllys’s 3d Connecticut Regiment and another for 353 soldiers in Col. Return Jonathan Meigs’s 6th Connecticut Regiment (see Revolutionary War Warrant Book 4, 1779–1780, DLC: GW, Ser. 5).

5A transcript of another orderly book from GW’s headquarters continues at this place, with orders reading: “The regimental payrolls for June and July are to be lodged at the pay office without delay that they may be examined and certified” (NN: Bancroft Collection).

6Col. Thomas Clark had sent the results of the court of inquiry to GW on 12 July (see GW to Armand, 28 June, n.5). For the order directing this court of inquiry, see General Orders, 5 July; see also GW to Armand, 5 July. For Colonel Armand’s explanation of the events that led to the court of inquiry and his own complaints against James Vandenburgh, see Armand to Alexander Hamilton, 21 Aug., in Hamilton Papers, description begins Harold C. Syrett et al., eds. The Papers of Alexander Hamilton. 27 vols. New York, 1961–87. description ends 2:134–36.

7For the charges against Armand and the decision of the court-martial, see General Orders, 31 August.

Charles-Francois, Chevalier (later Vicomte) Dubuysson des Aix (1752–1786), entered service in the French Army as an officer cadet of artillery in August 1768 and became a sub-lieutenant in the cavalry regiment of the Duc de Noailles in November 1772. After being discharged from his regiment in 1776, he traveled to America with the Marquis de Lafayette and Johann Kalb in the spring of 1777. Commissioned a major in the Continental army in October, he served as Kalb’s aide-de-camp after the latter was commissioned a major general. Promoted to lieutenant colonel in February 1778, he was severely wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Camden in August 1780. He returned to France as a prisoner on parole in the fall of 1781.

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