From George Washington to Benjamin Franklin, 17 June 1776
To Benjamin Franklin
New York June 17th 1776.
Dear Sir,
The Inclosed Letter is the one I ask’d you in Philadelphia if you had received. It has undergone another Inspection, as you will find by the Letter which covers it. I hope, tho late, in the third tryal it will get safe, & without accident, to hand.1 with very great respt and esteem I remain—Dr Sir Yr Most Obedt Hble Servt
Go: Washington
ALS, owned (1972) by IRoC; sold by Sotheby Parke Bernet, 13 May 1987. Although no addressee now appears on this document, its context indicates that it was sent to Franklin. See note 1 and Franklin to GW, 21 June.
1. GW apparently enclosed the letter of 13 Feb. 1776 that Arthur Lee had addressed to Franklin and the letter of the same date addressed to Cadwallader Colden which it covered. For GW’s earlier effort to send these baffling documents to Franklin in Canada, see GW to Richard Henry Lee, 18 May, nn.1 and 2, and GW to Franklin, 20 May 1776; see also John Langdon to GW, 10 May 1776, n.2. The letters missed Franklin on the road while he was returning to Philadelphia from Montreal between 11 and 30 May. GW saw Franklin in Philadelphia during his stay in the city from 23 May to 4 June.