To John Jay from Sebastian Bauman, [15 May 1797]
From Sebastian Bauman
[15 May 1797]
To his Excellency John Jay Esqr. Governor and Commander in chief of the Militia of the State of New York &c &c
I am sorry that circumstances have finally brought me to quit and give up my Military Commission, which I cannot hold any longer without the greatest degradation, inadmissable and incoherent with the Character of a Soldier.
The Appointment of Brigadier General Hughes1 who was a junior Officer, and to whom I am now as it were subordinate, altho’ I am the oldest Officer, is a subject too keen to a man of sensibility, my being an Artillery Officer may cloak that business over, but cannot justify the Act, as I stated once before. Innovation of this kind distroys every Military order and subordination, the only guide and safe guard to a Community in time of public danger. To superceed an Officer when once commissioned in what is called the fighting department without any cause of impeachment, is an Act of injustice and the greatest injury possible a Military Officer can receive, for it implys a tacit desire for him to resign Impressed with these sentiments I cannot hold any longer that Commission which the State intrusted me with in the year 17862—and I do herewith resign the same—
The Honorable the Council of appointment may judge the propriety or impropriety of this measure, but they cannot suppose that under the circumstances above recited, I should risk my life and reputation in a Military capacity, and continue Equipt and ready at the call of my Country, to perform the duty and fatigue of a Soldier without a share in the honor of regular promotion the only recompence a grateful Country can bestow on Military atchievements, would be acting against the rule of Common sense and shew how little regard I had for my Country when I had none for myself.
The Officers of the Regiment I had the honor to command seem likewise sensible of their discouraging situation have also resign’d their Commissions which I herewith inclose,3 accompanied with a letter addressed to me stating their reason for so doing—4 I am Sir Your Excellency’s most Obt. & Very Humble Servt.
S. Bauman
ALS, NN: Emmet (EJ: 01071). PtL, , 30–31. The manuscript is undated; a dateline is located in the published version.
1. James M. Hughes (1756–1802) of New York City commanded the Brigade of the City and County of New York in the state’s militia establishment. One of the original members of the Society of Cincinnati, Hughes had served as an aide-de-camp to Horatio Gates at Saratoga.
2. Hastings, Military Minutes, 2: 110.
3. , 29–30. Whereas the Council of Appointment accepted Bauman’s resignation, it refused to do so for the other officers of the Artillery Regiment.
4. For an overview of the Bauman affair, involving the resignations of Lt. Col. Bauman (Beauman) (1739–1803) and his subordinate officers from the Regiment of Artillery for the City and County of New York, see the editorial note “Militia Matters in New York State,” above.