To George Washington from Timothy Pickering, 12 June 1795
From Timothy Pickering
War Office June 12. 1795.
The Secretary of War has the pleasure to report to the President of the United States, that on the 3d instant there sailed from Pittsburg, to reinforce General Wayne;1
commissioned officers | 7 | |
non commissioned officers and privates |
226 | |
233 |
—and that Colo. Butler expected all the men who had been inoculated, would be able to proceed in eight days afterwards.2
Timothy Pickering
ALS, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW.
1. According to Pickering’s letter of 23 May to Gen. Anthony Wayne, most of these reinforcements were “recruits from the militia army” ( 420). That army was disbanded on 3 June (see GW to Pickering, 13 April, n.1).
2. On 22 May, Lt. Col. Thomas Butler, then at Fort Fayette, informed Pickering about the inoculations: “I have been under the necessity of having one hundred of the Recruits inoculated for the small pox, I deferr’d the matter as long as I could, with any degree of safety to the men, as that disorder has become prevalent at this post. … The Recruits are all fine young fellows from the state of Virginia, and I felt interested for their safety, at the same time I feel sensible that the services of these men will be wanted, but you may rest assured Sir, that I shall cause every attention to be paid in order to restore them to duty—Had the cloathing arrived, I should have sent them down the Ohio, before the disorder spread, but … there would have been great risque to have sent them off at this period” (PHi: Wayne Papers).