To Thomas Jefferson from Sebastian Bauman, 29 May 1797
From Sebastian Bauman
New York May 29th. 97
Sir
I have taken the liberty to inclose to you a pamphlet containing a statement of the cause of the resignation of all the Officers of the Regiment of Artillery of the City and County of New York, which I had the honor to command and which I hope will do away any unfavourable impressions our proceedings may have made in the mind of the public. I am Sir with great respect Your Obedt and very Humbe Servt
S. Bauman
RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thomas Jefferson Esqr. Vice Presidt. of the United States”; endorsed by TJ as received 30 May 1797 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: see below.
Sebastian Bauman (d. 1803) had been the postmaster of New York City since 1789. As an artillery officer during the American Revolution he had risen in rank from captain of a New York company to major in the Continental artillery ( , 92; Robert J. Stets, comp., Postmasters and Postoffices of the United States, 1782–1811 [Lake Oswego, Ore., 1994], 184; Bauman to TJ, 30 Apr. 1802).
The pamphlet, published in New York in 1797 and entitled A Statement, Explanatory of the Resignation of the Officers of the Regiment of Artillery, of the City and County of New-York, documented the officers’ recent unanimous resignation to protest restrictions on the promotion of artillery officers that caused Bauman, the regiment’s lieutenant colonel and commandant, to be passed over for promotion within the militia to the rank of brigadier. See No. 32568.