George Washington Papers
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https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-21-02-0363

From George Washington to Timothy Pickering, 3 March 1797

To Timothy Pickering

Philadelphia 3d March 1797.1

Dr Sir,

At the conclusion of my public employments, I have thought it expedient to notice the publication of certain forged letters which first appeared in the year 1777, and were obtruded upon the public as mine. They are said by the editor to have been found in a small portmanteau that I had left in the care of my Mulatto servant named Billy, who, it is pretended, was taken prisoner at Fort Lee, in 1776. The period when these letters were first printed will be recollected, and what were the impressions they were intended to produce on the public mind. It was then supposed to be of some consequence to strike at the integrity of the motives of the American commander in Chief, and to paint his inclinations as at variance with his professions and his duty.2 Another crisis in the affairs of America having occurred, the same weapon has been resorted to, to wound my character and deceive the people.3

The letters in question have the dates, addresses and signatures here following.

“New-York, June 12. 1776. To Mr Lund Washington, at Mount Vernon, Fairfax County, Virginia. G.W.”4

“To John Parke Custis, Esqr. at the Hon. Benedict Calvert’s, Esqr., Mount Airy, Maryland. June 18. 1776. Geo. Washington.”5

“New-York, July 8, 1776, To Mr Lund Washington, at Mount-Vernon, Fairfax County, Virginia.   G.W.”

“New-York, July 16, 1776. To Mr Lund Washington, &c. G.W.”

“New-York, July 15, 1776. To Mr Lund Washington, &c. G.W.”

“New-York, July 22. 1776. To Mr Lund Washington, &c. G.W.”

“June 24, 1776. To Mrs Washington. G.W.”

At the time when these Letters first appeared, it was notorious to the army immediately under my command, and particularly to the gentlemen attached to my person, that my Mulatto Man Billy had never been one moment in the power of the enemy. It is also a fact that no part of my baggage, or any of my attendants were captured during the whole course of the war. These well-known facts made it unnecessary, during the war, to call the public attention to the forgery, by any express declaration of mine: and a firm reliance on my fellow-citizens, and the abundant proofs they gave of their confidence in me, rendered it alike unnecessary to take any formal notice of the revival of the imposition, during my civil administration. But as I cannot know how soon a more serious event may succeed to that which will this day take place, I have thought it a duty that I owed to Myself, to my Country and to Truth, now to detail the circumstances above recited; and to add my solemn declaration, that the letters herein described, are a base forgery, and that I never saw or heard of them until they appeared in print.

The present letter I commit to your care, and desire it may be deposited in the office of the department of state, as a testimony of the truth to the present generation and to posterity. Accept, I pray you, the sincere esteem & Affectionate regard of Dr Sir Your Obedt

G. Washington6

DfS, in Timothy Pickering and GW’s writing, DLC:GW; Df, in James McHenry’s writing, MiU-C: McHenry Papers; LB, DLC:GW.

This document is GW’s official statement denying the authenticity of seven spurious letters attributed to him (see n.2 below). David Humphreys, the acting U.S. minister to Portugal, had recommended that GW publish such a declaration and provided a draft statement on the matter for publication in newspapers. GW, however, never made use of Humphreys’s statement since he received it after penning the present document (see Humphreys to GW, 1 Jan., and n.8). The Gazette of the United States, & Philadelphia Daily Advertiser for 10 March and The Philadelphia Gazette & Universal Daily Advertiser for 11 March printed GW’s 3 March letter to Pickering. The letter soon appeared in various other newspapers (see, for instance, The Western Star [Stockbridge, Mass.], 20 March 1797).

The draft in McHenry’s writing, which has significant differences from the DfS and contains numerous strikeouts and interlineations, reads: “As I cannot know how soon a more serious event may suceeed to that which is about to seperate me from some of my friends I have thought that I owed it to truth and the rising generation to leave behind me an evidence that certain letters which have been intruded upon the public as mine have never been written by me, you will be at no loss to comprehend that I mean those epistles which were published in the year 1777 in New York, in Rivingtons Gazette signed with the initials of my name, and said to have been found in a small portmanteau in the care of my Mulatto man Billy whom he pretends was taken prisoner at Fort Lee in 1776. You will recollect the time when these letters were first printed, and what impressions they were intended to produce on the public mind. It was then thought of some consequence to strike at the integrity of my motives, and to paint my inclinations as at variance with my duty. Since that, another crisis having occurred in the affairs of America, the same weapon has been resorted to by designing men equally base and dishonourable to destroy that character and deceive the people.” McHenry added: “The letters in question are signed G. W. and dated and addressed as follows.” Instead of listing the letters, McHenry left a blank space in his draft. McHenry’s draft continues: “At the ⟨era⟩ these letters appeared it was notorious to the army immediately under my command, and the gentlemen attached to my person, that my Mulatto man Billy, had never been one moment in the power of the enemy. It is a fact also, that no part of my baggage or papers, or any of my attendants were captured and ⟨illegible⟩ during the course of the war These ⟨illegible⟩ made it unnecessary at that time to call the attention of my fellow citizens to the forgery by any expresss declaration of mine; whilst, a firm reliance which I had upon my fellow citizens would not permit me to take an imputation that these might still exert a sufficient recollection of them among my countrymen ⟨illegible⟩ and to a repugnance counteract the ⟨second address⟩ at imposition by any formal notice during my administration, induced me to procrastinate this disclosure till a time when making it could not be ascribed to personal views. I commit therefore my friend to you when I shall cease to attract the malevolence of party to undeceive such of my fellow citizens as may have believed me to have written letters I ⟨illegible⟩ you state the circumstances which shew the falsity of the facts upon which the writer of the letters rests his fabrication and to add my declaration that I never saw or heard of the letter’s above described before their appearance in Rivingtons paper in the year 1777.”

1GW wrote both the dateline and “Dr” in the salutation.

2In 1796, the publication titled The Epistles domestic, confidential, and official reprinted seven forgeries, which first had surfaced during the Revolutionary War and had been attributed to GW. An erroneous report that circulated in 1778 had claimed that the letters had been discovered in GW’s portmanteau while in the possession of his mulatto body servant, William “Billy” Lee (see John Carey to GW, 1 Oct., and n.1 to that document; see also GW to Carey, 30 Dec. 1796; GW to Benjamin Walker, 12 Jan. 1797).

3GW may refer to the recent publication of Thomas Paine’s letter to him of 30 July 1796, which vilified his character (see GW to David Stuart, 8 Jan., and n.2 to that document; see also Edward Newenham to GW, 15 Feb., and n.4 to that document). In the last several months of his presidency, GW’s cabinet also had to deal with incendiary letters to Pickering from French minister Pierre-Auguste Adet (see GW to Alexander Hamilton, 2 Nov. 1796, and n.2 to that document; see also Hamilton to GW, 19 Nov. 1796).

4For the text of all the forgeries listed here, see Worthington Chauncey Ford, The Spurious Letters Attributed to Washington (Brooklyn, N.Y, 1889), 45–120.

5John Parke Custis (1754–1781) was the son of Martha Washington and her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis. In 1774, John married Eleanor Calvert, a daughter of Benedict Calvert, a judge and longtime member of the Maryland council. Calvert’s home, Mount Airy, was located in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

6The closing of the DfS is in GW’s writing, as are the internal address and docket.

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