From George Washington to Samuel Huntington, 24 January 1781
To Samuel Huntington
New Windsor Jany 24th 1781
Sir,
I have the honor to introduce to your Excellency’s acqe the Count de Charlus Son to the Marqs de Castres present Minister of the Marine of France—This Gentleman’s rank & amiable qualities are alone sufficient to entitle him to every mark of Respect1 but when it is known that his zeal to promote the Cause of American freedom induced him to resign a Colonelship of Horse in France to serve as Second Colonel of the Saintonge Regiment in this Country I am perswaded it is unnecessary to say more to recomd him in the fullest manner to your Excellys part[icula]r esteem & attention.2 I have the honr to be &ca
Go: W——n
ADfS, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
GW wrote two other undated letters of introduction to Huntington on the same manuscript as his recommendation for Colonel Charlus, both of which he presumably intended to date 24 January.
The first reads: “I have the honr of introducing to your acquaintance the Count De Dillon Colo. in the Duke de Lauzuns Legion—He is a Gentn of distinction, & to great personal merit adds a warm Zeal for the Service of America which cannot fail to recommend him to your Excellys esteem” (ADf, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW). The second reads: “I have the honr to introduce to your Exy acqe Monsr Dumat Aide de Camp to the Count de Rochambeau—a G. of merit & acknowledged Abilities—qualities which I am perswaded, will recommend him to your Esteem” (ADf, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW).
Mathieu, comte de Dumas (1753–1837) began his career in the French army as a sub-lieutenant in the Médoc regiment in May 1773. By March 1780, Dumas was a captain. The following month he became an aide-de-camp to Lieutenant General Rochambeau, but during the campaigns of the French expeditionary army in America, Dumas mainly served as an officer in the engineer corps. After briefly serving as chief of staff under Major General the Baron de Vioménil in 1782, Dumas returned to France. In 1784, he carried out an exploration of the coasts in the eastern Mediterranean. With Lafayette, he organized the Paris National Guard in 1789. A constitutionalist, he was forced to flee France during the Terror of the Jacobins, but returned to France after the establishment of the consulate in 1799. Made a conseiller d’Etat in 1801 and a général de division in 1805, Dumas served in the Empire of Napoleon I as war minister to the king of Naples, 1806–8, and intendant of the Grand Army in the Russia campaign of 1812. He was chosen as a deputy of Paris in 1828 and named a Peer of France in 1831.
1. On the draft, GW first wrote “attention” but lined that word out and replaced it with the previous three words.
2. On 25 Jan., GW wrote a similar letter of introduction to Maryland governor Thomas Sim Lee: “This letter will be presented to you by the Count de Charlus—Son to the Marqs de Castres, Minister of the Marine of France; whom I take the liberty of introducing to your acquaintance.
“This Gentn’s family, fortune and amiable qualities are, alone, sufficient to entitle him to every mark of respect, but when it is known that his zeal in the American Cause induced him to resign a Colonelship of Horse in France, to serve as second Colonel of the Saintonge Regiment in this Country, I am perswaded it is unnecessary to say more to recommend him to your Excellencys particular esteem and attention” (ALS, PHi: Etting Papers).