From George Washington to John Jay, 10 March 1779

To John Jay

Head Quarters Middlebrook 10 March 1779

Sir

I had the honor of your Excellency’s letter of the 2d Inst. with its several inclosures.1

I have only at present to request the attention of Congress to the inclosed letter from James Reed, signing himself Brigadier General. Congress will be pleased to inform me, if he holds the rank of Brigadier General, that some measures may be taken in his case.2 I have the honor to be your Excellency’s most obt and hble servt

Go: Washington

LS, in James McHenry’s writing, DNA:PCC, item 152; Df, DLC:GW; copy, DNA:PCC, item 169; Varick transcript, DLC:GW. Congress read this letter on 13 March and referred it to the Board of War (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 13:309).

1. GW apparently is referring to Jay’s second letter to him of 2 March.

2. The enclosed letter from Brig. Gen. James Reed of New Hampshire has not been identified. Congress had appointed Reed a brigadier general in the Continental army on 9 Aug. 1776 (see JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 5:641; John Hancock to GW, 10 Aug. 1776 [first letter]; and GW to Philip Schuyler, 13 Aug. 1776). Rendered totally blind by smallpox in the fall of 1776, Reed had returned home to Keene, N.H., in January 1777, but he had not resigned his commission and had continued to draw his pay, although not his rations, as a brigadier general. Congress took no action in regard to Reed until 3 Jan. 1781, when it put him on the list of retiring officers entitled to half pay and authorized the payment of the depreciation allowance on his wages up to that date (see JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 18:1150, 19:17; Reed to John Sullivan, 3 Oct. 1780, DNA:PCC, item 78; and Samuel Huntington to Reed, 5 Jan. 1781, in Smith, Letters of Delegates description begins Paul H. Smith et al., eds. Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789. 26 vols. Washington, D.C., 1976–2000. description ends , 16:547–48). For Congress’s further adjustments to Reed’s compensation on 14 Dec. 1781, see JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 21:1092, 1167–68; and John Hanson to Meshech Weare, 15 Dec. 1781, in Smith, Letters of Delegates description begins Paul H. Smith et al., eds. Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789. 26 vols. Washington, D.C., 1976–2000. description ends , 18:249, n.2 (see also JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 34:572, 574, 577 and Charles Thomson to John Langdon, 2? Oct. 1788, in Smith, Letters of Delegates description begins Paul H. Smith et al., eds. Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789. 26 vols. Washington, D.C., 1976–2000. description ends , 25:406).

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Source Project: Washington Papers
Title: From George Washington to John Jay, 10 March 1779
Author: Washington, George
Recipient: Jay, John
Date: 10 March 1779

Reference

Cite as: “From George Washington to John Jay, 10 March 1779,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-19-02-0437. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 19, 15 January–7 April 1779, ed. Philander D. Chase and William M. Ferraro. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, pp. 430–431.]

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