From George Washington to Major General Arthur St. Clair, 21 December 1779
To Major General Arthur St. Clair
Head Quarters [Morristown] 21st Decemr 1779.
Dear Sir
Inclosed you have the several papers respecting the claims of Captains Becker and Steddiford which were referred to me by Congress1—It appears to me that there is no way of providing for these Gentlemen, but introducing them into the 4th Pennsylvania Regt under the Resolve of Congress of the 24th Novemr 1778.2 You will therefore be pleased to enquire what dates their Commissions are to bear in that Regt and upon your arrival in Philada report them to the State, and obtain Commissions by Virtue of their Warrant from the Board of War, which is the regular manner of proceeding.3 I am &.
Df, in Tench Tilghman’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
1. For earlier correspondence related to exchanged prisoners Lt. Henry Bicker, Jr., and Ensign Garret Stediford, see Samuel Huntington to GW, 17 Oct., and GW to Huntington, 6 November.
2. For this resolution to protect exchanged prisoners from loss of rank, see 12:1157.
3. The Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council minutes for 29 Jan. 1780 read: “A letter dated the twenty-fifth day of January, instant, from Major General St. Clair, having been read, representing that there had been a mistake in the dates of the Commissions of Captain Becker and Lieutenant Stediford, and that they should be dated as follows: Mr. Becker, Captain, May the fifteenth, 1778; Mr. Stediford, Lieutenant, the twelfth day of October, 1777.
“Resolved, That the Board of War be requested to rectify the said mistake, agreeable to the representation of General St. Clair, and forward the Commissions to the President of the Council” ( 12:240).