From George Washington to the Commanding Officer of the German Battalion and the 1st and 12th Pennsylvania Regiments, 17 April 1777
To the Commanding Officer of the German Battalion and the 1st and 12th Pennsylvania Regiments
Head Quarters Morris Town 17th April 1777
Sir
On looking over the last Return of the German Battalion, there appears to be Fifty three privates Sick and absent—and Seventeen on Furlough.
Almost four months have expired since orders were given for collecting the sick, and yet there are as many absent as if no such had issued. Such disobedience can no longer be pardonned in Officers. I do therefore in the most peremptory manner command that they be without loss of time collected. The privates now on Furlough must be ordered in and no more given in future. The Officers must continue with their Men, that they may be ready for action on a moments warning. In short as the Campaign must open immediately, I must insist that both Officers & Men discharge their duty with the greatest punctuality. I am Yr most obt Servt.
Df, in Tench Tilghman’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, , addressed to the commanding officer of the German Battalion DLC:GW; Varick transcript, , addressed to Col. James Chambers of the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment and Col. William Cooke of the 12th Pennsylvania Regiment DLC:GW. Henry Leonard Philip, baron d’Arendt, was the colonel of the German Battalion (see GW to Hancock, 2 April, n.3). Although the draft is addressed to the commanding officer of the German Battalion, the docket indicates that similar letters were written to the commanding officers of the 1st and 12th Pennsylvania regiments. The italicized words in the first paragraph of the draft are included on the Varick transcript addressed to the commanding officer of the German Battalion, but they are left blank on the Varick transcript addressed to Chambers and Cooke.