From George Washington to Major John Francis Mercer, 15 April 1779
To Major John Francis Mercer
Head Quarters Middlebrook 15th April 1779.
Sir
your letter was handed me yesterday, requesting my concurrence in your resignation.1
I am sorry to find that you are determined upon leaving the service. However, before I can give my approbation, it is necessary to be furnished with a certificate, signifying that you have settled, all your regimental, or public accounts; this being the usual and customary practice. I am sir Your most hble servt.
Df, in James McHenry’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
1. Mercer’s undated letter to GW reads: “As I deemed it highly improper to quit the Army without requesting your permission I have taken the liberty of troubling you with the following—My Attachment to the Service is such that it gives me inexpressible pain to divest myself of the military Character, but it wd be so very dissagreable to return into the line in my present Rank that I cannot reconcile it to my feelings. I shall conclude Yr Excellency has no Objections unless the[y] are signified to me & will deliver in my Commission to Congress where I can adjust any matters that may be necessary previous to my leaving the Army” (DLC:GW). An undated letter from Mercer to Robert Hanson Harrison enclosing Mercer’s accounts is in DNA: RG 93, manuscript file no. 31303.