General Orders, 1 November 1780
General Orders
Head Quarters Totowa Wednesday November 1st 1780
Parole Rockaway Countersigns Rome Radnor
Watchword Remember
[Officers] For the day Tomorrow[:] Brigadier General Huntington[,] Colonel Vose[,] Lieutenant Colonel Hait[,] Major Wallbridge[,] Brigade Major Smith1
The Commander in Chief has the happiness to inform the army, That The Honble the Congress have been pleased by their Acts of the 3d and 21st of October to pass the following Resolutions2—He is entirely persuaded, that the liberal provision now made will give universal satisfaction; and while it evinces the justice and generosity of Congress, will prove a new motive to the zeal and exertions of the officers.3
That such of the sixteen additional Regiments as have not been annexed to the Line of some particular State and all the separate Light Corps of the Army both of Horse and Foot (Colo. Hazens Regiment Colo. Armands and Major Lee’s Corps excepted) and also the German Battalion be reduced on the first day of January next: that the non Commissioned Officers and privates in those several Corps be incorporated with the troops of their respective States and that such of them as do not belong to any particular State be annexed to such Corps as the Commander in Chief shall direct.
That the Regular Army of the United States from and after the first day of January next consist of:
Four Regts of mounted and dismounted dragoons or Legionary Corps
Four Regiments of Artillery.
Forty Nine Regiments of Infantry, exclusive of Colo. Hazens Regiment
Colo. Armands Partizan Corps
Major Lees [Partizan Corps]
One Regiment of Artificers.
That each Regiment or Legionary Corps consist of Four troops of Mounted Dragoons and two of dismounted Dragoons each consisting of 60 privates with the same number of commissioned and non Commissioned Officers as at present.
That the partizan Corps commanded by Colo. Armand and Major Lee shall consist of three troops of mounted and three of dismounted Dragoons of fifty each, to be officered by the Commander in Chief by the approbation of Congress—And that the Commander in Chief be authorised to direct a mode for compleating, recruiting and supplying the said Corps.4
That each Regiment of Artillery consist of Ten Companies and that each Company consist of 65 non Commissioned Officers and Matrosses with the same number of Commissioned Officers as at present.
That each Regiment of Infantry requested from the several States shall consist of:
One Colonel One Lieut. Colonel and one Major where the full Colonels are continued. or
One Lieut. Colo. Commandant and two Majors where the Colonels are not continued.
9 Captains
22. subalterns
1. Surgeon
1. Surgeons Mate
1. Serjeant Major
1. Qr Master Serjeant
45 Serjeants
1 Drum Major
1. Fife Major
10. Drums
10. Fifes
612 Rank and File
That there be one Captain and two Subalterns to each Company and that the four supernumerary Subalterns shall each have the Rank of Lieutenant, one of which is to reside in the State to which he belongs to inlist and forward Recruits. One Drum and one Fife to attend the Recruiting Officer; the other three supernumerary Officers to do the duty of the Pay Master, Quarter Master and Adjutant in their respective Regiments.
And that the Regiment of Artificers consist of eight Companies and each Company of 60 non Commissioned Officers and Privates.
That the whole of the troops be inlisted during the War and join their respective Corps by the first day of January next.
| New Hampshire. | 2 Regiments of Infantry |
| Massachusetts Bay. | 10 Regs. Infantry. & 1 of Artillery5 |
| Rhode Island. | 1 Regt of Infantry |
| Connecticut | 5. Regs. of Infantry & 1 of Cavalry6 |
| New York | 2 Regs. of Infantry & 1 of Artillery |
| New Jersey | 2 Regs. of Infantry |
| Pennsylvania | 6 Regs. of Infantry. 1 of Artillery |
| 1 of Cavalry and 1 of Artificers.7 | |
| Delaware | 1 Regt of Infantry |
| Maryland | 5 Regs. of Infantry |
| Virginia | 8 Regs. of Infantry. 1 of Artillery |
| 2 of Cavalry. | |
| North Carolina | 4 Regs. of Infantry |
| South Carolina | 2 Regs. of Infantry |
| Georgia | 1 Regt of Infantry |
That the Regiments of Cavalry and Artillery and of Artificers as they now stand be considered as belonging to the States respectively to which they are or may be assigned—which States shall compleat them to the full complement, supply them with necessaries and in every respect treat them as if originally raised therein: and that such other States as now have non Commd Officers or privates in any of the Regiments aforesaid, be credited in their quotas for such Men according to their numbers from time to time, for which purpose the Commander in Chief is hereby directed to specify such non Commd Officers and privates and the States to which they formerly belonged in the Returns which he shall make to the States and in his Annual Return to Congress.
That the Regiment commanded by Colo. Moses Hazen be continued on its present establishmt and that all non Commd Officers and privates being Foreigners belonging to any of the reduced Regiments and Corps be incorporated therewith, and all Volunteers from Foreign States who are now in the service or may hereafter join the American Army be annexed to the said Regiment.
That the Commander in Chief and Commanding Officer in the southern department direct the Officers of each State to meet and agree upon the Officers for the Regiments to be raised by their respective States from those who incline to continue in service, and where it cannot be done by agreement to be determined by seniority and make return of those who are to remain which is to be transmitted to Congress together with the names of the Officers reduced, who are to be allowed half pay for life.
That the Officers who shall continue in service to the end of the War shall be intitled to half pay during life to commence from the time of their reduction.8
That the Officers at Camp be empowered and directed to use every prudent measure and improve every favorable opportunity to inlist for the continuance of the War such of the Men belonging to their respective States as are not engaged for that period.
That two dollars be granted to the recruiting Officer for every able bodied Soldier he shall inlist for the War, who shall join the Army and that a sum not exceeding Fifty dollars be allowed to every such Recruit.
That the Cloathing be furnished and regularly served out to the troops as it becomes due and that a full compensation be made for any arrearages of Cloathing.
The General directs that the Officers of the several lines will meet accordingly, and agree upon an arrangement as speedily as may be, of the officers who remain in service and of those who retire, reporting the same to Head Quarters—It is of course to be understood, that none can retire with the benefit of the provision here made, except such a number as exceeds that which is required in the establishment of the regiments. The General Officers of the respective lines will be pleased to assist in these arrangements.9
Df, in Tench Tilghman’s writing, DLC:GW; copy (incomplete), M-Ar; copy (extract), MHi: Heath Papers; Varick transcript, DLC:GW. A notation on the copy, which lacks the location in the dateline, parole, countersigns, and officers for the day, indicates that it was for Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln. The extract, which Adj. Gen. Alexander Scammell signed, is complete except for the parole, countersigns, and officers for the day.
Dr. James Thacher wrote in his journal entry for this date: “A most tremendous storm of wind, snow and hail has continued almost incessantly for two days. Many of our tents were levelled with the ground, and officers and men exposed without a shelter” (, 236; see also William Heath to GW, this date, n.1, and Henry Knox to GW, 3 Nov., source note). Thacher also wrote in his journal before this entry: “Congress have resolved that the regular army of the United States, from and after the first day of January, 1781, shall consist of four regiments of artillery, forty-nine regiments of infantry, exclusive of Colonel Hazen’s, called ‘The Congress’ own regiment,’ and one regiment of artificers. The respective states are to furnish their quotas as proportioned by Congress. And as, by the foregoing arrangement, many deserving officers may become supernumerary, Congress resolved that, after the reform of the army takes place, the officers shall be entitled to half-pay for seven years, in specie or other current money equivalent, and to have grants of land at the close of the war, agreeably to the resolution of the 16th September, 1776” (, 236; see also , 5:762–63; General Orders, 3 Nov.; and n.7 below).
1. The dateline, parole, countersigns, and officers for the day come from the Varick transcript.
2. See , 18:893–97, 958–62; see also Samuel Huntington to GW, 26 Oct., n.1.
3. GW’s aide-de-camp Alexander Hamilton wrote the first twelve and final thirty-seven words of this paragraph on the draft.
Maj. Gen. William Heath commented on “the new arrangement of the army” in his memoirs: “The encouragement to both officers and soldiers was generous” (, 275–76). New Hampshire delegate John Sullivan wrote Brig. Gen. John Stark from Philadelphia on 26 Nov.: “I am happy to hear that the Late allowances made for the Army are So pleasing & I am happy in assuring you that the Tide has turned & now Sets Strongly in their Favor” (, 16:383–84; see also GW to Sullivan, 20 Nov., and Sullivan to GW, 26 Nov.).
4. See GW to Armand, 5 Nov., and the source note to that document.
5. Capt. Henry Sewall of the 12th Massachusetts Regiment, then in camp, wrote in his diary entry for 3 Nov.: “The Colonels of our line met and agreed on those who should carry on the new establishment.” In his entry for 4 Nov., Sewall wrote: “The Lieut. Colonels met for the same purpose” (Maine Farmer [Augusta], 5 Oct. 1872).
Serving as a committee “to number the regiments of Massachusetts on the New Establishment,” brigadier generals John Glover and John Paterson and Col. Timothy Pickering reported from camp at Totowa on 17 Nov. on the commanders and composition of ten new regiments: 1st, Col. Joseph Vose (“Old first & 30 men of the surplus of other corps”); 2d, Lt. Col. Ebenezer Sproat (“old 2d & 12th”); 3d, Col. John Greaton (“old 3d & part of the 13th”); 4th, Col. William Shepard (“old 4th”); 5th, Col. Rufus Putnam (“old 5th & 15th”); 6th, Lt. Col. Calvin Smith (“old 6th & part of the 13th”); 7th, Lt. Col. John Brooks (“old 7th & 14th”); 8th, Col. Michael Jackson (“old 8th & part of the 16th”); 9th, Col. Henry Jackson (“old 9th & part of the 16th”); and 10th, Col. Benjamin Tupper or Col. Timothy Bigelow (“old 10th & 11th”). The committee members provided reasons for their decisions, emphasizing their belief “that nothing more was intended by the act of Congress than a reformation” and that they strove to retain continuity in the regimental organizations. “All men have attachments to their families & particular associations. Every military corps has a character which it wishes to preserve, and which it cannot maintain, unless its name be permanent. If its name depends on accident or caprice, the great & important principle of emulation & military ambition will be destroyed” (DNA: RG 93, manuscript file no. 2439).
7. See Pickering to GW, 10 Nov., and GW to Stephen Moylan, 27 Nov.; see also Daniel Brodhead to GW, 7 Dec., and n.8 to that document.
8. The half-pay pension measures had detractors. In a letter written at Philadelphia on 31 Oct., New Jersey delegate Abraham Clark informed Josiah Hornblower, speaker of the New Jersey Assembly, about a resolution “granting half pay for Life, as well to Officers reduced as to Others.” Clark termed the measure “injudicious” and “contrary to the Genius & Political ideas of the New England states & New Jersey.
“In Opposition to this Resolution it was urged that the measure was unjust, improper & altogether Unnecessary to be forced upon the States who Opposed it, as it was of no Consequence to the United States in what mode any particular state gave Sattisfaction and rendered justice to their Officers, provided they kept their Regiments properly Officered, which there could be no doubt would be done where the mode of doing it was left to themselves, whereas a Measure so disgustful would irretate and prevent the exertions so Necessary at this Time; but no reasons could prevail upon Men fixed & determined” (, 16:289–90). Clark had addressed the same subject when he wrote New Jersey governor William Livingston from Philadelphia on 22 Oct. to complain that the “extraordinary” congressional resolution “met with no Opposition but from the four New England States & New Jersey, the Opposition from one of the Eastern States was but feeble. It gives me inexpressible pain to see Congress Sporting away the publick money and increasing our debt at the very time we are in a Perfect State of bankruptcy.” He considered the measure “inconsistant with our ideas of liberty and Maxims of Government” and “also unjust with regard to those who were not long since dismissed on one Years depreciated pay without the depreciation made up to them for the time of their service” (, 16:233–35, quotes on 234).
9. Hamilton penned this paragraph on the draft.