111To George Washington from Timothy Pickering, 12 May 1778 (Washington Papers)
It often happens that soldiers are discharged without being paid off, or furnished with a certificate of what is their due. A number of such men have been discharged lately by General McIntosh. One of them is now at the board, & presents an account of twenty one pounds & upwards, due to him for wages. As he has been long at the hospital, ’tis not improbable the demand is just; yet we cannot...
112To George Washington from Colonel Timothy Pickering, 7 May 1777 (Washington Papers)
I had the honour to receive your Excellency’s letter by Col. Lee, conferring upon me the office of adjutant general: And since, notwithstanding all my objections, ’tis your Excellency’s pleasure, I am happy to declare my acceptance of it. At the same time I am constrained, from my real feelings; again to express my fears that I shall fall short of your Excellency’s expectations. Few people are...
113To George Washington from Colonel Timothy Pickering, 14 April 1777 (Washington Papers)
I sent by the express an answer to your letter respecting the office of adjutant general, & gave what appeared to me sufficient reasons to excuse my declining to accept it; but have since been uneasy, lest you should deem them otherwise; & that I was too willing, under the civil offices I sustain, to shelter myself from the dangers & fatigues of war. An opinion which, if it has taken place, I...
114To George Washington from Colonel Timothy Pickering, 9 April 1777 (Washington Papers)
I esteem it a singular honour done me by your Excellency in offering me the post of Adjutant General, and it pains me sensibly that I am obliged to decline it. ’Tis an honour to which I did not aspire, because I did not account myself equal to the important business of the office. Your Excellency does not mistake my attachment to the interests of the United States; ’tis sincere & unalterable....
115To George Washington from Timothy Pickering, 8 December 1775 (Washington Papers)
’Tis with real pain I ask your Excellency’s attention (engaged as it is in affairs of such vast importance) to the subject of this letter: but justice, & compassion to the distressed (not to say the injured) compel me to do it. The bearer Capt. McGlathry about a month since was coming from the eastward with a load of wood, bound to Salem, but was taken by a man of war, & afterwards retaken by...