101From George Washington to Henry Knox, 4 April 1791 (Washington Papers)
To avoid the inconvenience of future delay in officering the Virginia battalion of levies, and to remove the uncertainty which your want of information might occasion, I have determined to attempt its completion, with the assistance of Colonel Darck, whom I have authorized by a letter of this date, to appoint three Captains, three lieutenants, and three Ensigns from among the Gentlemen of his...
102From George Washington to Henry Knox, 17 June 1791 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found: to Henry Knox, 17 June 1791. GW docketed Knox’s official letter of 17 April as answered on 17 June, and Knox wrote on 21 June to GW: “I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your favors, of the 15th and 17th instant.” Although Henry Knox wrote “ 17th instant” in his letter of 21 June, he was probably referring to GW’s letter of 19 June (which might have been misdated...
103From George Washington to Henry Knox, 28 September 1792 (Washington Papers)
Your letter of the 22d Inst., & the enclosures, came to my hands by Wednesdays Post. I adhere to my resolution of commencing my Journey for Philadelphia the 8th of next month if the condition of my Servts will admit of it, two of them (one a Postilion) having been extremely ill with remittant fevers which have not yet left them. My order for the Carriage from Philadelphia, to be here by the...
104From George Washington to Henry Knox, 26 August 1793 (Washington Papers)
The enclosed letter from the Governor of the State of Delaware dated the 23d instt came to hand this moment. The occasion requires something to be written, or done in consequence of the information. ALS , DLC:GW ; LB , DLC:GW . GW enclosed Joshua Clayton’s first letter to him of 23 Aug. 1793, which has not been found. According to GW’s executive journal for 26 Aug., the date of this letter’s...
105From George Washington to Henry Knox, 26 August 1789 (Washington Papers)
Provision having been made by the Act of Congress of the 20th of August 1789, that a sum not exceeding twenty thousand dollars, arising from the duties on imports & tonnage shall be appropriated for defraying the expence of Negotiating & treating with the Indian Tribes; I have therefore to request that you will use your best exertions to obtain the necessary means for carrying the intention of...
106From George Washington to Henry Knox, 20 September 1795 (Washington Papers)
I received with great pleasure the letter you wrote me from Boston, dated the 2d instant—as I always shall do any others you may favor me with. This pleasure was encreased by hearing of the good health of Mrs Knox and the rest of your family, and the agreeableness of your establishment at St George’s in the Provence of Maine. I may add also, that the account given of the favorable disposition...
107From George Washington to Henry Knox, 7 April 1790 (Washington Papers)
The papers which you yesterday submitted to me, respecting the arrangement of the three companies to be sent to Georgia and the Instructions to be given to their Captains, have been duly considered, and meet my approbation. The proposed disposition of the said companies after their arrival in Georgia— “To wit One company—at the St Mary’s. One do—at Beards } Altamaha Bluff on the One do at the...
108From George Washington to Henry Knox, 16 September 1793 (Washington Papers)
The Packet herewith sent, I fd at the Post Office in Alexandria, as I passed through that Town on Saturday after noon. The letter from the Minister of the French Republic, dated the 7th instt, in answr to one he had received from Govr Clinton of the 3d preceeding, breathes (as far as I can understand it from Mr Dandridge’s translation) the same language as all others do which have been...
109From George Washington to Henry Knox, 2 March 1797 (Washington Papers)
Amongst the last acts of my political life, and before I go hence into retirement, profound , will be the acknowledgment of your kind and affectionate letter from Boston—dated the 15th of January. From the friendship I have always borne you—and from the interest I have ever taken in whatever relates to your prosperity & happiness, I participated in the sorrows which I knew you must have felt...
110From George Washington to Henry Knox, 9 September 1793 (Washington Papers)
(Private) Dr Sir, Philadelphia Sepr 9th 1793. It was the opinion of the Gentlemen at their meeting on Saturday last if I mistake not, that Mr Wolcott should be desired to request Mr Webster to substantiate the language of the Minister of the French Republic as related by him in the enclosed letter. Colo. Hamilton’s situation—for which I feel extreme regret—does not permit his having any agency...
111From George Washington to Henry Knox, 7 April 1791 (Washington Papers)
Judging it necessary, before I left Mount Vernon, which I shall do this morning, to place the organization of the Virginia battalion of Levies on a certainty, I have devolved on Colonel Darck, who lives near Shepperds town in Berkley County, an authority to appoint all the officers, and, when appointed, to direct the Major to repair immediately to Philadelphia, to receive your instructions—and...
112From George Washington to Henry Knox, 13 August 1792 (Washington Papers)
My last to you was dated the 5th instt since which I have received your letters of the 4th 5th & 7th; & shall reply to such parts of them as appear to require it. It is painful to find the Recruiting Service advancing so slowly as your last letters indicate. Endeavor to rouse the Officers who are engaged in this business, to fresh exertions. The unhappy fate of our Messengers is a lamentable...
113From George Washington to Henry Knox, 12 April 1794 (Washington Papers)
Your report, dated the 11th instt, respecting the defence of Miro district is approved, and the Governor of the South Western Territory may be authorized to carry it into effect. Given at Philadelphia this 12th day of April 1794. ALS , DLC:GW ; LB , DLC:GW . Knox included the defensive measures suggested in his letter to GW of 11 April in a letter to William Blount of 14 April ( Carter,...
114From George Washington to Henry Knox, 1 May 1794 (Washington Papers)
The letter from General Wayne to you, of the 10th of March, I have perused. The Contractors who supplied the articles of Hats & Shoes to the Army, which he complains of, or the person who inspected them—or both, ought to be called to a severe account for such abuse of public confidence. The ideas communicated in the above letter, relatively to long & short Coats are not, I conceive, bad....
115From George Washington to Henry Knox, 5 April 1793 (Washington Papers)
In addition to the several matters contained in my circular Letter to you before I left Philada which you were desired to take into consideration, I now submit to you (& the other Gentlemen to whom the above mentioned Letter was directed, and who you will now also consult) a request of the Society of Quakers to be permitted to make presents to the Indians at the proposed Treaty at Sandusky....
116From George Washington to Henry Knox, 23 June 1793 (Washington Papers)
Under cover with this note, you will receive two letters and an enclosure from Govr. Mifflin, wch are sent to you for your information. Also the Journal of a Mr Ewing’s Voyage down, & his observations respecting the posts, Settlements &c. on the Mississipi. It is my earnest desire that you would prosecute these enquiries with assiduity. It merits investigation in order to decide whether the...
117From George Washington to Henry Knox, 30 September 1794 (Washington Papers)
Under the circumstances which exist to exceed your proposed time of absence so long, is to be regretted—but hearing nothing from you for a considerable time has given alarm, lest some untoward accident may have been the cause of it. Having occasion sometime ago to write to Colo. Ball on business, I observed that the land of which he was possessed was reported as a favorable spot on which to...
118From George Washington to Henry Knox, 4 April 1792 (Washington Papers)
Has G——W——ne decided yet? Has any answer been prepared for G——St—— —I am anxious to have these matters closed. Also for the departure of T—— and that the business with the Indians may be brought to a conclusion. Yrs always ALS , CSmH . Anthony Wayne earlier had informed the secretary of war that he would not accept a subordinate position in the new force being raised to subdue the hostile...
119From George Washington to Henry Knox, 21 May 1792 (Washington Papers)
I have received your letters of the 12th & 15th insts. with their enclosures. From the tenor of Mr Seagrove’s letter I am in hopes that the business of running the line &c. will be amicably accomplished, notwithstanding the unfavorable curcumstances which have occurred. When I passed through George Town, Mr Ellicot informed me that a letter from his brother, dated at the Rock Landing the 19th...
120From George Washington to Henry Knox, 3 September 1792 (Washington Papers)
(Private) My dear Sir, Mount Vernon Sep. 3d 1792. I thank you sincerely for the medicine you were so obliging as to send for my Nephew, and for the sympathetic feeling you express for his situation. Poor fellow! neither, I believe will be of any avail. Present appearances indicate a speedy dissolution. He has not been able to leave his bed except for a few moments to set in an Arm Chair since...
121From George Washington to Henry Knox, 8 August 1794 (Washington Papers)
(Private) Dear Sir German Town [Pa.] Friday 8 Oclock P.M. [8 Aug. 1794] Mr Bradfords letter (which I presume you have seen, and) which was sent to me by Express, conveyed to my mind a different idea than it is now impressed with, from the Secretary of States account of the conversation he has had with Colo. Nevill & Major Lenox. I concluded from the first (combined with the articles in the...
122From George Washington to Henry Knox, 26 January 1792 (Washington Papers)
You will receive herewith a copy of a Resolution of the House of Representatives, that has been just now delivered to me by a Committee; and I desire you will prepare and lay before the House the statement therein requested. As communications of a similar nature have taken place between the Executive of the General Government and the Governor of Virginia, it may be proper to lay these also...
123From George Washington to Henry Knox, 1 August 1792 (Washington Papers)
Your dispatches of the 14th & 21st Ult. came duly to hand, and it is probable the Servt who carries this letter to the Post Office, will bring me a third of this weeks date. I did not acknowledge the receipt of the first letter at an earlier date, because there was nothing contained in it which required a reply. And I am too little acquainted with the Authority under which Colo. Henry Karr...
124From George Washington to Henry Knox, 14 July 1794 (Washington Papers)
I have given the proceedings of the Court Martial in the case of Captn Willm A. Lee—and the Petition which accompanied it to have him restored—an attentive perusal. The judgment of the Court is, in my opinion, well supported by evidence (except in the article of nonconformity with the order of arrest; in this , the explanation of an expression of Captn Campbell may have led him into the error...
125From George Washington to Henry Knox, 15 February 1794 (Washington Papers)
(Private) Dear Sir, Phila. Feby 15th 1794. You mentioned in the conversations, which I have lately had with you on the subject of Mr Jay and Mr King’s letter to me, of the 27th of last month, and particularly in what passed between us on thursday, that they had repeatedly declared, that they never considered that letter, as an official one; that on the contrary they had intended it, as a mere...
126From George Washington to Henry Knox, 7 September 1792 (Washington Papers)
Your letters of the 31st of Augt and first of the present month, have been duly received. The enclosures in the first for Govr Tellfair and Mr Seagrove have been approved, and forwarded. Those of the Second I have read, but will give them a second & a more attentive consideration before I express any decisive opinion upon General Waynes Plan for carrying on the War. My first impression of it,...
127From George Washington to Henry Knox, 19 November 1790 (Washington Papers)
(Private) My dear Sir, Mount Vernon Novr 19th 1790. I have received your letter of the 10th instt, and will declare to you without reserve, that my forebodings with respect to the Expedition against the Wabash Indians are of disappointment; and a disgraceful termination under the conduct of B. Genl Harmer. I expected little from the moment I heard he was a drunkard. I expected less as soon as...
128From George Washington to Henry Knox, 9 April 1794 (Washington Papers)
In reply to your letter of yesterday, I observe, that to fortify Annapolis is, in my judgment, a very proper measure. But I do not see that the Executive of the U. States can take any steps towards it until the result of the motion, now pending in the House of Representatives, be known. It is my desire that you would examine carefully the Speeches which have been made in this City, &...
129From George Washington to Henry Knox, 1792 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found: to Henry Knox, 1792. ALS , sold by Goodspeed’s, no. 129, item 2073, 1919. GW marked this letter “Private,” and according to the catalog entry, this letter is “on matters concerning the army organization.”
130From George Washington to Henry Knox, 1 January 1794 (Washington Papers)
I enclose you a resolve of the Senate of the United States of the 31. Ultimo, and request you would state what measures have been taken relative to the subject alluded to. Df , DLC:GW ; LB , DLC:GW . After the draft was written by a clerk in the War Department, Knox enclosed it for GW’s approval in his letter of 4 Jan. to Bartholomew Dandridge, Jr. The Senate resolved “That the Senate will, on...
131From George Washington to Henry Knox, 30 June 1794 (Washington Papers)
Your Letter of the 25 instt, enclosing letters from Generals Wayne & Chapin, & from the Contracter Williams, came safe by Fridays Post. On neither shall I say any thing at present; because (if I find myself able to bear jolting over the infamous roads I have to travel) I shall, on thursday, commence my Journey for Philadelphia, & proceed by easy stages For this reason, and because it is...
132From George Washington to Henry Knox, 8 September 1791 (Washington Papers)
I have heard of the death of your promising Son with great concern, and sincerely condole with you and Mrs Knox on the melancholy occasion. Parental feelings are too much alive in the moment of these misfortunes to admit the consolations of religion or philosophy; but I am persuaded reason will call one or both of them to your aid as soon as the keenness of your anguish is abated. He that gave...
133From George Washington to Henry Knox, 16 April 1794 (Washington Papers)
I have considered your report of the 15th instt relatively to the Frigates which are to be built; and as soon as the important points on which the master builders have differed, is settled by the expedient you have had recourse to; and you can obtain the means for carrying the law into effect, it is my desire that the work ⟨may be entered upon⟩ without delay; in the manner, and at the places...
134From George Washington to Henry Knox, 24 September 1792 (Washington Papers)
(Private) My dear Sir, Mount Vernon Septr 24 92 I thank you for the information contained in your private letters of the 16th & 18th instt—From the contents of the last, it is probable Mr Hammond will be here to day, or tomorrow before Noon. I perceive by the Papers that Mr Penn & lady are arrived—and with them, Mr Andrew Hamilton & family. What, pray, has been the reception of the last...
135From George Washington to Henry Knox, 19 August 1792 (Washington Papers)
In my letter of the 15th I promised you my sentiments on Mr Seagroves communications; and though I am not enabled to do it so fully as I could wish, I shall nevertheless give them as fully as I can. His letters, and the enclosures there in contained, with the evidence in support, go to points, which may be classed under six heads. 1st—Spanish interference, to prevent the treaty between the...
136From George Washington to Henry Knox, 22 July 1791 (Washington Papers)
(Confidential) Dear Sir, Philadelphia July 22d 1791 If, without disclosing the object in the smallest degree, you can come at (from Mr William Houston or through any other channel by the time you return) the rate of abilities possessed by Colo. (Joseph) Habersham—to what they would most usefully apply—whether he is a man of arrangement—or Industry—&ca you would oblige me in making the enquiry...
137From George Washington to Henry Knox, 5 September 1789 (Washington Papers)
In order to carry into effect a certain survey directed to be made by a Resolve of the Congress of the United States, passed the 26th of August, it has been found necessary to ascertain a certain point within the Limits of Canada, from which a meridian line is to be drawn; and as the consent of the British Commander in chief in Canada is necessary to be obtained before any operations can be...