To Alexander Hamilton from James McHenry, 2 September 1799
From James McHenry
Trenton, War Department, September 2, 1799. “I have received your letter of the 28th August ulto representing that the number of Officers of the four old Regiments, who have reported themselves to you in pursuance of my notification, bear no comparison to the number actually absent, and requiring some more decisive measure. I shall issue, in conformity with your suggestion, the inclosed notification1 to all the Officers of the 1st Regiment of Artillerists and Engineers and the four old Regiments absent from their commands.…”
LS, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress; LS, letterpress copy, James McHenry Papers, Library of Congress.
1. Copy, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress.
This notice, which is dated September 2, 1799, first appeared in the Gazette of the United States, and Philadelphia Daily Advertiser on September 3, 1799, and was then reprinted in other newspapers. The notice reads: “All officers of the first regiment of Artillerists and Engineers, and of the first, second, third and fourth regiments of Infantry in the service of the United States, who are, from whatever cause, absent from their command, are required with all possible expedition to report themselves by letter to Major General Alexander Hamilton. The officers thus called upon, will be held amenable for any avoidable delay in reporting themselves, and those who do not report in four months from the date of this notification, will be presumed to have resigned their commissions.”
McHenry had issued a similar notice on April 15, 1799. See H to McHenry, August 28, 1799, note 2.