To George Washington from Major General Israel Putnam, 29 May 1780
From Major General Israel Putnam
Pomfret [Conn.] May 29th 1780.
Dear Sir
I cannot forbear informing Your Excellency, by the return of Major Humphrys to Camp, of the state of my health, from the first of my illness to the present time.1
After I was prevented from coming on to the Army, by a stroke of the paralytic kind, which deprived me in a great measure, of the use of my right leg and arm; I retired to my Plantation,2 and have been gradually growing better ever since. I have now so far gained the use of my limbs, especially of my leg, as to be able to walk with very little impediment, and to ride on horseback tolerably well—In other respects I am in perfect health, and enjoy the comforts and pleasures of life with as good a relish as most of my neighbours.
Altho I should not be able to resume a command in the Army; I propose to myself the happiness of making a visit, and seeing my friends there sometime in the course of the Campaign3—And however incapable I may be of serving my Country to my latest hour my wishes and prayers will always be most ardent and sincere, for its happiness and freedom: As a principal instrument in the hand of Providence for effecting this, may Heaven long preserve Your Excellencys most important and valuable life!
Not being able to hold the pen in my own hand, I am obliged to make use of another to express with how much regard & esteem I am Your Excellency’s Most Obedient and Very Humble Servant
Israel Putnam
P.S. I am making a great effort to use my hand to make the Initials of my Name for the firs⟨t⟩ time.
I.P.
L, DLC:GW. David Humphreys penned the entire letter except for the initials following the postscript, which Putnam wrote himself. GW’s secretary Robert Hanson Harrison docketed the letter: “recd 18 June.”
GW replied to Putnam from headquarters on 5 July: “I am very happy to learn from your letter of the 29th handed me by Captain Humphry’s that the present state of your health is so flattering, and that it promises you the prospect of being in a condition to make a visit to your old associates sometime this campaign. I wish it were in my power to congratulate you upon a complete recovery. I should feel a sincere satisfaction on such an event, and hope for it heartily with the rest of your friends in this quarter” (Df, in James McHenry’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW).
1. On 4 Jan., Putnam reported to GW that he had been “seiz’d with a fitt of the Palsy” at Hartford on 24 Dec. 1779 (see also GW to Putnam, 26 Jan. 1780, and Daniel Putnam to GW, 7 March 1780).
David Humphreys, formerly Putnam’s aide-de-camp, soon assumed the same role with GW (see General Orders, 23 June; see also Humphreys to Nathanael Greene, 23 May, and Israel Putnam to Greene, 29 May, in , 5:576–78, 589).
2. Putnam owned farms near present-day Pomfret, Conn. (see , 9–11; see also , 2:834).
3. Putnam realized his hopes of making a visit to camp. Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene wrote his wife, Catharine, from Tappan, N.Y., on 29 Sept. 1780: “General Putnam is here talking as usual, and telling his old stories, which prevents my writing more. The old gentleman, notwithstanding the late paralytical shock, is very cheerful and social” (, 6:321–22).