To George Washington from John Trumbull, 10 March 1780
From John Trumbull
Lebanon [Conn.] 10th March 1780
Sir.
Having determin’d to Visit Europe, in a few Months1—where Military Reputation is highly Esteem’d—and where, to have Serv’d in the American Army is a general Letter of Credit—I Beg leave to request from your Excellency a single Line expressive of my Services, and the Rank with which I was once honor’d. I should not have troubled your Excellency with this Application, had not the manner in which I quitted the Service, laid me under the disagreeable necessity of returning my Commission to Congress.2
I have requested Mr Brown to call on his Return from Philadelphia for your Commands3—and shall trespass no further on your Time—than to wish you all Glory and Happiness—and to Assure you, that I am, With profound Respect and Esteem Your Excellency’s most Obedient, Oblig’d And Humble servant
John Trumbull
ALS, DLC:GW.
1. Trumbull left Connecticut for Nantes, France, in May 1780 with the intention to oversee a commercial speculation. When the British capture of Charleston, S.C., scuttled that business venture, Trumbull proceeded to London to study art under Benjamin West (see , 51–53, 58–61; see also Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., to Benjamin Franklin, 12 April 1780, in , 32:244–45).
2. Trumbull had resigned from the Continental army in February 1777 because of a dispute over his time of service. Congress had dated his commission as colonel only to September 1776, while he had been serving as adjutant general for the northern department since June of that year. Trumbull earlier had acted as an aide-de-camp to GW (27 July–15 Aug. 1775) and served as a brigade major.
3. GW replied to Trumbull from Morristown on 26 March: “In answer to your letter of the 10th of this month, I have enclosed you a certificate expressing in general terms my sense of your services. For want of a knowlege of the ranks which you may have held at different times, and the periods of your service, I could not make it more particular but if you are desirous of one comprehending these matters, and will send me the proper dates &c., I shall make out a certificate agreeably. … P.S. I sincerely wish that every happiness & success may accompany your intended pursuit” (LS, in James McHenry’s writing, CtY; Df, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW). The postscript, which is in GW’s writing, only appears on the LS. The enclosed certificate has not been identified.
The “Mr Brown” asked to call on GW presumably was Jesse Brown (c.1753–1816), an express rider whom Connecticut governor Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., successfully recommended for retention while the postal service reformed its delivery system (see , 16:282–83; see also GW to Trumbull, Sr., 25 March, source note). In a resolution adopted on 21 Oct. 1777, Congress had commended Brown as “faithful and alert” during his employment “as an express by his excellency Governor Trumbull to the different departments and to and from Congress” (, 9:825; see also Trumbull to Samuel Huntington, 10 March 1780, in DNA:PCC, item 66). Brown later became a businessman in Norwich, Connecticut.