Abigail Adams to John Adams, 22 May 1800
Abigail Adams to John Adams
22 May union Brigade thursday Morg
my Dearest Friend
The rain comeing on the morning I left Bristol,1 I reachd Vantilburys about noon & remaind there untill Yesterday Mor’g when I procceeded to Brunswick. Soon after I got there the col & Major Ripley arrived, and informd me that Mrs smith would expect me to dinner.2 we accordingly sit out and got here about 2 oclock. the col was not able to be absent as Gen’ll Hamilton was on his way to Camp—and arrived about 5 oclock in the afternoon at the Village, and is to Breakast here this Mor’g3
I found the officers with their harps hung upon the
willows from the late resolutions of congress—but they Submit with a
good grace.4 I suppose
the col has written to you respecting one Brigade—the incorporation of
which he Seems to have much at Heart, tho he says there are a large
proportion of the officers who new
in the service, whom never will be capable of Such service as a country
ought to receive from Men bearing commissions.— that in his own Regiment
there is but one capt who deserves the Name.—5 there are some in the Brigade
Men of real military talents, and Men who are now trained to service
seasoned arm’d &c who are willing to inlist and fill up the
Regiments which congress have ordered still to be kept up of Engineers
& articificers— He also thinks it best for those Men who are at a
distance from their Homes to be taken by their officers on to the places
where they were inlisted previous to the time of disbanding, or
otherways a great Number of Men will be turnd loose, perhaps disgrace
themselves.
Nine oclock
I have just returnd from a Reveiw of the troops which Genll Hamiton & North have given them, and I regreeted exceedingly that you could not see them before they were seperated.6 Major Tousard will tell you how well they performed. I acted as the Aurora says, as your Proxy praised and admired, and regreeted &c
I have only time to add my kindest Love to You & pray you to take good care of your Health
My Coachman & horses perform well I am just going off
yours affectionatly
A A
RC (Adams Papers); addressed by Louisa Catharine Smith: “The President of the United / States / Philadelphia”; endorsed: “Mrs Adams / Thursday May 22d / 1800 / Scotch Plains / Union Brigade.”
1. AA’s first letter to JA en route to Quincy was dated 19 May. It reported her arrival in Bristol, Penn., assessed the quality of her horses, and recommended that JA take warm baths for his health (Adams Papers).
2. Maj. John Ripley of Coventry, Conn., served in the 13th Regiment of Infantry from 13 Feb. 1799 to 15 June 1800 (Carlos E. Godfrey, “Organization of the Provisional Army of the United States in the Anticipated War with France, 1798–1800,” , 38:168 [1914]).
3. Alexander Hamilton on 21 May traveled to Scotch Plains, N.J., from New York City to review the Union Brigade. He reviewed the troops on the 22d and departed Scotch Plains on 31 May, arriving back in New York by 2 June (, 24:469).
4. Psalms, 137:2.
5. On 21 May WSS wrote to JA, requesting command of the 2d Regiment of Artillerists and Engineers, a battalion that had been without a commander since its formation on 27 April 1798. On 22 May 1800 JA sent WSS’s letter to James McHenry, requesting his “candid opinion” of WSS’s proposition (LbC, APM Reel 120), and a copy to Hamilton, in which JA stated, “I am at present at a loss to judge it.” McHenry sent a long reply the next day (Adams Papers), rejecting WSS’s proposition on the grounds that the president did not have the authority to make a recess appointment to a position that had never been filled. Hamilton replied on 24 May, opposing the appointment of an infantry officer to the command of a regiment of artillerists and engineers. On 26 May, without seeing Hamilton’s response, JA wrote to WSS rejecting the proposal. WSS then wrote to JA twice on 5 June, requesting command of “the atlantic Coast” and questioning McHenry’s justification for rejecting his earlier request. WSS wrote again to JA on 14 June, reporting that the Union Brigade had disbanded without incident (all Adams Papers). JA later offered the 2d Regiment position to Maj. Anne Louis de Tousard, whose appointment was confirmed by the Senate on 31 Dec. (, 24:516–517, 523–524, 529–530, 532; , 1:552–553; , 9:61–62; , 6th Cong., 2d sess., p. 361–362, 364).
6. Brig. Gen. William North (1755–1836), of Duanesburg, N.Y., had a long military career and served briefly as a U.S. senator. On 19 July 1798, JA appointed him adjutant general of the U.S. Army, and in March 1799 he assumed the additional duties of assistant inspector general and chief of staff to Hamilton ().