George Washington Papers

To George Washington from Major General Benjamin Lincoln, 20 October 1777

From Major General Benjamin Lincoln

Albany [20]th Octr 1777.1

My dear General

I have the unhappiness to acquaint your Excellency, that on the morning of the 8th inst. I had the misfortune, to r[e]ceive a shott from the enemy in my right leg, by which it was broke, and the bones very much fractured; altho’ The appearance of the wound was, at first, so bad as left not the least probability of saving the leg—Yet such are the favourable symptoms at present that my surgeons encourage me to hope, not only for the salvation of my limb but that I shall, by the spring, have the use of it again.

I beg leave to mention to your Excellency Mr Douglass, who was my Aid D. Camp, and made prisoner at Boundbrook, if an opportunity should offer, for an exchange, I wish he may be thought of.2 I have the honor to be dear General with the warmest wishes for your success, safety and happiness yr Obdt humble servant.

ADf, MHi: Lincoln Papers.

1The draft is dated 19 October. GW’s reply to Lincoln of 26 Oct. indicates, however, that the receiver’s copy of this letter, which has not been found, was dated 20 October.

2Ephraim Douglass of Westmoreland County, Pa., who had been named quartermaster of the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment in September 1776, became an aide-de-camp to Benjamin Lincoln in March 1777, but within a month he was captured by the British. After being exchanged in November 1780, Douglass apparently served at various times as a lieutenant in the 9th, 5th, and 2d Pennsylvania regiments, and in the summer of 1783 he became an agent to the Indian nations.

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