From George Washington to William Rogers, 13 December 1778
To William Rogers
Head Quarters Middle Brook [N.J.] 13th Decemr 1778
Sir
I have your favr of the 4th.1 As I have no power to make the appointment of Chaplain to the Garrison of Philada which is sollicited by you, I can only recommend it to you to make your application to Congress who are alone competent to grant your request, if they think it proper.2 I thank you for your professions of Regard and am with Respect Sir Yr most obt Servt.
Df, in Tench Tilghman’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
1. This letter has not been found.
2. William Rogers (1751–1824) was born in Newport, R.I., and in 1765 he became the first student of Rhode Island College (now Brown University). He received his A.B. in 1769 and his A.M. in 1772, and although he went on to serve as principal of an academy in Newport, he became better known as a Baptist minister, serving as pastor of Philadelphia’s First Baptist Church from 1772 to 1775. He became chaplain of Col. Samuel Miles’s Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment in April 1776, and in June 1778 Congress appointed him chaplain of what had been Maj. Gen. Thomas Conway’s Pennsylvania Brigade. His application to GW notwithstanding, he remained in that post until the brigade, repeatedly reorganized and renamed, was disbanded in 1781.