From George Washington to the Board of War, 18 February 1780
To the Board of War
[Morristown, 18 Feb. 1780]
Gen[tleme]n
Your letter of the 15th, came to hand this morning.1
It is to be regretted that circumstances should have interposed to diminish the command proposed for Col. Armand. When the idea was formed of Uniting the legion late Pulaski’s to his corps I had no intimation that Congress had determined on its reduction. I would hope however, that the order of the Board for its suspension will arrive in time.
With regard to the addition of Capn Van Heer’s corps, I have already signified to Col. Armand, that I did not think it adviseable to convert it to any other purpose, than that for which it was raised.2 Were it not for the advantages arising from such a corps I would willingly coincide in the measure. I ⟨illegible⟩ honor & &.
P.S. I am this moment favored with Mr Stodderts letter of the 7th, inclosing a memorial from Lt Col. Stafford to Congress, for leave of absence.3 As the recovery of his health is the cause assigned for his application I shall indulge him in his request.
In the letter of the 15th which I had the honor to write the Board—I omitted mentioning the return of the State of Major Lees corps—conformable to the a⟨ct⟩ of Congress of the 15 of March l⟨ast⟩ which the Board will be good enough to forward with the others as also Moylans Sheldons and Armands.
Df, in James McHenry’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW. The draft has no date but is docketed 18 February.
2. See GW to Armand, 6 February.
3. Samuel Safford (1737–1813) of New Hampshire served as the major of Col. Ethan Allen’s Green Mountain Rangers from July to December 1775. When Congress recruited the rangers to serve in a Continental battalion under the command of Lt. Col. Seth Warner, Safford joined the new unit as major. In July 1776, Congress promoted Warner to colonel and authorized him to recruit his battalion, which had been decimated in the 1775–76 Canadian campaign, to regimental strength. Safford then became the regiment’s lieutenant colonel. Safford continued to serve in that position until Congress disbanded Warner’s regiment in January 1781. In 1781 and 1782 Safford served as a brigadier general of Vermont militia and represented Bennington, Vt., in the state legislature. After the war, he served on the governor’s council for nineteen years and also was chief judge of the Bennington County court from 1781 to 1807.