General Orders, 5 April 1780
General Orders
Head-Quarters Morristown Wednesday April 5th 1780.
Parole Remember— C. Signs Secrecy—Silence—
The Picket guard at Head-Quarters will be relieved ’till further orders daily, by Lord-Stirling’s Genl St Clair’s and General Clinton’s divisions, in rotation—The officers are not to be absent from this guard during their tour of duty; They are to receive their orders respecting the disposition &c. from Majr Gibbs1—This is to be considered as a standing order until countermanded—Lord Stirling’s division furnishes the Picket tomorrow.
All General and Staff officers not immediately connected with the line, are requested to inform the Adjutant General, what guards, fatigue parties, artificers or assistants they have, or may want, from the army, that they may be furnished on or before the 8th instant, as all troops belonging to the line; however employed, will be called in immediately after that day.2
At a division General Court-Martial held March 30th by order of Major General Lord Stirling of which Majr Edwards was President—Thomas Brown of the 2nd New-Jersey regiment was brought before the court charged with “Desertion” and plead guilty—The Court on considering the charge against Thomas Brown and finding him to be an old offender, guilty of repeated desertion, do unanimously sentence him to be hanged by the neck until he is dead.3
The Commander in Chief approves the sentence.
Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
A record in GW’s expense book for this date indicates a purchase of “2 OZS thread for Wills Cloaths” (household account book, 11 April 1776–21 Nov. 1780, DLC:GW, ser. 5). For the purchase of buttons for GW’s slave and personal servant, William Lee, see General Orders, 25 March, source note.
1. Maj. Caleb Gibbs commanded GW’s guards.
2. See the general orders for 9 April.
3. Thomas Brown (d. 1780) enlisted for nine months as a private in the 2d New Jersey Regiment in spring 1778. He was noted as a deserter in January 1779 but apparently reinlisted for the war in April before again deserting that June. GW pardoned Brown and other soldiers under death sentences on 26 May 1780 (see Proclamation of Pardon, that date, DLC:GW; see also General Orders, 25 May). Brown again was court-martialed on 15 June 1780 and convicted of “‘Desertion and persuading another soldier to desert’” (General Orders, 16 June). A muster roll dated 6 Sept. reported Brown’s execution on 17 June (see DNA: RG 93, Compiled Service Records of Soldiers who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, 2d New Jersey Regiment; see also , 200).