John Hancock Revolutionary War-Dated Document Signed as Governor - “The Militia should be immediately Organized” (1781)

“The Militia should be immediately Organized”—Revolutionary War-dated directive from Massachusetts Governor John Hancock ordering the reorganization of the Bristol County militia in the spring of 1781

Revolutionary War-dated manuscript DS as governor of Massachusetts, one page, 7.25 x 9, March 26, 1781. Official military directive addressed to Brigadier General George Godfrey, commanding officer of the Bristol County militia, in full: “In pursuance of the powers vested in me by the Act for forming and regulating the Militia within this Commonwealth. You are hereby required, without loss of time, to issue your Orders for Assembling the several Companies of Militia including the Train Band and Alarm List within the Limits of said Companies respectively, for the purpose of choosing Captains and Subalterns and all other Officers pointed out by the Militia Act, which you have transmitted to which I refer you as the rule of your Conduct. As the safety of the Commonwealth requires that the Militia should be immediately Organized, I doubt not that you will pay the greatest attention to said Act, and that your return of the elected Officers will be speedy in order to their being Commissioned agreeable to their respective Ranks.” Signed boldly at the conclusion by Governor John Hancock. The reverse of the signed page bears a contemporary handwritten list of books and related notes. In very good to fine condition, with scattered light stains, and areas of paper loss and folds repaired with archival tape.

Hancock had become the first governor of Massachusetts under its newly adopted constitution only months before issuing this directive, and the document reflects one of the practical challenges of establishing the Commonwealth’s new government: reorganizing its militia. On March 3, 1781, just 23 days before Hancock wrote to Godfrey, the General Court passed a new “Act for forming and regulating the Militia within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” expressly noting that the new constitution made it necessary for fresh elections to be held and commissions issued to militia officers. Hancock’s insistence here that “the Militia should be immediately Organized” was therefore part of an active statewide reorganization.

The problem remained sufficiently pressing that on August 15, 1781, Hancock explained to George Washington that delays in raising and marching troops for Continental service were due in part to ‘the Unorganiz’d State our Militia has been in since the Commencement of the present Constitution.’ The recipient, Brigadier General George Godfrey of Taunton, had commanded the Bristol County militia brigade since 1776 and had repeatedly supplied men for wartime service. Hancock’s directive thus captures the governor working to strengthen Massachusetts’s militia establishment during the final year of major Revolutionary War combat.