WASHINGTON, George (1732-1799). Autograph letter signed (''Go: Washington''), to Colonel Fred[eric]k Weissenfels (c.1728-1806), Mount Vernon, 15 March 1785.

WASHINGTON, George (1732-1799). Autograph letter signed ("Go: Washington"), to Colonel Fred[eric]k Weissenfels (c.1728-1806), Mount Vernon, 15 March 1785.

Two pages, 308 x 185mm, bifolium with several corrections in Washington's hand (silked, a few marginal tears, pinholes at intersections affect a few letters of text).

Washington laments the declining fortunes of the former officers and men of the Continental Army, writing that it "has been amongst my first wishes, that the circumstances of the Public has been such, as to have prevented the great loss which both officers & soldiers have sustained by the depreciation of their Certificates." Washington commiserates with Colonel Weissenfels, a Prussian-born officer who served in the French and Indian War and subsequently settled in America. He joined the Continental Army in 1775 serving at Quebec, White Plains, Trenton, Saratoga and Monmouth. At the close of the war in 1783, Congress, who was unable to pay the army, issued promissory notes (aka "Certificates") promising payment within three months. Three years on, Congress had yet to make good on its promise. In the present letter, Washington laments that there was little he could do, but suggests that since the Prussians had served in the New York Line of the Continental Army, that Weissenfels should approach the state, which he felt had an obligation "to do something for those of its own line in the civil department." Weissenfels' pleas went unanswered in the ensuing years, and his financial situation continued to worsen, and he was only able to obtain minor government appointments despite his services during the war. Published in Fitzpatrick, Writings, 28:104-105.

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