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Washington's aides-de-camp

January 01, 1970

Washington's aides-de-camp during the American Revolutionary War were officers of the Continental Army appointed to serve on General George Washington's headquarters staff, with the rank of lieutenant colonel. The headquarters staff also included one military secretary, a full colonel.

Washington had a small number of aides-de-camp at any given time, with relatively frequent turnover. A total of 32 men were appointed to these positions, and served between July 4, 1775, and December 23, 1783.[1]: 15  Other people worked as volunteer aides or assistants, and helped with office duties when needed.[2]

Headquarters staff edit

 
The American Soldier – 1775, an aide-de-camp of General George Washington and General Artemas Ward at the Siege of Boston

The Second Continental Congress unanimously elected George Washington to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army on June 15, 1775. He traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and took command of the siege of Boston on July 3. His headquarters staff initially consisted of his military secretary, Joseph Reed, and one aide-de-camp, Thomas Mifflin.[3]

The responsibilities of the headquarters staff included managing Washington's military correspondence, making copies of each day's General Orders (to be distributed to the commanding officer at each military post), and making copies of individual orders.[4] The 19-year-old artist John Trumbull, who was skilled at drawing maps, was appointed an aide-de-camp on July 27,[5] and served three weeks before being transferred.[6]

The Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia authorized one military secretary and three aides-de-camp for the commander-in-chief,[7] but this number soon proved insufficient. Washington's pleas for Congress to authorize two additional aides were ignored, so he augmented his staff with volunteers.[3] Six aides-de-camp, George Baylor, Edmund Randolph, Robert Hanson Harrison, George Lewis, Stephen Moylan, William Palfrey, were appointed by Washington between August 1775 and March 1776, some replacing predecessors who had been transferred. Finally, in January 1778, Congress granted the commander-in-chief the power to appoint headquarters staff as he saw fit.[8]

The military secretary held the rank of colonel in the Continental Army, with a monthly pay of $66 in 1775 (equivalent to about $2,050 in 2018).[7][9] The aides-de-camp held the rank of lieutenant colonel, with a monthly pay of $33 in 1775 (equivalent to about $1,025 in 2018).[7][9] The aides-de-camp wore a green riband across their chests as a rank insignia.[10] Washington referred to the headquarters staff as "my family."[11] Some were the sons of his friends and relatives, but above all he valued talent:

The Secretaries and Aid De Camps to the Commander in chief ought not to be confined to the line for plain and obvious reasons. The number which the nature and extent of his business require, in addition to the many drawn from the line to fill the different offices of the staff, when it is considered, that they ought all to be men of abilities, may seem too large a draft upon the line. But a consideration still more forcible is, that in a service so complex as ours, it would be wrong and detrimental to restrict the choice; the vast diversity of objects, occurrences and correspondencies, unknown in one more regular and less diffusive; constantly calling for talents and abilities of the first rate, men who possess them, ought to be taken, wherever they can be found.[12]

On the battlefield, the aides-de-camp were couriers, delivering Washington's orders on horseback and gathering or relaying intelligence on enemy troop movement.[13] Samuel Blachley Webb was wounded at the October 28, 1776, Battle of White Plains and at the December 26, 1776, Battle of Trenton.[14] John Fitzgerald and John Laurens were both wounded at the June 28, 1778, Battle of Monmouth, where Alexander Hamilton's horse was shot from under him.[15] George Johnston served barely four months, before dying of disease at the Morristown headquarters. Tench Tilghman served longer than any other aide-de-camp: more than seven years, about half of it as a volunteer.[16]

The commander-in-chief's headquarters staff was disbanded on December 23, 1783, when General Washington resigned his commission to the Second Continental Congress, which was then meeting at Annapolis, Maryland.[3] Aides David Humphreys, David Cobb, and Benjamin Walker escorted him to and from the ceremony.[3] Many members of Washington's headquarters staff earned his trust and friendship and some later served in his presidential administration.[3]

Additional aides edit

In 1906, Worthington Chauncey Ford, chief of the Manuscripts Division at the Library of Congress, published a list of Washington's 32 military secretaries and aides-de-camp.[2] He added Martha Washington as number 33, acknowledging her unofficial clerical help at Washington's headquarters.[2]

Frank E. Grizzard, Jr., former editor of The Papers of George Washington: Revolutionary War Series, adds to the list Washington's nephew, George Augustine Washington—a volunteer aide from September 1779 to May 1781, and from December 1781 to May 1782.[17]

Military secretaries edit

  • Joseph Reed (1741–1785) – Served as Gen. Washington's military secretary from June 19[18] to October 30, 1775.[19] He took leave to prepare a case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Reed rejoined the Continental Army on June 16, 1776, as Adjutant General.[20]
  • Stephen Moylan (1737–1811) – Served as Muster Master General from August 14[21] to November 1775; and as Gen. Washington's acting-military secretary (in Joseph Reed's absence) from November 1775 to May 1776. He served as a Washington aide-de-camp from March 6 to June 5, 1776, and as a volunteer aide from September 28, 1776, to January 1777.
  • Robert Hanson Harrison (1745–1790) – Served as Gen. Washington's military secretary from May 16, 1776[22] to March 25, 1781.[23] He had served as a Washington aide-de-camp from November 1775 to May 1776.
  • Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. (1740–1809) – Served as Gen. Washington's military secretary from June 8, 1781[24] to December 23, 1783.[1]: 233 

Appointed aides-de-camp edit

  • Hodijah Baylies (1756–1842) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from May 14, 1782[25] to December 23, 1783.[26] He had graduated Harvard in 1777, was commissioned a lieutenant in Jackson's Additional Continental Regiment, appointed as aide-de-camp to General Benjamin Lincoln, and was promoted to major. He was captured by the British at the siege of Charleston. Exchanged in November 1780, he returned to Harvard for a master of arts degree.[1]: 256 
  • George Baylor (1752–1784) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from August 15, 1775[6] to January 1, 1777.[27]
  • Richard Cary (c.1746–1806) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from June 21[28] to December 1776. He was written about kindly by Congressman John Adams to another Massachusetts delegate, William Tudor, judge advocate to the Continental Army, and was appointed a brigade major.[1]: 56  Cary resigned to get married.[29]
  • Dr. David Cobb (1748–1830)– Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from June 15, 1781[30] to January 1783, and from June[31] to December 23, 1783.[32]
  • Col. John Fitzgerald (d. 1799) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from November 1776 to July 1778. Wounded at the June 28, 1778 Battle of Monmouth,[15] he retired from the Continental Army.
  • Peregrine Fitzhugh (1759–1811) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from July 2[33] to October 1781.
  • Capt. Caleb Gibbs (1748–1818) – Commander of Washington's life-guard,[22] he managed the headquarters household accounts from May 16, 1776, to the end of 1780,[34] and served as a supplemental aide-de-camp.
  • Col. William Grayson (1740–1790) – Served as Gen. Washington's assistant secretary from July to August 1776, and served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from August 24, 1776[35] to January 11, 1777.[36]
  • Alexander Hamilton (1757–1804) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from March 1, 1777[37] to April 1781.[38]
  • Alexander Contee Hanson (1749–1806) – Served as Gen. Washington's assistant secretary from June 21[28] to September 1776.
  • Robert Hanson Harrison (1745–1790) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from November 6, 1775[39] to May 16, 1776, and as Gen. Washington's military secretary from May 16, 1776[22] to March 25, 1781.
  • David Humphreys (1752–1818) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from June 23, 1780[1]: 262  to December 23, 1783.[32] After the war, he was private secretary to Washington at Mount Vernon, and secretary to President Washington in New York City, 1789–90.
  • George Johnston, Jr. (1750–1777) – Major in the 5th Virginia Regiment; appointed an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington on January 20, 1777;[40] died of disease at Morristown, New Jersey, May 29, 1777.
  • John Laurens (1754–1782) – Served as volunteer aide from August 9[41] to September 6, 1777,[42] when he was appointed an extra aide-de-camp. He was officially appointed aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington on October 6, 1777,[43] and held that position until March 29, 1779,[44] when Congress commissioned him to travel home to South Carolina and attempt to recruit a regiment of slaves.[45] On behalf of the United States, Laurens traveled to Europe and negotiated a 10 million-livre loan from the Netherlands, to be guaranteed by France.[46] He returned to the United States in September 1781,[47] rejoined General Washington at the siege of Yorktown, and helped to negotiate the surrender of British General Cornwallis.[48] He returned to South Carolina in November 1781, and died nine months later in the Battle of the Combahee River.
  • George Lewis (1757–1821) – Gen. Washington's nephew.[49] A volunteer aide from November 1775 to December 1776.[50] Appointed a lieutenant in the commander-in-chief's life guards in May 1776,[22] he transferred to the 2nd Continental Dragoons in December 1776.[50]
  • Dr. James McHenry (1753–1816) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from May 15, 1778,[51] to August 1780.[52] An Irish-born Philadelphia medical student, he served as a surgeon early in the war. Left to join the staff of the Marquis de Lafayette.
  • Richard Kidder Meade (1746–1805) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from March 12, 1777,[53] to November 1780; supervised the October 2, 1780 execution of British Major John André.
  • Thomas Mifflin (1744–1800) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from June 19[18] to August 14, 1775, when he was promoted to Quartermaster General.[21]
  • Stephen Moylan (1737–1811) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from March 6, 1776,[54] to June 5, 1776,[55] and as a volunteer aide from September 28, 1776, to January 1777.[56]
  • William Palfrey (1741–1780) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from March 6[54] to April 1776.
  • Pierre Penet (d. 1812) – A French merchant who had supplied arms and materiel, 1775–76.[57] On Washington's recommendation, Congress confirmed him as a brevet aide-de-camp (October 14, 1776).[58] Penet served from October 1776 to January 1783.
  • Edmund Randolph (1753–1813) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from August 15[6] to November 2, 1775.[59]
  • Col. William Stephens Smith (1755–1816) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from July 6, 1781,[60] to June 1782.[61]
  • Peter Presley Thornton (1750–1780)[62] – A volunteer aide, August–September 1777; served as an extra aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from September 6, 1777[42] to [unknown].
  • Tench Tilghman (1744–1786) – A Maryland militiaman who spoke fluent French, he served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington for more than 7 years (longer than anyone else).[16] A volunteer aide from August 8, 1776, to June 21, 1780, Washington confirmed his special status in General Orders.[63] He was appointed an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington on June 21, 1780[64] and served until November 1783.[16] On June 5, 1781, at Washington's request, Congress awarded Tilghman the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, dating his military commission retroactively to April 1, 1777.[65]
  • John Trumbull (1756–1843) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from July 27[5] to August 15, 1775.[6]
  • Richard Varick (1753–1831) – Served as Gen. Washington's aide-de-camp and private secretary from May 25, 1781,[66][67] to mid-December 1783.[68] Hired after Congress approved Washington's request to have a team specifically designed to organize and catalogue and compose all of his correspondence, Varick was personally hired by Washington to lead that team. He would go on to serve at Mayor of New York City for eleven years.
  • Benjamin Walker (1753–1818) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from January 25, 1782,[69] to December 23, 1783.[32]
  • John Walker (1744–1809) – Served as a Washington aide-de-camp, February 19[70] to March 1777.
  • Samuel Blachley Webb (1753–1807) – Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Israel Putnam, and was wounded at Bunker Hill.[14] Served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from June 21, 1776[28] to January 11, 1777, during which he was wounded at White Plains, and Trenton.[14] On January 11, 1777, Washington appointed him commander of a new Connecticut regiment, Webb's Additional Continental Regiment.[71] In December 1777, Webb was captured by the British and held prisoner for three years.[1]: 54 

Volunteer aides edit

  • George Augustine Washington (1759–1793) – Gen. Washington's nephew. A volunteer aide from September 1779 to May 1781, and from December 1781 to May 1782.[17] Estate manager at Mount Vernon, 1780s-1793.
  • John Parke Custis (1754–1781) – Gen. Washington's step-son. A volunteer aide from October to November 1781, including during the siege of Yorktown. Died of camp fever, November 5, 1781.

Possible aides edit

  • Peter Bowman (1761–1835) – "Among the graves of distinguished Revolutionary War soldiers in Onondaga County [New York] is that of Peter Bowman, an aide of Gen. George Washington, who is buried in Belle Isle Cemetery."[72]
  • John Hopwood (1745–1802) – Family tradition holds that Hopwood was an aide to Gen. Washington.[73]
  • Ebenezer Mann – "Dr. Ebenezer Mann was a Brigade Surgeon at the Battle of Monmouth and Yorktown."[74]
  • Albert Pawling (1750–1837) – A family history claims he was an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington.[75] Major Albert Pawling was an officer in Malcolm's Additional Continental Regiment, and tendered his resignation on February 25, 1779.[76] Washington tried to persuade him to reconsider, but was unsuccessful.
  • Mathias Swartzel (1739 - 1820) identified as "Adj. to General Washington" on his grave marker.[77]

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f Lefkowitz, Arthur S. (2003). George Washington's Indispensable Men: The 32 Aides-de-Camp who Helped Win American Independence. Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-1646-8.
  2. ^ a b c Ford, Worthington Chauncey, ed. (1906). "List and Writing of Washington's Aids-de-Camp and Secretaries". Calendar of the Correspondence of George Washington with the Continental Congress. Washington: Library of Congress. p. 9.
  3. ^ a b c d e Fitzpatrick, John C. (January 1923). "The Aides-de-Camp of General George Washington". Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine. 57 (1).
  4. ^ "George Washington to William McIntosh". Founders Online. National Archives: see note. October 21, 1776.
  5. ^ a b Washington, George (July 27, 1775). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  6. ^ a b c d Washington, George (August 15, 1775). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  7. ^ a b c "John Adams to George Washington". Founders Online. National Archives. June 19–20, 1775.
  8. ^ "Elbridge Gerry to George Washington". Founders Online. National Archives. January 13, 1778.
  9. ^ a b "1775 ? 2018 Inflation Calculator". FinanceRef Inflation Calculator. Alioth Finance. January 15, 2018.
  10. ^ Bingaman, Steven A. (2013). The History of American Ranks and Rank Insignia. p. 11.
  11. ^ "George Washington to Jonathan Trumbull, Jr". Founders Online. National Archives. May 14, 1781.
  12. ^ "George Washington to the Continental Congress Camp Committee". Founders Online. National Archives. January 29, 1778.
  13. ^ "John Laurens to George Washington". Founders Online. National Archives. June 28, 1778.
  14. ^ a b c Washington, George (July 22, 1775). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives: note 2.
  15. ^ a b Hamilton, Alexander (July 5, 1778). Letter to Elias Boudinot. Founders Online, National Archives. Retrieved September 25, 2019. Also published with an introduction in: "The Battle of Monmouth". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 2 (2): 145–46. 1878. JSTOR 20084337.
  16. ^ a b c Fore, Samuel K. (2012). "Tench Tilghman". In Stoltz, Joseph F. III (ed.). George Washington Digital Encyclopedia. Mount Vernon Estate.
  17. ^ a b Grizzard, Frank E. (2005). George!: A Guide to All Things Washington. Mariner Publishing.
  18. ^ a b Washington, George (June 19, 1775). "Diary Entry". Founders Online. National Archives: see note.
  19. ^ "George Washington to Joseph Reed". Founders Online. National Archives: note 1. October 30, 1775.
  20. ^ "George Washington to Joseph Reed". Founders Online. National Archives: note 1. April 23, 1776.
  21. ^ a b Washington, George (August 14, 1775). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  22. ^ a b c d Washington, George (May 16, 1776). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  23. ^ "George Washington to Robert Hanson Harrison". Founders Online. National Archives. March 25, 1781.
  24. ^ Washington, George (June 8, 1781). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  25. ^ Washington, George (May 14, 1782). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  26. ^ "Benjamin Lincoln to George Washington". Founders Online. National Archives: note 1. July 15, 1784.
  27. ^ "George Washington to George Baylor". Founders Online. National Archives: note 1. January 9, 1777.
  28. ^ a b c Washington, George (June 21, 1776). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives: note 1.
  29. ^ Richard Cary married Anna Low, of New York, December 20, 1776, in Philadelphia. See Ford, Worthington Chauncey, ed. (1893). "Richard Cary to Samuel Webb [December 22, 1776]". Correspondence and Journals of Samuel Blachley Webb, Vol. 1. New York: Wickersham Press. pp. 175–76. ISBN 9780608358161.
  30. ^ Washington, George (June 15, 1781). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  31. ^ "David Cobb to William Heath". Founders Online. National Archives. June 15, 1783.
  32. ^ a b c "George Washington to Robert Morris". Founders Online. National Archives: note 5. January 4, 1784.
  33. ^ Washington, George (July 2, 1781). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  34. ^ "George Washington to New York Committee of Safety". Founders Online. National Archives: note 2. May 6, 1776.
  35. ^ Washington, George (August 24, 1776). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  36. ^ "George Washington to William Grayson". Founders Online. National Archives. January 11, 1777.
  37. ^ Washington, George (March 1, 1777). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  38. ^ "Alexander Hamilton to George Washington". Founders Online. National Archives. April 27, 1781.
  39. ^ Washington, George (November 6, 1775). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  40. ^ Washington, George (January 20, 1777). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  41. ^ "George Washington to John Laurens". Founders Online. National Archives: note 1. August 5, 1777.
  42. ^ a b Washington, George (September 6, 1777). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives: note 1.
  43. ^ "Founders Online: General Orders". 6 October 1777. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  44. ^ "Thomas Nelson to George Washington". Founders Online. National Archives: note 1. March 23, 1779.
  45. ^ "Henry Laurens to George Washington". Founders Online. National Archives: note 2. March 19, 1779.
  46. ^ "C.W.F. Dumas to John Adams". Founders Online. National Archives: note 1. November 28, 1781.
  47. ^ "John Laurens to Anonymous". Founders Online. National Archives. September 24, 1781.
  48. ^ "George Washington to Thomas McKean". Founders Online. National Archives. October 19, 1781.
  49. ^ "George Lewis". George Washington Digital Encyclopedia. Mount Vernon Estate. Retrieved 2017-12-19.
  50. ^ a b "Fielding Lewis to George Washington". Founders Online. National Archives: note 1. November 14, 1775.
  51. ^ Washington, George (May 15, 1778). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  52. ^ "Marquis de Fleury to Alexander Hamilton, 29-30 August, 1780". Founders Online. National Archives: note 2.
  53. ^ Washington, George (March 12, 1777). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  54. ^ a b Washington, George (March 6, 1776). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  55. ^ Washington, George (June 7, 1776). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives: note 2.
  56. ^ "George Washington to John Hancock". Founders Online. National Archives. January 22, 1777.
  57. ^ "Pierre Penet to George Washington". Founders Online. National Archives. August 3, 1776.
  58. ^ "George Washington to John Hancock". Founders Online. National Archives: note 2. October 7, 1776.
  59. ^ "George Washington to John Hancock". Founders Online. National Archives. November 2, 1775.
  60. ^ Washington, George (July 6, 1781). . Founders Online. National Archives. Archived from the original on December 24, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)[This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington. It is not an authoritative final version.]. Also available via Internet Archive as archived on December 24, 2019. .
  61. ^ . Founders Online. National Archives. June 24, 1782. Archived from the original on December 24, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)[This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington. It is not an authoritative final version.]. Also available via Internet Archive as archived on December 24, 2019. .
  62. ^ "Peter Presley Thornton". Library Thing.
  63. ^ Washington, George (September 17, 1776). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives. the General's Orders are delivered by the Adjutant General, or one of his Aid's-De-Camp, Mr Tilghman, or Col. Moylan the Quarter Master General.
  64. ^ Washington, George (June 21, 1780). . Founders Online. National Archives. Archived from the original on December 24, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)[This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington. It is not an authoritative final version.]. Also available via Internet Archive as archived on December 24, 2019. .
  65. ^ Washington, George (June 5, 1781). . Founders Online. National Archives. Archived from the original on December 24, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)[This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington. It is not an authoritative final version.]. Also available via Internet Archive as archived on December 24, 2019. .
  66. ^ . Founders Online. National Archives. May 25, 1781. Archived from the original on December 24, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)[This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington. It is not an authoritative final version.]. Also available via Internet Archive as archived on December 24, 2019. .
  67. ^ . Founders Online. National Archives. May 25, 1781. Archived from the original on December 24, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)[This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington. It is not an authoritative final version.]. Also available via Internet Archive as archived on December 24, 2019. .
  68. ^ "George Washington to Richard Varick". Founders Online. National Archives: note 2. January 1, 1784.
  69. ^ Washington, George (January 25, 1782). . Founders Online. National Archives. Archived from the original on December 24, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)[This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington. It is not an authoritative final version.]. Also available via Internet Archive as archived on December 24, 2019. .
  70. ^ Washington, George (February 19, 1777). "General Orders". Founders Online. National Archives.
  71. ^ Ford, Worthington Chauncey, ed. (1893). "George Washington to Samuel B. Webb [January 11, 1777]". Correspondence and Journals of Samuel Blachley Webb, Vol. 1. New York: Wickersham Press. p. 181. ISBN 9780608358161.
  72. ^ . Syracuse Herald. June 28, 1931. Section 3, pp. 3, 9. Archived from the original on 2015-09-05. Transcribed 2007 by Richard Hillenbrand.
  73. ^ Wiley, Samuel T., ed. (1889). "William H. Hopwood, M.D.". Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Chicago: John M. Gresham & Co. p. 349 – via Internet Archive.
  74. ^ Lockwood, Mary S. (1908). "Mrs. Susan McCulloch". Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Washington, D.C.: D.A.R. p. 99.
  75. ^ Kitts, Katherine Wallace (1903). Henry Pawling and Some of His Descendants. Privately printed. p. 19.
  76. ^ "Maj. Albert Pawling to George Washington". Founders Online. National Archives. February 25, 1779.
  77. ^ "Burial ground of Mathias Swartzel, 1739-1820, Aide to Gen George Washington". The Dayton Herald. 1938-11-10. p. 17. Retrieved 2021-04-24.

January 01, 1970
washington, aides, camp, during, american, revolutionary, were, officers, continental, army, appointed, serve, general, george, washington, headquarters, staff, with, rank, lieutenant, colonel, headquarters, staff, also, included, military, secretary, full, co. Washington s aides de camp during the American Revolutionary War were officers of the Continental Army appointed to serve on General George Washington s headquarters staff with the rank of lieutenant colonel The headquarters staff also included one military secretary a full colonel Washington had a small number of aides de camp at any given time with relatively frequent turnover A total of 32 men were appointed to these positions and served between July 4 1775 and December 23 1783 1 15 Other people worked as volunteer aides or assistants and helped with office duties when needed 2 Contents 1 Headquarters staff 1 1 Additional aides 2 Military secretaries 3 Appointed aides de camp 3 1 Volunteer aides 3 2 Possible aides 4 NotesHeadquarters staff edit nbsp The American Soldier 1775 an aide de camp of General George Washington and General Artemas Ward at the Siege of Boston The Second Continental Congress unanimously elected George Washington to the position of Commander in Chief of the Continental Army on June 15 1775 He traveled to Cambridge Massachusetts and took command of the siege of Boston on July 3 His headquarters staff initially consisted of his military secretary Joseph Reed and one aide de camp Thomas Mifflin 3 The responsibilities of the headquarters staff included managing Washington s military correspondence making copies of each day s General Orders to be distributed to the commanding officer at each military post and making copies of individual orders 4 The 19 year old artist John Trumbull who was skilled at drawing maps was appointed an aide de camp on July 27 5 and served three weeks before being transferred 6 The Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia authorized one military secretary and three aides de camp for the commander in chief 7 but this number soon proved insufficient Washington s pleas for Congress to authorize two additional aides were ignored so he augmented his staff with volunteers 3 Six aides de camp George Baylor Edmund Randolph Robert Hanson Harrison George Lewis Stephen Moylan William Palfrey were appointed by Washington between August 1775 and March 1776 some replacing predecessors who had been transferred Finally in January 1778 Congress granted the commander in chief the power to appoint headquarters staff as he saw fit 8 The military secretary held the rank of colonel in the Continental Army with a monthly pay of 66 in 1775 equivalent to about 2 050 in 2018 7 9 The aides de camp held the rank of lieutenant colonel with a monthly pay of 33 in 1775 equivalent to about 1 025 in 2018 7 9 The aides de camp wore a green riband across their chests as a rank insignia 10 Washington referred to the headquarters staff as my family 11 Some were the sons of his friends and relatives but above all he valued talent The Secretaries and Aid De Camps to the Commander in chief ought not to be confined to the line for plain and obvious reasons The number which the nature and extent of his business require in addition to the many drawn from the line to fill the different offices of the staff when it is considered that they ought all to be men of abilities may seem too large a draft upon the line But a consideration still more forcible is that in a service so complex as ours it would be wrong and detrimental to restrict the choice the vast diversity of objects occurrences and correspondencies unknown in one more regular and less diffusive constantly calling for talents and abilities of the first rate men who possess them ought to be taken wherever they can be found 12 On the battlefield the aides de camp were couriers delivering Washington s orders on horseback and gathering or relaying intelligence on enemy troop movement 13 Samuel Blachley Webb was wounded at the October 28 1776 Battle of White Plains and at the December 26 1776 Battle of Trenton 14 John Fitzgerald and John Laurens were both wounded at the June 28 1778 Battle of Monmouth where Alexander Hamilton s horse was shot from under him 15 George Johnston served barely four months before dying of disease at the Morristown headquarters Tench Tilghman served longer than any other aide de camp more than seven years about half of it as a volunteer 16 The commander in chief s headquarters staff was disbanded on December 23 1783 when General Washington resigned his commission to the Second Continental Congress which was then meeting at Annapolis Maryland 3 Aides David Humphreys David Cobb and Benjamin Walker escorted him to and from the ceremony 3 Many members of Washington s headquarters staff earned his trust and friendship and some later served in his presidential administration 3 Additional aides edit In 1906 Worthington Chauncey Ford chief of the Manuscripts Division at the Library of Congress published a list of Washington s 32 military secretaries and aides de camp 2 He added Martha Washington as number 33 acknowledging her unofficial clerical help at Washington s headquarters 2 Frank E Grizzard Jr former editor of The Papers of George Washington Revolutionary War Series adds to the list Washington s nephew George Augustine Washington a volunteer aide from September 1779 to May 1781 and from December 1781 to May 1782 17 Military secretaries editJoseph Reed 1741 1785 Served as Gen Washington s military secretary from June 19 18 to October 30 1775 19 He took leave to prepare a case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Reed rejoined the Continental Army on June 16 1776 as Adjutant General 20 Stephen Moylan 1737 1811 Served as Muster Master General from August 14 21 to November 1775 and as Gen Washington s acting military secretary in Joseph Reed s absence from November 1775 to May 1776 He served as a Washington aide de camp from March 6 to June 5 1776 and as a volunteer aide from September 28 1776 to January 1777 Robert Hanson Harrison 1745 1790 Served as Gen Washington s military secretary from May 16 1776 22 to March 25 1781 23 He had served as a Washington aide de camp from November 1775 to May 1776 Jonathan Trumbull Jr 1740 1809 Served as Gen Washington s military secretary from June 8 1781 24 to December 23 1783 1 233 Appointed aides de camp editHodijah Baylies 1756 1842 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from May 14 1782 25 to December 23 1783 26 He had graduated Harvard in 1777 was commissioned a lieutenant in Jackson s Additional Continental Regiment appointed as aide de camp to General Benjamin Lincoln and was promoted to major He was captured by the British at the siege of Charleston Exchanged in November 1780 he returned to Harvard for a master of arts degree 1 256 George Baylor 1752 1784 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from August 15 1775 6 to January 1 1777 27 Richard Cary c 1746 1806 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from June 21 28 to December 1776 He was written about kindly by Congressman John Adams to another Massachusetts delegate William Tudor judge advocate to the Continental Army and was appointed a brigade major 1 56 Cary resigned to get married 29 Dr David Cobb 1748 1830 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from June 15 1781 30 to January 1783 and from June 31 to December 23 1783 32 Col John Fitzgerald d 1799 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from November 1776 to July 1778 Wounded at the June 28 1778 Battle of Monmouth 15 he retired from the Continental Army Peregrine Fitzhugh 1759 1811 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from July 2 33 to October 1781 Capt Caleb Gibbs 1748 1818 Commander of Washington s life guard 22 he managed the headquarters household accounts from May 16 1776 to the end of 1780 34 and served as a supplemental aide de camp Col William Grayson 1740 1790 Served as Gen Washington s assistant secretary from July to August 1776 and served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from August 24 1776 35 to January 11 1777 36 Alexander Hamilton 1757 1804 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from March 1 1777 37 to April 1781 38 Alexander Contee Hanson 1749 1806 Served as Gen Washington s assistant secretary from June 21 28 to September 1776 Robert Hanson Harrison 1745 1790 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from November 6 1775 39 to May 16 1776 and as Gen Washington s military secretary from May 16 1776 22 to March 25 1781 David Humphreys 1752 1818 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from June 23 1780 1 262 to December 23 1783 32 After the war he was private secretary to Washington at Mount Vernon and secretary to President Washington in New York City 1789 90 George Johnston Jr 1750 1777 Major in the 5th Virginia Regiment appointed an aide de camp to Gen Washington on January 20 1777 40 died of disease at Morristown New Jersey May 29 1777 John Laurens 1754 1782 Served as volunteer aide from August 9 41 to September 6 1777 42 when he was appointed an extra aide de camp He was officially appointed aide de camp to Gen Washington on October 6 1777 43 and held that position until March 29 1779 44 when Congress commissioned him to travel home to South Carolina and attempt to recruit a regiment of slaves 45 On behalf of the United States Laurens traveled to Europe and negotiated a 10 million livre loan from the Netherlands to be guaranteed by France 46 He returned to the United States in September 1781 47 rejoined General Washington at the siege of Yorktown and helped to negotiate the surrender of British General Cornwallis 48 He returned to South Carolina in November 1781 and died nine months later in the Battle of the Combahee River George Lewis 1757 1821 Gen Washington s nephew 49 A volunteer aide from November 1775 to December 1776 50 Appointed a lieutenant in the commander in chief s life guards in May 1776 22 he transferred to the 2nd Continental Dragoons in December 1776 50 Dr James McHenry 1753 1816 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from May 15 1778 51 to August 1780 52 An Irish born Philadelphia medical student he served as a surgeon early in the war Left to join the staff of the Marquis de Lafayette Richard Kidder Meade 1746 1805 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from March 12 1777 53 to November 1780 supervised the October 2 1780 execution of British Major John Andre Thomas Mifflin 1744 1800 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from June 19 18 to August 14 1775 when he was promoted to Quartermaster General 21 Stephen Moylan 1737 1811 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from March 6 1776 54 to June 5 1776 55 and as a volunteer aide from September 28 1776 to January 1777 56 William Palfrey 1741 1780 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from March 6 54 to April 1776 Pierre Penet d 1812 A French merchant who had supplied arms and materiel 1775 76 57 On Washington s recommendation Congress confirmed him as a brevet aide de camp October 14 1776 58 Penet served from October 1776 to January 1783 Edmund Randolph 1753 1813 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from August 15 6 to November 2 1775 59 Col William Stephens Smith 1755 1816 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from July 6 1781 60 to June 1782 61 Peter Presley Thornton 1750 1780 62 A volunteer aide August September 1777 served as an extra aide de camp to Gen Washington from September 6 1777 42 to unknown Tench Tilghman 1744 1786 A Maryland militiaman who spoke fluent French he served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington for more than 7 years longer than anyone else 16 A volunteer aide from August 8 1776 to June 21 1780 Washington confirmed his special status in General Orders 63 He was appointed an aide de camp to Gen Washington on June 21 1780 64 and served until November 1783 16 On June 5 1781 at Washington s request Congress awarded Tilghman the rank of Lieutenant Colonel dating his military commission retroactively to April 1 1777 65 John Trumbull 1756 1843 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from July 27 5 to August 15 1775 6 Richard Varick 1753 1831 Served as Gen Washington s aide de camp and private secretary from May 25 1781 66 67 to mid December 1783 68 Hired after Congress approved Washington s request to have a team specifically designed to organize and catalogue and compose all of his correspondence Varick was personally hired by Washington to lead that team He would go on to serve at Mayor of New York City for eleven years Benjamin Walker 1753 1818 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from January 25 1782 69 to December 23 1783 32 John Walker 1744 1809 Served as a Washington aide de camp February 19 70 to March 1777 Samuel Blachley Webb 1753 1807 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Israel Putnam and was wounded at Bunker Hill 14 Served as an aide de camp to Gen Washington from June 21 1776 28 to January 11 1777 during which he was wounded at White Plains and Trenton 14 On January 11 1777 Washington appointed him commander of a new Connecticut regiment Webb s Additional Continental Regiment 71 In December 1777 Webb was captured by the British and held prisoner for three years 1 54 Volunteer aides edit George Augustine Washington 1759 1793 Gen Washington s nephew A volunteer aide from September 1779 to May 1781 and from December 1781 to May 1782 17 Estate manager at Mount Vernon 1780s 1793 John Parke Custis 1754 1781 Gen Washington s step son A volunteer aide from October to November 1781 including during the siege of Yorktown Died of camp fever November 5 1781 Possible aides edit Peter Bowman 1761 1835 Among the graves of distinguished Revolutionary War soldiers in Onondaga County New York is that of Peter Bowman an aide of Gen George Washington who is buried in Belle Isle Cemetery 72 John Hopwood 1745 1802 Family tradition holds that Hopwood was an aide to Gen Washington 73 Ebenezer Mann Dr Ebenezer Mann was a Brigade Surgeon at the Battle of Monmouth and Yorktown 74 Albert Pawling 1750 1837 A family history claims he was an aide de camp to Gen Washington 75 Major Albert Pawling was an officer in Malcolm s Additional Continental Regiment and tendered his resignation on February 25 1779 76 Washington tried to persuade him to reconsider but was unsuccessful Mathias Swartzel 1739 1820 identified as Adj to General Washington on his grave marker 77 Notes edit a b c d e f Lefkowitz Arthur S 2003 George Washington s Indispensable Men The 32 Aides de Camp who Helped Win American Independence Stackpole Books ISBN 978 0 8117 1646 8 a b c Ford Worthington Chauncey ed 1906 List and Writing of Washington s Aids de Camp and Secretaries Calendar of the Correspondence of George Washington with the Continental Congress Washington Library of Congress p 9 a b c d e Fitzpatrick John C January 1923 The Aides de Camp of General George Washington Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine 57 1 George Washington to William McIntosh Founders Online National Archives see note October 21 1776 a b Washington George July 27 1775 General Orders Founders Online National Archives a b c d Washington George August 15 1775 General Orders Founders Online National Archives a b c John Adams to George Washington Founders Online National Archives June 19 20 1775 Elbridge Gerry to George Washington Founders Online National Archives January 13 1778 a b 1775 2018 Inflation Calculator FinanceRef Inflation Calculator Alioth Finance January 15 2018 Bingaman Steven A 2013 The History of American Ranks and Rank Insignia p 11 George Washington to Jonathan Trumbull Jr Founders Online National Archives May 14 1781 George Washington to the Continental Congress Camp Committee Founders Online National Archives January 29 1778 John Laurens to George Washington Founders Online National Archives June 28 1778 a b c Washington George July 22 1775 General Orders Founders Online National Archives note 2 a b Hamilton Alexander July 5 1778 Letter to Elias Boudinot Founders Online National Archives Retrieved September 25 2019 Also published with an introduction in The Battle of Monmouth The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 2 2 145 46 1878 JSTOR 20084337 a b c Fore Samuel K 2012 Tench Tilghman In Stoltz Joseph F III ed George Washington Digital Encyclopedia Mount Vernon Estate a b Grizzard Frank E 2005 George A Guide to All Things Washington Mariner Publishing a b Washington George June 19 1775 Diary Entry Founders Online National Archives see note George Washington to Joseph Reed Founders Online National Archives note 1 October 30 1775 George Washington to Joseph Reed Founders Online National Archives note 1 April 23 1776 a b Washington George August 14 1775 General Orders Founders Online National Archives a b c d Washington George May 16 1776 General Orders Founders Online National Archives George Washington to Robert Hanson Harrison Founders Online National Archives March 25 1781 Washington George June 8 1781 General Orders Founders Online National Archives Washington George May 14 1782 General Orders Founders Online National Archives Benjamin Lincoln to George Washington Founders Online National Archives note 1 July 15 1784 George Washington to George Baylor Founders Online National Archives note 1 January 9 1777 a b c Washington George June 21 1776 General Orders Founders Online National Archives note 1 Richard Cary married Anna Low of New York December 20 1776 in Philadelphia See Ford Worthington Chauncey ed 1893 Richard Cary to Samuel Webb December 22 1776 Correspondence and Journals of Samuel Blachley Webb Vol 1 New York Wickersham Press pp 175 76 ISBN 9780608358161 Washington George June 15 1781 General Orders Founders Online National Archives David Cobb to William Heath Founders Online National Archives June 15 1783 a b c George Washington to Robert Morris Founders Online National Archives note 5 January 4 1784 Washington George July 2 1781 General Orders Founders Online National Archives George Washington to New York Committee of Safety Founders Online National Archives note 2 May 6 1776 Washington George August 24 1776 General Orders Founders Online National Archives George Washington to William Grayson Founders Online National Archives January 11 1777 Washington George March 1 1777 General Orders Founders Online National Archives Alexander Hamilton to George Washington Founders Online National Archives April 27 1781 Washington George November 6 1775 General Orders Founders Online National Archives Washington George January 20 1777 General Orders Founders Online National Archives George Washington to John Laurens Founders Online National Archives note 1 August 5 1777 a b Washington George September 6 1777 General Orders Founders Online National Archives note 1 Founders Online General Orders 6 October 1777 Retrieved 2018 02 22 Thomas Nelson to George Washington Founders Online National Archives note 1 March 23 1779 Henry Laurens to George Washington Founders Online National Archives note 2 March 19 1779 C W F Dumas to John Adams Founders Online National Archives note 1 November 28 1781 John Laurens to Anonymous Founders Online National Archives September 24 1781 George Washington to Thomas McKean Founders Online National Archives October 19 1781 George Lewis George Washington Digital Encyclopedia Mount Vernon Estate Retrieved 2017 12 19 a b Fielding Lewis to George Washington Founders Online National Archives note 1 November 14 1775 Washington George May 15 1778 General Orders Founders Online National Archives Marquis de Fleury to Alexander Hamilton 29 30 August 1780 Founders Online National Archives note 2 Washington George March 12 1777 General Orders Founders Online National Archives a b Washington George March 6 1776 General Orders Founders Online National Archives Washington George June 7 1776 General Orders Founders Online National Archives note 2 George Washington to John Hancock Founders Online National Archives January 22 1777 Pierre Penet to George Washington Founders Online National Archives August 3 1776 George Washington to John Hancock Founders Online National Archives note 2 October 7 1776 George Washington to John Hancock Founders Online National Archives November 2 1775 Washington George July 6 1781 General Orders Founders Online National Archives Archived from the original on December 24 2019 Retrieved December 24 2019 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington It is not an authoritative final version Also available via Internet Archive as archived on December 24 2019 George Washington to William Stephens Smith Founders Online National Archives June 24 1782 Archived from the original on December 24 2019 Retrieved December 24 2019 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington It is not an authoritative final version Also available via Internet Archive as archived on December 24 2019 Peter Presley Thornton Library Thing Washington George September 17 1776 General Orders Founders Online National Archives the General s Orders are delivered by the Adjutant General or one of his Aid s De Camp Mr Tilghman or Col Moylan the Quarter Master General Washington George June 21 1780 General Orders Founders Online National Archives Archived from the original on December 24 2019 Retrieved December 24 2019 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington It is not an authoritative final version Also available via Internet Archive as archived on December 24 2019 Washington George June 5 1781 General Orders Founders Online National Archives Archived from the original on December 24 2019 Retrieved December 24 2019 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington It is not an authoritative final version Also available via Internet Archive as archived on December 24 2019 George Washington to Richard Varick Founders Online National Archives May 25 1781 Archived from the original on December 24 2019 Retrieved December 24 2019 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington It is not an authoritative final version Also available via Internet Archive as archived on December 24 2019 George Washington to Richard Varick Instructions to the Recording Secretary at Head Quarters Founders Online National Archives May 25 1781 Archived from the original on December 24 2019 Retrieved December 24 2019 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington It is not an authoritative final version Also available via Internet Archive as archived on December 24 2019 George Washington to Richard Varick Founders Online National Archives note 2 January 1 1784 Washington George January 25 1782 General Orders Founders Online National Archives Archived from the original on December 24 2019 Retrieved December 24 2019 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington It is not an authoritative final version Also available via Internet Archive as archived on December 24 2019 Washington George February 19 1777 General Orders Founders Online National Archives Ford Worthington Chauncey ed 1893 George Washington to Samuel B Webb January 11 1777 Correspondence and Journals of Samuel Blachley Webb Vol 1 New York Wickersham Press p 181 ISBN 9780608358161 Marking of Revolutionary War Graves By D A R Signals Start of Campaign to Identify 595 in Onondaga County Syracuse Herald June 28 1931 Section 3 pp 3 9 Archived from the original on 2015 09 05 Transcribed 2007 by Richard Hillenbrand Wiley Samuel T ed 1889 William H Hopwood M D Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Fayette County Pennsylvania Chicago John M Gresham amp Co p 349 via Internet Archive Lockwood Mary S 1908 Mrs Susan McCulloch Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Washington D C D A R p 99 Kitts Katherine Wallace 1903 Henry Pawling and Some of His Descendants Privately printed p 19 Maj Albert Pawling to George Washington Founders Online National Archives February 25 1779 Burial ground of Mathias Swartzel 1739 1820 Aide to Gen George Washington The Dayton Herald 1938 11 10 p 17 Retrieved 2021 04 24 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Washington 27s aides de camp amp oldid 1218294193, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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