29821From George Washington to Joseph Shallcross, 16 December 1783 (Washington Papers)
I earnestly wish to convince you of the pleasure I take in reciprocating your congratulation on our glorious successes, and the attainment of an honorable Peace. Altho’ the prospect of our public affair has been sometimes gloomy indeed; yet the well-known firmness of my Countrymen, and the expected aid of Heaven, supported me in the trying hour and have finally reallised our most sanguine...
29822From George Washington to Samuel Purviance, Jr., 18 December 1783 (Washington Papers)
The acceptable manner in which you have wellcomed my arrival in the Town of Baltimore, and the happy terms in which you have communicated the congratulations of its Inhabitants, lay me under the greatest obligations. Be pleased, Gentlemen, to receive this last public acknowledgment for the repeated instances of your politeness; and to believe, it is my earnest wish that the Commerce, the...
29823From George Washington to Thomas Mifflin, 20 December 1783 (Washington Papers)
I take the earliest opportunity to inform Congress of my arrival in this City, with the intention of asking leave to resign the Commission I have the honor of holding in their Service. It is essential for me to know their pleasure, and in what manner it will be most proper to offer my resignation, whether in writing or at an Audience; I shall therefore request to be honored with the necessary...
29824From George Washington to Thomas Mifflin, 21 December 1783 (Washington Papers)
In my last dispatch to your Excellency, I had the honor to inform Congress that the American Troops had taken possession of the City of New York, and had delivered it to the Government of the State; and that the British Troops had retired to Staten and Long Islands. I had also the honor to inclose to you Sir Guy Carleton’s last letter, informing me of his intention to take his final departure...
29825From George Washington to J. Foy Chase, 22 December 1783 (Washington Papers)
Permit me, Gentlemen, to offer to you my sincere thanks for you r Congratulations on the happy events, of Peace and the Establishment of our Independence. If my Conduct throughout the War has merited the confidence of my fellow Citizens—and has been instrumental in obtaing for my Country the blessings of Peace and Freedom—I owe it to that Supreme being who guides the hearts of all—who has so...
29826From George Washington to Daniel Carroll, 22 December 1783 (Washington Papers)
I feel myself particularly happy in receiving the approbation of the Genl Assembly of Maryland, for those services which my Country had a right to demand, and which it was my duty to render in defence of it. Having happily attained the object for which we had drawn the Sword, I felicitated myself on my approaching return to private life, and I must acknowledge I anticipated an unusual degree...
29827From George Washington to United States Congress, 23 December 1783 (Washington Papers)
The great events on which my resignation depended having at length taken place; I have now the honor of offering my sincere Congratulations to Congress & of presenting myself before them to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of retiring from the Service of my Country. Happy in the confirmation of our Independence and Sovereignty, and pleased with...
29828From George Washington to William Paca, 23 December 1783 (Washington Papers)
I shall ever cherish a pleasing remembrance, of the welcome reception I have experienced from your Excellency and the Council, on my return to this City, after the happy and honorable termination of the War. The flattering sentiments you entertain of my exertions in defence of our Country, and the favorable point of light in which you place my Character, too strongly demonstrate your...
29829From George Washington to Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin, Baron [von] Steuben, 23 December 1783 (Washington Papers)
Altho’ I have taken frequent opportunities, both in public & private, of acknowledging your great zeal, attention & abilities in performing the duties of your Office; yet I wish to make use of this last moment of my public life, to signifie in the strongest terms my entire approbation of your conduct, and to express my sense of the obligations the public is under to you, for your faithful &...
29830From George Washington to Robert Adam, 28 December 1783 (Washington Papers)
With a pleasing sensibility I received your favor of the 26th, and beg leave to offer you my sincere thanks for the favorable sentiments with which it abounds. I shall always feel pleasure when it may be in my power to render service to Lodge No. 39, and in every act of brotherly kindness to the Members of it; being with great truth Your affecte Brother and Obedt Servant ViAlL .
29831From George Washington to George Clinton, 28 December 1783 (Washington Papers)
After as prosperous a journey as could be expected at this season of the year, I arrived at my seat the day before Christmas, having previously divested myself of my official character—I am now a private Citizen on the banks of the Potomack, where I should be happy to see you if your public business would ever permit and where, in the meantime, I shall fondly cherish the remembrance of all...
29832From George Washington to Richard Conway, 31 December 1783 (Washington Papers)
Nothing could have contributed more essentially to encrease the satisfaction I experience on my return from a successful War, to the tranquillity of domestic life, than your affectionate Congratulations. To find that neither time nor absence have interrupted or diminished the harmony of our happy neighbourhood, and that the circumstances are most favorable to the growth & prosperity of your...