From George Washington to Henry Knox, 1 May 1794
To Henry Knox
Philadelphia May 1st 1794
Sir,
The letter from General Wayne to you, of the 10th of March, I have perused.1
The Contractors who supplied the articles of Hats & Shoes to the Army, which he complains of, or the person who inspected them—or both, ought to be called to a severe account for such abuse of public confidence.2
The ideas communicated in the above letter, relatively to long & short Coats are not, I conceive, bad.
Giving leave of absence to so many Officers as Genl Wayne does, is in my opinion, reprehensible; particularly at a time when active Service may be expected; and when his complaints of their deficiency are reiterated in almost every one of his letters.
Go: Washington
ALS (letterpress copy), DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW.
2. On 17 July Comptroller of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott, Jr., wrote to William Rawle, the U.S. attorney for the district of Pennsylvania, in part: "The President of the United States being of opinion, that the Contractors or Inspectors ought to be called to an account I have to request, that you will be pleased to take the necessary measures for prosecuting the Contractors & Inspectors, or such of them, against whom actions may be supposed to lie" (CtHi: Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Papers).