From George Washington to Captain Josiah Stoddard, 27 January 1779
To Captain Josiah Stoddard
Philada 27th January 1779
Sir
I have your favr of the 18th accompanied by several Certificates of Gentlemen of the Faculty of the necessity of your visiting some warmer Climate for the recovery of your Health.1 Your request of a Furlough to go for a considerable time beyond Sea is the first of the kind, and what I do not think myself authorized to grant without the particular concurrence of Congress. My being here enables me to lay your letter before them without loss of time, and the moment I obtain their determination you shall be made acquainted with it.2 I am &.
Df, in Tench Tilghman’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
1. GW is referring to Stoddard’s letter to him of 14 January.
2. See GW’s letter to John Jay and Jay’s reply to him, both of this date; see especially n.1 to Jay’s letter. On 29 Jan., GW’s aide-de-camp John Laurens wrote a brief letter to Stoddard enclosing a copy of Congress’s resolution of 27 Jan. permitting him to go to France (DLC:GW; see also Stoddard to GW, 24 May, DLC:GW).