From George Washington to Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Weissenfels, 31 March 1779
To Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Weissenfels
Head Quarters Middlebrook 31st March 1779.
Sir
I received your letter of the 9th Inst.; and should have acknowleged it sooner, had I not been prevented by a variety of business; and a report of your having gone to Philadelphia.
As the arrangement is not yet completed, I cannot say who it is will take the command of late Levingstons regiment. But Agreeable to the principles of rank recommended it can only be the oldest Lt Colonel.
In determining the matter on this ground, I would flatter myself that you will not find yourself in the least injured—or deprived of any rank to which you may be1 intitled.2
Df, in James McHenry’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
1. At this place on the draft, McHenry first wrote “are.” He then struck out that word and wrote “may be” above the line.
2. For GW’s naming of Weissenfels as lieutenant colonel commandant of the 4th New York Regiment, formerly under the command of Col. Henry Beekman Livingston, see his letter to James Clinton, 19 April (NN: Gansevoort-Lansing Collection); see also Clinton to GW, 8 April (DLC:GW).