George Washington Papers

To George Washington from the Continental Congress Committee on Reducingthe Army, 11 January 1780

From the Continental Congress
Committee on Reducing the Army

Philadelphia 11th Jany 1780

sir

We beg Leave to inclose to your Excellency sundry Propositions referred by Congress to our Consideration,1 & to request your opinion thereon,2 being with Respect sir your most obedt & very humble servants

E. Gerry
Robt R. Livingston
Jno. Mathews

LS, DLC:GW.

On 10 Jan., Congress elected Elbridge Gerry, Robert R. Livingston, and John Mathews as a committee of three to consider the enclosed resolutions (see JCC, description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends 16:36–38).

1. The enclosed undated document reads:

“1 Resolved That the Commander in chief be directed to dismiss all the Troops whose Times will expire by the 1st Day of April next, who shall be willing to receive their Discharge.

“2 Resolved That the Number of Regiments be reduced to sixty, & the Soldiers of such regiments incorporated with those that remain upon the Establishment.

“3—Resolved That the Board of War report a plan for such Reduction.

“4 Resolved That the reduced officers be allowed full pay exclusive of rations & Subsistence Money, during the War, & such other Allowance after the War as is made to those Officers who have served during the War.

“5 Resolved That any Vacancy in the sixty Battalions be filled up by Officers from the reduced regiments having Respect to the State to which such regiments belong” (DLC:GW).

Livingston was the author of the resolutions (see JCC, description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends 16:28). Gerry desired that the committee travel to headquarters to consult with GW on the resolutions, but Congress rejected his motion (JCC, description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends 16:37–38). Gerry opposed a reduction in the army and instead urged GW to renew his appeal for recruiting the army to full strength (see Gerry to GW, 12 Jan.).

2. GW replied on 23 January.

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    Washington Papers
    Title
    To George Washington from the Continental Congress Committee on Reducingthe Army, 11 January 1780
    Author
    Continental Congress Committee on Reducing the Army
    Recipient
    Washington, George
    Date
    11 January 1780

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To George Washington from the Continental Congress Committee on Reducingthe Army, 11 January 1780,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-24-02-0071. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 24, 1 January–9 March 1780, ed. Benjamin L. Huggins. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2016, pp. 84–85.]

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