From George Washington to Walter Stewart, 5 February 1784
To Walter Stewart
Mount Vernon Feb. 5 [1784]
Dear Sir,
Your letter of the 26th Ulto did not reach me untill this day a little before dinner—The Servant says he was detained three or four days at George Town.1
If the letter herewith enclosed can be of any Service to you, it will afford me pleasure, as I wish you all imaginable success in your attempt to recover the property which has been withheld from your House at the Havana.2
The letters under cover with this (in answer to some which I have lately received from my friends in France &ca) I pray you to put into the proper channel of conveyance—by the Packet.3 Mrs Washington joins me in wishing you a good & prosperous voyage, & in compliments to Mrs Stewart—tell her, if she don’t think of me often, I shall not easily forgive her; & will scold at, & beat her soundly too—at Picquet—the next time I see her. With great esteem I am Dr Sir Yr Most Obedt Servt
Go: Washington
ALS, PWacD: Sol Feinstone Collection, on deposit PPAmP.
1. Georgetown, now a part of Washington, D.C., was in Maryland.
2. The text of GW’s letter, dated 5 Feb., to Luis de Unzaga y Amézaga, governor of Cuba, is: “The Gentn who will have the honor of presenting this Letter to your Excellency, is Genl Stewart, an Officer of distinguish’d Merit in the American Army, having Embarked amongst the foremost in the cause of his Country, and persever’d in the Service of it, with equal honor to himself; and, advantage to her, Untill the happy reestablishment of peace, by the acknowledgment of our Independence & Sovereignty.
“He proposes soon to make a Voyage to Europe, but wishing, previously thereto, to Visit a place so celebrated & well known to this Country as the Havana, I have taken the liberty of introducing him to your Excellency’s countenance & Civilities, during his stay there. He will repeat to you, the assurances of respect & consideration with which I have the honor to be, Yr Excellys Most obedt & Most Hble Servt.” Until the word “reestablishment,” the text quoted here is taken from GW’s letter-book copy (DLC:GW); the remainder from the photocopy of the ALS in American Art Association catalog (December 1925), item 460. A Spanish translation is in Archives General de Indias, Seville. Unzaga wrote GW on 26 August.
3. These undoubtedly included letters of 1 Feb. to Chastellux, Lafayette, and Lauzun.