From George Washington to Colonel Thomas Price, 14 August 1777
To Colonel Thomas Price
Augt 14: 1777.
Sir
I am informed by Captain Eli Dorsey, appointed to a Command in your Regiment, that he has never been included in any Pay Abstract, from a doubt arising, whether he could be paid, as he is a prisoner under parole—I am to request, that in your next Abstract, Captain Dorsey’s back pay may be included, and that in future, he may be regularly drawn for, as the Other Officers are & in the same manner, that he would, if he was at liberty to act & in service. I am Sir Yr Most Obedt set
G.W.
Df, in Robert Hanson Harrison’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
Ely Dorsey (1744–1803) of Anne Arundel County, Md., served as a lieutenant in an independent company from Maryland from January to October 1776, when he became a lieutenant in the 2d Maryland Regiment. He apparently was captured at the fall of Fort Washington in November 1776 and promoted to captain the following month. Dorsey did not rejoin his regiment, although he was active in the war effort back in Maryland until at least August 1781.