To George Washington from Brigadier General Anthony Wayne, 7 January 1780
From Brigadier General Anthony Wayne
Hanover [N.J.] 7th Jany 1780
Dear General
I was honored with your favor of the 28th Ultimo, & on the 2nd Instant the Light Corps was Dessolved & took up the Line of march to join their Respective Regiments, after reading the Inclosed Order at the head of each Battalion.1
the Distinguished & honorable manner in which your Excellency has more than once mentioned my name to Congress, & your very polite approbation of my Conduct thro’ the course of this Campaign, must be a very pleasing, & rich reward to an Officer whose only merit was that of having used his best endeavours to do his duty, & to carry the Orders of his General into execution, but as I can’t do justice to my feelings on the Occation, your Excellency will have goodness enough to pardon me for not attempting to express them, & as one Indulgence is generally followed by wishing for more, I now request leave of absence from this Army, until your Excellency may have Occation for my Services in the field—& whenever the Light Infantry is called out, that I may again be honored with the Command of it. Interim I am with Sincere Esteem Your Excellency’s Most Obt & Affectionate Hume Sert
Anty Wayne
ALS, DLC:GW; ADfS, PHi: Wayne Papers.
1. Wayne enclosed the following undated “Extract from Light Infantry Orders Second River [N.J.] 2nd Jany 1780”: “The General has it in Command from His Excellency Genl Washington ‘to present his warmest thanks to the Officers & men that compose this Corps, & to assure them, that he has a high sense of the Zeal, gallantry, & good Conduct of the former—& of the bravery, & fidelity of the latter.[’]
“It’s with singular pleasure that Genl Wayne obeys an Order so truly Honorable to a Corps which he has had the happiness so long to Command, the ready chearfulness with which every Order has been carried into Execution, & the manly & Soldierly fortitude exhibited by both Officers & men in encountering Death & Danger, & enduring every possible extreme of Cold hunger & fatigue (without a murmur) justly entitles them to the esteem of their Country, & to the most greatful acknowledgments & thanks of their General, which he begs them to accept & to be assured that his highest Ambition is to merit the Confidence of a Corps so eminently Distinguished as the American Light Infantry” (DLC:GW).