July 10, 1822

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Letter signed

Title: Authorization for transfer of funds

Authorizes the transfer "from the Appropriation for the Pay of Subsistence of the Marine Corps to the Appropriation for Clothing the Marine Corps, The sum of Ten Thousand Dollars." Permitted by virtue of the May 1, 1820 "Act further to amend the several Acts for the establishment and Regulation of the Treasury, War and Navy Departments."

GLC00496.072

1777

Mumford, Giles, 1759-1795

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas Mumford

Written by Giles Mumford an American soldier in New York to his father, the Groton, Connecticut merchant Thomas Mumford. Says he has not received a line from his father since October 9, 1777. He is pleased that his mother and all his friends are feeling better. Expresses joy over the victory of Gates in the Northern Department. Says he is sending a copy of the Convention Articles to him (not included). Says "I think Great Brittain never met with such a Stroke, before, she must inevitably feel it." Hopes General Washington will do the same to General Howe. Says he heard Howe lost 1500 men at…

GLC00496.075.05

September 17, 1790

Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin, Baron von, 1730-1794

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William North

Written by von Steuben as a retired Revolution officer to William North as a gentleman farmer in upstate New York. North was von Steuben's aide-de-camp during the Revolution. Translation is in the collateral file. Apologizes for tardy response. Discusses his memoirs that he presented to Congress. Says his friends think they will be very popular, but he is skeptical because of the misfortune that has befallen him since the Revolution. Recipient noted in letter. Note in collateral file says the letter is from 1790.

GLC00496.086

October 14, 1784

Von Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin, 1730-1794

Letter signed

Title: to John Hancock

Written by von Steuben in retirement after resigning his commission in March 1784 to Hancock as Governor of Massachusetts. Says he is writing to secure his prospects for a satisfactory retirement. Says he is waiting to hear if the United States government will provide him with monetary support for his service during the Revolution. Says he is tired of the "bussle of ambition" and hopes for rest, but wants to remain in America as a citizen. If he is not made a citizen he will have to return to Europe. Lists his merits, even though he says it is "an undelicate task." Says "It is the practice…

GLC00598

January 30, 1862

Payne, John A., fl. 1862-1865

Autograph manuscript signed

Title: [Journal of John A. Payne while serving on the USS Richmond]

Leather-covered ledger-paper notebook with 168 pages of entries followed by 15 blank pages. Inscribed "Jan. 18th 1862, John A. Payne / Portsmouth N.H." Begins on 30 January 1862, when Payne shipped out from New York on the USS Richmond for 3 years of service. Covers Payne's entire enlistment; includes a running tab of pay due and accounts for supplies; contains many references to ships encountered, as well as various admirals and generals. The "Richmond" ranged from Vicksburg, Mississippi to Pensacola, Florida, but appears to have been based in New Orleans. Among the entries: 7 May 1862…

GLC00497

June 4, 1865

Van Valkenburgh, Edward Porter, fl. 1865-1908

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mary B. Van Valkenburgh

Written by Captain Edward Van Valkenburgh of the 107th New York regiment to his mother. He has not heard from her directly in some time, but has heard through his brother Robert that she is in good health. Says he has not written in a long time, but knows she heard of his whereabouts through his letters to Rosa (perhaps Edward's wife). He reports that he seldom has the time to write to anyone. He hopes he will be out of the army in two weeks: "We have been at work very hard both night and day since the review, making out our final roll and discharges preparatory to being mustered out of the…

GLC00686.18

December 5, 1863

Davis, Robert S., 1832-?

Printed document

Title: [General orders No. 46 concerning the recruitment of non-white troops]

States "The recruitment of colored troops has become the settled purpose of the Government. It is therefore the duty of every officer and soldier to aid in carrying out that purpose, by every proper means, irrespective of personal predilection." Instructs recruitment to proceed "so that as few of the negros as possible shall become chargeable either upon the bounty of Government or the charities of the benevolent, and at the same time to do justice to those who shall enlist ... " Discusses the possibility of equal pay for white and non-white troops. Issued by Davis as Major and Assistant…

GLC00698

April 9, 1857

Dornin, Thomas Aloysius, 1800-1874

Manuscript letter signed

Title: to William McBlair

Enclosing a letter "for the guidance Purser Cunningham" regarding letters of credit and a copy of a letter regarding pay to officers on McBlair's ship, the "Dale."

GLC00722.08

June 16, 1781

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Letter signed

Title: to George Clinton

George Washington asks the New York Governor "whether any ways & means can be devised to procure Money for the payment of the Troops of the New York Line." He describes it as an urgent "matter of...interesting importance." The letter written during the American Revolution.

GLC00683

10 June 1776

Hancock, John, 1737-1793

Autograph document signed

Title: [Resolution to equalize pay of troops]

Resolution of Congress to equalize pay of the troops in the Middle Department with that of those in the Eastern Department. Passed by the Continental Congress in response to George Washington's 8 June 1776 letter stating that Congress had intended such a resolution, but had not yet passed it.

GLC00782.07

16 July 1795

Blount, William, 1749-1800

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Order to pay troops protecting the southwest frontier]

Issues William Rickard, paymaster pro tem for the territory south of the Ohio River, $279 for payment "of a Detachment of Mounted Infantry" in Colonel Isaac Roberts' regiment, under the command of Sergeant John Childress. Pay was for work from 11 October 1794 to 28 October 1794. A note on the front page signed by "Chas. M Clung" indicates that the order was recorded in the secretary's office on 16 July 1795. A note on the verso signed by Rickard confirms his receipt of the money. The docket identifies this as "Warrant / No. 323." With white paper territorial seal

GLC00795

January 31, 1859

Cunningham, John S., ?-1894

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William McBlair

Reporting, at McBlair's request, that $1,568 is "on board to the credit of the government" and $1,450 is due to the "Kroomen" (native crewmen from Liberia) of the ship. Also notes that he requested $6,000 from the flag ship, but received $4,000. Letter written on board the U.S.S. "Dale" while at sea.

GLC00722.47

28 October 1776

Ellsworth, Oliver, 1745-1807

Autograph document signed

Title: [Connecticut document ordering payment for guarding, moving & feeding Continental POW's]

Co-signed by Hartford mayor Thomas Seymour and Connecticut Treasurer John Lawrence. Countersigned by Moses Kimball on verso when he received payment and E. Plummer who audited the payment. Seymour and Ellsworth were members of the Connecticut Committee of Four, also called the Pay-Table, which handled finances for Connecticut during the Revolution. This document provides payment to Moses Kimball for the purchase of saltpetre. Also gives Kimball money to pay Prosper Whitmore for guarding, transporting, and feeding Continental prisoners.

GLC00873

6 May 1775

Ellsworth, Oliver, 1745-1807

Document signed

Title: [Receipt for Brigadier General Joseph Spencer]

Signed by Ellsworth as a member of the Connecticut Pay-table Committee. Co-signed with fellow members William Pitkin, Thomas Seymour, and Ezekiel Williams. To John Laurence, the Treasurer of Connecticut. Receipt is to pay Brigadier General Joseph Spencer 150 pounds, as he is paymaster of the First Company of the Second Regiment that is to be raised in Connecticut. Countersigned by Spencer on verso that he received the money. Marked that it was audited 13 May 1776.

GLC00875

February 18, 1865

Breckinridge, John C. (John Cabell), 1821-1875

Letter signed

Title: to Jefferson Davis

Official report to the president, signed as Confederate secretary of war, tracing the state of the Confederacy's finances from 1861 to the present. He declares that the current abysmal state of the budget, and the consequent inability of the nation to meet its debts, is causing desertion and a decline in civilian morale. "I invite your attention to the condition of this Department in respect to its claim upon the Treasury, and the necessity for prompt attention to that claim...Of the requisitions for 1864 and 1865 there remains unpaid the sum of $161,322,573.45 and besides this the sum of $69…

GLC00915

March 8, 1788

Brearly, David, 1745-1790

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Jonathan Dayton

One future signer of the U.S. Constitution to another. Brearly (also: "Brearley"), writing as Chief Justice of New Jersey, sends Dayton, then a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, a scale (not included) determined by the New Jersey legislature "for making compensation to the Troops for the depreciation of their pay." Docketed by Dayton on otherwise blank integral leaf.

GLC00916

7 June 1790

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Printed document signed

Title: [Joint resolution of congress for paying veterans of the American Revolution]

Signed by Jefferson as Secretary of State.

GLC00953

September 28, 1788

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Polson

Washington replies to a letter from Polson delivered by Captain Samuel Milford, stating that he did not receive a letter Polson claimed to have sent. He reports that all information regarding Polson's land on the Great Kanawha River is communicated through Milford, whose ship remains near Williamsburg, Virginia. Washington suggests that Polson acquire an agent closer to Richmond, Virginia, to handle the matter of the Kanawha land. He expresses ignorance concerning "the Lands which were granted to the Virginia Regiment raised in 1754, after Patents were obtained for them, except those of my…

GLC00967

December 24, 1776

Ward, Henry, 1732-1797

Document signed

Title: [Rhode Island laws]

Signed by Ward as Rhode Island Secretary of State. Printed set of laws passed by the legislature and Nicholas Cooke, Governor of Rhode Island. Second page lists members of the legislature. Each page lists resolutions and laws and each paragraph has a quick summary in a column next to it. Most of the laws and resolutions deal with military issues of the Revolution. Some examples of laws include: appointment of a council of war, regulation of prices of goods, and the raising of three regiments. Most provide for military details, the commissions of officers, and money payments. Document is bound…

GLC00996

April 1862

Wood, Sterling Alexander Martin, 1823-1891

Autograph endorsement signed

Title: [Special requisition for bounty money]

Special requisition for bounty money for the one hundred and twenty six recruits. Lists names of soldiers of the 32nd Regiment, Mississippi Volunteers. Created by Colonel M. P. Laury and approved by Confederate Brigadier General Sterling A. M. Wood.

GLC00807

January 17, 1865

Bryan, Henry, fl. 1865

Autograph manuscript

Title: Memorandum of condition of the Army of Tennessee, Jan. 17/19th 1865

A report on the general condition of Confederate General Stephen D. Lee's corps of the Army of Tennessee. Documents corps, divisions, brigades, number of soldiers, supplies needed by soldiers, health, and general remarks following Confederate losses in the Franklin-Nashville campaign of November-December 1864. Reports on the condition of soldiers under the command of Generals Carter L. Stevenson, Edward Johnson, and Henry D. Clayton. In the "General Remarks" for Clayton's division, states: "they lack confidence in Army commander, which tended to keep back the absentees - would agree to…

GLC00841.01

August 31, 1779

Harrison, Robert H., 1745-1790

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Letter written by Colonel Harrison as secretary to General George Washington to an unknown recipient. References a letter received from the recipient on August 31, 1779. States that his private opinion is that the commissaries and conductors of military stores should not be included in the benefits of the resolve from August 18, unless they come under the description of the officers mentioned in the resolve. Otherwise, every officer in the army might be included under it. Says he has heard that Congress has other regulations under consideration, which will to be better suited than the resolve…

GLC01450.149

circa 1778

Document

Title: [Payment and orders for a Massachusetts regiment]

States that each person enlisted will get two pounds per month. They will march to the heights of Dorchester, Massachusetts to be formed into regiments, and will serve until 1 December 1778 unless discharged sooner. On the reverse is a note stating that the total amount of money to hire men to serve in the army bound for Canada is $287.

GLC01450.129

31 August 1778

Bayard, John Bubenheim, 1738-1807

Document signed

Title: [Receipt for drummers and fifers]

Orders David Rittenhouse to pay Captain William Duffield seven pounds, 19 shillings for obtaining drummers and fifers for his company. On reverse is a note signed by Duffield certifying that he received payment, 11 September 1778. Bayard signed as speaker.

GLC01450.130

7 June 1777

Barnard, John, fl. 1777-1780

Manuscript document signed

Title: Receipt to John Chanioard

Captain Barnard, a commander of a company of Continental soldiers, wrote that he received 120 pounds from Captain Edward Ellis of Middletown to pay soldiers recently enlisted in the Continental Army. Barnard says he is in Samuel Wyllys's regiment. A separate sheet (17.2 x 22.4 cm.) that appears to have been used as an envelope is also included. Miscellaneous figures are added up on both sides of the sheet. Docket on the sheet says he received 120 pounds from Barnard on 29 March 1780.

GLC01450.161