Washington, George, First President

Autograph letter signed (G:^{o Washington"), 2 pages bifolium (9 x 7 1/4 in.; 229 x 185 mm), Mount Vernon ("in Virginia"), 2 June 1784, to Edward Newenham, Ireland, being a letter of recommendation written on behalf of his former aide-de-camp, Colonel David Humphreys, separate address leaf; traces of glue near center fold of integral blank leaf, one split along center fold, traces of Washington's seal on address leaf.}  

Dr. Gilbert C. Norton

Papers of George Washington, Confederate Series, 1:418, n.2

Autograph letter signed (G:o Washington"), 2 pages bifolium (9 x 7 1/4 in.; 229 x 185 mm), Mount Vernon ("in Virginia"), 2 June 1784, to Edward Newenham, Ireland, being a letter of recommendation written on behalf of his former aide-de-camp, Colonel David Humphreys, separate address leaf; traces of glue near center fold of integral blank leaf, one split along cente fold, traces of Washington's seal on address leaf.
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"This gentleman is a particular friend of mine, and until I resigned my military appointment was one of my aid de camps. He has been uniformly a friend to the rights of Mankind."

A warm letter of introduction for Washington's former aide-de-camp, David Humphreys. To Sir Edward Newenham of Ireland, Washington writes: "This gentleman is a particular friend of mine, and until I resigned my military appointment was one of my aid de camps. He has been uniformly a friend to the rights of Mankind. He possesses in an eminent degree the social virtues.—and is a man of integrity and worth.—as such I take the liberty of recommending him to your civilities if chance, or a visit to Ireland, should throw him in your way."

Humphreys enlisted in the Continental Army as a volunteer adjutant in the 2nd Connecticut Regiment in July 1776. He participated in the famous raid on Sag Harbor, New York, in 1777 and was detailed to report the success of the Americans to General Washington in New Jersey.  It was probably their first meeting.  He became a brigade major in the 1st Connecticut under General Samuel Parsons in 1778 and later served as an aide to Generals Putnam and Greene.  In 1780 he was appointed a lieutenant colonel and aide-de-camp to Washington. He remained in Washington's "family" until the end of the war. After the Battle of Yorktown, Washington entrusted the surrendered British colors, along with the General's report on the battle, to Humphreys for delivery to Congress. Humphreys along with Washington's other aide, Tench Tilghman, accompanied him when he resigned his commission to Congress.

As Washington explains to Newenham in this letter, Humphreys was appointed a commission to negotiate treaties of commerce with European nations. Other members of the commission included John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. Edward Newenham (1732-1814) was one of the leading radical figures in late eighteenth-century Irish parliamentary politics. He supported the American cause during the American Revolution and rendered substantial assistance to American prisoners held in Ireland during the war (Report of John Jay to Congress, 10 January 1787, DNA:PCC, item 5). When news of the death of General Montgomery reached him, he appeared in Parliament in deep mourning, "deeper even," he said, "than for my own brother." Newenham became a regular correspondent of George Washington in 1781, occasionally sending him books and newspapers from Ireland as well as accounts of political affairs in Europe.