Revolutionary Era Documents
You can Download for Class
The Society of the Cincinnati is the oldest Revolutionary War lineage society in America. It was founded by George Washington's generals in 1783, before the war had ended. Over the centuries, the society has accumulated a host of documents and letters, many of which have been digitized and are available for your use in your history classes. We have accumulated scores of these documents and make them available here, along with their transcriptions. These documents are unique. You will not find them in any other textbook or website.
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As an example, look at the document below. It is the Loyalty Oath to the United States signed by General Benedict Arnold at Valley Forge on May 30, 1778. It was witnessed by General Henry Knox, Washington's Commander of Artillery, 15 months before Arnold was identified as a traitor to the Cause.
Below is an annotated bibliography of the document collection we have gathered from the Cincinnatti's collection. Choose a document (or document set) of interest and click on the highlighted word(s) to download a digital version (and its transcription) to your computer.
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This part of the site is under construction. To obtain a copy of these documents, email Bill Dwyer at: dwyer245@gmail.com
List of Revolutionary Era Original Documents
From Collections of the American Revolution Institute
Society of the Cincinnati
www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org
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Letter from General Washington to Nathanial Sackett Re: development of spy ring
Feb 4, 1777 letter to Mr. Nathanial Sackett, asking him to become involve in gathering intelligence on the activities of the British army. Sackett trained and mentored Major Benjamin Tallmadge, who eventually replaced him and developed the Culper Ring.
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General Washington’s letter to Mrs. Warren Re: her new poetry book
June 4, 1790 letter to Mrs. Mercy Otis Warren, giving her permission, and thanking her, for dedicating her book of poems to him.
Letter from General Washington to General Knox Re: new sleigh
January 15, 1783 letter to Gen. Knox thanking him for a new sleigh.
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President Washington’s letter to Sec. War, James McHenry
May 29, 1797 letter from President Washington to James McHenry, Secretary of War under President Adams, in which he describes his average day at Mt. Vernon.
General Washington’s 1783 letter to David Rittenhouse Re: his reading glasses
The General thanked Rittenhouse for making his reading glasses, the same ones he mentioned at the beginning of his famous “Newburgh Address" he gave to his officers, dissuading them from marching on Philadelphia to demand their back pay.
Letter from British officer John Gunning to Alexander Dick
Written on July 17, 1775 by a captain of the British army during the siege of Boston, expressing contempt of the Americans "habituated by notions of independence... the same spirit shews itself from Nova Scotia to the Carolinas . . ."
Birge letters to his wife
Five letters written in the fall of 1776 from New York by a soldier to his wife in Connecticut. The sixth letter was written on November 7, 1776 by three of his friends to his wife after he had been killed in the Battle of White Plains.
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Letters from prisoner William Russell to his wife, 1781-1783
Russell was an American privateer who was captured by the British and spent time in an English prison and on the Jersey, the infamous prison ship in New York harbor.
Incarceration warrant for William Russell
Parole paper for William Russell
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Effects list of Major Anthony Morris, killed at Battle of Princeton
January 11, 1777 inventory of the possessions on his body is signed by the attending physician. The list includes Morris’s uniform, shoes, wig, cartridge box, belt, fur cap, mittens, tobacco box, knives and forks, buckles, keys, buttons, flints, watch and seventy-seven dollars. Anthony Morris, Jr., served in the Pennsylvania militia under Col. John Cadwalader. During a charge against the British at the Battle of Princeton, Morris was stabbed in the neck by a bayonet and hit with grapeshot. He was taken to the nearby Thomas Clark house where he died three hours later.
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General Benedict Arnold’s Oath of Allegiance to the United States
May 30, 1778 Oath of Allegiance to the United States, signed by General Arnold at the Artillery Park, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
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General Benedict Arnold’s letter to General Washington, after Arnold’s escape
His plot to turn West Point over to the British was exposed on 25 Sep 1780; Arnold escaped to the British ship, Vulture, in the Hudson River. From there he wrote this letter to General Washington.
Flying Hospital Records after Battle of Brandywine
A page from the 129-page bound manuscript lists more than eight hundred names of soldiers, organized by regiment, who were admitted to the hospital for treatment on September 16, 1777—five days after the Battle of Brandywine. The volume continues with a more detailed register that includes names, date of admission, company, diseases and reason for discharge (fit for duty, desertion or death) for some 679 soldiers admitted for treatment between November 1777 and early January 1778.
Return of “the Corps Foote” to Wyoming after Sullivan Expedition
A 21 Oct 1779 list of 43 officers and men returning to Wyoming (Pennsylvania) after service during the Sullivan Expedition against the Iroquois in what is now Upstate New York.
Black soldier pay statement
Dick Freedom and Cuff Liberty were soldiers in the all-black Second Company of the 4th Connecticut Regiment. This 7 Jun 1782 statement from the “Pay-Table-Committee authorizing a payment to Dick Freedom of 32 pounds, 10 shillings and 2 pence. The statement was signed for by Cuff Liberty. “Freedom” and “Liberty” were aspirational, patriotic names the two men adopted, during their service
Letter from Lt. Col. John Laurens to General Nathanael Greene
March 1782 letter to Maj. Gen. Greene in which he recommends advancing the American positions to more closely engage with the enemy and suggests strengthening their front by building new works that could be "performed altogether by blacks." He laments the lack of arms and clothing among the American troops, and he reports on the successful capture of a British schooner by a Captain Rudolph. Lt. Col. John Laurens joined the army as an aide-de-camp to General Washington in 1777. He was an opponent of slavery and an advocate of allowing slaves to earn their freedom by fighting as soldiers in the revolutionary war.
Letter from General Knox to John Hancock Re: disabled veteran officers
October 1782 letter in which Knox asks John Hancock if the government could help Artillery officers who were disabled from wounds, specifically a Capt. Flewman.
Letter from Lafayette regarding Lt. Col. John Laurens
Soon after his return to France from his grand tour of the United States in 1824-1825, Lafayette wrote this memoir of his former comrade-in-arms Lt. Col. John Laurens of South Carolina, who was killed in action at Combahee River in 1782.
Capt. Ebenezer Smith Orderly Book, 2nd Massachusetts Regt.
Continental Army orderly book kept by Cpt. Ebenezer Smith of the 2nd Massachusetts Regiment, for March-November 1783 at Newburg and West Point, NY. The entries include an account of Washington’s reaction to the “Newburgh Conspiracy” and Washington’s last day at West Point as he left to meet the Mayor of New York to discuss details for the end of the British occupation of the city.