Boston: Washington Takes Command, July-August 1775

16. General Orders Regarding Sick Leave

Washington, George. George Washington Papers, Series 3, Varick Transcripts, -1785, Subseries 3G, General Orders, -1783, Letterbook 1: July 3,- Sept. 30, 1776. August 8, 1775, 1775. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Library of Congress.

Washington, George. George Washington Papers, Series 3, Varick Transcripts, -1785, Subseries 3G, General Orders, -1783, Letterbook 1: July 3,- Sept. 30, 1776. August 8, 1775, 1775. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Library of Congress.

Complete ax with triangular eye. Poll is split. Object ID 2017.B.64.611. Courtesy of The Fort Museum Collection.

Complete ax with triangular eye. Poll is split. Object ID 2017.B.64.611. Courtesy of The Fort Museum Collection.

Complete ax with triangular eye. Poll is split. Object ID 2017.B.64.611. Courtesy of The Fort Museum Collection.

Complete ax with triangular eye. Poll is split. Object ID 2017.B.64.611. Courtesy of The Fort Museum Collection.

Seeing some officers abuse the dispensation of sick leave, Washington instructed his officers to permit furloughs only when truly necessary.

"As the number of absent Sick by the last returns, are astonishingly great; it is ordered that the Names of each man (absent under that pretence) be given in by the Commanding Officer of each Regiment, and signed by him; setting forth the Town which each particular soldier is gone to, that the Committee thereof may be applied to, to inspect into the Nature of their Complaints, and make report of those, who are fit for duty. It has been intimated to the General, that some Officers, under pretence of giving Furloughs to Men, recovering from Sickness, send them to work upon their Farms, for their own private Emolument, at the same time, that the public is taxed with their pay, if not with their provisions . . . the General is unwilling to believe, that any Officer can be so lost to all Sense of honour as to defraud the public in so scandalous a Manner."

George Washington, General Orders, 8 August 1775
Sources
  • founders.archives.gov

  • https://history.army.mil/Publications/Publications-Catalog/The-Canadian-Campaign/