Books and Manuscripts

General George Washington Discharges a Seven-Year Veteran of the Revolution from the Storied 1st New York Regiment

(Newburgh, New York), June 12, 1783. One sheet, 11 x 8 1/4 in. (279 x 209 mm). Partially-printed military discharge, accomplished in a secretarial hand, and signed by George Washington as Commander of the Continental Army, for "Thomas Gregg Private in the first New York--Regiment, having faithfully served in the United States seven years and being inlisted for the War only, is hereby Discharged from the American Army."; counter-signed by aide-de-camp J(onathan) Trumbull, Jr., and the recording adjutant; docketed on verso. Creasing from contemporary folds; edges lights worn; large sections of browning, but not affecting Washington's signature.

A handsome Washington-signed military discharge. Thomas Gregg enlisted sometime in 1776, and served for the duration of the war under Colonel Goose Van Schiak in the storied 1st Regiment of the New York Line, in the Continental Army. The 1st Regiment saw action throughout the entirety of the war and fought in some of its most critical battles, including the Invasion of Canada, the Battles of Valcour Island, Saratoga, and Monmouth, the Sullivan Expedition, and the pivotal Battle of Yorktown. Upon his enlistment Gregg was likely assigned to the Northern Department in Albany when the 1st was sent there in 1776, and it is possible that he took part in the failed Canadian Campaign and the Battle of Valcour Island. In the winter of 1777 the 1st New York was assigned to George Washington's army and spent the brutal winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge. Throughout 1778, they served in various capacities attached to Washington's Continental Army, including fighting around Philadelphia and Monmouth, New Jersey. In the winter of 1778 they were reassigned to the frontier post at Fort Stanwix in New York, where they conducted raids as part of the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition against British-aligned Native Americans. They remained at the fort through the summer of 1781, when due to its deteriorating condition, Washington ordered them to rejoin the Northern Department in Albany. In 1781 the 1st was consolidated with the 3rd New York Regiment, fought at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, where they were instrumental in causing the British surrender. Following Yorktown, in March 1782, the Continental Army, including the 1st, established headquarters in Newburgh, New York, where they were furloughed on June 2, 1783, and disbanded that November.