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[Revolutionary War]. George Washington Signed Military Dis...

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[Revolutionary War]. George Washington Signed Military Discharge. One partially printed page, recto and verso, 6.75" x 9.5" (sight), Head-Quarters [Newburgh, New York]; June 8, 1783. The document reads in part: "THESE are to CERTIFY that the Bearer hereof Caleb Cornwall Private in the first New York Regiment, having faithfully served the United States Seven Years and being inlisted for the War only, is hereby DISCHARGED from the American Army..." Signed as Commander of the Continental Army, "Go: Washington." Countersigned by Jonathan Trumbull Jr. Matted, framed and double-glazed with a plaque to an overall size of 14.75" x 17.5".

On April 19, 1783, from his headquarters at Newburgh, General Washington issued an order for the cessation of hostilities which served as a formal end to the fighting (though there had been virtually no military action in the colonies since the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown eighteen months earlier). Newburgh served as the headquarters of the Continental Army from March, 1782, until its disbandment in late 1783 and would be the sight of many important actions by Washington that would shape the newly founded republic including: his refusal to become king; his diffusion of the Newburgh Conspiracy, whereby a group of disenchanted officers planned to overthrow the government; the creation of the Badge of Military Merit, the predecessor of today's Purple Heart; and the site where the general penned a letter to the governors of the separate States that would have an influence over the writing of the Constitution.

Condition: Paper loss at folds with professional archival repair on verso. One fold crosses the signature. Staining on corners due to mounting residue. Rubbed and toned from age with some minor staining.

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April

30th Friday

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May

19th Wednesday

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