Washington's ''aides-de-camp'' during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

were officers of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

appointed to serve on General

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

's headquarters staff, with the rank of lieutenant colonel. The headquarters staff also included one military secretary, a full

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

. Washington had a small number of ''aides-de-camp'' at any given time, with relatively frequent turnover. A total of 32 men were appointed to these positions, and served between July 4, 1775, and December 23, 1783. Other people worked as volunteer aides or assistants, and helped with office duties when needed.

Headquarters staff

The

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was the meetings of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, which established American independence ...

unanimously elected George Washington to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army on June 15, 1775. He traveled to

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, and took command of the siege of Boston on July 3. His headquarters staff initially consisted of his military secretary, Joseph Reed, and one '' aide-de-camp'',

Thomas Mifflin Thomas Mifflin (January 10, 1744January 20, 1800) was an American merchant, soldier, and politician from Pennsylvania, who is regarded as a Founding Father of the United States for his roles during and after the American Revolution. Mifflin sig ...

. The responsibilities of the headquarters staff included managing Washington's military correspondence, making copies of each day's General Orders (to be distributed to the commanding officer at each military post), and making copies of individual orders. The 19-year-old artist

John Trumbull John Trumbull (June 6, 1756 – November 10, 1843) was an American painter and military officer best known for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Revolut ...

, who was skilled at drawing maps, was appointed an ''aide-de-camp'' on July 27, and served three weeks before being transferred. The

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

authorized one military secretary and three ''aides-de-camp'' for the commander-in-chief, but this number soon proved insufficient. Washington's pleas for Congress to authorize two additional aides were ignored, so he augmented his staff with volunteers. Six ''aides-de-camp'', George Baylor, Edmund Randolph, Robert Hanson Harrison, George Lewis,

Stephen Moylan Stephen Moylan (1737 – April 11, 1811) was an Irish-American patriot leader during the American Revolutionary War. He had several positions in the Continental Army, including Muster-Master General, Secretary and Aide to General George Washin ...

, William Palfrey, were appointed by Washington between August 1775 and March 1776, some replacing predecessors who had been transferred. Finally, in January 1778, Congress granted the commander-in-chief the power to appoint headquarters staff as he saw fit. The military secretary held the rank of

in the

, with a monthly pay of $66 in 1775 (equivalent to about $2,050 in 2018). The ''aides-de-camp'' held the rank of lieutenant colonel, with a monthly pay of $33 in 1775 (equivalent to about $1,025 in 2018). The ''aides-de-camp'' wore a green riband across their chests as a rank insignia. Washington referred to the headquarters staff as "my family." Some were the sons of his friends and relatives, but above all he valued talent:

The Secretaries and Aid De Camps to the Commander in chief ought not to be confined to the line for plain and obvious reasons. The number which the nature and extent of his business require, in addition to the many drawn from the line to fill the different offices of the staff, when it is considered, that they ought all to be men of abilities, may seem too large a draft upon the line. But a consideration still more forcible is, that in a service so complex as ours, it would be wrong and detrimental to restrict the choice; the vast diversity of objects, occurrences and correspondencies, unknown in one more regular and less diffusive; constantly calling for talents and abilities of the first rate, men who possess them, ought to be taken, wherever they can be found.

On the battlefield, the ''aides-de-camp'' were

courier A courier is a person or organization that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

s, delivering Washington's orders on horseback and gathering or relaying intelligence on enemy troop movement. Samuel Blachley Webb was wounded at the October 28, 1776, Battle of White Plains and at the December 26, 1776, Battle of Trenton. John Fitzgerald and John Laurens were both wounded at the June 28, 1778, Battle of Monmouth, where

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

's horse was shot from under him. George Johnston served barely four months, before dying of disease at the Morristown headquarters.

Tench Tilghman Tench Tilghman (, December 25, 1744April 18, 1786) was an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He served as an aide-de-camp to General (United States), General George Washington, achieving the Military rank, rank ...

served longer than any other ''aide-de-camp'': more than seven years, about half of it as a volunteer. The commander-in-chief's headquarters staff was disbanded on December 23, 1783, when General Washington resigned his commission to the Second Continental Congress, which was then meeting at

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. Aides David Humphreys, David Cobb, and Benjamin Walker escorted him to and from the ceremony. Many members of Washington's headquarters staff earned his trust and friendship and some later served in his presidential administration.

Additional aides

In 1906, Worthington Chauncey Ford, chief of the Manuscripts Division at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, published a list of Washington's 32 military secretaries and ''aides-de-camp''. He added Martha Washington as number 33, acknowledging her unofficial clerical help at Washington's headquarters. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr., former editor of ''The Papers of George Washington: Revolutionary War Series'', adds to the list Washington's nephew, George Augustine Washington—a volunteer aide from September 1779 to May 1781, and from December 1781 to May 1782.

Military secretaries

* Joseph Reed (1741–1785) – Served as Gen. Washington's military secretary from June 19 to October 30, 1775. He took leave to prepare a case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Reed rejoined the Continental Army on June 16, 1776, as Adjutant General. *

(1737–1811) – Served as Muster Master General from August 14 to November 1775; and as Gen. Washington's acting-military secretary (in Joseph Reed's absence) from November 1775 to May 1776. He served as a Washington ''aide-de-camp'' from March 6 to June 5, 1776, and as a volunteer aide from September 28, 1776, to January 1777. * Robert Hanson Harrison (1745–1790) – Served as Gen. Washington's military secretary from May 16, 1776 to March 25, 1781. He had served as a Washington ''aide-de-camp'' from November 1775 to May 1776. * Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. (1740–1809) – Served as Gen. Washington's military secretary from June 8, 1781 to December 23, 1783.

Appointed ''aides-de-camp''

* Hodijah Baylies (1756–1842) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from May 14, 1782 to December 23, 1783. He had graduated Harvard in 1777, was commissioned a lieutenant in Jackson's Additional Continental Regiment, appointed as ''aide-de-camp'' to General Benjamin Lincoln, and was promoted to major. He was captured by the British at the siege of Charleston. Exchanged in November 1780, he returned to Harvard for a master of arts degree. * George Baylor (1752–1784) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from August 15, 1775 to January 1, 1777. * Richard Cary (1746–1806) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from June 21 to December 1776. He was written about kindly by Congressman John Adams to another Massachusetts delegate, William Tudor, judge advocate to the Continental Army, and was appointed a brigade major. Cary resigned to get married. * Dr. David Cobb (1748–1830)– Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from June 15, 1781 to January 1783, and from June to December 23, 1783. * Col. John Fitzgerald (d. 1799) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from November 1776 to July 1778. Wounded at the June 28, 1778 Battle of Monmouth, he retired from the Continental Army. * Peregrine Fitzhugh (1759–1811) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from July 2 to October 1781. * Capt. Caleb Gibbs (1748–1818) – Commander of Washington's life-guard, he managed the headquarters household accounts from May 16, 1776, to the end of 1780, and served as a supplemental ''aide-de-camp''. * Col.

William Grayson William Grayson (1742 – March 12, 1790) was a planter, lawyer and statesman from Virginia. After leading a Virginia regiment in the Continental Army, Grayson served in the Virginia House of Delegates before becoming one of the first two U ...

(1740–1790) – Served as Gen. Washington's assistant secretary from July to August 1776, and served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from August 24, 1776 to January 11, 1777. *

(1757–1804) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from March 1, 1777 to April 1781. * Alexander Contee Hanson (1749–1806) – Served as Gen. Washington's assistant secretary from June 21 to September 1776. * Robert Hanson Harrison (1745–1790) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from November 6, 1775 to May 16, 1776, and as Gen. Washington's military secretary from May 16, 1776 to March 25, 1781. * David Humphreys (1752–1818) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from June 23, 1780 to December 23, 1783. After the war, he was private secretary to Washington at Mount Vernon, and secretary to President Washington in New York City, 1789–90. * George Johnston, Jr. (1750–1777) – Major in the 5th Virginia Regiment; appointed an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington on January 20, 1777; died of disease at Morristown, New Jersey, May 29, 1777. * John Laurens (1754–1782) – Served as volunteer aide from August 9 to September 6, 1777, when he was appointed an extra ''aide-de-camp''. He was officially appointed ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington on October 6, 1777, and held that position until March 29, 1779, when Congress commissioned him to travel home to South Carolina and attempt to recruit a regiment of slaves. On behalf of the United States, Laurens traveled to Europe and negotiated a 10 million-livre loan from the Netherlands, to be guaranteed by France. He returned to the United States in September 1781, rejoined General Washington at the siege of Yorktown, and helped to negotiate the surrender of British General Cornwallis. He returned to South Carolina in November 1781, and died nine months later in the Battle of the Combahee River. * George Lewis (1757–1821) – Gen. Washington's nephew. A volunteer aide from November 1775 to December 1776. Appointed a lieutenant in the commander-in-chief's life guards in May 1776, he transferred to the 2nd Continental Dragoons in December 1776. * Dr. James McHenry (1753–1816) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from May 15, 1778, to August 1780. An Irish-born Philadelphia medical student, he served as a surgeon early in the war. Left to join the staff of the Marquis de Lafayette. * Richard Kidder Meade (1746–1805) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from March 12, 1777, to November 1780; supervised the October 2, 1780 execution of British Major John André. *

(1744–1800) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from June 19 to August 14, 1775, when he was promoted to Quartermaster General. *

(1737–1811) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from March 6, 1776, to June 5, 1776, and as a volunteer aide from September 28, 1776, to January 1777. * William Palfrey (1741–1780) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from March 6 to April 1776. * Pierre Penet (d. 1812) – A French merchant who had supplied arms and

materiel Materiel or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commerce, commercial supply chain management, supply chain context. Military In a military context, ...

, 1775–76. On Washington's recommendation, Congress confirmed him as a brevet ''aide-de-camp'' (October 14, 1776). Penet served from October 1776 to January 1783. * Edmund Randolph (1753–1813) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from August 15 to November 2, 1775. * Col. William Stephens Smith (1755–1816) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from July 6, 1781, to June 1782. * Peter Presley Thornton (1750–1780) – A volunteer aide, August–September 1777; served as an extra ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from September 6, 1777 to nknown *

(1744–1786) – A Maryland militiaman who spoke fluent French, he served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington for more than 7 years (longer than anyone else). A volunteer aide from August 8, 1776, to June 21, 1780, Washington confirmed his special status in General Orders. He was appointed an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington on June 21, 1780 and served until November 1783. On June 5, 1781, at Washington's request, Congress awarded Tilghman the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, dating his military commission retroactively to April 1, 1777. *

(1756–1843) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from July 27 to August 15, 1775. * Richard Varick (1753–1831) – Served as Gen. Washington's aide-de-camp and private secretary from May 25, 1781, to mid-December 1783. Hired after Congress approved Washington's request to have a team specifically designed to organize and catalogue and compose all of his correspondence, Varick was personally hired by Washington to lead that team. He would go on to serve at Mayor of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

for eleven years. * Benjamin Walker (1753–1818) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from January 25, 1782, to December 23, 1783. * John Walker (1744–1809) – Served as a Washington ''aide-de-camp'', February 19 to March 1777. * Samuel Blachley Webb (1753–1807) – Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Israel Putnam, and was wounded at Bunker Hill. Served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington from June 21, 1776 to January 11, 1777, during which he was wounded at White Plains, and Trenton. On January 11, 1777, Washington appointed him commander of a new Connecticut regiment, Webb's Additional Continental Regiment. In December 1777, Webb was captured by the British and held prisoner for three years.

Volunteer aides

* George Augustine Washington (1759–1793) – Gen. Washington's nephew. A volunteer aide from September 1779 to May 1781, and from December 1781 to May 1782. Estate manager at Mount Vernon, 1780s-1793. *

John Parke Custis John Parke Custis (November 27, 1754 – November 5, 1781) was an American planter class, planter and politician. Custis was a son of Martha Washington, Martha Dandridge Custis (later Washington) and Daniel Parke Custis, and later, the stepson o ...

(1754–1781) – Gen. Washington's step-son. A volunteer aide from October to November 1781, including during the siege of Yorktown. Died of camp fever, November 5, 1781.

Possible aides

* Peter Bowman (1761–1835) – "Among the graves of distinguished Revolutionary War soldiers in Onondaga County ew Yorkis that of Peter Bowman, an aide of Gen. George Washington, who is buried in Belle Isle Cemetery." * John Hopwood (1745–1802) – Family tradition holds that Hopwood was an aide to Gen. Washington. * Ebenezer Mann – "Dr. Ebenezer Mann was a Brigade Surgeon at the Battle of Monmouth and Yorktown." * Albert Pawling (1750–1837) – A family history claims he was an ''aide-de-camp'' to Gen. Washington. Major Albert Pawling was an officer in Malcolm's Additional Continental Regiment, and tendered his resignation on February 25, 1779. Washington tried to persuade him to reconsider, but was unsuccessful. * Mathias Swartzel (1739 - 1820) identified as "Adj. to General Washington" on his grave marker.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington's aides-de-camp