At the De Wint House in Orangetown (now Tappan), NY on August 9, 1780, General George Washington considered Esther Reed’s proposal: shirts and two silver dollars for each Continental soldier. Her gesture was patriotic and tender. But Washington hesitated. The hard currency, he feared, might breed resentment among troops paid in depreciated paper—or be spent on drink. His reply, dated the next day, reveals a commander caught between gratitude and caution, generosity and discipline.
Washington’s letter to Reed is dated August 10, 1780, but his presence at the De Wint House on August 9 suggests the concerns were likely deliberated then. See George Washington Day by Day, p. 117.
The high-stakes friction surrounding Reed’s generous offer highlights the precarious state of the Continental Army during the summer of 1780. Earlier that year, multiple regiments had mutinied over a total lack of supplies, worthless paper currency, and near-starvation. While Reed and the Ladies Association of Philadelphia envisioned the hard silver coins as a direct, morale-boosting gift from the women of America, Washington knew that introducing real silver to a fractured, unpaid army would instantly ignite jealousy among the various regiments. He ultimately convinced Reed to use the funds exclusively to purchase linen and sew shirts, transforming an explosive political gamble into a practical, uniform gift of comfort that clothed an army without disrupting military discipline.
Image: De Wint House, Livingston Avenue and Oak Tree Road, Tappan, Rockland County, NY
