Fort Washington January 1^st 1795 Sir I am highly gratified by the receipt of your letters, public and private, of the 4.^th and 5.^th ultimo, which reached my hand on Christmas day — You will naturally believe, that Sensations of Singular pleasure, have been excited in my breast, by this annunciation of the Sentiments of the President, in a case which deeply interested my Honor and my repose — And to you Sir, my warmest acknowledgements are due, for the polite and friendly terms, in which you have been pleased to make the Communication — I have long waited in anxious Solicitude, for the Presidential decision on my my requisitions & Statements of the 30.^th of June, which had rendered my Situation a delicate one, and highly interesting: I am now amply compensated for my inquietude, by the justice and Wisdom of the award; and I feel Conscious, that So long as my conduct is conformed to the inclinations of the executive, that it will be approbated by the Virtuous, and remain invulnerable to the Shafts of Malevolence. — I unfeighnedly believe, that the wishes of the President of the United States, are as safe for my Guidance, as any Law in morals, and it follows, that no Suggestions of Conciliation could spring from Him, to leave my honor dubious — It is therefore Sir, and from these considerations only, that I consign the past to oblivion and make a peace offering, to the New Year, of my dissaffection, my Mortifications & reprehension — To these motives of dutifue respect to the inclinations of the President, paramount to all others, might be added, the present Circumstances of the Legion, dispersed in such extent, by furloughs, Patrols, & detachments, as to render the assembly of the Officers, essential to the inquiry, or the prosecution difficult, dilatory, and manifestly injurious to the public Service; the Grave too has robbed me in the persons of Major M^c Mahon and M^r Robert Elliot, of much important testimony; yet Sir, I stood prepared for the conflict, and the specific acts of misrule embraced by the General Charges alledged against Major Gen^l Wayne had been committed to paper anterior to the Commencement of the Campaign — But Sir, whilst I avow my preparations & my readiness for a Candid inquiry, I can most conscientiously declare to to you, that no man possesses a stronger indisposition to controversy, than myself, I abhor discord from whatever Source, because it imbitters every hope, & blasts every day; it is the mortal foe of human happiness, wayslays every generous Sentiment, and robs it of its Commission — If I know myself, my Country cannot boast an officer more Solicitous to guard the profession of Arms, from the pollutions of dishonor or to enlarge the boundaries of Friendship — The Scene which, at my Sole instance, ensued in the Cantonment of Greenville on the 3.^d of November when at the head of the Officers of the Army, I waited on the General, and in their behalf complimented & Congratulated him, on his success & personal good health, is an illustration of the Sentiments which I cherish — My Lips are now Sealed; my Pen is dismissed from depicting well founded grievances and I implore Heaven, that the painfull office may never more be forced upon me — with high consideration, & great respect — I have the Honor to be Sir Your most Obed.^t Humble Serv.^t [undecipherable: probable reading: J. Wilkinson] Major Gen^l Knox