It is indispensable that the routine of promotion shall henceforth prevail...
Document 1799Hamilton explains the rules of promotion as applied to specific situations. He worries that if the rules are not followed diligently, morale among subordinate officers may deteriorate. The practice of appointing new men to fill vacancies created by the refusal of officers appointed to them ought to be avoided.
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Type
Autograph Draft Document
Description
Hamilton explains the rules of promotion as applied to specific situations. He worries that if the rules are not followed diligently, morale among subordinate officers may deteriorate. The practice of appointing new men to fill vacancies created by the refusal of officers appointed to them ought to be avoided.
Date
09/19/1799
Author
Recipient
Sent from
New York
Collection
Document number
1799091940000
Note
Cited in Hamilton to Bentley, 09/18/1799. (Syrett listed this document in the Appendix to vol. 23.)
Notable persons
James McHenry
Alexander Hamilton
Colonel William C. Bentley
Notable locations
New York
Headquarters
Notable items
late appointments for [Bentley's] regiment
filling of vacanies in new corps
seeds of discontent in the infancy of every corps
poition of the Commander in Chief [Washington]
in the case of a newly created corps [when] an officer decines his appointment...the vacancy is not necessarily to be filled by the next in seniority
[officers'] pride and self-love
violation of the principles of service and of the just expectations of subordinate officers
want of a settlement of relative rank of them
appointment...of a new person in the place of one designated to an office in the regimental staff...is not warranted by the rule
the practice of introducing new men to vacancies occasioned by the non-acceptance of officers in the original appointment ought not...to be continued
a reasonable period should be fixed within which acceptances may with due diligence be ascertained
it is indispensable that the routine of promotion shall henceforth prevail
militry prejudices are not only inseparable from but they are essential to the miitary profession