News

Uncle Henry Wants You

In a directive of early December 1789, Secretary of War Henry Knox informs Captains Burbeck and Savage that each of them is directed to recruit the requisite number of men to complete their two companies. He lists the qualities he requires of new recruits and sets the deadline for the completion of the recruitment effort. He wants “men of the best qualifications for soldiers” and specifies that their companies must be completed by February 1st; i.e., the two captains have only two winter months to recruit the men necessary to fill the quota of forty men for each company.

Knox stresses that the recruits must be “men of the best character for sobriety and honesty.” They must be “well formed in their bodies and limbs–healthy and robust.” They must be at least five feet six inches in height and between the ages of eighteen and forty five years old. He emphasizes that foreigners are not permitted in the Army “unless their characters shall be well-authenticated.” Springfield, Massachusetts is to be the principal rendezvous point for these companies so as soon as twelve men are recruited at any other place, they should be marched immediately to Springfield. As soon as the necessary forty men for each company are assembled, they will then be marched to West Point.

Knox states that he expects weekly returns on the progress of the recruitment effort. He explains that Burbeck and Savage must “use the higest cautions in this business” and if any of the recruits should desert the service, “it will be a reproach to you, as well as a loss to the public.” To ensure that there is no misunderstanding regarding the importance of their mission, Knox states that “candor” forces him to warn that the success or failure of the recruiting effort will affect “the prospects of your continuance in service.”