Autograph letter signed by George Washington
WASHINGTON, George (1732-1799). Autograph letter signed ("Go:Washington") to David Stuart, Philadelphia, 7 March 1792. One page, (235 x 197mm) bifolium, addressed in his hand on the integral transmittal leaf (partial fold separations, seal tear loss and weak fold toned from early paper repair, uneven toning).
Washington hurriedly begs for additional time to reply to David Stuart, one of the commissioners surveying the District of Columbia, who had written him a lengthy complaint on the erratic conduct of Pierre L'Enfant. En route from Mount Vernon to Philadelphia, Washington responds to a lengthy missive concerning the erratic and tempestuous conduct of Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant, who had been personally recommended by Washington to design the permanent seat of government on the Potomac River. Stuart, one of the three commissioners chosen to survey and manage the construction of the new capital city, wrote Washington on the 26th February, complaining that, "...Major L’Enfant’s conduct, and his Deputy’s has (as you have been informed) embarrassed us much – On a review of ours towards him, I cannot conceive, he could have found any three men more disposed to cooperate harmoniously with him – We were induced to this, not only by our zeal for the work, in which we were engaged, but our high respect to your good opinion of him – But, it appears to me at present, that our efforts in this way, have only tended to heighten his ideas of his own importance, and to increase his natural perversity..." (Stuart to GW, 26 February 1792, Papers of George Washington Digital Edition, 2008).
To this Washington replied, "By the Post on Friday– which in its usual course will reach Georgetown on Monday, - I will write you (if I can) more fully. –I am exceedingly pressed with matters at present.– this letter is only intended to acknowledge the receipt of yours of the 26th Ulto and to assure you of the sincere esteem & regard with which I am - Dear Sir..." Following his arrival in Philadelphia the next day, Washington obliged Stuart with a lengthier reply, concluding that it was high time to relieve L'Enfant of his duties (GW to Stuart, 8 March 1792, Ibid.) Unbeknownst to Washington, Thomas Jefferson, who had been overseeing the project, had written to L'Enfant on 27 February from Philadelphia, bluntly informing the Frenchman that because he had been unwilling to obey the authority of the commissioners, "your services must be at an end" (Jefferson to L'Enfant, 27 February 1792, Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition,2008-2017). Not published in Fitzpatrick.