WASHINGTON, GEORGE. 1732-1799.
Document Signed ("Go: Washington"), partially printed and accomplished in manuscript, 1 p, 4to, Headquarters, June 9, 1783, the military discharge issued to Anthony Bremer, a fifer in the 2nd New York Artillery Regiment, also signed by Jonathon Trumbull Jr, additional printed text on verso explaining that the discharge is not permanent until the peace treaty is ratified, extensive docketing to verso, mild to moderate toning and spotting, vertical creases professionally reinforced on the verso, leaf tipped at left margin to mount.
A fine example of a Continental Army discharge signed by Washington, this example issued to a fifer in the 2nd New York Artillery regiment. A notice in a 1781 issue of the Pennsylvania Gazette indicates that young Bremer deserted his unit in that year (the officer in charge offered a bounty of $20 for the return of Bremer and others). Washington, however, was famously lenient toward deserters, knowing full well that they suffered from deprivations and lack of pay. Bremer must have returned to his unit, and, as this document attests, was honorably discharged at the end of the war. The notations and dockets on the verso indicate that the discharge was used by Bremer to collect a land grant, among other legal purposes.