George Washington: "Congress should be pleased to suffer those Men, nonCommissd Officers & Soldiers, to take with them as their own property, & as a Gratuity, the Arms and Accoutrements they now hold“

George Washington to Elias Boudinot, “I must beg the Liberty to suggest to Congress an Idea which has been hinted to me, and which has affected my Mind very forcibly. That is, that at the Discharge of the Men engaged for the War, Congress should be pleased to suffer those Men, nonCommissd Officers & Soldiers, to take with them as their own property, & as a Gratuity, the Arms and Accoutrements they now hold“, April 18, 1783