As scenes of heroism go, it was an odd one. In the third week of July, 1776, only days after Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, His Excellency General George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, was involved in a fastidious exchange with his British counterpart, Lord Richard Howe. On July 14th, as the Royal Navy sent ship after ship into New York Harbor, Howe dispatched a young lieutenant, Philip Brown, with a letter addressed to “George Washington, Esq.” Brown arrived on Manhattan Island under a flag of truce, and on the shore to meet him were three of Washington’s most trusted officers. Hearing that he had brought a letter from “Lord Howe to Mr. Washington,” they rebuffed him, declaring that there was “no person in our army with that address.” Three days later, Howe’s emissary returned with a new copy of the letter—this one addressed to “George Washington, Esq., etc., etc.”—only to receive the same rebuff.
Finally, Howe sent to inquire whether General Washington would agree to receive a new emissary, Lieutenant Colonel James Paterson. The emissary was escorted to Washington’s headquarters, at No. 1 Broadway, for an “interview” conducted with all the crisp formality of eighteenth-century military life. After an exchange of pleasantries, Paterson placed on the table before Washington the same letter that his men had rejected only days earlier. Washington refused to acknowledge it. Hoping to move the conversation along, Paterson pointed out that the “etc., etc.” implied everything that might follow. Yes, it does, Washington replied, “and anything.”
