On this day in 1782, George Washington humorously lays the guilt on thick while waiting for answers about funding and maintaining troop levels prior to the final peace treaty ending the Revolutionary War. His highly personal letter to Dr. James McHenry shows a glimpse of the man behind the otherwise stolid image.

McHenry served as Washington’s secretary from 1778 to 1780 as a volunteer without rank or pay. Their friendship remained strong even after McHenry left to become aide-de-camp to the Marquis de Lafayette.

Read this letter, written 230 years ago today . . .