DS, signed “Go: Washington,” one page, 8.25 x 13.5, June 9, 1783. A military discharge for “Peter Shumway, Soldier in the Fourth Masstt Regiment.” Signed in the middle of the document in ink by Washington and countersigned by John Trumbull and Adjutant John Davis, who awards Shumway the Badge of Merit for “six years faithful service.” Printed on the reverse of the document is a statement reading, “The within certificate shall not avail the Bearer as a Discharge, until the ratification of the definitive Treaty of Peace; previous to which Time, and until Proclamation thereof shall be made, He is to be considered as being on Furlough.”
The Badge of Military Merit was first announced in General George Washington's general orders to the Continental Army issued in August of 1782 at the Headquarters in Newburgh. Designed by Washington in the form of a purple heart, it was intended as a military order for soldiers who exhibited, “not only instances of unusual gallantry in battle, but also extraordinary fidelity and essential service in any way.” The 4th Massachusetts Regiment also known as 3rd Continental Regiment was raised on April 23, 1775, under Colonel Ebenezer Learned outside of Boston, Massachusetts. The regiment would see action at the Battle of Bunker Hill, New York Campaign, Battle of Trenton, Battle of Princeton, Battle of Saratoga, Battle of Monmouth, and the Battle of Rhode Island. The regiment was disbanded on November 3, 1783. On April 18 of the same year, Washington issued general orders announcing the “Cessation of Hostilities between the United States of America and the King of Great Britain”; the Treaty of Paris, which marked the formal conclusion of the war, was signed on September 3. Washington made his famous farewell to his troops and resigned his commission in the following December. In good condition, with some paper loss at junctions of fragile intersecting storage folds, a few professional repairs to folds at bottom (made on the reverse), single tack holes to each corner, light staining, including over signature, and Washington’s signature a shade or two light, but still completely legible.
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