Received one quarter Cask wine from Jeremiah Wadsworth Esqr Commsy Genrl By the hands of Colo. Biddle for the Use of is Excellency the Commander in Chief.

Manuscript receipt for delivery of wine to General George Washington. "Head Quarters [Wallace House, Middlebrook, New Jersey] 22d May 1779." Signed "C Gibbs" by Caleb Gibbs as Master Commander of the Commander-in-Chief's Guard. 1p, 7 3/8 x 6 in. Docketed to verso.

In March 1776, Caleb Gibbs (1748-1818) was appointed the first commander of the Commander-in-Chief's Guard, the elite unit of approximately 180 men that protected General George Washington during the Revolutionary War. Washington personally picked Gibbs to command his newly established personal guard, which bore the unofficial moniker the "Life Guard." Born in Newport, Rhode Island, and a settler of Marblehead, Massachusetts, Gibbs worked with the Sons of Liberty to smuggle supplies into the blockaded city of Boston, was a captain in the 14th Massachusetts Regiment, and marched to Lexington and Concord for the Alarm of April 1775. His regiment arrived too late to participate in the battle, but Gibbs immediately joined the Continental Army and served throughout the duration of the war. As commander of the Life Guards, Gibbs was tasked with coordinating the security of the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief, as well as supervising its daily operations. The receipt offered here reflects the daily operations aspect of his job, as well as the roles of Commissary-General Jeremiah Wadsworth of Connecticut and Lieutenant-Colonel and Commissary-General of Forage Clement Biddle of Pennsylvania. The wine delivery was received at Washington's military headquarters in Middlebrook, New Jersey, near where the Continental Army was encamped for the winter cantonment.

As commander Gibbs faithfully managed security concerns, headquarters operations, and occasional special combat missions; he was wounded in the ankle at the Battle of Yorktown while assisting Colonel Alexander Hamilton. On 1 January 1781, Gibbs transferred to the 2nd Massachusetts Regiment. In November 1783 following the British evacuation of New York and the disbanding of the 2nd, he was retained in Jackson's Continental Regiment until discharge in June 1784. After the war, Gibbs maintained a close relationship with Washington's family and with Alexander Hamilton. President Washington appointed Gibbs as a clerk at the newly established Charlestown Navy Yard in 1794, and Gibbs was later promoted to superintendent in 1812. Gibbs died in his office at the Navy Yard in November 1818.

Washington was known to enjoy wine with dinner or in the evenings, and dabbled pre-war in cultivating his own vineyards at Mount Vernon. While the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon does maintain a receipt from Caleb Gibbs for a cask of wine sent to Head Quarters in 1779, we locate only two wine receipts appearing at auction, making this a rare opportunity to own an artifact associated with Washington and his elite guard unit.

[Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, Colonial America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe]