George Washington Teacher Workshop, American Revolution Institute
Washington, D.C.
June 23, 2022
These collection items were selected for a morning workshop with teachers participating in the 2022 residential George Washington Teacher Institute studying “George Washington: From Soldier to Commander in Chief” with scholar Sarah Purcell.
![Institution of the Society of the Cincinnati 1783 Archives [oversize]](https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Institution-of-the-Society-of-the-Cincinnati-1783-Archives-oversize.jpg "Click for a larger view.")
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The Institution of the Society of the Cincinnati
May 1783The Society of the Cincinnati Archives
Adopted at the founding meeting on May 13, 1783, the Institution remains the principle guiding document of the organization to the present day. The first official copy was inscribed on a large, irregularly shaped sheet of parchment and signed by George Washington and thirty-five other officers. The Institution lays out the tenets and organizational structure of the Society, the rules of eligibility to membership, the establishment of constituent branches and details of the Society’s insignia. To join the Society, the original members were required to sign their names to the Institution, thus pledging their allegiance to the immutable principles upon which the Society was founded.![Society of the Cincinnati diploma drawing 1783 Archives [oversize]](https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Society-of-the-Cincinnati-diploma-drawing-1783-Archives-oversize-1.jpg "Click for a larger view.")
Click for a larger view.Drawing of the diploma of the Society of the Cincinnati
Drawing of the diploma of the Society of the Cincinnati
Pierre-Charles L’Enfant
June 1783The Society of the Cincinnati Archives
Concerned that all members of the Society might not be able to afford to purchase an Eagle, L’Enfant also submitted this design for an elegant membership certificate, to be called the diploma. The imagery depicts America forcing Britannia away from its shores, with Fame heralding the achievement of American independence. The Society adopted the diploma and the Eagle as the official emblems of membership at its June 19, 1783, meeting.
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Sketch for the Society of the Cincinnati Eagle
Pierre-Charles L’Enfant
June 1783The Society of the Cincinnati Archives
L’Enfant’s original sketch for the Society’s insignia, cut out to convey its actual proportions, is endorsed by Maj. Gen. Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, a founding member of the Society who served as acting president general briefly before George Washington took office. It bears on each side a medallion depicting scenes of the life of Cincinnatus.
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Drawing of the Society of the Cincinnati medal
Pierre-Charles L’Enfant
June 1783The Society of the Cincinnati Archives
At the request of the Society, Pierre-Charles L’Enfant, a French volunteer in the Continental Army Corps of Engineers, drew a design for a medal bearing imagery of the life of the fifth-century BC Roman hero Cincinnatus, from whom the Society takes its name. The obverse, shown here, depicts Cincinnatus receiving his sword from Roman senators as he leaves home to lead his country against its enemies.
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Sketch for the Society of the Cincinnati medal, reverse
Pierre-Charles L’Enfant
June 1783The Society of the Cincinnati Archives
The reverse side of the medal shown in L’Enfant’s pen-and-ink drawing features the victorious Cincinnatus returned to his plow, with the figure of Fame flying over him holding a banner that reads “Virtutis Praemium.”
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Detail of the Society of the Cincinnati Eagle insignia, obverse
Nicolas-Jean Francastel and Claude-Jean-Autran Duval, Paris
1784Gift of Harrison Tilghman, Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland, 1953
The oval medallion on the obverse of the Eagle depicts Cincinnatus receiving a sword from two representatives of the Roman senate.
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Detail of the Society of the Cincinnati Eagle insignia, reverse
Nicolas-Jean Francastel and Claude-Jean-Autran Duval, Paris
1784Gift of Harrison Tilghman, Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland, 1953
The oval medallion on the reverse of the Eagle shows Cincinnatus having returned triumphantly to the plow.
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Society of the Cincinnati Eagle insignia owned by Tench Tilghman
Nicolas Jean Francastel and Claude Jean Autran Duval, Paris
1784Gift of Harrison Tilghman, Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland, 1953
George Washington, the first president general of the Society, purchased eight gold Society insignias to give to former aides-de-camp who joined the organization. He presented this one to Tench Tilghman of Maryland, to whom Washington entrusted the duty of delivering to Congress the Articles of Capitulation after the Siege of Yorktown. Tilghman's Eagle retains its original silk ribbon and metal clasp.
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"The Spectacles suit my Eyes extremely well," Washington wrote, "as I am persuaded the Reading Glasses also will when I get more accustomed to the use of them - at present, I find some difficulty in coming at the proper Focus - but when I do obtain it, they magnify perfectly, and shew those letters very distinctly which at first appear like a mist blended together & confused." Three weeks later the reading glasses would be used to great effect when Washington, in attempting to quell a brewing mutiny of officers at Newburgh, pulled them from his pocket and said "Gentlemen, you must pardon me. I have grown gray in your service and now find myself growing blind." Partial red wax seal remains on address leaf.
George Washington to David Rittenhouse
Newburgh, Feburary 16, 1783The Society of the Cincinnati, Gift of George Miller Chester, Jr., in honor of his great-great-great-great grandfather, Col. John Chester, 2015
Washington's letter of thanks to the noted American inventor and instrument maker, David Rittenhouse, who had made a set of spectacles (one for distance and one for reading) for the General."The Spectacles suit my Eyes extremely well," Washington wrote, "as I am persuaded the Reading Glasses also will when I get more accustomed to the use of them - at present, I find some difficulty in coming at the proper Focus - but when I do obtain it, they magnify perfectly, and shew those letters very distinctly which at first appear like a mist blended together & confused." Three weeks later the reading glasses would be used to great effect when Washington, in attempting to quell a brewing mutiny of officers at Newburgh, pulled them from his pocket and said "Gentlemen, you must pardon me. I have grown gray in your service and now find myself growing blind." Partial red wax seal remains on address leaf.
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George Washington mantel clock
Jean-Baptiste DuBuc, Paris
ca. 1800-1810The Society of the Cincinnati, Gift of David Gordon Sutton, Frank Taylor Sutton III, and Frank Taylor Sutton IV, 2001
George Washington's death inspired artists and craftsmen in America, France and Great Britain to produce commemorative ceramics, medals, textiles and other objects memorializing the first president. This Neoclassical mantel clock, designed for the American market, features a standing figure of Washington in military uniform. The French clock's maker modeled the image of Washington after John Trumbull's 1792 portrait of the general before the battlefield at Trenton. The scroll held in Washington's right hand may allude to his resignation of his commission, an act comparable to Cincinnatus putting down his sword and returning to his plow.
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American restocked British Pattern 1756 light dragoon carbine
The Society of the CincinnatiIn May 1776, American privateers captured 1,000 light dragoon carbines aboard a British supply ship near Boston Harbor. Carbines, shorter and lighter than a standard infantry musket, were intended for use by cavalry, artillery, and other units that fought or moved on horseback. George Washington ordered that these captured firearms be sent to the army in New York, which was preparing to defend the city from a British invasion. American armorers altered the original carbine with a new cherry stock, new ramrod, and distinctive French-style brass barrel bands.
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