Pennsylvania Brigadier General Seeks Pay for War of 1812 Soldiers

This letter from Brigadier General Thomas Cadwalader of Philadelphia to the Paymaster-General of the U.S. Army seeks funds to pay the Squadron of Light Artillery and Cavalry and a Rifle Battalion commanded by Captain John Uhle as part of Cadwalader's Light Brigade "in the service of the United States." Cadwalader enclosed estimates by Paymasters Donaldson and Samuel Keemlé to support his request for an additional $3,092.65.

[WAR OF 1812.] Thomas Cadwalader, Autograph Letter Signed, to Robert Brent, August 28, 1815, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 2 pp., 7.75" x 10". Some edge tears, affecting one word; short separations on two folds; paper reinforcement on left side.

Complete Transcript
Sir
Referring you to my Letter of the 25. Instant, shewing that the $50,000 furnished by you towards the payment of the Light Brigade have been expended. Enclosed also are the vouchers of this Account and the Bond & Estimate of Pay Master Donaldson of the Squadron of Light Artillery & Cavalry, and the 2d Estimate of Pay Master Keemlé of Capt: Uhle's Rifle Battalion. Having commenced the payment of that Battalion composed of very necessitous men from the interior of this State, & $3092.65 being now wanting by Pay-Master Keemlé to compleat his payments, I should esteem it as a favor if that sum could be forwarded.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully sir,
Your ob: servt:
Thos Cadwalader
Philada 28 Aug 1815
To Rober[t] Brent Esquire
Pay-Master of the Army U.S.

Thomas Cadwalader (1779-1841) was born into a prominent Philadelphia family and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1795. His father General John Cadwalader, had served under General George Washington during the Revolutionary War. The younger Cadwalader studied law, gained admission to the bar in 1801, and married a daughter of Clement Biddle. He became a captain in the Second Troop of the Philadelphia City Cavalry in 1809. By early 1812, he had risen to the rank of lieutenant colonel. During the War of 1812, he actively organized the defenses of Philadelphia against a possible British attack and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. In 1823, he was wounded in the arm in a duel with local surgeon Granville Sharp Pattison and lost partial use of the arm.

Robert Brent (1764-1819) was born into a Catholic family in northeastern Virginia. In the late 1780s, he married Mary Young, the daughter of a plantation owner in Maryland. A few years later, the property of his wife's family was annexed into the new national capital, making Brent one of the first residents of the new city of Washington in the District of Columbia. He took over his father's businesses and sold sandstone to the U.S. government for the construction of the White House, the U.S. Capitol, and other construction projects. In June 1802, President Thomas Jefferson appointed Brent as the first mayor of Washington. Jefferson reappointed Brent seven times, and President James Madison reappointed him three times until he finally relinquished the position, for which he took no salary, in June 1812. From 1808 to shortly before he died in 1819, Brent served as the sixth Paymaster-General of the United States Army. He also served as judge of the Orphan's Court for Washington County and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Public Schools.

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