On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, John Hancock, the President of the Continental Congress, wrote to General George Washington:

It gives me the most sensible Pleasure to convey to you, by Order of Congress, the only Tribute, which a free People will ever consent to Pay; the Tribute of Thanks and Gratitude to their Friends and Benefactors.

The disinterested and patriotic Principles which led you to the Field, have also led you to Glory: and it affords no little Consolation to your Countrymen to reflect, that, as a peculiar Greatness of Mind induced you to decline any Compensation for serving them, except the Pleasure of promoting their Happiness, they may, without your Permission, bestow upon you the largest Share of their Affections and Esteem.

Those Pages in the Annals of America, will record your Title to a conspicuous Place in the Temple of Fame, which shall inform Posterity, that under your Directions, an undisciplined Band of Husbandmen, in the Course of a few Months, became Soldiers; and that the Desolation meditated against the Country, by a brave Army of Veterans, commanded by the most experienced Generals, but employ’d by bad Men in the worst of Causes, was, by the Fortitude of your Troops, and the Address of their Officers, next to the kind Interposition of Providence, confined for near a Year, within such narrow Limits, as scarcely to admit more Room than was necessary for the Encampments and Fortifications, they lately abandoned.

Accept therefore, Sir, the Thanks of the United Colonies, unanimously declared by their Delegates, to be due to you, and the brave Officers and Troops under your Command: and be pleased to communicate to them, this distinguished Mark of the Approbation of their Country.

The Congress have ordered a Golden Medal, adapted to the Occasion, to be struck, and when finished, to be presented to you.

Sources: Journals of the Continental Congress at 248-49 accessed at https://archive.org/details/us_congress_continental/lljc004/page/248/mode/2up; John Hancock to George Washington, 2 April 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-04-02-0001-0005. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 4, February–August 1776, ed. Robert J. Taylor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979, pp. 10–11.]

Also on that day in Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Magazine: or, American Monthly Museum, published, at the suggestion of Joseph Reed:

Verses . . . written by the famous Phillis Wheatley, the African Poetess, and presented to his Excellency Gen. Washington.

The poem ended with the lines

Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side,

Thy ev’ry action let the goddess guide.

A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine,

With gold unfading, Washington! be thine.

Source: https://founders.archives.gov/?q=%222%20April%201776%22&s=1111311111&sa=&r=2&sr=

See my blog for February 28, 1776 for the entire poem. https://kevinsrevolutionarywarchronology.com/2026/02/28/on-this-day-250-years-ago-in-the-revolution-february-28-1776/