GW traveled from Mount Vernon to Alexandria, where he reviewed the Fairfax Independent Company, a voluntary militia not under the royal governor’s control, and also chose members for the Committee of Fairfax County.

Prior to his departure for Alexandria, where he remained overnight, GW wrote Burwell Bassett and mentioned a previous letter prompted by the “melancholy occasion” of Bassett’s oldest son’s death. GW also wrote that he anticipated visiting Bassett at his home in February.