GW at American headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In his General Orders for the day, GW emphasized good hygiene and the proper clothing of all troops. He also declared how officers and their aides-de-camp were to be distinguished by different colored ribbons.

GW wrote the president of the Second Continental Congress, John Hancock, on this day. In the letter, he told of recruiting new troops, enclosed a list of casualties from Charlestown, Mass., explained he drove away all the livestock in the area to prevent the British from replenishing their provisions.