Historic letter written by George Washington in New Jersey going up for auction

A historic letter written by George Washington in Morristown, New Jersey is going up for auction.

The letter was written to Col. Stephen Moylan of the Fourth Continental Light Dragoons on January 5, 1780.

That's not long after Washington and his troops got to the area for winter encampment.

The letter says," Dear Sir, The Board of War are anxious to complete an arrangement of the four Regimes of Cavalry and have wrote to me on that account . You will therefore be pleased to forward that of your regiment as speedily as possible. As this will be first upon record in the War Office and will be the scale by which the future formations will take place, I must request you to be as particular as possible in ascertaining the status of the commissions and if any officers are entitled to promotions in consequence of vacancies. You are to specify when the vacancies happened and who formally filled them. The majority of your regiment and that of late Blands can't be filled until regimental mounts are completed,"

It closes with "I am dear sir, your humble servant, George Washington." and is also signed by him twice on the address page, according to Briggs Auction.

Moylan was an Irish-American patriot leader during the American Revolutionary War. In January 1776, he wrote a letter using the term "United States of America", which is said to be the earliest known use of that phrase.

The letter from Washington is estimated to be worth $10,000 to $15,000.

For more information or to place a bid, visit the Briggs Auction website.