This Day in History: November 11

Henry Knox (future Secretary of War) and Clement Biddle were Continental Army officers in 1781, and both were close to General Washington. This letter informs Biddle of the death of Jacky Custis, Martha Washington’s lone remaining child, from an illness (possibly smallpox) contracted at the siege of Yorktown. Knox tells Biddle that the General and his wife were both present at Jacky’s death. [More]