Source & Citation Info

title:	“Anectdote by George Washington”
authors:	George Washington
date written:	1787-8-18

permanent link to this version:	https://consource.org/document/anectdote-by-george-washington-1787-8-18/20130122084711/
last updated:	Jan. 22, 2013, 8:47 a.m. UTC
retrieved:	Sept. 30, 2023, 2:54 a.m. UTC

transcription citation:	Washington, George. "Anectdote by George Washington." Supplement to Max Farrand's The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787. Ed. James H. Hutson. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987. 229. Print.

Anectdote by George Washington (August 18, 1787)

In response to Gerry's motion of this day that no standing army exceed 3,000 men, Washington is alleged to have suggested a counter-motion that "no foreign enemy should invade the United States at any time, with more than three thousand troops."!!! FOOTNOTE(Paul Wilstach, Patriots off Their Pedestals [reprint ed., Freeport, N. Y., 1970], 29)