George Washington wrote a letter to the governors of the 13 states on the occasion of his retirement from the command of the Continental Army and his removal from public life. In the letter, Washington said that he wanted the governors to convey his words to their legislatures and that he hoped it would be regarded as coming from someone who always wished to be useful to his country, and who, in the shade of retirement, would not fail to “implore divine benediction upon it.”
