There are a few almost comical General Orders issued by Washington’s headquarters, one demanding that soldiers cease randomly firing their muskets into the air, another that enlisted men refrain from relieving themselves wherever they felt the urge.
Then there was this: “The General does not mean to discourage the practice of bathing… but he expressly forbids any person doing it at or near the Bridge in Cambridge, where it has been observed and complained of that many Men, lost to all sense of decency and common modesty, are running about naked upon the Bridge, whilst Passengers, and even ladies of the first fashion in the neighborhood are passing over it, as if they meant to glory in their shame.”
Source:
Ellis, Joseph J. “The Year.” American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic. Vintage Books, 2008. 32. Print.
Further Reading:
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