And whereas, the former Committee of Safety were, by a Resolve of this Congress, empowered to nominate persons to this Congress to be commissioned to be officers in the Army now establishing for the defence of this Colony; and said Committee having already given orders to a number of persons to enlist men for that purpose:

Resolved, That the Committee of Safety now appointed proceed in that matter, that such officers, where the Regiments are completed may be commissioned by this Congress; and if any Regiment should be nearly completed, and the officers thereof ready to be commissioned, agreeably to the Resolve of this Congress, during the time between the dissolution of this Congress and the meeting of the next, the said Committee shall have power to fill up and deliver out Commissions to them; and blank Commissions, signed by the President of this Congress, and attested by the Secretary, shall be delivered to the said Committee for this purpose.

And it is also Resolved, That any five of the said Committee be a quorum, with full power to transact any business which the Committee, by the Resolves above, are empowered and vested with authority to do.

Ordered, That Letters be sent to the Honourable Benjamin Greenleaf, Esquire, and the Hon. Enoch Freeman, Esquire, informing them of their being chosen Members of the Committee of Safety, and requesting their attendance as soon as possible.

Resolved, That Mr. John Pigeon be, and he hereby is appointed and empowered as a Commissary for the Army of this Province, to draw from the Magazines which are or may be provided for that purpose, such Provisions and other stores, as from time to time he shall find necessary for the Army; and he is further empowered to recommend to the Congress such persons as shall be necessary, and as he shall think qualified, to serve as Deputy Commissaries; and said Deputy Commissaries, when confirmed by the Congress for the time being, shall have full power to act in said office, and are to be accountable to the Commissary for their doings; also, said Commissary is empowered to contract with and employ such other persons to assist him in executing his office, as shall be by him found necessary; and, his contracts for necessaries to supply the Army during the late confused state of the Colony, shall be allowed; find the Committee of Supplies are hereby directed to examine and if they find them reasonable, considering the exigencies of the times, to draw on the Treasury for payment of the same.

The form of a Commission for General Ward was read, amended, and accepted, and is as follows, viz:

“The Congress of the Colony of the MASSACHUSETTS-BAY to the Honourable ARTEMAS WARD, Esquire, greeting:

“We, reposing especial trust and confidence in your courage and good conduct, do, by these presents, constitute and appoint you, the said Artemas Ward, to be General and Commander-in-Chief of all the Forces raised by the Congress aforesaid, for the defence of this and the other American Colonies. You are, therefore, carefully and diligently to discharge the duty of a General, in lending, ordering, and exercising the said Forces in arms, both inferiour Officers and Soldiers, and to keep them in good order arid discipline; and they are hereby commanded to obey you as their General; and yon are yourself to observe and follow such orders and instructions as you shall, from time to time, receive from this or any future Congress, or House of Representatives of this Colony, or the Committee of Safety, so far as the said Committee is empowered, by their commission, to order and instruct you for the defence of this and the other Colonies, and to demean yourself according to the military rules and discipline, established by Congress in pursuance of the trust reposed in you. By order of the Congress:

“. . . . . . President pro tem.

“. . . . the . . . . of . . . . A. D. 1775.

“. . . . . Secretary pro tem.”

Ordered, That Colonel Foster, Captain Stone, and Mr. Webster, be a Committee to get the Depositions and Narrative of the late excursion of the King’s Troops to Concord, printed in a pamphlet, on the best terms they can; and that they forward one pamphlet to each Town and District in the Colony.

Resolved, That there be a blank left in the Commissions to be given the Officers of the several Regiments, of the Colony Army, for the rank of the Regiment, and that . . . . . . . . . . . . be a Committee to settle the ranks of the Regiments, when the Regiments are completed.

Resolved, That the same Committee be directed to bring in a Resolve, settling the rank or number of the Regiments, according to the rank or age of the Counties from whence the majority of the Regiments shall come.

Resolved, That the rank of the Regiments, where there are more than one in each County, be according to the rank which those Regiments formerly sustained in the old arrangement, from which they are taken, provided that can be ascertained; and where that cannot be determined, the rank to be determined by lot.

Resolved, That the Commissions be all of one date, and that the rank of the Officers be determined by this Congress, or by a Committee from this Congress at some future time.

Resolved, That Colonel Samuel Gerrish have a Commission for a Colonel in the Army, and that the oath be administered to him by Mr. Gardner, the Receiver-General; also, that Commissions, as Captains, issue for Richard Dodge, Jacob Gerrish, and William Rogers; Commissions to bear date the 19th May.

Adjourned to nine o’clock tomorrow morning.

Saturday, May 20, 1775.

Ordered, That Colonel Foster, Doctor Holten, and Major Brooks, be a Committee to confer with Mr. Revere, respecting his proposal for an alteration in the value of the Colony Notes, which have been ordered to be struck off.

Ordered, That Colonel Thurston, Esquire Aikin, and Mr. Crane, be a Committee to take into consideration a Petition from a number of the inhabitants of Deer Island.

The Committee appointed to consider the case of the prisoners in Boston, and the inhabitants, which are there kept in duress, reported. The Report was read and accepted, and is as follows, viz:

Whereas this Congress did, on the 30th of April last past, pass a Resolve for permitting such inhabitants of the Colony to remove into Boston, “with their effects, firearms and ammunition excepted,” as should incline thereto; it being in consequence of General Gage’s promise to the inhabitants of Boston, that upon resigning their arms and ammunition they should have liberty to remove from said Town with their effects: And whereas but a small proportion of the said inhabitants of Boston have been hitherto permitted to leave the Town, and those only to bring their clothing and household furniture, they being constrained to leave their provisions and all their other effects: Therefore,

Resolved, That General Ward be, and he hereby is directed to order the Guards in future not to suffer any provisions or effects, excepting furniture and clothing, to be carried into the Town of Boston, so long as the said General Gage shall suffer the persons or effects of the inhabitants of said Town, contrary to his plighted faith, to be restrained.

Resolved, That each Non-commissioned Officer and Private Soldier, who has or shall enlist himself into the service of this Colony, shall have twenty Shillings paid him out of the Receiver-General’s office, as advance pay, and that the Commanding Officer of each Regiment, who shall be, and hereby is empowered to act as Muster-Master to his said Regiment, shall draw from the Receiver General’s office the sum of twenty Shillings for each Non-commissioned Officer and Private Soldier in his said Regiment, and pay the same, according to the tenor of this Resolve, as soon as said men have enlisted, themselves, and been duly sworn, and give His Bond, with sufficient sureties to the Receiver-General