to the order of the honourable Continental Congress of the 16th June last, we thought it our duty to request him to send one full Company of his men up to assist in erecting the fortifications, hoping thereby to save a great expense in labour. The General declines sending any of his troops on that service, unless he has a further order from your honourable House. We take the liberty to enclose you copies of the correspondence between General Wooster and us, on that subject, to which we beg leave to refer. The Congress will, in their wisdom, direct what is best to the general cause, and we will exert ourselves to follow their directions.

We have the honour to be, with the greatest respect and esteem, your most obedient humble servants.

By order:

JOHN HARING, Chairman.

To the Honourable the President and Members of the Continental Congress.

Copy of B. ROMANS’S Estimates and Expenses of erecting the Fortifications of HUDSON’S River, in the Highlands, in the Colony of NEW-YORK.

New-York, September 18, 1775.

These works require:

2,400 perches of stone wall, each perch containing 16½ feet in length, 18 inches high, by 12 wide, at 5s. 6d. per perch, £660. 2½ bushels of lime are taken up by each perch, 4,000 bushels, at 6d. per bushel, £100.

1,000 pieces ranging timber, 18 feet long, 12 inches square, for five block-houses, and for the morlins of the battery, &c. These contain 216,000 superficial feet, at 6s. per hundred, (price at Windsor Landing,) £648.

1,500 two-inch plank, for platforms of the battery and floors of the block-houses—400 of 24 feet long, 10 inches wide; 1,200 of 20 feet long, 10 inches wide—49,600 feet, say 50,000 feet, (at Windsor Landing,) at 6s. per hundred, £150.

1,200 beams and sleepers, for block-houses and platforms, of different lengths, from 8 to 24 feet long, 9 inches by 3, supposed to contain 50,000 feet, (at Windsor Landing,) at 6s. per hundred, £150.

3,200 for each, make 16,000 shingles for five block-houses, at £5 per thousand, £80.

140 lathes, of 14 feet long, for each, make 700 lathes, of 2½ inches by 1¼, for the roofs of five block-houses, at £15.

8 rafters of 16 feet long, 8 rafters of 10 feet long, make 160 rafters for the block-houses, their mean measure being 6 inches by 3,3,120 feet, at 6s. per hundred, (at Windsor Landing,) £9 7s., say £10.

2,000 fascines, for levelling, &c., will cost about £25.

4,000 pickets, to picket them, out of about 1,000 lathes, £20.

500 tompions, for loopholes, about £2.

40 ports, 5 windows, and 6 doors, for block-houses and magazines, and a gate, &c., for the citadel, about £30.

6,400 broad-headed spikes, for the gate and wicket, and block-house doors and windows, 10 to all, of iron, make 640 pounds; 14 bolts of 10 pounds each, 140 pounds; 5 bolts of 4 pounds each, 20 pounds; 26 hinges, on an average, 250 pounds; 50 iron hoops, for swivels, about 200 pounds; small iron work, about 200 pounds—in all, 1,450 pounds, say 15 cwt. wrought iron, at 1s. per pound, £75.

Broad-headed copper nails for magazine door, 360, 10 to a pound, 36 pounds; copper hinges and bolts, 30 pounds; two copper circles, or busses, for vessels, 20 pounds—about 80 pounds wrought copper, at 3s. 6d. per pound, £14.

5 ordinary locks, £2; 1 large lock, £1; 1 copper lock, £l; about 1,000 pounds nails, £40; 5,000 trundles, £25.

Necessary tools—6 stone mauls, 20 pick hammers, 20 pick axes, 50 hand bill hooks, 50 axes and hatchets, 50 spades, 40 mallets, 300 sand bags of crocus, 50 hand barrows—about £150.

For the barracks, 80 by 20 feet: 2 sills, 4 by 5 inches, 80 feet long, 270 feet; 2 plates, 4 by 6 inches, 80 feet long, 320 feet; 25 beams, 4 by 6 inches, 20 feet long, 1,000 feet; 50 posts, 4 by 6 inches, 8 feet long, 800 feet; 50 rafters, 4 by 4 inches, 13 feet long, 870 feet; 20 joists, 4 by 4 inches, 14 feet long, 360 feet; 25 sleepers, 4 by 6 inches, 20 feet long, 1,000 feet—in all, 4,620 feet, at 6 s. per hundred, £14.

5,000 shingles, at £5 per thousand, £25.

250 lathes, 14 feet, about £5.

500 inch boards, 14 feet, at 10d. per hundred, £20.

200 inch and a half boards, 14 feet, 1s. 3 d. per hundred, £21 10 s.

400 pounds nails, at 10 d. per pound, £16 13 s. 4 d.

2 double stacks chimneys, of brick, £20.

Store-houses and guard-room, 60 by 20 feet: 2 sills, 4 by 6 inches, 60 feet long, 240 feet; 2 plates, 4 by 8 inches, 60 feet long, 320 feet; 20 beams, 4 by 6 inches, 20 feet long, 800 feet; 40 posts, 4 by 6 inches, 9 feet long, 720 feet; 40 rafters, 4 by 4 inches, 15 feet long, 800 feet; 15 joists, 4 by 4 inches, 14 feet long, 280 feet; 20 sleepers, 8 by 3 inches, 20 feet long, 280 feet—in all, 3,440 feet, at 6 s. per hundred, £10 16 s.

4,000 shingles, at £5 per thousand, £20; 200 lathes, £4 10 s.; 375 inch boards, £15; 300 pounds nails, £11 5 s.; a stack of chimneys, £10—in all, £84 1s.

Labour of and provisions for 150 men four months, 26 days to the month, at an average of 3 s. per day, £2,250.

Entire cost, £4.645 4 s. 4 d.

Five iron stoves, for the block-houses.

The above is exclusive of ropes, &c., to raise the guns, transport of stoves, and such tools as may be made by the blacksmiths on the spot, besides other small incidental charges.

B. ROMANS.

N. B. It is most probable that swivel guns cannot be procured otherwise than by purchase.

Correspondence with Brigadier-General WOOSTER, on the subject of sending some Troops to the Fortifications on the Highlands.

In Council, June 16, 1775.

Resolved, That the Provincial Convention of New-York be desired immediately to apply to Governour Trumbull to order the Connecticut Troops, now stationed at Greenwich, Stamford, and places adjacent, to march towards New-York; and that part of them occupy posts upon the island, as the said Provincial Convention shall judge best adapted, to prevent the communication between the town and country from being cut off; the remainder of the Troops to be employed in securing the navigation of Hudson’s River, by erecting Batteries at such places as the said Convention shall judge most proper to answer that purpose.

A true copy from the Minutes:

CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary.

The above is a true copy, signed by Charles Thomson, Esq., now filed among the proceedings of the Provincial Congress at New-York. Examined by

JOHN MCKESSON, Secretary.

Ordered, That General Wooster be directed to order a full Company, of the Troops under his command, to proceed to the Fortifications erecting on the banks of Hudson’s River, in the Highlands, to be there employed in erecting and guarding the same, in obedience to the order of the Continental Congress, and to be under the direction of the agents appointed for that purpose by the Provincial Congress at New-York.

A true copy from the Minutes:

JOHN MCKESSON, Secretary.

N. B. James Beekman and Gilbert Livingston, Esquires, two Members of the Committee of Safety, waited personally on Gen. Wooster with a certified copy of the above.

Camp at Harlem, September 15, 1775.

SIR: I have before me the order of the Provincial Congress of the 13th instant, directing me to order a full Company, of the Troops under my command, to proceed to the fortifications erecting on the banks of Hudson’s River, in the Highlands, to be employed there in erecting and guarding the same, in obedience to the order of the Continental Congress, &c.