to them, or any, and which of them; and whether any, and which of them accepted or refused the same; and particularly whether commissions were offered to Colonel Water-bury and Colonel Easton, and whether they refused accepting them.

I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your most obedient and very humble servant,

JOHN HANCOCK, President.

To the Committee of Safety of New-York.

PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.

Philadelphia, May 4, 1776.

SIR: A vacancy having happened in the First New-Jersey Battalion by the promotion of Lieutenant-Colonel Winds, the Congress thought proper to elect Mr. Ogden to supply his place.

Lord Stirling, in his letter of the 18th of March last, among other things, informed the Congress that, by this appointment, Major De Hart and the battalion considered them selves “exceedingly hurt;” and enclosing a memorial from Major De Hart and the officers of that regiment, he strongly hinted and expressed a hope that the Congress would supersede Mr. Ogden and appoint Major De Hart, or some other officer of the battalion, in his stead.

This letter, with the memorial enclosed, having been committed, and a report made thereon, the Congress came to sundry resolutions, which I have the honour to enclose; and am, sir, your most obedient servant,

JOHN HANCOCK, President.

To His Excellency General Washington.

P. S. You will please to order Colonel Ogden to join his Regiment.

GENERAL WASHINGTON TO COLONEL LIVINGSTON.

Head-Quarters, New-York, May 4, 1776.

SIR: You will on receipt hereof, give orders to the officers of the battalion of which you are Lieutenant-Colonel, to join their respective companies; which, if you do not find complete, let an officer from each go on the recruiting ser vice; and if in want of arms, you must apply to the Committee of Safety to procure them for you if possible. There are four companies belonging to your regiment now station ed at Fort Montgomery and Fort Constitution. You will repair thither, and if no superior officer is there, you must take the command and look to the works now carrying on there, which you must exert yourself in seeing finished as soon as possible. The three companies of your regiment stationed on Long-Island are to remain there; the other company you will order to join you at the fort, with all convenient speed.

I am, sir, your most humble servant,

GEORGEWASHINGTON.

To Lieutenant-Colonel Henry B. Livingston.

ROBERT H. HARRISON TO COLONEL NICOLL.

New-York, May 4, 1776.

SIR: I have it in command from his Excellency to in form you that he received yours of the 30th ultimo, with a state of the fortifications; and it gives him much concern that the men are so deficient in arms. He imagined the want was great, but nothing like what it appears to be. He has taken every method in his power to obtain a supply, but without any effect; and has applied to the Committee here, who say they are using the only means they have for get ting them. How they will succeed cannot now be deter mined.

His Excellency desires that you will make strict inquiry about Captain Menos; and if the fact is as you have represented, that he be taken and secured, if it can be done, though, most probably, he will have entirely escaped before now, if he went away on the 20th ultimo.

His Excellency will have orders given on the Commissary of Artillery and Ordnance Stores, for four or five barrels of powder and other necessary ammunition, which, on account of their great scarcity and difficulty in procuring, he desires your greatest care and attention to, and that they may not be wasted or embezzled.

Doctor Foster, one of the Physicians of the General Hospital, has been directed to send you a Surgeon, who will probably be with you now in a day or two.

When the time of the Minute Company expires, you are not to call in others.

Another company, of Colonel Clinton’s Regiment, will be ordered to join the four already with you, as soon as it is recruited and made up.

I am, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

ROBERT H. HARRISON.

To Colonel Isaac Nicoll, Fort Constitution.

WILLIAM PALFREY (PAYMASTER-GENERAL) TO PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

[Read May 8, 1776.]

New-York, May 4, 1776.

DEAR SIR: Agreeable to the order of the honourable Congress, I applied to Mr. Winthrop, who delivered me the books and papers belonging to the office of the Paymaster-General, and also cash to the amount of ninety-two thousand three hundred and seventy dollars, for which I have given him a receipt. I now do myself the honour to transmit you a state of the office, to Saturday, 4th May, which I shall continue to do weekly, as I think it highly necessary the Congress should be often acquainted therewith, that they may make the necessary provision.

When I undertook the office, I intended to have trans acted the business of it without the assistance of a clerk; but I now find that, unless I am allowed such assistance, I cannot do that justice to it I could wish, as the General has informed me that, besides the usual business, I must examine all the abstracts, and draw the warrants; which was never before done in the office, though doubtless very proper. It is also highly necessary I should have some person with me on whom I can depend, in case I should, by sickness or any other accident, be prevented from executing the duties of my office; and as other officers in the Staff (say Adjutant-General, Quartermaster-General, Commissary-General, and Barrackmaster-General) are allowed clerks, I make no doubt the honourable Congress will see the necessity of it, and grant me the same indulgence.

When General Washington left Cambridge a considerable sum was left with Colonel Warren for payment of the troops stationed there. As his commission is now suspended, I should be glad to know whether any, and what steps will be taken for paying those troops; whether Congress will appoint a person for that purpose, or whether it must go through my hands. Your speedy answer would be very agreeable.

The General just now showed me a letter from General Ward, wherein he complains that money is much wanted for that Department. You will be pleased to represent the matter to Congress, that they may take such order upon it as shall seem meet.

I have the honour to be, most respectfully, sir, your obedient, humble servant,

WILLIAM PALFREY.

To John Hancock, Esquire, President of Congress.

To the Right Honourable the President and Members of the Provincial Convention of the Province of NEW-YORK:

The humble Petition of WILLIAM DUER, of the County of CHARLOTTE, humbly showeth:

That your Petitioner on the 16th of April last, was regularly chosen one of the Deputies to represent this County in Provincial Convention for the ensuing year, by a very large body of the principal freeholders and freemen, who have all signed the General Association, and are unfeignedly attached to the cause of American liberty.

That John Williams, Alexander Webster, and William Malcolm, of New-York, have been likewise chosen for Deputies in several Districts; and that the elections in none of the Districts, where such persons were chosen, were held either on the day, or in the manner appointed by the Provincial regulation of the 12th of March last; but that, on the contrary, the most malicious falsehoods, arts, and threats, were

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