To the Honourable the House of Representatives of the Freemen of the Province of PENNSYLVANIA, in General Assembly met :

The Protest of the Board of Officers of the Five Battalions of the City and Liberties of PHILADELPHIA, respectfully showeth :

That this Board address you by the title heretofore used to the honourable House of Assembly, in order to avoid the least appearance of disrespect to the honourable Members now sitting. That this Board has received information that the honourable Congress of the United Colonies has recommended to this Colony to appoint two Brigadiers General, to command the Associators of this Province; and we, apprehending that this House may be induced to take upon them to nominate and appoint the said Brigadiers-General without having the authority of the Associators for that purpose, and further apprehending that any nomination made by this honourable House will not give satisfaction to the Associators of the Province, and consequently that they will not act under them, —for these, and other weighty and important considerations, this Board do hereby protest against this honourable House making, or attempting to make, the said appointments.

Signed by order:

DANIEL ROBERDEAU, President.

GENERAL WASHINGTON TO PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

New-York, June 17, 1776.

SIR: I beg leave to inform Congress that General Wooster has repaired to Head-Quarters in obedience to their resolve transmitted him; and shall be extremely glad if they will give me such further directions about him as they may conceive necessary. He is desirous of seeing his family in Connecticut, as I am informed, having been a good while from it. I shall await their instructions as to his future employment.

I am, sir, with sentiments of much esteem, your most obedient servant,

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

To the President of Congress.

GENERAL WASHINGTON TO PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

[Read June 18, 1776.]

New-York, June 17, 1776.

SIR: The enclosed came to my hands as a private letter from General Sullivan. As a private letter, I lay it before Congress. The tendency (for it requires no explanation) will account for the contrast between it and the letter of General Arnold.

That the former is aiming at the command in Canada is obvious; whether he merits it or not, is a matter to be considered; and that it may be considered with propriety, I think it my duty to observe, as of my own knowledge, that he is active, spirited, and zealously attached to the cause. That he does not want abilities, many members of Congress, as well as myself, can testify; but he has his wants, and he has his foibles. The latter are manifested in a little tincture of vanity, and in an over-desire of being popular, which now and then leads him into some embarrassments. His wants are common to us all—the want of experience to move upon a large scale; for the limited and contracted knowledge which any of us have in military matters, stand in very little stead, and is greatly overbalanced by sound judgment, and some knowledge of men arid books, especially when accompanied by an enterprising genius, which I must do General Sullivan the justice to say I think he possesses. But as the security of Canada is of the last importance to the well-being of these Colonies, I should like to know the sentiments of Congress respecting the nomination of any officer to that command. The character I have drawn of General Sulli-van is just, according to my ideas of him. Congress will be pleased, therefore, to determine upon the propriety of continuing him in Canada, or sending another, as they shall see fit. Whether General Sullivan knew of the promotion of General Gates, (at the time of his writing,) and that he had quitted the department he left him in when he marched his brigade from hence to Canada, I cannot undertake to say, nor can I determine whether his wish to be recalled would be changed by it if he did. I shall add no more than my respectful compliments to Congress, and that I have the honour to be, with every sentiment of regard and esteem, sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

To the President of Congress.

GENERAL SULLIVAN TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.

Sorel, June 7, 1776.

DEAR GENERAL: After having, as I think, given you a’ just representation of our affairs in Canada, which I dare say every person here will witness to, I must beg you to excuse my giving you the trouble of one petition, which is, that if it be possible for your Excellency or General Lee to come here, that it might be done, though I suppose General Lee cannot be spared from where he is. 1 am well persuaded that Canada would be ours from the moment of your Excellency’s arrival; but in case neither of you can come to take command, I beg that, if any other officer is sent to take it, I may have leave to return, as I am well convinced that the same disorder and confusion which has almost ruined our Army here would again take place, and complete its destruction, which I should not wish to sec. This confusion and disorder your Excellency discovered in some degree on your arrival at Cambridge. And if your Excellency or General Lee cannot come to take the command, we that are on the spot will undertake to keep possession of the ground we have, and keep advancing our posts till we have, by the assistance of Heaven, completed the wishes of Congress and fulfilled the desires of your Excellency.

I have the honour to be, may it please your Excellency, your most obedient servant,

JOHN SULLIVAN.

To His Excellency General Washington.

GENERAL WASHINGTON TO PENNSYLVANIA COMMITTEE OF SAFETY.

New-York, June 17, 1776.

SIR: I was this evening honoured with yours of the 15th instant, and it is with no small degree of pain that I am under the necessity of informing you it is out of my power at this time to comply with the request made by your honourable body. The many important works carrying on for the defence of this place, against which there is the highest probability of an attack being made in a little time, will not allow me to spare from hence any person having the least skill in the business of an Engineer; nor have 1 but one on whose judgment I would wish to depend in laying out any work of the least consequence. Congress well know my wants in this instance, and several of my late letters to them have pressed the appointment of gentlemen qualified for the business. Added to this, on account of the deficiency, I have not been able to improve or secure two posts in the Highlands, esteemed of the utmost importance to prevent the enemy passing up the North River, and getting into the interior parts of this Colony, should our attempts to stop them here prove ineffectual. But I beg you to be assured, sir, and to inform the Committee, as soon as it is in my power I shall, with infinite pleasure, direct a person to attend them for two or three days, if the service will not admit of a longer absence, in order to trace out such works and plans for carrying them on as shall appear necessary; and wishing you to ascribe my non-compliance to want of ability, and not inclination, to perform your request,

I have the honour, &c.,

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

To George Clymer, Esq., Chairman of the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania.

JOSEPH TRUMBULL TO PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. [Read June 18, 1776.]

New-York, June 17, 1776.

DEAR SIR: I have found it necessary to send to Philadelphia to purchase, and have there purchased, twenty thousand barrels of flour for the supply of the Army in and near this place and that in Canada, which it seems by General Schuyler’s last letters cannot be subsisted by the quantity to be had in that country; and on that information