To Bright & Pechin, for storeage and weighing sundry parcels of saltpetre, the sum of 76.75 dollars :

To Elizabeth Kuntz, for attendance and provisions to six men, belonging to general Lee's guard, who were under inoculation, and for boarding six other men, the sum of 89.81 dollars:

That there should be paid to James Young, for 51 rifle and smooth-bore guns, 22 of which were delivered to Robert Towers and Samuel Appleton, 7 lost, and 22 delivered at Fort Washington, the sum of 571.25 dollars: That there should be advanced to colonel Daniel Morgan, a balance due to him of 192.60 dollars :

That there should be advanced to him a further sum of 2727.76 dollars, to pay his troops in this city, and for which sums he is to account with the pay-master.

Ordered, That the said accounts be paid.

A letter, of the 13th, from William Aylett, was read:

Ordered, That it be referred to the committee appointed to enquire into the conduct of Carpenter Wharton, and to regulate the commissary's department.

A letter, of the 12th, from colonel Morgan, at Fort-Pitt, was read.
The several matters to this day referred, being postponed,
Adjourned to ten o'clock on Monday next.

MONDAY, April 28, 1777.

A letter, of the 22d, from general Gates, at Albany, with sundry papers enclosed; and one, of the 23d, from Henry Fisher, at Lewistown, were read: Whereas Henry Fisher has, agreeable to the power vested in him by Congress, appointed William Peery, captain; John Wesley, first-lieutenant; David Hazard, second-lieutenant; and John Hazard, ensign, of the company ordered to be raised for the defence of Lewistown,

Resolved, That they be confirmed.

Resolved, That the letter from general Gates, with the papers enclosed, be referred to a committee of the whole Congress; and that gen. Schuyler lay before the committee, the correspondence between him and gen. Washington, respecting the defence of Ticonderoga.

Congress then resolved itself into a committee of the whole, and after some time spent, the president resumed the chair, and Mr. F. L. Lee reported, that the committe have had under consideration the letter and papers to them referred, but not having come to a conclusion, desire leave to sit again.

Resolved, That Congress will, to-morrow, again resolve itself into a committee of the whole, to consider the letter from gen. Gates, and the papers referred to them.

The several matters to this day referred, being postponed,
Adjourned to ten o'clock to-morrow.

TUESDAY, April 29, 1777.

A letter of the 18th, from William Aylett, commissary in Virginia, was read.

Ordered, That it be referred to the committee on the commissary's department; and that a copy of the said letter, so far as it relates to the procuring provisions for the army, be delivered to Joseph Trumbull, commissary-general, who is directed to give the necessary orders respecting the same. Congress resumed the consideration of the report from the committee on the treasury of the 11th; Whereupon,

Resolved, That 1,000 dollars be advanced to major Ottendorf, for recruiting his corps of rangers; and that he be directed, forthwith, to produce a

certificate from the commissary-general of musters, or the deputy-mustermaster general in this department, of the number of soldiers inlisted into his several companies.

The board of war brought in a report, which was taken into consideration; Whereupon,

Resolved, That baron Ernst Siegesmond be appointed first-lieutenant, and John Conrad Latour, second lieutenant, in the corps commanded by major Ottendorf.

The committee appointed to confer with the president and council of the state of Delaware, on the necessity of calling out 1500 of the militia thereof, well armed and accoutred, to rendezvous at Chester, on Delaware, reported,

"That they, together with general Mifflin, met the president and council at Wilmington, in the said state, and conferred with them on the business aforesaid; that the said president and council gave assurance that they were willing and desirous to comply with the requisition of Congress for the aid of the militia aforesaid, and that every means in their power would be used to draw forth the number required: but they apprehended that this might be more probably effected, by fixing the place of their rendezvous near the Delaware, within the said state, and which would not be more than six or seven miles distant from the general rendezvous proposed at Chester: that your committee, with the approbation of general Mifflin, acceded to the proposal of fixing the place of rendezvous for the militia of the said state within the same, as the most probable means of obtaining their aid and service, and beg leave to recommend the same to Congress as equally advantageous to the public service;" Whereupon,

Resolved, That Congress accept and agree to the report of the committee. Congress then resolved itself into a committee of the whole, to consider farther the letter from general Gates, and the papers referred to them; and, after some time, the president resumed the chair, and Mr. F. L. Lee reported, that the committee have had under consideration the letters and papers to them referred, and have come to sundry resolutions, which he was ordered to report.

The report from the committee of the whole being read, was agreed to, as follows:

Resolved, That general Washington be directed to write to the eastern states, from whence the troops to be employed at Ticonderoga are expected, and to request them, in the name of Congress, to adopt and pursue every means, particularly those recommended by Congress, in their resolutions of the 14th of this month, for completing and forwarding the regiments which he has already ordered for that service, it being the opinion of Congress, that a delay in this matter will be attended with the loss of that important pass: That the convention of New-York be requested to give all possible aid of the militia of their state, to keep open the communication between Albany and Ticonderoga ; and that an extract of general Gates's letter of the 19th, to general Washington, relative to the increase of tories, be transmitted to the said convention:

That general Gates be informed of the measures taken by Congress to reinforce him with men, and to supply him with money; that he be informed, it is not the wish of Congress that he retain possession of that part of Ticonderoga which lies on the west side of Lake Champlain, if, in his judgment, the great point of preventing the enemy from penetrating the country may be better obtained by applying his whole force to the strengthening and securing Fort Independence and the water-defence of Lake-George:

That, if major-general Gates shall be of opinion, that there are not a sufficient number of carpenters employed on the vessels at Lake-George, he be authorized and directed immediately to engage as many as he shall think ne

cessary for completing, with the utmost despatch, the water-craft now erecting on that lake:

That general Washington be directed to send to Congress the names of the general officers ordered to repair to Ticonderoga, and the number and names of the regiments under marching orders for that place:

That general St. Clair be informed, by express, of the approach of the enemy to Ticonderoga, and that he be directed to repair, without loss of time, to that place.

Resolved, That the commissioners for Indian affairs at Albany, be directed to accept of the offer made by the Oneidas, in their speech of the 19th of March, to col. Elmore, to send scouts to watch the motions of the enemy at Oswegatchie; and that a copy of the said speech be transmitted to the commissioners at Albany.

Sundry amendments being offered to the resolutions passed on the mustermaster's department,

Resolved, That the committee formerly appointed to regulate the department of the muster-master, be directed to revise the resolutions on that subject, and the amendments now offered to them.

A letter of the 26th, from general Washington, enclosing a copy of a letter to him from general Howe, was read.

The committee of treasury reported,

That there is due to Walter Drummond, for boarding sundry troops belonging to capt. Hand's company, 30.43 dollars:

To Christian Dull, for provisions supplied to sundry troops on their march, the sum of 38 dollars:

To lieutenant John Ellis, of the 2d Pennsylvania battalion, for sundry provisions he supplied a party of men who were left sick under his command in Canada, 6 22 dollars:

To colonel Evan Evans, for the balance of the pay-roll of his battalion of Chester county militia, in the service of the United States, from the 4th of December, 1776, to the 30th of January, 1777, the sum of 2181 69 dollars.” Ordered, That the said accounts be paid.

The committee on the treasury, brought in a farther report, which was taken into consideration; Whereupon,

Resolved, That it be recommended to the several states, forthwith, to order the sums advanced by them for recruiting the continental battalions raised by the said states, together with the names of the officers receiving the same, to be transmitted to the pay-masters of such battalions; and that the said pay-masters be respectively required, to call such officers to account for the same; who shall produce certificates from the muster-master or deputy muster-master general, specifying the number of non-commissioned officers and soldiers, and also, if officers of the light-horse, the number of horses, arms and equipage belonging to their respective regiments, companies or troops, together with such other vouchers as shall be necessary to prove the sums expended for these articles, the subsistence of the troops before their joining the army, the loss of money by the deaths or desertions of non-cominissioned officers and soldiers before muster, or other necessary expenses; and it is further recommended to the said states, that they order the said regimental pay-masters to report to them, the settlement of the said accounts, together with the vouchers to be produced when confirmed by the said states, to the treasury board, on adjustment of their accounts:

That it be recommended to the said states, if any of the pay-masters shall neglect to obey their directions, as aforesaid, to order their names to be transmitted to the commander in chief of the department, who shall, thereupon, remove from office, such delinquent pay-masters, and supply their places with such others as he shall think qualified:

That if any officer shall not, within one month after application for that purpose, render such accounts, the regimental pay-masters requiring the same, shall make report thereof to the commander in chief of the department, who shall order a court-martial on such officer, and also on such other officer as shall be guilty of embezzling the public money; and the fact being ascertained by their reports, shall immediately cause him to be cashiered, and a copy of the report delivered to the regimental pay-master, to be transmitted to the state to which he belongs, that such state may give proper orders for compelling the delinquent officer to account in a court of justice: That duplicate accounts of all monies advanced by Congress, by general officers, and by the pay-master and deputy pay-masters general, for recruiting continental battalions, be transmitted by the treasury board, such general officers, pay-master and deputy pay-masters general respectively, to the commissioners of accounts for the army in the northern and middle departments, who shall deliver the same to the respective regimental pay-masters, to enable them to call the officers, chargeable with such money, to account, in the manner before directed; and the said regimental pay-masters shall transmit to the respective commissioners, aforesaid, the settlement of such accounts, with the vouchers, who shall report to the treasury-office those which are approved by them, and shall proceed with the regimental paymaster neglecting to obey their directions herein, and officers not accounting for the monies by them received as aforesaid, in the manner proposed to be pursued by the states, in consequence of the preceding resolve:

That the general officers, pay-master and deputy pay-masters general respectively, be also directed, to transmit to the treasury office, duplicate accounts of all monies advanced by them for recruiting continental battalions as aforesaid:

That all regimental pay-masters be directed to apply to the respective commissioners, for accounts of the sums advanced to their officers, as afore

said:

That all commissioners of claims or accounts be empowered to administer oaths or affirmations to persons examined by them in the execution of their office:

That accounts received by the auditor-general, or, in his absence, the assistant auditor, from the commissioners of claims, agreeably to a resolve of Congress, of the 13th of March last, be approved by them respectively, before such accounts are reported to Congress.

That all pay-rolls of the militia which shall be tendered to Congress or the board of treasury, for payment, be referred, for examination and adjustment, to the commissioners of claims; and reports thereon shall be made to the treasury board; who, approving thereof, shall issue their warrants for the discharge of the same, on the pay-master appointed for that purpose; and all resolutions heretofore passed, which are repugnant to this mode of settlement and payment, be repealed.

Whereas, by a resolution of Congress, passed on the 5th of November, 1776, it is directed, "That all accounts for service done, or articles supplied the northern army, shall be presented to the commissioners for settling accounts, and that so much thereof as shall be approved by them, and confirmed by the general, be paid by his warrant on the pay-master:" And, whereas, doubts have arisen, whether, by the said resolution, it is not required of the general, to enter into the detail and examination of the said accounts, to enable him to confirm the report of the commissioners; and such duty being, in time of war, impracticable;

Resolved, therefore, That so much of all the accounts, above described, as shall be approved by the commissioners, and not objected to by the general, shall be paid, by his warrant, in the manner the said resolution prescribes.

Resolved, That there be allowed to each of the commissioners for settling the public accounts of the army in the northern and middle departments, while they, respectively, continue in that office, at and after the rate of four dollars a day.

A letter, of the 26th, from governor Johnson, of Maryland, enclosing a copy of a letter, from the said governor, to James Nicholson, captain of the Virginia, and of captain Nicholson's answer, being received, was read:

Ordered, That the same be referred to the marine committee, and that they report thereon to-morrow.

Resolved, That the said committee be directed to order captain Nicholson to dismiss all the men he has impressed, and not to depart with the frigate till further orders.

Resolved, That two members be added to the said committee:

The members chosen, Mr. P. Livingston and Mr. W. Smith.

The several matters to this day referred, being postponed,
Adjourned to ten o'clock to-morrow.

WEDNESDAY, April 30, 1777.

A letter, of the 28th, from gen. Washington, at Morristown, with a copy of a letter to him from brigadier gen. M'Dougal, and sundry other intelligence respecting the enemy's marching to Danbury, was read:

Resolved, That a committee of four be appointed to confer with the commissary-general, on the means of obviating the ill consequences that may ensue from the loss of the provisions at Danbury:

The members chosen, Mr. Duer, Mr. Nelson, Mr. S. Adams, and Mr. Gerry.

Ordered, That 400 dollars be paid to captain John Hunter, the same being in full of an order in his favour drawn by general Washington on William Palfrey, esq. pay-master general, for recruiting a company on continental establishment, dated the 26th of April, 1777, and that the same be charged to the account of the said William Palfrey, esq.

Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to prepare an address to the inhabitants of the thirteen United States, on the present situation of public affairs:

The members chosen, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Duer, and Mr. Burke.

Resolved, 1 hat a committee of three be appointed to confer with the executive power of the state of Pennsylvania, on the general situation of affairs in that state:

The members chosen, Mr. Duer, Mr. J. Adams, and Mr. Rumsey.

Resolved, That 100,000 dollars be advanced to the state of Pennsylvania for public service, the said state to be accountable.

The committee appointed to confer with the commissary-general brought in a report, which was read.

Ordered, That a copy of the said report be sent to gen. Washington by gen. Schuyler, with the reasons on which the same is founded; and that so much of the said report as relates to the removal of provisions from Derby, Salisbury, Canaan and Sharon, and the magazines from which the armies are to be supplied, be delivered to the quarter-master and commissary-general, with orders to take measures for carrying the same into execution, if proved by general Washington.

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Resolved, That 1000 head of fat cattle be immediately purchased in the eastern-states, and sent, without delay, into Ulster county, to be there dispersed among the inhabitants, with orders to keep up their flesh with hay, corn or otherwise, until they can be turned to grass.

Resolved, That if the enemy attempt to penetrate up Hudson's river, all the wheat that can be collected in Duchess county, and in the manor of Livingston, Claverick and Kinderhook districts, be removed into the north