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A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
Journals of the Continental Congress --THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 1776
A letter from Governor Trumbull, of the 17th, and
A petition from Colonel John Brown,
A petition from William Holton, were read:
Resolved, That the petition of Colonel Brown be referred to the Committee appointed to enquire into the causes of the miscarriages in Canada:1
[Note 1: 1 The letter from Governor Trumbull is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 66, I, folio 185. The petition of John Brown is in No. 153, II, folio 319, That of William Holton is in No. 42, III, folio 321. It is endorsed by Richard Peters: "28th. Read before Board of War and refd for further considn."]
That the petition from William Holton be referred to the Board of War and Ordnance.
Resolved, That an order for 24 dollars be drawn on the treasurers in favour of Major Bicker; he to be accountable.
Sundry letters from the southward, being received by express, were laid before Congress, and read, viz.
One from General Lee, dated Little River, 6 June, enclosing two letters, one from John Rutledge, Esqr. the other from General Armstrong to General Lee, dated Charleston, South Carolina, 4th of the same month, advising, that 51 sail of the enemy were arrived there, and lying in sight of the town:
One from Brigadier General Lewis, dated Williamsburgh, June the 18th, enclosing one from General Lee, of the 6th, to him:2
[Note 2: 2 This letter is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 158, folio 69.]
Resolved, That the said letters be referred to the Board of War and Ordnance:
The Congress took into consideration the letter from Governor Trumbull; and, after some debate,
Resolved, That the farther consideration thereof be postponed; and, in the mean while, that Governor
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Trumbull be desired to send to Congress, an account of the cannon left at New London by Commodore Hopkins, their number, size, bore and weight, and also an account of the other cannon there.
A letter from the commissioners for Indian affairs in the southern department, with sundry papers enclosed, was laid before Congress, and read.
The Board of War and Ordnance, to whom the paragraph of a letter from the General was referred, brought in their report, which was taken into consideration: Whereupon,
Resolved, That six companies of rifflemen, in addition to the three companies now at New York, be raised and the whole regimented; and that a commission be granted to Captain Stevenson, to be colonel of the regiment of rifflemen, which is to be inlisted for three years, unless sooner discharged by Congress; the men to be allowed a bounty of ten dollars; and that the eldest captain, Moses Rawlins from Maryland, lately of the riffle companies be made a lieutenant colonel, and the captain of the other riffle company, Otho Holland Williams, major:
That four companies of rifflemen, for the said regiment, be raised in Virginia, and two in Maryland, the pay of the men to commence from the time they shall be armed and mustered: their arms to be appraised by the committee of the county, and paid for by the United Colonies:
That General Washington be directed forthwith to send to this Congress a complete list of all the vacancies in the army, and the names of such officers as he can recommend for filling them.
The Committee of Claims reported, that there is due,
To Robert Erwin, waggon master, the sum of £90 11 9=241 51/90 dollars, a balance of three teams that went to North Carolina with powder;
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To Doctor Frederic Phile, for medicines and attendance on the 5th Pensylvania batallion, from the time of their embodying to the 13th of June, 1776, the sum of £199 14 3=532 51/90 dollars.
To John Bates, the sum of £25 10 1=68 dollars for camp kettles:
To Elizabeth Slaydon, the sum of £9=24 dollars, for nursing and boarding two soldiers, of which sum Captain Stewart is to be charged with £5 ∥=13 30/60 dollars,∥ it being for nursing and boarding the man he wounded in the state house yard; the remainder to the continent; and that the above £9 0 0 ∥=24 dollars∥ ought to be paid to Colonel Matlack:
To Rachel Hewen, the sum of £2=5 30/90 dollars, for nursing and boarding two soldiers of the continental army:
That there be repaid to Robert Moore the sum of seven dollars, which was stopped out of his pay by Captain M. Smith; the same having been by him expended for provisions, when he was left sick by his company in Canada:
Ordered, That the said accounts be paid.
Resolved, That the pay of Doctor Huston, who was appointed surgeon to the 5th Pensylvania batallion, be stopped till farther orders of Congress, and that the pay master be notified thereof.
The committee to whom it was referred to devise a mode of raising the German batallion, voted on the 25 of May last, brought in their report, which was taken into consideration: Whereupon,
Resolved, That four companies of Germans be raised in Pensylvania, and four companies in Maryland, to compose the said regiment [battalion]:
That it be recommended to the committee of safety of Pensylvania, immediately to appoint proper officers for,
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and direct the inlistment of, the four companies to be raised in that colony:
That it be recommended to the convention, or, in their recess, to the committee or council of safety of Maryland, immediately to appoint proper officers for, and direct the inlistment of, the four companies to be raised in that colony:1
[Note 1: 1 Printed in thePennsylvania Gazette, 3 July, 1776.]
That the said companies be inlisted to serve for three years, unless sooner discharged by Congress, and receive bounty, pay, rations, and all other allowances equal to any of the continental troops:
That the said companies be entitled to pay and subsistence from the time of inlistment:2
[Note 2: 2 On the original report the following sentence was inserted by John Hancock, but afterwards stricken out: "their being armed, their arms to be appraised by the Comee. of the County in which they are raised, and paid for by the United Colonies"]
That the said companies, when raised, be formed into a batallion, under the command of such field officers as the Congress shall appoint:
That the rank of the captains of the said companies be regulated as Congress shall hereafter direct:
That 5,000 dollars be sent to the committee of safety of Pensylvania, and 5,000 dollars to the convention, or, in their recess, to the committee of safety of Maryland, to defray the expence of raising the said companies.3
[Note 3: 3 This report, in the writing of Samuel Chase, is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 21, folio 45.]
Resolved, That it be recommended to the convention, or, in their recess, to the committee of safety of Maryland, to appoint the officers, and forward, with all possible expedition, the raising the two companies of rifflemen.
The several matters to this day referred, being postponed,
Adjourned to 9 o'Clock to Morrow.
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