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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 --MONDAY, APRIL 7, 1777
Resolved, That there be paid to Captain Bartholomew Burke, 500 dollars for the purpose of recruiting a company, the same being in full of an order in his favour on William Palfrey, Esq.r and drawn by General Washington, dated at headquarters, Morristown, March 4, 1777.
Resolved, That the resolution passed on Saturday, respecting John Connolly, be, for the present, suspended.
A letter, of this day, from James Mease, and an extract from the minutes of the council of the State of Pensylvania, were read:
Ordered, That the same be referred to the Board of Treasury.
And that the council of the State of Pensylvania be desired to lay before the Board of Treasury, an account of the expenditure of the money advanced to their State by Congress.
A letter, of the 24 of March, from the council of Massachusetts bay;
One, of the 29 of the same month, from William Finnie, deputy quarter master general in Virginia.
One, of the 5th instant, from Major General Putnam, at Princetown, with sundry papers enclosed.
One, of the 24 March, from Colonel George Morgan, at Fort Pitt, with sundry papers enclosed; and one, of the same date, from H. [William] Crawford, with the proceedings of a council of war, and sundry other papers enclosed;1
[Note 1: 1 The letter from Massachusetts is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 65, I, folio 195; that of Finnie, in No. 78, IX, folio 73; that of Putnam, in No. 159, folio 47; that of Crawford is in No. 78, V, folio 87.]
A memorial from sundry inhabitants of Westmoreland, in Pensylvania;
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A representation from Lieutenant Colonel Antil, in favour of Adjutant Minyer, were read.
Resolved, That the letters from Colonel G. Morgan and H. [William] Crawford, with the papers enclosed, be referred to the Board of War; and that the said Board be directed to send, with all possible despatch, such a supply of rifles, ammunition and military stores, as they shall judge necessary, for the protection and defence of the inhabitants on the western frontiers, against any hostile attempts of the Indians, or others.
Major General Schuyler attended, and took his seat in Congress, as a delegate from the State of New of New York.
William Duer, Esq.r a delegate of New York, also attended, and produced the credentials of his appointment, which were read as follows:
In Convention of the Representatives
of the State of New York,
Kingston, March 29, 1777.
Resolved, That William Duer, Esqr. be, and is hereby, appointed a Delegate or Representative of this State in Congress.
By order,Abraham Ten Broek, President.
Attest,
John M'Kesson, Secretary.1
[Note 1: 1 The original is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 59, I, folio 39.]
A letter, of the 20th January, and one, of the 1st of March, from the convention of New York, with an extract from the minutes of the committee of safety of the said State, dated 20 January, 1777;
Also, a petition from Colonel Seth Warner, were laid before Congress, and read.2
[Note 2: 2 The letters from the New York Convention are in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 67, II, folios 9 and 25. A letter from the New York Committee of Safety, January 20, 1777, is on folio 13. The petition of Seth Warner is in No. 42, VIII, folio 133.]
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Ordered, That the letter from the council of Massachusetts bay be referred to the Marine Committee; that the letter from William Finnie, and the petition from Colonel Warner, be referred to the Board of War;
That the letters from the convention of New York lie on the table.
Resolved, That the deputy pay master general, in Virginia, be directed to pay to the governor and council of Virginia four thousand dollars, for the purpose of paying the bounties of the 200 men ordered to be raised for garrisoning the forts on the Ohio.
Resolved, That 1,000 dollars be advanced to Robert Jewell, keeper of the state prison, he to be accountable.
A letter from John House, master of the sloop Fortune, was read:1
[Note 1: 1 This letter is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 78, XI, folio 145. It is signed Hous.]
Ordered, To lie on the table.
Resolved, That the state of the military chest, in the northern department, be referred to the Board of Treasury.
Resolved, That the store keeper of the magazine of provisions at Lebanon, in Pensylvania, be ordered to deliver to Ephraim Blaine, Esqr. forty barrels of beef and forty barrels of pork, the said Ephraim Blaine to be accountable.
Congress resumed the consideration of the report on the hospital; Whereupon,
Resolved, That there be one director general of all the military hospitals which shall be erected for the continental army in the United States, who shall particularly superintend all the hospitals between Hudson and Potowmack rivers:
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That there be one deputy director general, who, in the absence of the director general, shall superintend the hospitals to the eastward of Hudson's river:
That there be one deputy director general, who, in the absence of the director general, shall superintend the hospitals in the northern department:
That when the circumstances of the war shall require it, there be one deputy director general, who in the absence of the director general, shall superintend the hospitals in the southern department:
That the director general, or, in his absence, the deputy director general in each respective department, be empowered and required, with the advice and consent of the commander in chief therein, to establish and regulate a sufficient number of hospitals, at proper places, for the reception of the sick and wounded of the army, to provide medicines, instruments, dressings, bedding, and other necessary furniture, proper diet, and every thing requisite for the sick and wounded soldiers, and the officers of the hospitals; to pay the salaries and all other expences of the same:
That there be assistant deputy directors, to superintend the hospitals committed to their care, and assist in providing the articles before specified, under the orders and controul of the director or deputy director general of the respective districts:
That there be one apothecary general for each district, whose duty it shall be, to receive, prepare, and deliver medicines, and other articles of his department to the hospitals and army, as shall be ordered by the director general, or deputy directors general, respectively:
That the apothecaries [general] be allowed as many mates as the director general, or respective deputy director generals, shall think necessary:
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That there be a commissary of the hospitals in each of the aforesaid districts, whose duty it shall be, to procure, store, and deliver provisions, forage, and such other articles as the director or deputy director general shall judge necessary for the use of the hospitals; in the purchase of which, he shall frequently consult with the commissary and quarter master general, and be regulated by the prices which they give:
That the commissary be allowed such assistants and store keepers, as the director general or deputy director general of the district, shall judge necessary:
That a steward be allowed for every hundred sick or wounded, who shall receive provisions from the commissary, and distribute them agreeable to the orders of the director general, or, in his absence, of the deputy director general, or physician, or surgeon general, and be accountable to the commissary for the same:
That a matron be allowed to every hundred sick or wounded, who shall take care that the provisions are properly prepared; that the wards, beds, and utensils be kept in neat order, and that the most exact oeconomy be observed in her department:
That a nurse be allowed for every ten sick or wounded, who shall be under the direction of the matron:
That an hostler or stabler be allowed to each hospital, to receive the horses from the commissary, and to take care of the waggon, and other horses belonging to the hospital, pursuant to orders from the director general, or, in his absence, the deputy director general, or such other officer as he shall appoint:
That there be a clerk in each district, whose business it shall be, to keep the accounts of the hospitals, and to receive and deliver the monies agreeable to the orders of the director or deputy director general:
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That a sufficient number of assistant clerks be allowed:
That such officers and soldiers as the general shall order to guard the hospitals and to conduct such as shall be weekly discharged the hospitals, to their respective regiments, shall, while on this duty, obey the director or deputy director general, or the physicians and surgeons general:
That the director and deputy directors general be respectively empowered to appoint and discharge their assistant deputy directors, and other said officers and attendants of the hospitals, in such numbers as the necessities of the army may require, and the commander in chief of the department shall, in writing, approve; report of which to be immediately made to Congress, as hereafter directed:
That there be also one physician and one surgeon general in each district, to be appointed by Congress, whose duty it shall be, respectively, to superintend the practice of physic and surgery in all the hospitals of the district to which they shall be appointed, and, in the absence of the director or deputy director general, they shall have power to order the physicians, surgeons, and other officers of the several hospitals, to such duty as they shall think proper, and shall report weekly to the director general, or, in his absence, to the deputy director general, or, in his absence, to the assistant deputy director, the state and number of the sick and wounded in the hospitals, and the delinquent officers of the same, and see that such, as may be fit, shall be delivered every week to the officer of the guard, to be conducted to the army:
That there be allowed, also, senior physicians and surgeons, who shall attend, prescribe for, and operate upon, and see properly treated, such sick and wounded, as shall be allotted them by the director general, deputy director
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general, or assistant director, or physician, or surgeon general; the number for the district to be determined by the director or deputy director general, and appointed by the surgeon and physician general:
That there be also such a number of second surgeons as the director or deputy director general for the district shall judge necessary, to assist the senior surgeons, and be under the same direction, and to be appointed by the physician and surgeon general as aforesaid:
That there be also such a number of mates as the director general or deputy director general of the district shall direct, who shall assist the surgeons in the care of the wounded, and see that the medicines are properly and regularly administered, and appointed in the manner before directed for senior and second surgeons:
That a suitable number of covered and other waggons, litters and other necessaries for removing the sick and wounded, shall be supplied by the quarter master or deputy quarter master general, and in cases of their deficiency, by the director or deputy director general.
That there be one physician and surgeon general for each separate army, who shall be subject to the orders and controul of the director general and deputy director general of the district wherein he acts: That his duty shall be, to superintend the regimental surgeons and their mates, and to see that they do their duty, to hear all complaints against the said regimental surgeons and mates, and make report of them to the director general, or, in his absence, to the deputy director, or, in their absence, from the said army, to the commanding officer thereof, that they may be brought to trial by court martial for misbehavior; to receive from the director general or deputy director general, a suitable number of large strong tents, beds, bedding, medicines, and hospital stores, for such sick
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and wounded persons as cannot be removed to the general hospital with safety, or may be rendered fit for duty in a few days; and shall also see that the sick and wounded, while under his care, are properly attended, and dressed and conveyed, when able, to the general hospital, for which last purpose he shall be supplied by the director general, or deputy director, with a proper number of convenient waggons and drivers.
That each physician and surgeon general of the armies, shall appoint such a number of surgeons, nurses, and orderly men, as the director general or deputy director general shall judge necessary for the more effectual care and relief of the sick and wounded, under the care of such physician and surgeon general as provided in the last foregoing section; and the said physicians and surgeons general shall have under them, in each army, a steward to receive, and properly dispense such articles of diet as the director general, or deputy director general shall give, or order to be given him by the commissary of the army or hospital:
That whenever any regimental surgeon or mate shall be absent from his regiment without leave from the said surgeon general, or the commander in chief of the army where his duty lies, the said surgeon general shall have power to remove such surgeon or mate, and forthwith to appoint another in his stead:
That the director, deputy directors, physicians, and surgeons general, and all other officers before enumerated, shall be tried by a court martial for any misbehaviour, or neglect of duty, as the commander in chief of the several armies shall direct:
That the physician and surgeon general of each army, shall cause daily returns to be made to him, of all the sick and wounded which have been removed to the hospitals,
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all that remain in the hospital tents, all that are become fit for duty, all that are convalescent, and all who may have died, specifying the particular maladies under which the sick and wounded labour.
That the said physicians and surgeons general shall cause weekly returns of the same to be made to the director or deputy director general respectively:
That the physicians and surgeons general of the hospitals, cause like daily returns to be made in every hospital, and the like weekly returns to their respective directors, mutatis mutandis:
That the deputy directors general cause the like returns to be made, once every month, to the director general, together with the names and denominations of all the officers in the respective hospitals:
And that the director general shall make a like return for all the hospitals and armies of these United States, once every month, to the Medical Committee:
That the Medical Committee have power to appoint any of their members to visit and inspect all or any of the medical departments, as often as they shall think proper, to enquire into the conduct of such general officers of the hospital as shall be delinquent in this or any parts of their duty, and to report their names to Congress, with the evidence of the charges, which shall be brought against them.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, in the writing of Thomas Burke, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 22, folio 19.]
Resolved, That the farther consideration of the report be postponed till to morrow.
The Board of War brought in a report, which was taken into consideration: Whereupon,
Resolved, That six thousand six hundred dollars be paid to Colonel Abraham Bowman, of the 8 Virginia regiment,
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(late Muhlenberg's,) on account of pay due to the said regiment, the colonel to be accountable.1
[Note 1: 1 This report is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 147, I, folio 133.]
The several matters to this day referred, being postponed,
Adjourned to 10 o'Clock to Morrow.
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