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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 --SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1777
Resolved, That the sum of £332, equal to 885 1/3 dollars be advanced to the delegates of Maryland, for the use of the detachment of Colonel Richardson's batallion, which is ordered to join the army, under the immediate command of General Washington; and that the said sum be charged to the account of the said batallion.
Resolved, That 100,000 dollars be advanced to Joseph Trumbull, Esq. commissary general, for public service; he to be accountable.
The Board of War brought in a report, which was taken into consideration; Whereupon,
Resolved, That Christopher Ludwick be appointed superintendent of bakers, and director of baking, in the grand army of the United States; that he have power to license, with the approbation of the commander in chief, or officer commanding at any principal post, all persons to be employed in this business, and to regulate their pay, making proper report of his proceedings, and using his best endeavors to rectify all abuses in the article of bread:
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That no person be permitted to exercise the trade of a baker in the said army without such licence; and that he receive for his services herein, an allowance of seventy-five dollars a month and two rations a day.
Resolved, That John Belton be authorized and appointed to superintend, and direct, the making or altering of one hundred muskets, on the construction exhibited by him, and called "the new improved gun," which will discharge eight rounds with once loading; and that he receive a reasonable compensation for his trouble, and be allowed all just and necessary expences.1
[Note 1: 1 A letter of Belton, dated Philadelphia, April 11, 1777, offering his discovered improvement in small arms, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 41, I, folio 123. His name was Joseph Belton.]
Resolved, That Christian Mankey2 receive a commission as first lieutenant, and George Shoffner a commission as a second lieutenant, in Captain John Paul Shott's independent company; and that the said commissions bear date the 4th February last, the time they were appointed to act by the captain, in consequence of orders from General Washington.
[Note 2: 2 Christian Mankcke]
Ordered, That the farther consideration of the report be postponed till Monday next.
Resolved, That Christian Frolock be appointed a second lieutenant in Captain Selim's company, of Major Ottendorf's corps.
Resolved, That another brigadier general be appointed in the army of the United States;
Resolved, That the appointment of the two brigadiers be postponed till Monday next.
The Committee of Treasury reported,
That there should be advanced to Colonel Thomas Hartley, commanding one of the sixteen additional batallions, for the use of his regiment, on the application of
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Major Lewis Bush, the sum of six thousand dollars: the said colonel to be accountable:
That there should be advanced to Colonel David Hall, commanding the batallion of continental troops, raised in the State of Delaware, six thousand dollars, for the use of his batallion, he to be accountable:
That there should be advanced to John Paul Shott, for the use of his independent company, the sum of three hundred dollars; he to be accountable:
That there is due to Captain Samuel Griffith, for the expences of seven men, from Baltimore to Philadelphia, as a guard for money, thirty seven dollars:
To Robert Erwin, for 12 cords of wood and sawing, delivered for the use of Congress, 131 dollars:
That there is due to James Jackson, to be paid to Colonel Henry Haller, for pay, as a private from the 15 of December to the 24th January, when he returned from New York, and his mileage from thence, 9 79/90 dollars:
To Steiner & Cist, printers, for printing the address of the assembly for the state of New York, in German, 1,000 copies, and for paper, 39 39/90 dols.
To Lewis Weiss, for translating the address into German, 16 dollars:
To the committee of York county, in Pensylvania, for the board of ten prisoners, from the 3 July to the 23 November, nineteen weeks, at one dollar per man, per week, a balance of 180 dollars:
To Nathaniel Donnel, as commissary of musters for the militia, for pay, from the 16 July, 1776, to the 25 March, 1777, eight months and nine days, at 40 dollars per month, and for two hundred and fifty two days' rations, at 4 rations per day, both amounting to 421 54/90 dollars:1
[Note 1: 1 The original report has the following: "Mr. Donnel claims Pay to the Time when another Commissary was appointed, the 25th March, which was the last service he performed."]
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To William Smith, late a captain in the 6 Pensylvania batallion, commanded by Colonel Irwin, upon the balance of his several accounts, 1,799 89/90 dollars:
To William Rippey, late a captain in the same regiment, upon his several accounts, 1,561 68/90 dollars:
To Captain Hay, for a balance of several accounts against his company in the said regiment, 960 dollars:
To Captain Jeremiah Talbot, for a balance on his account against his company in the said regiment, 1,233 6/90 dollars.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, in two parts, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 136, I, folios 85 and 149.]
Ordered, That the said accounts be paid.
Resolved, That whenever an account with the United States shall be settled by any of the commissioners of accounts, returned to and approved of by the Board of Treasury, and by them reported to and confirmed by Congress, the Board of Treasury shall be authorized to give the accountant a sufficient discharge for the same.
The Committee of Treasury reported,
That the commissioners for settling the accounts of the army in the northern department, have produced to the Treasury Board, among other accounts adjusted by them, a general account of the receipts and disbursements of Major General Schuyler, and a separate account of the disposal of specie remitted to him by Congress and otherwise, for carrying on the military operations in Canada: that the last mentioned account has, at General Schuyler's immediate request, been examined by the Board of Treasury, with the several vouchers: That it appears to this Board, that before General Schuyler was supplied by Congress with any specie at all, he sent into Canada, for the public service, more than 3,250 dollars in special; that he sent such farther sums in specie into Canada, raised on his private credit, that when the army retreated from
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thence, he was in advance upwards of the value of 10,000 dollars in specie, above what he had been supplied with by Congress; that, to re-imburse his friends who had lent him the said specie, he, after the retreat from Canada, drew out of the military chest several sums in specie, with which it was supplied after such retreat; but, that he remains, upon the final settlement of the said account, in advance for the public in specie, upwards of the value of 3,250 dollars more than he ever received in specie, having taken continental money in payment thereof: That it further appears from the said account and vouchers, that none of the specie, supplied to him by Congress, before the retreat from Canada, remained in his hands more than two days, the same being delivered over to the deputy pay master general.
Resolved, That the said report be accepted, and that the same be published.
Resolved, That Tuesday next be assigned for the election of commissioners of the navy in the four New England states.
The several matters to this day referred, being postponed,
Adjourned to 10 o'Clock on Monday.
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