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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 --FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 1777
Two letters, of the 18, from Joseph Trumbull, Esqr. commissary general, and one, of the 11, from Colonel Alexander Spotswood, were read.1
[Note 1: 1 The Spotswood letter is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 78, XX, folio 112.]
Ordered, That the letters from Mr. J. Trumbull Esqr., be referred to the Board of Treasury, and the letter from Colonel Spotswood to the Board of War.
The delegates of Pensylvania laid before Congress sundry resolutions, passed in general assembly for the said State; which were read as follows:
In General Assembly for the State of Pennsylvania,
Tuesday, 10th June, 1777.
The House resumed the consideration of the report of the committee respecting the assignment of the troops of this state to the Congress; and it was, thereupon,
Resolved, That this House do heartily concur with his Excellency the President and Council, that it will be expedient to transfer to the honorable the Continental Congress, the Pennsylvania state regiment, commanded by Colonel Bull, the regiment of artillery, commanded by Colonel Proctor, and Captain Pugh's company, raised for the purpose of guarding the powder-mills. That his Excellency the President and Council be, and they are hereby, authorized and empowered, to negotiate and settle the said transfer or assignment with the Congress, on such terms and conditions as to them shall seem most proper, so as to have the said troops credited to the quota of men to be furnished by thin state:
And also, that it be recommended to them, to procure Captain Weaver's company, raised at Lancaster, for the use of the United States, to be placed to the credit of the same account.
Extract from the minutes.
John Morris, Jun.Clerk of Assembly.
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In Council,Wednesday, June 18, 1777.
The forgoing resolve of the General Assembly being laid before the Council, thereupon,
Ordered, That, a copy of the said resolve be delivered to the delegates of this state in Congress, and that they be requested to transact this business with Congress, in the way they shall think most proper.
Extract from the minutes.
T. Matlack,Secretary.1
[Note 1: 1 These resolutions are in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 69, I, folio 367.]
Ordered, That the same be referred to the Board of War, and the delegates from Pensylvania.
A letter, from T. Wharton, president of the State of Pensylvania, dated 19, was read,containing the following resolve of the general Assembly of the said State passed.
"In General Assembly Thursday, June 19, 1777. On motion, Resolved, That the President and council be authorized and impowered to borrow from Congress any sum of money not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, to answer the immediate exigencies of the State, and to be repaid in a very short time out of the State, and to be repaid in a very short time out of the monies now issuing by virtue of the two hundred thousand pounds act Enacted at the last sitting of this house."
Wherein, "agreeable to a resolution of the general assembly of the said State, passed the 19th, and at the request of the council, he requests Congress to lend to the State of Pensylvania the additional sum of 50,000 dollars, to be repaid in a very short time;"2 Whereupon,
[Note 2: 2 This letter is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 69, I, folio 371.]
Resolved, That 50,000 dollars be advanced to the State of Pensylvania on account, the said State to be accountable.
The Board of War report,
That they have taken into consideration the case of Peter Pickman Frye, a soldier in the Massachusetts regiment, now under sentence of death for deserting, with an intention to go over to the enemy, and
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have perused and considered a certificate of the committee of correspondence, inspection and safety, at Salem, in the said State, wherein the said committee set forth, "That the said Frye is a person, who, they think, from their knowledge of him, is not possessed of a common share of understanding, and that he is really incapable of committing a crime, maliciously and with design, deserving so severe a punishment as that to which he is now sentenced;" and that, therefore, they are of opinion, that however base the crime of desertion may be, and, more especially, when blackened by an intention to assist our inveterate and cruel enemies, yet, if it be true, that the person now condemned for the commission of this crime is in a state of idiocy or insanity, the articles of war, in this case made, can have no operation as to him:
Whereupon,
Resolved, That General Heath be directed to enquire into the fact set forth by the committee, who, no doubt, certify the matter as it appears to them, and if he shall find the culprit of unsound mind, or incapable, from natural defect of understanding, to judge of what is right or wrong, that a free pardon be granted him for this reason only, and by no means on account of friends or connexions, who should never be considered when public justice demands vicious men to suffer. Congress considers simple desertion as a crime the most atrocious and detestable, but when coupled with an intention to desert to the enemy, the offence becomes doubly heinous and wicked, the person committing it being guilty of both perjury and treason; therefore, that it be recommended to General Heath, to be cautious in his enquiries into the circumstances of the present case, and if he be not fully satisfied, as to the said Peter Pickman Frye's incapacity, that he be empowered and directed to order immediate execution.
Resolved, That the petition of William Field, and Matthias Sapenfield, and of John Smith, and James
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M'Donald, be referred to the government of North Carolina, who are requested to take such measures therein as they shall think proper.1
[Note 1: 1 This report is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 147, I, folio 227. The members present were John Adams, Roger Sherman, Samuel Adams, and Charles Carroll.]
Congress took into consideration the report of the Board of War of the 21 of April last: Whereupon,
Resolved, That a corps of invalids be formed, consisting of eight companies, each company to have one captain, two lieutenants, two ensigns, five serjeants, six corporals, two drummers, two fifers, and one hundred men. This corps to be employed in garrisons, and for guards in cities and other places, where magazines or arsenals, or hospitals are placed; as also to serve as a military school for young gentlemen, previous to their being appointed to marching regiments; for which purpose, all the sub-altern officers, when off duty, shall be obliged to attend a mathematical school, appointed for the purpose, to learn geometry, arithmetic, vulgar and decimal fractions, and the extraction of roots; and that the officers of this corps shall be obliged to contribute one day's pay in every month, and stoppages shall be made of it accordingly, for the purpose of purchasing a regimental library of the most approved authors on tactics and the petite guerre: That some officers from this corps be constantly employed in the recruiting service in the neighbourhood of the places they shall be stationed in; that all recruits so raised, shall be brought into the corps and drilled, and afterwards draughted into other regiments as occasion shall require.
Congress proceeded to the election of a colonel of the said corps of invalids; and, the ballots being taken,
Lewis Nicola, Esqr. was elected.
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Resolved, That Colonel Lewis Nicola be directed to take immediate measures for carrying into execution the foregoing resolve.1
[Note 1: 1 In thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 60, folio 351, is a "Scheme for a Partisan Corps," prepared by Colonel Nicola. It is without date.]
Ordered, That the Board of War report a plan for carrying into execution the foregoing resolve.
The Committee of Appeals, to whom was referred the petition of Captain Paul Hussey, brought in a report: Whereupon,
Resolved, That Captain Yelverton Fowkes, commander of the privateerPriscilla, appear before the Committee of Appeals within forty days after this resolve, ∥and that a copy of this resolve,∥ together with a copy of the said petition, and the affidavit accompanying it, shall be served upon the said Yelverton Fowkes, his agent, or some one of the owners of the said privateerPriscilla, to show cause, why the prayer of the said petition should not be granted.
In consequence of an adjustment by the commissioners ∥of claims,∥ the auditor general reports,
That there is due to Colonel Lindenmuth, late major of Colonel Gehr's batallion of Berks county militia, but now colonel thereof, for the balance of pay of Captain Spingler's company, 634 dollars; of Captain Shappel's company, 274 78/90 dollars; of Captain Seydett's company, 293 12/90 dollars; of Captain Ladig's company, 786 12/90 dollars; of Captain Wetston's company, 74 54/90 dollars; the whole amounting to 2,611 dollars:2
[Note 2: 2 The proper footing is 2,062.66 dollars. The original report accounts for the difference: "For subsistance advanced by the Field Officers of said Battalion from Berks County to Philadelphia, 388.72; also for Blankets, Musquets, &c. taken from Non-associators, per attested Copy of Appraisement, and delivered to different Continental officers pr receipts, 159.42 Dollars."]
That there is due to Captain James M'Connel, of Colonel
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Watt's batallion, of Cumberland county flying camp, for pay, and for guns, &c. lost at Fort Washington, the sum of 408 72/90 dollars:
That there is due to Robert Jewell, for the balance of the following accounts for maintaining prisoners in the new gaol, his and his two assistants' salary, &c. viz. his account from Jan. 24 to Feb. 21, not before settled, the sum of £234 12 8; from 6 June to June 17, £147 8 2, making in the whole £382 0 10, from which deduct £300 0 0, an advance made him in December last, the balance due to him is £82 0 10, equal to 218 70/90 dollars:
That there is due to Captain Yost Herbach, of Colonel Joseph Donaldson's batallion of York county militia, for the pay and mileage of his company, the sum of 376 10/90 dollars:1
[Note 1: 1 This report is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 136, I, folio 249.]
Ordered, That the said accounts be paid.
The committee appointed to devise ways and means for supplying the army with shoes, hats and shirts, brought in a report, which was taken into consideration: Whereupon,
Resolved, That a suitable person be appointed commissary, to receive all raw hides belonging to the United States, and that he be authorized to exchange the same for tanned leather, or men's shoes, at the customary rates of exchange, and have the leather so obtained, worked into shoes, and deliver them to the clothier general, or his order, taking duplicate receipts; one of which he shall transmit to the Board of Treasury:
That when the said commissary shall be of opinion, that the said exchanges cannot be made on reasonable terms, he be authorized to provide tan-yards, materials, and workmen for that purpose, or contract with proper persons to tan them on reasonable terms:
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That if oyl cannot be procured for preparing the curried leather, the said commissary be supplied with tallow out of the public stores, to be used instead thereof; and that he draw for so much as may be necessary on any of the commissaries of issues, making a return of the quantity so drawn to the deputy commissary general of issued in the district:
That the said commissary of hides shall be supplied with money for carrying on the said business as occasion may require, on application to Congress; and that he settle his accounts with the Treasury Board once a year, or oftener if required:
That the Board of War may order the commissary of hides to deliver to the commissary of military stores so much of the leather in his hands as may be necessary for making accoutrements, &c. for the army; and that the said commissary shall obey such orders and directions as may, from time to time, be given him by the Board of War, respecting the business of his office, and the persons necessary to be employed by him in the service, and make return of his doings to the said Board, when required:
That the Secret Committee import a suitable number of felt hats, not exceeding 50,000, and linen for as many shirts, for the use of the army; and also import from the Spanish West Indies such a quantity of dried hides as they may judge necessary for a further supply of leather for shoes and other public uses:
That it be recommended to the governments of the several States, to procure as much home-made linen, suitable for shirts for the troops, as may be obtained on reasonable terms in the respective States, and deliver the same to the clothier general, taking duplicate receipts, and transmit one of them to the Treasury Board; and apply to Congress for such sums of money as may be necessary to pay for the same:
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That the pay of the commissary of hides be 80 dollars per month.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, in the writing of Roger Sherman, is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 31, folio 319.]
Congress proceeded to theelection appointment of a commissary of hides; and the ballots being taken, Peter Philips, Esqr. was elected.
Congress took into consideration the report of the Board of Treasury, on the rules to be observed in paying the army; and, after debate,
Ordered, That it lie for farther consideration till Tuesday next, and that, in the mean time, the Board of Treasury prepare printed copies of the form mentioned in the said report.
The committee to whom was referred the case of Major Apollos Morris, brought in a report, which was taken into consideration; Whereupon,
Resolved, That Major Apollos Morris be put under parole by the Board of War, not to bear arms against the United States of America during the present war with Great Britain, nor to give any intelligence, directly or indirectly, to the enemies of the said United States, nor to do or say anything in opposition to, or in prejudice of the independance of the united States, or any ∥or of them, of any∥ measures or proceedings of Congress, or any of the legislative or executive powers presiding in the several States respectively:
That when the Board of War shah have taken such parole, they direct the said Major Apollos Morris to remain in Philadelphia until an opportunity shall offer for the said major to take passage to Europe or the West Indies, with the consent and approbation of the Marine Committee.2
[Note 2: 2 In the report, in the Writing of Robert Morris,Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 19, IV, folio 443, this paragraph in its original form read "to repair to York Town in Pensylvania, and there remain confined within the distance of two miles of the said Town, until an opportunity," &c.]
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Resolved, That Monday next be assigned for considering the articles of confederation.
The several matters &c. ∥to this day referred, being postponed,∥
Adjourned to 10 o'Clock on Monday.
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