To George Washington from Henry Laurens, 28 August 1778
From Henry Laurens
[Philadelphia] 28 Augt [1778]
Sir
Since my last of the 20th I have had the honor of receiving Your Excellency’s several favors of the 16th, 19th, 21st, 21st and 24th and of presenting them together with the several papers which accompanied them to Congress in due course.1
The proceedings of the General Court Martial for the trial of Major General Lee had been made an Order of the day for Wednesday the 26th, Congress then ordered the whole to be printed.2 The work is large, and I do not expect it from the Press before the 5th of September.
At present I have only in charge to transmit to Your Excellency an Act of the 26th for settling Rations when needful, by commutation of Species.3 I have the honor to be &c.
LB, DNA:PCC, item 13. A note on the letter-book copy indicates that this letter was carried “by [William] Jones.”
In addition to the private letter that follows, Laurens wrote a second official letter to GW on this date. It reads: “I beg leave to refer Your Excellency to a letter written this Morning, and which this will accompany, and also to an Act of Congress of the present date for obtaining the advice and assistance of Baron Stuben in the Army under the command of Major General Sullivan, and for preventing the publication of the Protest of the Officers of that Army against Count d’Estaing’s abandoning Rhode Island” (LB, DNA:PCC, item 13). For those acts, see , 11:848–49.
1. Laurens had written a letter on 23 Aug. acknowledging GW’s letters of 16 and 19 Aug., but the letter-book copy is marked “not sent” (DNA:PCC, item 13).
2. On 21 Aug., Congress received from GW the proceedings of Maj. Gen. Charles Lee’s court-martial and ordered that they “lie on the table for the perusal of the members, to be taken into consideration on Wednesday next” (26 Aug.). Later on the 21st, Congress ordered that one hundred copies of the proceedings “be printed for the use of the members” (, 11:824–26). Congress again took up the court-martial proceedings in October.
3. On 26 Aug., Congress resolved “That the Commander in Chief of the armies of the United States shall, in the army under his immediate command … settle and determine according to circumstances, the ration to be issued to the troops, from time to time, giving an over proportion of a plentiful article in lieu and in full satisfaction of such as are scarce or not to be had … reporting, from time to time, to the Board of War, the alterations and regulations by them respectively made in this respect” (ibid., 11:838).