Report: Office of Army Accounts Sept 23. 1786 The Commissioner for Settling the Accounts of the Late Army, to whom was referred the Petition of George Thompson, Executor to the Estate of the Late General William Thompson, begs Leave to report that the Petitioners demand for a ration of the General from the 3^d day of June 1776 the time of his being made a prisoner to the 3^d day of September 1781 when he died is attended with some difficulties, the principal of which is that the General Officers of the Army, not being Confined to one ration daily as was the Case with the Regimental Officers, have drawn from the different Commissaries such quantity of provision on Account as they found necessary for the Supply of their respective Tables, that but few if any of the these Gentlemen ever kept any regular Accounts of their drafts upon the Commissaries and that the Accounts of that department as will appear by M^r Burnalls Letter to your Commissioner accompanying this report are in such a Situation that they cannot furnish such informations as may be relied on in the Case of General Thompson. As there is no Account of his by which the quantity drawn may be determined, Your Commissioner has Searched for the Accounts in M^r Burnalls Office and finds that the General received a ration at Carlisle from Sept. 1777. The Account of which is Obtained, but whether he drew any before that time and where is unknown, as well as whether he drew after that time from any other Commissary this it is probable he did not, as he was for the most of the time a Prisoner on Parole and lived with his family at that post. Your Commissioner further begs Leave to Report on the Forage Account which is for the same period of time with the ration, that he has not in any instance undertaken the Settlement of such Accounts because that their allowances have ever been Considered as within the forage or quarter masters departments, and the knowledge of the quantity drawn by the Officers, and of what has been Paid for by which the Accounts may be Checked, cannot be Come at, nor is your Commissioner informed of the Order or quantities of a ration of Forage as allowed from time to time in that department, or whether the exception of the resolve of July 10. 1780 Confining the allowance to Officers in Camp and those on Public Service has been Construed to exclude the Prisoners— Your Commissioner further begs Leave to report that the General stands charged in the Public Books with the following sums. Viz. 1775. July 29. on Acc^t. of his Regiment . . . . . 5000. Oct^or. Pay of his regiment for Aug^t . . [undecipherable].90 Nov^r. ditto for September . . . . 251.70 1776. Oct 3^d. for men returned from Captivity [undecipherable] [undecipherable] for which no perfect account of its Payment can be rendered by his executor. But as the pay of the Regiment has not been drawn prior to August 5. 1775. and as the General has made advances for the recruiting and Equipment of the Men it is clear to Your Commissioner that the General must have necessarily advanced at least to the amount of the 5,000 dollars charged against him, the two following sums have no Vouchers and the last is Considerably deficient, but as the money was received on Accounts settled, and for Men Present at the time it was drawn, it is reasonable to Conclude that it was paid as soon as received, this Conclusion may also be Justified from the General's Character. and that the Men have always a Claim on his estate in Case it was not Paid. The Petitioner has also produced on Acc^t. extracted from Sundry Memorandums and Papers found since the General's decease they Consist of extra Personal expenses, monies Paid to Indians, for expresses, for his Provisions, Medicines, Camp Furniture, and Advances