[undecipherable] of [undecipherable] [undecipherable] (by the Secretary at War) the Petition of James Berry, Esq^r have to report — That from the Certificate of Colo. Thi[undecipherable] and others it appears that the Petitioner [strikethrough: the Petitioner] was a Soldier in the Army of the United States and was made [Prisoner?] in the Year 1776 at the Action of the [Cedars]. That on [reference] to the accounts of [by the certificate produced] [in which he being at the time he was in] the States of New York & Connecticut [undecipherable] the Books of the Pay Office it does not appear that the Petitioner has received any pay [strikethrough: for three] during his Captivity or any Settlement [undecipherable] pay since his Release That in the Opinion of the Commissioner the Act of Limitation [should not] [strikethrough: operate] against the Petitioner as his captivity prevented him from a knowledge That of the Certificates now produced [undecipherable] sufficient to substantiate the fact that he was detained a prisoner against his own inclinations [undecipherable] The Commissioner is of opinion that the Act of Limitation limiting the Claims of the Army [can] should not operate against the Petitioner; but that he should be dead as one in a Foreign Country and entitled to [undecipherable] his pay as a Soldier in the line of the late Army from the day of his Captivity to the 3^d Nov. 1783. all which is submitted. The Hono^ble The Sec^y at War — [Report on the [undecipherable] of James Berry March [undecipherable] 1790 E[undecipherable] my [undecipherable] [undecipherable]]