Fort Washington March the 13^th 1792 Sir Since writing [strikethrough: also] upon the 10^th Inst. Wilkinson has called upon me for [ments?] of the militia from this [county] the insecure and unguarded State of our [undecipherable] were scarcely spare a single mo[ment] [for] Operations yet considering the [favour] of his [Object] I have ordered [fifty] which was the number require[d] [de]mand has been only partially com[plied] with — but with those which [undecipherable] [alread]y turned out and the regular Troop[s] [G]eneral will move on the morrow[.] [De]ficiency arises in the [Village] of [undecipherable: lo-] [num]bers which should have given [the] number and is owing to their being [mus]tered in the present moment — Their [undecipherable] have been hovering about them for sev[eral days] and last night killed a Cow and took off [sev]er[al] [play] Horses from their Encam[p]ment — A [the] militia has been sent out to disco[ver] [dis]perse their [Strength] and to attack [them if] it can be done to Advantage — General Wilkinson writes you by [the] [same] express and will undoubtedly inf[orm you] that he is leaving this Place to establish [a] Route of Communication that have be[en ne]glected — I urge [myself] the business [here] and to be attended with [care] ind[eed] — very great Dispatch only [oc]casion it [keeps] — It is a very gre[at] [mis]fortune to the Publick Interests that [the] [Fort Washington March 13. 1792] to [Situations] [Affairs] in this County very [underline: humble] Accomplishments [come] very often [attend] generally, The [General] absolutely superintend every important thing in Person — He had (and I am [per]suaded it) ordered [Zeigler] for this [Busi]ness I am [persuaded] he can not believe [Mili]tia — He has however resigned [commis]sion and in a manner which [is] very dishonourable to himself as at a Time when he was directed to ex[ert dis]guished [Zeal] in a Point of Danger whe[n the] circumstances of private [concerns] were [un]worthy in a professional Soldier — [I] cannot however that from motive[s of] also [Respect] I am very pleased that [so] [rid] of him, for though as a very young [and raw] officer he might have been found [there]fore yet the risk of independent [com]mand even in that Station would be very great — He is indeed my Dear Sir the greatest [man] I ever saw and I more religiously beli[eve it] had he not been imposed [on at] this [Po]st he never would have been [undecipherable] war with the [Inhab]it[ants] and Garrison — I made all the [exertions in] my Power to preserve Peace, but the gen[eral] tenor of his Conduct to the Citizens [was] very [un]worthy of it and was, I think, virtua[l] Cause of that Riot at Cincinnati whe[re we] have been informed by — The General has had his Difficulties with [the] men and indeed with many other milit[ary] Characters here — Captain Ford is now un[der] Arrest for indecent Conduct[.] [Ho]dgki[nson the] [P]arades — They have be[en] [as] was [the] [underline: little men] (both of them) for some [time] past and I verily believe to the prejudice [of their] service — [best] if this be the Cure you undoubtedly know it by a more [hooper?] [Fort Washington April 13 1792] [wh]en I [take] it as a Duty which I owe to [my]self and to the Friendship and Respect [that] [I] cannot [pretend] for you Sir to [say of Cap]t[ain] that if he be [endowed] with any trac[e]s of the [officer] they are not [per]taining to [that] [essential] department of [undecipherable] [at] this important Crisis he happens [to be] the Principal — I [know] not what [the] Consequences of his Arrest but judging [from the] Proceedings of the Court [martial] wh[ich the] [S]hafter [I should] suppose not an[y] — [Suff]ering the Regiment long in [service] abstracted [from] the Observation of [for]eign Auth[ority] without the [best Ru]les from Field Officers is but [like]ly to be confirmed in unmilitary [and] indecent Habits and it must be an arduous Task to reclaim [the]m — General Wilkinson has [not] elected [I expect he will be very much occu]pi[ed] in this Business without [complet]ing [it] before the Arrival of a Command[er] — Governor [St. Clair's] Command [advanced] there and too active to [perform] towards a [Reform] and any Aid whi[ch] from my Office should have been [forw]arded if our Situation could have [pe]rmitted it must have lost very muc[h] of its Effect from the [prejudices] whi[ch] I attended the [Re]— — [Hen]ce Harmon happened to be di[splaced of] my Appointments and took [my] [undecipherable] as I am informed to introd[uce] in a most [unpresentable] [Point?]