[No. 74. To Major Gen^l Knox — Sec^t of war] Head Quarters Greeneville 10 march 1794 Sir, I have the honor to enclose you a duplicate of my letter of the 3^d instant, since which M^yor McMahon has returned from reconnoitring in the vicinity of Grand Glaize, where he discovered two Delaware Indians, viz a warrior and his squaw, who affected their escape the second night after their capture thro' the remissness of the sentries — whilst they were in his possession, the man informed him, thro' the interpreter Mr Wells, that the Indians had held a council, which broke up about ten days since, to consider my answer to their message; that the chiefs proposed a compliance with the requisition for a surrender of the prisoners, who were not yet collected being generally out hunting with their masters; that it was determined in Council to send another flag, accompanied by some of the principal chiefs previously to bringing in the prisoners — that he expected they were now on their way, & affected to be surprised that the Major had not seen or heard any thing of them. But, as those people were treated from the moment of their capture with kindness & attention; and not a single Article taken from them, altho they had skins and furs therein, their hats to the value of at least two hundred Dollars exclusive of the property, which were all left safe & untouched, and making their escape under those circumstances gives ground to suspect that the story of a flag soon was altogether a fiction, especially as we have not yet heard any thing further from them, altho upwards of three weeks have elapsed since the prisoners were to have been surrendered. Major McMahon found a great part of the ground inundated, and the creeks unfordable from a heavy fall of rain, which continued for some days, & prevented him from reconnoitering the portage with effect — this Survey remains yet to be done. Permit me now to mention the very inferior quality of the hats & shoes of the soldiery — a very large proportion of the hats are very little better than so many pieces of stiffened blanket, which with the least wet, drop over the ears & eyes of the men & entirely lose their form — this I have caused to have some degree remedied by a strong binding & adding a bear skin cover in the form of a crest over the crown, which not only keeps the of the men dry in rain, but gives a military & martial appearance. Two pairs of the moccasin shoes with which the troops have last been furnished are not equal to one pair of the common shoes that we had last year — in fact, they go to pieces in the course of one escort from this place to Fort Washington & back again. I must therefore request an immediate supply of this essential article, for which stoppages must be made from the pay of the soldiery — otherwise the Legion will most certainly be barefoot before the middle of June. Whilst I am upon this subject I will take the liberty to recommend a fillet or frock in place of a [underline: coatee]; and brown woolen or blue overalls in place of white; also strong military cocked hats in place of [underline: flimsy round] ones as a great & necessary improvement upon the uniforms of the Soldiery for the year 1794 — the long coats will keep the men warm and comfortable during the winter, by curtailing them in the spring they will afford patches or materials for repairing or mending them, when reduced to tatters; they will absolutely [undecipherable] [undecipherable] last nearly [undecipherable] the [undecipherable] plain or [undecipherable] uniforms — hence will result an essential benefit to the public & comfort to the troops. This will be presented to you by Capt Bissell, who from pressing & reiterated solicitations, has obtained permission to return to Connecticut to settle some private pecuniary concerns, but at the same time he is to recruit a full company of men for which purpose he is directed to wait upon you & receive your orders & instructions. The weather has cleared up and the waters are falling — should those favorable circumstances continue a few days I will take ground in front at the place mentioned in my letter of the 3 instant, which will probably be disputed by the aborigines of america — but as they have ceded that ground by two solemn treaties to the U.S. I shall take and maintain possession, in order to facilitate the transport & bring those haughty savages to speedy extermination. In the interim, the savages are most certainly preparing for active and