[Stephen Rochefontaine / received 18 March / 1796] [William Simmons / accountant of the / War Department] Westpoint March 12^th 1796. Sir I have the honor to transmit to you the Proceedings of a Gen^l Court Martial & the Sentences passed on Jacob Wittman & Christian Wood both [inserted: & Deserters] Privates in the corps of art. & Engineers for your Information as it respects the forfeiture of their pay, to reimburse the U.S. of certain Expenses for apprehending and bringing them back to West P^t I wish you would afterwards hand it up to the War Office to be deposited there agreeably to the articles of War. Major Toussard has arrived here since a few days and I was not a little surprised in hearing him say that you was of opinion that I wanted to deviate in the corps of art. & Eng^r from the laws [inserted: & to establish some custom instead of the] & customs of the army, I have really [strikethrough: expressed with] you my Ideas respecting rules which I thought contrary to the good of the Service, [inserted: & particularly with] but my opinion has nothing to be with my Duty which prompt me to obey first, and then to give my opinion if I remark any thing that appears to be [undecipherable] the [undecipherable] which I am obliged to conform myself to. by law the Temporary Pay M^r Counts his Musters & Pay Rolls under My authority, & receives Monies from you & pays them out under your Controul & Orders exclusively. I subscribe Cheerfully to it because it is the rule — when there are particular circumstances which require advances of Money, such case happens when there are Desertors which I am obliged by law to have pursued, I then request the Pay M^r to advance a Sum which I think reasonable for that object, out of the appropriated funds in his hands. he Does it or not, I do not conceive myself authorized to order him, but I own that I act blindly, because I do not know what plan you have adopted for such case yet. I conceive it my Duty to do my utmost to execute that part of the law which bears particularly on my responsibility. another case which I am yet unacquainted with happened some time ago, which I acted in for the good of the Service as I thought, and yet it Seems that I have [strikethrough: [undecipherable]] M^r Freeman, or laid myself open to responsibility, it [undecipherable] [strikethrough: [undecipherable]] that [undecipherable] was [undecipherable] by the [undecipherable] of the Garrison, of [undecipherable] behaved in an ungentleman like Manner the Man recollecting the next Day, that intoxication had left him open to a very Severe [undecipherable] Court M^l thought advisable to avoid the consequences of a Pursuit, by handing to me his resignation. I received it for his Sake, & that of his friend, and to avoid the reflexion & censure of the Soldier, upon the officers who are addicted to that practice, his immediate Departure was necessary, but he was Sick, and had no Money to help himself with, [undecipherable] claim to a Month pay, I therefore ordered the Senior Surgeon to receive from D^r Griffith, whatever [undecipherable] & property belonging to the Public he was Entrusted with, and I requested afterwards M^r Freeman to Settle his account to the End of his Service, which was [inserted: done & the Money paid accordingly,] [strikethrough: [undecipherable]] from the Pay M^r on his right of Settling accounts, or of having or not Money for that purpose, which he might consistently with his Engagements towards you, make use of. but that part of Expense has not been passed to his credit, as M^r Freeman informed me. I do not know what your reasons have been, but I declare before I knew them, that if M^r Freeman is in the wrong, I run to support the consequences, for altho I had not the Intention of ordering him yet I was glad that he had Done what I requested him to Do, and I was so far from perceiving any Evil in my request that humanity & wish to remove the cause of Insubordination in the head of officers, would have prompted me to advance him that Money, if M^r Freeman had declined my request. two other Instances will yet fall under your notice for nearly the Same cause, a Sergeant was Discharged by the Sec^t of War, as disabled & [inserted: but the Serg^ts was not put on] useless in any Duty in the corps, [strikethrough: the Serg^t] wished much to remove from this post before the arrival of the Instrument, I thought it advisable for the good of the Service & the Interest of the U.S. to grant him a furlough & I requested the Pay M^r to Settle his pay to the date of the Secretary of war's letter, to enable the Sergeant to proceed on towards his home. the other is a Private disabled in the Service, whom the Secretary did not think proper to Discharge, as intitled to a Pension, the man declared to me by a Public Instrument, that he preferred his Discharge to the hope of obtaining a Pension in remaining any longer to the corps. I gave him therefore a furlough to go to Philad^a and to Sollicit his Discharge & I requested the Pay M^r to Settle his pay to the Day of his Departure, to enable him to bear his expenses in travelling — have I Done wrong? why? I am with great Esteem Sir, your ob^t Serv^t Stephⁿ Rochefontaine L^t Col. com^dt W^m Simmons, Esq^r