[Cover — outside of folded letter] [Upper right, written at angle — postal notations: [undecipherable] Philadelphia / Surgeon, [undecipherable] Testa / Lower [undecipherable] / upon Service of the United States / Supply Dept of Com Gen Army] [Left margin, written sideways — administrative endorsements: Rainbow / Oliver Ris[undecipherable] / Surg. Mate of U.S. Army, 1797 / 15^th [undecipherable] / [undecipherable]] William Simmons Esq^r Philadelphia and 3^d 1797 P H Allison --- Cincinnate Aug^t 20^th 1797 Sir I have the honor to acknowledge the rect of your letter dated the 23^d of July together with my account current with the United States, and herewith by M^r Hunt you will receive my account with the United States, also the necessary vouchers for disbursement of all public Monies received by me on account of the Hospital department — You will observe that the vouchers for the Hospital department are seven dollars difference, that sum being over and above the amount of the pay of the Hospital Store Keeper and Nurses at the time of payment which sum I will thank you to stop from the six months pay and subsistance allowed me by Act of Congress as a deranged off[icer] Also the two hundred dollars of my Monthly pay which you say has been delivered in your office in consequence of a power of Attorney I gave to M^r Ernst — In [undecipherable] 1796 I gave M^r Ernst a power of Attorn[ey] to draw 25 dollars p^r Month of my pay in Philadelphia, but soon after his arrival at that place he informed me [strikethrough: that his power was] that he could not send any Money from [the] Arrangement offered by virtue of the power I had given him therefore if he has drawn the sum alluded to above he has done it without my knowledge and in a fraudulent manner but I hope he may have honesty enough to refund it — If you make the above stoppages I will thank you to forward to me a certificate of your having done so for without it I cannot obtain a final settlement with the Pay Master general. I am Sir Your Most ob^t Serv^t B. Allison M^r Simmons esq^r