[W.O. 6. March 1798] [Ent.] War Office 6 March 1798 Sir. I have received your letter of the 22 day Feby. ulto. It is the pleasure of the President that you reprimand the person if discovered and an officer upon the establishment, who conveyed or caused to be conveyed to the printer of the Pittsburg Gazette your general order of the 23 Oct 1797 published in the said Gazette of the 6 Jany. ulto. The shot and shells you allude to [undecipherable] that have been sent to Pittsburg cost [undecipherable] for their transportation thither. They were thrown in with the clothing for the army to make up the weight the public is obliged to pay for in such cases, and which cannot be made up in clothing owing to its great bulk. If the objections to using the 24 iron pounders in the gallies are not insurmountable it is a desireable thing that they should be so employed and their carriages completed as soon as possible. The constructor of the gallies contemplated such cannon for them, and I believe it would be very inconvenient to obtain others of as heavy and of the same caliber as well as productive of delay. With respect to manning the gallies, I shall inform myself of the Presidents opinion upon that point before they can be furnished. Perhaps it will depend on the state of things when ready whether their crews are to be drawn from the army, or as oarsmen engaged for the purpose. It is not likely from present appearances that Col. Gaither can be ordered from Georgia as soon as could be wished. You may therefore, if you think proper, send a major of experience and sobriety to take the command on the Mississippi instead of a Lt. Colonel. I wrote a line to you by the — Little Turtle. Did he seem satisfied?. Apparently he had it much at heart to procure an alteration in the boundary line. I flatter myself, however, that he has left this city well inclined to peace and the U.S.