Fort Oswego August 10^th 1798 Sir I have received your letters of the 28 of June, and 13 of July. by the same conveyance of the latter date I received a letter from M^r S. Lewis bearing date July 19^th covering the sum of 1082 ¾ Dollars for the pay of the Troops at this place up to the first of March 98. — Although you mention in yours of the 13^th Ult. that this money had been forwarded on the 28 of June. yet it appears from the date of M^r Lewis's letter that it was not forwarded till the 19^th of July. — I lament that you did not inform me in your letter of the 28 of June (in which you returned such Vouchers as did not come under your department) to whom I should apply for a settlement of such charges. It is extremely painful to me to be under the necessity of presenting such acc^ts for I know full well the difficulty attendant in their settlement. and if they were avoidable I should never have any connexion with them. I know that such charges properly come under the Q^r master department. but to find out who he is, by any information which I can find has ever been forwarded to this post, would be an enigma too deep for human intellect to solve. You will I hope pardon me for these observations. I only make them to shew in how precarious a situation I am placed. for such incidental expenses will unavoidably occur. ~ I enclose you a Muster and Pay Roll from August to Dec^r 1796. and another from January to September 1797. these will complete the files for two payments which I have made. and I believe the only payments which have been made on estimation. You will observe that I have selected them from the different Musters made by Lieu^t Rowan. I hope they will do away any doubt as to passing the Receipts which I have forwarded. to my credit. for should they not. I shall ignorantly be drawn into a pitiable situation. for had I known in due time that I should have been thus situated. I should most assuredly have remedied the evil. or else not have made the payments. The greater part of my former Rolls, are yet at Niagara. Should the enclosures not remove every obstacle. I can perhaps give some farther explanation when they arrive. ~ I am Sir y^r H^b Serv^t [signature: B. Fischer] [address:] H. Simmons Esq^r Acc^t. Dep^t. of War [docket: Fort Oswego, Aug. 10^th 1798 / [undecipherable] J. Fischer / No. 2 [undecipherable]mber 1798 / Ans. 4. 9^th November]