[Page 1 of the scanned file is an archival placeholder reading "Illegible Text — Some or all of the pages of this file are wholly or in part illegible. We have not been able either to locate a better copy of the document, or to enhance its legibility electronically."] Jan[uar]y [undecipherable] 1799 [• 62.] [Lieutenant] General Washington having proceeded agreeably to the condition upon which he accepted of his appointment, any commandment whatever of the Army of the United States, in the field; [undecipherable] he has presence in the field shall be required for actual service, [undecipherable] the [undecipherable] demanded by peculiar and urgent circumstances; it is [undecipherable] proper to make such arrangements respecting the distribution of the military authority, as shall most conform to the [undecipherable] and best be adapted to our present situation, and to the objects to which our force may eventually be applied. [undecipherable] to convey particulars upon the foregoing subject [undecipherable] contemplated, it will be [undecipherable] [undecipherable] of the [undecipherable] of the United States, [undecipherable] [undecipherable] [undecipherable] with them. 1. There are on the [lakes], [viz] the lake Ontario, the [garrison] at [Oswego] and Niagara; on [lake] Erie, the [garrisons] of [Presqu'isle] and Detroit; on [Lake Huron] at the entrance of the [Strait] [leading] to [Lake Michigan]; the garrison of Michilimackinac; on the [Miami] River, Fort [undecipherable], [undecipherable] [undecipherable], Fort [Franklin], Fort [Washington], and Fort [Harmar]. 2. There are in the [undecipherable] [undecipherable] at the Chickasaw [Bluff], [Walnut] [Hills], and [Natchez], or [undecipherable] [undecipherable] 3. There are [undecipherable] [undecipherable] on the [Indian] [frontiers] of the [State] [undecipherable] 4. There are several [posts] on the [North] [Frontier] [undecipherable] [undecipherable] There [are several garrisons] on the [Sea Board] of [undecipherable] and [in Georgia] and [undecipherable] The [communications] with [those] [forces] [was as follows]: General [Washington] was at certain [stations] in the [Atlantic States] [always] communicated through him with the Department of [War]. The [second] is now communicated through General [Wayne] [who] is on the Mississippi. The third through [Lieut.] [Colonel] [Butler]. The fourth through [Lieut.] Colonel [Gaither]. The fifth through the medium of the [Commandants] of the several [garrisons]. I have [found] that the [first] described garrisons [communicated] through General Wilkinson which at certain [stations]. For [some] [time] when the General was stationary at [Pittsburg] or [undecipherable] [undecipherable] on the Ohio, the whole of those garrisons [above] and below even [except] [Niagara] and Niagara, communicated directly with the General, and the General with the [Secretary] of War. Again. When the General [held] a position at [Detroit], all the garrisons between him and the [west?] [communicated] [though?] within his sphere [perhaps], communicated directly with the Secretary of War. [And] [when] the General [retired] [near] the Mississippi [all] [divisions] [above] [him] communicated [back] [with] the Secretary of War. [Niagara] and [Niagara] being in all the [aforesaid] positions, the [General] [promised] to enable [him] to give quick information, particularly [undecipherable], and always [allowed] to hold direct communica[tion with] the [Department] [directly]. A [slight] view of the Map of the Country over which [troops] are stationed, the [distance] between the [garrisons], the Route by which it is [practicable] for them to communicate with each other and [in] the [shape] of [Government] [added] a consideration of the [various] conveniences that might have [resulted] [if] the [war] [undecipherable] [things] which have [occurred] or [some] [time] [past] [previously] in the [pro]vince, an adherence to the rule of making no communications [to] any of them unless through the [Commanding] [General] of [whose] [troops] have been his [position] [distant] beyond [measure] and [dangerous] for [practice] during such a period. It has been deemed equally [inconvenient] with [attention] and dangerous to [tranquility] to make the General who is now at [undecipherable] [Niagara?] on the Mississippi, the organ by which the [Department] of [War] should communicate with the [Garrisons] and [posts] on the [Sea board], the frontiers of Georgia and Tennessee. The State of things common to an Indian frontier [quite] [as] that of Georgia and Tennessee has rendered it [indispensable] to the [object] of the [measures] of Government, to obtain the earliest [informa]tion of every circumstance that might lead to [war] in those [quarters] or [create] [embarrassments], if not early [counteracted]. Had a rapid communication [ought] at all times [to have] [taken] [place], the frontiers of Georgia and Tennessee have been [formed] into two [Districts], and the [Commandant] of the military [force] within each made the organ of communication for his [respective] [district]. One of the [fortifications] on the Sea board having been [garrisoned] [with] the law [passed] for raising a second [Regiment] or [corps] [Public] [Establishment], the whole of those [Garrisons] have been [permitted] to [correspond] directly with the Secretary of War. You will see in the [present?] of [regulations] which I [sketched] [sometime] since yet [which] was [put] [into] your [hands] by General [Washington], that I had [proposed] to [arrange] in [separate] [Districts] the [military] [posts] on the [Sea board] as well as on the Western [Frontiers] and to [subdivide] as many of them [undecipherable] as done with [undecipherable] 4 is the [Service] under the Superintendance of [the] then [upon?] [Chief?]. Now [part] of the regulations had [for] its basis the [French] [undecipherable] [minutes] relative to the same subject, was intended to introduce more order and system into our military affairs and [abridge] as far as consistent with the general [interest] the [epistolary] [labours] of the Department. The execution of this [project] [met] with some [obstructions] and has been procrastinated by causes which [it is] deemed unnecessary to relate. While the ideas presented to you [exhibit] the difficulties, that would attend the [imposing] upon any General Officer, the entire correspondence with the Army, unless indeed he was to be abstracted wholly from the [troops] and to [reside] constantly at the Seat of Government; they [prove] nevertheless to the [practicability] of dividing the [Army] into subordinate [Commands], and of placing a certain number of such [Com]mands under the [control] and [superintendance] of distinct Officers. The [President] of the United States has accordingly directed me to make such an [arrangement] [for] our military force as may correspond with our situation, and to [assign] to the Major Generals who are to [command] [?] the Superintendants of such [portions] thereof, as may best [tend] to promote military discipline, the general [interests] of the Service, and the [object] of the [military] [Establishment]. You will therefore be [hereafter] until otherwise instructed to consider yourself [invested] with the entire command of all the [troops] in Garrison on the [Atlantic] [Lakes] in the North Western Territory, including both [sides] of the [river] and on the Mississippi. You will as an organ [undecipherable] between you and the [Garri]sons on the [Lakes] in the [undecipherable] Territory and [occasion]ally [those] on the [Mississippi]. [And] if you [judge] [it] [further] [Bri]gades[?] 5 [under] General Wilkinson to establish his Head Quarters at [Pitts]burgh, and [at] as you may [deem] best [calculated] to [facilitate] the communications [as] you [are] [also] with the Garrisons you may [have] under his [undecipherable] [undecipherable]. You will, if you find it can be arranged to [advantage], [subdivide] [subordinate] [districts] within his [Com]mand with [each] a [commandant] who [shall] [undecipherable] communicate with [General] [Wilkinson] and [receive] your [orders] through him relative to the garrisons under their Superintendance [respectively]. You will make similar [dispositions] on the Mississippi [for] the Superintendance of the Garrisons within that [District]. In deciding upon these arrangements you will be [particu]larly careful that [they] do not occasion inconvenient delays in the [transmission] of [information] to the [Head] of Government or [throw] [obstruc]tions in the way of immediate measures being given to the [most] [pressing] [undecipherable] [urgency], and will direct your corresponding [Offi]cers on the [North] Western Territory and on the Mississippi to [pass] all [letters] [which] they [address] to you open and through the Secretary of War, at least as long as your position shall be made so to [afford] to the Secretary [an] [opportunity] to have their contents sooner than if they were to be received by you in the first instance. By this arrangement it will be at all times in the power of the Secretary of War to give orders in [emergencies] which can afterwards be communicated to you [for] [future] [Government]. [Besides] the [Garrisons] of the [posts] and [Garrisons] in the [back] of [country] [before] described, you will [superintend] of all the [posts] and [posts] which are or may be within the State of [Maryland] and all the States to the Northward and Eastward [thereof]. [Senior?] 6 [Also] General [Pinckney] will be instructed to take the command of all the [troops] and [posts], that are or may be within the State of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, [Kentucky] and [Tennessee]. It is expected and you will give orders [accordingly], that the [garrisons] and [posts] within your [command] will [undecipherable] [undecipherable] [undecipherable] [and] the enclosed [Regulations]. The [Re]maining [Service] is an [area] of [pressing] [concern] [connected] to [us] [particularly] connected with the [office] of [the] [Inspector] [General]; the [sole] direction [of] it is [therefore] with a view to [order] and [efficiency] confided to you alone. It is to be lamented that circumstances have [prevented] the [obtaining] an early supply of [necessary] clothing for the [troops] directed to be raised by the [Act] [passed] the [undecipherable] of [July], 1798, and that the [progress] [made since it was] [inadvisable] to [enter] upon the [business] does not [undecipherable]. [There] are immediately commencing the [Recruiting] [Service] [and] it is [not?] by [the] [journeys] of the [Public] [Supplies] which [direct] the [pos]sible [undecipherable] the [different] articles of Clothing which is [known] [when] [issued] [to] us, and the times at which its [presence] [shall] [be] [ready], no [undecipherable]. While however the [improbability] of obtaining a [proper] [supply] of Clothing [might delay] the anxiety of some delay in the actual [commencement] of the [recruiting] [Service], [nevertheless] as [your] [pre]paratory arrangements it is [thought] [may] greatly [facilitate] the same; you are invited [therefore] to [entertain] in [dividing] at least the State from which [undecipherable] [has] [been] [undecipherable] [into] as many [Districts] as there are [Captains] [undecipherable] to [come] in them, and [proceeding] to [the Office] to be [employed] [undecipherable] in each [District], through the [Commandant] [undecipherable] [undecipherable] [undecipherable] with orders [either] to hold himself [pre]pared 7 and to enter upon the [Service] the moment he receives your ulterior directions, or to engage provisionally as many recruits as are willing to enrol themselves on his list, and who may be promised [pay] from the day of their being enrolled and sworn with their [bounty] upon the Officer receiving his final Instructions, or, (which [perhaps] is safer) upon their arrival at the [general] Rendezvous. The Instructions [alvert] to the qualifications of Recruits in general terms. It may be proper to be more [particular] than the Instructions are, respecting [enlistments] for the Cavalry. The important [Service] to which the Cavalry are destined (the [event] of actions sometimes depending [much] upon their valour and im[petuosity]) [renders] it [indispensable] that [they] (who be [composed] of the best materials, and in proportion to the small number [assigned] to the Army, and the effect expected to be [produced] by them, [that] this [element] can be discerned in their [selections]. Let the Regulations then [open] this [point], [restrict] the recruiting Officer to engage none [except] [Nationals?] for this [body], and of these [such] only as from their known character and [stability] may be [trusted] to the extent of their [powers]. [In] one of the Cavalry Recruit deserves a degree of [attention] [Steuben] [shows] very justly in his remarks on Cavalry, "that in every [species] of Cavalry, the Man ought to be proportioned to the [size] of [his] [Horse] and the [arms] with which he is to [serve], adapted and [proportioned] to them both, and the nature of [service] to be [performed]; consequently the [cuirassiers] should be larger and their arms heavier than the Dragoons, and [those] [riders] [chosen for?] the light [Horse] or [Hussar]: a small Man [has a great] [difficulty] to command a large [horse] [particularly] with a [cuirass]; they [should] all [however] be [muscular] and robust, but not heavy: the [front?] [undecipherable] 8 [rian] Dragoons are too heavy for their Horses; and it is [ridiculous] to see a larger Man upon a small horse; which by being [harmed?] will be much [weight?] is very soon ruined, and the [Trooper] [dismounted?]; a Man who is more than five feet eight inches ought not to be received into the Cavalry." It will be [proper] that [?] [Major] General [Pinckney] [should] [also] [attend] to the Recruiting [undecipherable] the direction of [recruiting] [ground] to his command; and that it should receive from you all the necessary Instructions upon the subject. You will [report] [monthly] to the Secretary of War an [Abstract] of the number of [men] recruited, the [stations] which may be wanted, and the necessary [sums] to be remitted for the [Service]. Enclosed is a [Schedule] of the Officers who have [accepted] [their] [Appointments] with their [respective] places of [residence] [annexed]. Enclosed is also a [list] of [Officers] at [present] employed in the [Recruiting] [Service] and their places of [Rendezvous]. Should you think the [existing] [Instructions] to [Recruiting] [Officers] require [revision] so that [additional] [Articles] are [necessary] for the [extensive] [field] we are entering upon, to give more system to the business, you will [report] the [alterations] or [additions], that they may be submitted to the [President] for his sanction, incorporating therein those which [respect] the Cavalry. You will also indicate to me as [soon] as possible the several [Stations] where [Rations] must be provided, that [measures] may be taken accordingly. Connected with this subject is another of considerable importance; I mean, the permanent [disposition] of the [troops] after they shall have been raised. Having taken the opinion of General Washington on this [point] it is [undecipherable] [advisable] that it should be [deferred] until a change 9 change of circumstances shall render a different disposition [proper]. The General [observes], that though it [might] now be [premature] to [fix] a permanent disposition of the troops, it would nevertheless be useful to indicate certain stations where they may be [assembled] provisionally, and may probably be [suffered] to continue [there] in [matters] remain in the present [scheme]. The Stations [alluded] in this view [undecipherable] [undecipherable] one for two [Regiments] in the [vicinity] of [Providence] [River] [undecipherable] [Uxbridge]; for two [other] [Regiments] in the [vicinity] of [Brunswick]; [undecipherable] [New] [Jersey]; for two more [Regiments] in the [undecipherable] of [Portsmouth] [undecipherable] [Fort]; for two other [Regiments] in the [vicinity] of [Augusta] [undecipherable] [out] of the Savannah. This [undecipherable] from the [General] [advanced] will unite considerations relative to the [undecipherable] [undecipherable] and health of the [troops], and to the [economical] supply of their [wants]. It will also have [sound] military [aspects], in the first [instance] towards the [security] of Boston and New York; in the second towards that of New York and Philadelphia; in the third and fourth towards that of Baltimore, [Charleston], Savannah, and the Southern States [generally]; and in the third, [particularly] towards the [improvement] of the Western Army in [certain] [events]. But the [subjoined], the military motives [have] only a [qualified] [influence], since it is not doubted that in the prospect of a [serious] attack upon this Country, the [disposition] of the [Army] might [undecipherable] [undecipherable] [undecipherable] to the Southern Region, as that which is by far [more] [likely] to be the scene of [actions]. It was also the [General]'s opinion, which is concurred in, that the [Companies] directed to be [added] to the [Regiments] of the old Establishment [ought] as soon as [co-] [undecipherable] ment, to re[inforce] the Western Army, and that their [destination] in the first instance may be [Pittsburg]. His [opinion] is also in general to be adopted relative to the disposition 10 [disposition] of the Artillery. He [proposed] to [assign] a complete Battalion to the Western Army, to the [fortifications] at [Boston] and [Providence]; to those at New York two [Companies]; to those at [Newport] two [Companies]; to those at West [Point] one; to those at [Mid] [Island] two; to those at Baltimore [one]; to those at [Norfolk] two, to those on [Cape] [Fear] [River] one; to those at [Charleston] two; to those at Savannah [one]; to those at the Mouth of [St.] [Mary]'s one [undecipherable]. I [thought] [it] [may?] to [notice] this [pointed?] [places] on the [Sea] board that [is] [not] [require] attention [and] it is [fit] to you to decide [upon], after you have taken a deliberate view of the [subject]. It is [further] [undecipherable] [that] the remaining two Battalions [had] [better] be retained for the Army in the Field, and [that] [they?] [undecipherable] [undecipherable] may [retain] the [Stations] they [now] occupy; but that as soon as they can conveniently go into [Posts] it will be advisable to [assemble] them at some central or [nearly] [cen]tral [point]; there to be [put] in a [course] of regular instructions, [together] with successive [detachments] of the Officers and [Non] [commissioned] Officers of the Sea Board [Garrisons] until their [services] shall be actually [required]. You will therefore [give] [effect] to the [aforesaid] [disposition], and [rearrange] the [Companies] of Artillery that [those] [belonging] to the same [Regiment] or [Corps] may form [contiguous] [garrisons]. You will also make such an arrangement with the [subal]terns to the [Captains] of [Battalions] and Companies as in your opinion will [produce] the greatest [harmony] [among] the Officers and good to the [Service]. Enclosed is a [list] of the names of all the Officers in the Army [classed] according to their [respective] [Regiments] or [Corps] with the date of their [Commissions]. A [System] of [Regulations] being [wanted] for the Government and [discipline] of the [Volunteer] [Companies], you will as soon as con[venient] 11 [undecipherable] [recommend] one for the consideration of the [President]. Enclosed is the copy of a letter to [Brigadier] General Wilkinson dated the 31^st of January 1799, by which you will perceive that he is instructed to wait your [Orders]. Considering with what [view] the [posts] which our [Troops] occupy on the Lakes were originally erected, it may be useful to employ a judicious [Engineers] to [survey] them, and the [Adjacent] [country] on the Lakes in order that it may be ascertained, in the various relations of [Trade] and defence, whether they are [susceptible] of any [beneficial] changes. You will in this [purpose] select from the [Corps] of [Artillerists] and Engineers at a convenient time, a qualified Officer to make the [necessary] [Survey] and report the result relative to those [objects]. It is required that you report as soon as it can be done with convenience a system of regulations for the government of the [Inspector] general and [Adjutant] [undecipherable] [undecipherable], a [description] [of] [service] [of] their duties and [functions] and comprising the duties of [those] Officers to whom their functions are as [possible?]. I need not urge it upon you, to exercise the most vigilant superintendance over every branch of the [Service] within the sphere of your command. I cannot avoid however calling your [particular] attention to the discovery of the causes which may [induce] [irregularity] in the police of the [Armies], in the field, and in our [posts] or [garrisons] upon the different [frontiers] of the United States, and [ensure] that every [local] and proper step be instantly [resorted] to, [undecipherable] the Law or the [usages] of [Armies] [autho]rize on such occasions, to punish the [offenders] and produce a salutary result. It is expected that you will [neglect] no means of [obliging] at the stated periods, the proper officers to make all returns [requisite] to exhibit the number and state of the [troops] in every [position], to [forward] their [Muster] and [Pay] Rolls, [Returns] of the quantity of Clothing [deliver]ed, on hand or due to the Soldiers, of the distribution generally of the [Public] 12 [public] property, of the [quantity] and situation of [every] [article] as [undecipherable] [undecipherable] of the [supplies] which are or may be [wanted] and every [other] [notices] and return [necessary] to the [information] of the Secretary of War and [infor]mation to the [accounting] Officers of the War [Department]. You [know] [precisely] how much the [regularity] and [perfection] of such returns depend on the disposition of Officers to execute their orders, and [undecipherable] [undecipherable] [undecipherable] [as] [to] [the] [undecipherable] [economy] is [rather] more to be expected from the [integrity] [vigilance] and [knowledge] of those who are [entrusted] or have a control over the [strong?] [expenditure] and [property], than from the wisest general regulations or [instructions] that can [possibly] be devised. Whenever there is found a [deficiency] of [secure] [deposits] for, or a want of [requests?] [qualities] in the Officer [charged] with the care and management of the [public] [property], it is expected that you will remedy the evil, if within your [lawful] powers or point to the circumstances that it may be considered by the authority [competent] to the remedy. Finally, I cannot conclude these instructions without [express]ing my most unlimited confidence in your [talents] to execute this, [the] high [trusts] which the President reposes in you, and my own most perfect reliance upon your [cooperation] and assistance in every thing that concerns the Army [Establishment] and the means to [remedy], whatever defects may be found to exist therein; and that I shall at all times recognize in the execution of the orders which you may receive, the most perfect [evidence] of your Candour and [Friendship]. I have the honor to be with great regard and esteem Sir, Your most obedt Servant. (signed) James McHenry. Major General Alexander Hamilton[.]