Circular Letter from Secretary at War to Department Heads [Cabinet] Concerning Officers & a Court Martial

At the request of the president, McHenry lays out Adams' concerns over the propriety of a recently concluded court-martial in New York [presumably that of Richard Hunt], and asks for the department heads' opinions. These concerns included the possibility of officers serving as members of the court before having received their official commissions, the precise documentation required to prove legal appointment as an officer (an offer and an acceptance, or an actual commission signed by the president), and the requirement that a 2/3 majority of the court martial approve a death sentence.

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