[Docket on cover: 25 July 1799 / anonymous] July 25^th 1799- Sir, Having this moment heard that on this day or tomorrow the contracts for supplying rations to the troops for the next year will be en=tered into I have thought it my duty to suggest to you a fact of some importance both as it reflects the good of the Service and the reputation of its officers— The present contractor at Elizabeth Town is nominally John Thing but really William Shute the Major of the Battalion — Thing is merely Clerk in Major Shute's Store and believed to have no other interest in the contract than that of a hired person, so that in case of defect in quantity or quality of rations, the officers are to complain to the Major against himself. — I hope that this inconvenience is not to be extended beyond the present contract which I understand will expire either on the 1^st October or the first of January & that the new one will be given to some other person — My name is not signed because my situation exposes me to the effects of the Major's ill will, but if Sir you have the least doubt upon the subject, let me request you to write to Colonel Ogden the Commander of the Regiment, requiring him to inform you whether it is not generally understood, & whether he is not himself convinced that Major Shute is interested in the contract under which the men at the post of Elizabeth Town are now supplied — I have the honor to be very respectfully A. Hon^ble Colonel McHenry Secretary of War