Now I have all 16 pages. Let me compose the transcription from the readable content across all pages. Trenton War Department Sep^t 20. 1799. Sir. I ha[ve] received your letter of the 16. inst containing very imp[ortant] and detailed observations, on a system of Military S[upplies for the Armies of the U] States. Altho' I fully agre[e] with you, that the old and existing system is defective i[n] particulars, too weakly manned in some of its branches, a[nd] susceptible of amelio-ration, I must recollect that it is yet [the existing system] and that every thing now done to facilita[te the] Army supplies must have reference to its facts and in[c]ents a[nd] indulge a hope it will enable us to go (as we mu[st) under it] for som[e] time longer — I lost no time in laying [the system proposed by] you before the President for his [o]motion. He has returned it with a request that it should be submitted to the heads of Departments as he expresses it involving a great expence. and suggested a doubt whether it can be adopted without legislative aid. The system has accordingly been submitted to the Gentlemen mentioned, and still remains with them. In our present situation then it is still necessary that the existing system for supplies be our rule and this, until an improved one[ ]which certain difficulties now oppose can be established.— What this system is, the course to be pursued under it when it imposes duty and attaches responsibility I shall endeavour to exemplify under distinct heads — 1^st 1^st Clothing. It was recently the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, and is at present that of the Secretary of War to procure annually by contract or otherwise the full comp[lement] of Clothing for all the men required by the Military [e]stablishm[ent]. This, as the Army can never exceed [the] establishment; a[nd] from casualities will always be [below] it implies a surp[lus] but there is also an additional quantity always [orde]re[d to] meet contingencies.— The clothing when [procured] is deposited in the Public [S]to[res]. If it is drawn [out of] the store, and its transportation and distribution [is effected] in the following manner. The Gene[ral] Comman[der in Chief,] or a General commanding a sepa[rate] army, o[r the Comman]der other Officer commanding a district [or D]etachment only a[nd] separate from the Army, cause Returns to be ma[de out] by the proper Officers exhibiting all the Clothing requ[ired] and due to the Troops under his command, taking ca[re where] his command is divided into posts and compriz[ing differe]nt Regiments or different species of Troops, that th[e Retur]ns shall exhibit with precision; the quantities [require]d for each particular Regiment Corps or Post. Th[ese Re]turns are to be transmit[ted] to the Sec[y] of War by the Comman[ding] General or Officer. The Sec[y] is then to transmit them to [the Super]intendant of Military Stores whose duty it becom[es] to see that the Clot[hing is] carefully made up or pa[cked up] and labelled [and] directed conformably to the Return[s and] [dire]ctions of the General or Officer making the same. [The Super]intendant m[us]t ch[a]rges on his Books the Officer res[ponsible] to whom each parcel is directed, considering them a[s the] persons who— who are to receive and distribute the articles directed in their names. The Superintendent afterwards is to deliver the whole, [/] Packages to the Q[uarte]r M[aste]r Gen[eral] or his deputy as the case may be who immediately becomes accountable for the transportation to the respective places of destination for which they are [la]baled or invoiced, and their delivery at such places to the persons charged to receive and distribute the Clothing. The Q[uarte]r M[aste]r Gen[eral] discharges his responsibility by taking and producing to the Superintendent the receipts of the Officers respectively charged on his Books with the different parcels, these Officers in their return exonerate themselves from accountability by rec[eipts] from each Soldier for the Clothing he has received which [aggre]gately shews the final application of every article so deliv[ere]d— 2^o Ordnance, & Arms, Military Stores & Camp Equipage — It is the duty of the Sec[y] of War, to cause Ordnance & Military Stores of every description to be procured, and to an extent commensurate with appropriations made for the purpose. The appropriation is sometimes particular or specific as a given sum of money for small Arms, Cannon & and nothing is left to d[i]scretion. It is generally aggregate as for Military Stores in the mass, in the latter case much is left to discretion, and to the responsibility of the head of the War Dep[t]. He is to determin[e] on the proportions of the various [undecipherable] kinds of articles compriz[i]ed under the term Military Stores to be procured with a limited appropriation — whence shall he draw accurate information to enable him to form a solid judgment?. In this cas[e] he considers it to be the usage of all Armies to requir[e] information from the Commanding General and to be bo[und] to give it with much deliberation. and under a high [sense] When the articles now contemplated are procur[ed] and deposited in the Public Arsenals or Stores, th[e] [s]ame course of [re]quisition on the Secretary must be obs[erved] with the like specifications, and the articles mu[st pass a] similar routine in the subordinate Departments [be] transported & delivered to the distributing Officers or A[gen]ts for use or application. under the same responsibil[ity] and equal regard to exonera[tion] of trust as in the case [of] Clothing.— 3^o Medic[ines,] Su[r]g[i]cal Instruments & Hospital Stores — The arran[gement] contemplated by "an act to arrange the Medi[cal] [Esta]blishment" passed 2 March last [is] not being acted upon [it] becomes necessary to proceed on the existing or old system with respect to this De[part]ment at least for some months. complaints of ina[de]q[uate] the safe keeping and due distribution or wanton waste of me[dicines] and Hospital Stores especially the latter, have of late been [indire]ctly heard to mention this may occasion some means of [remed]y.— In the old system no [provision] has ever existed for an Apothecary to prepare med[icines to] be sent to the different quarters of the Army, nor for a[n] A[gen]t Purveyor to purchase medicines, instruments & Hosp[ital Stores]. The course has been for the senior Surgeon of an Hosp[ital] [a]ttached to a Garrison Regiment or permanant Detachm[ent] to make Returns to the Commanding General or other [Officer ex]hibiting the medical articles, and stores necess[ary] [at given] time for the sick of the Troops placed under his c[ommand] al Superinten-dance and care. These Returns are transmit[ted] [by] the Commandi[ng] General or other Officer to the Secretary of War — sometimes. submitting them to an experienced Physicians f[or] con[sideration] considers it to be his duty to direct the ordinary Purveyor of his Department who is furnished with the Returns to purchase their contents, when purchased the articles are turned into the Public Stores The requisition is thus made for Medicines, instruments & Stores, before the articles are procured and ex[e]plicit as to destination, and the articles must go through the same routine under the same responsib[i]lity & necessity of exoneration of trust as before mentioned. 4^th Quarter Master Stores. and means of transportation All things necessary for the transportation of Troops are to be procured by & from the Q[uarte]r M[aste]r Gen[eral] (or his deputies or Agents) who take orders for this purpose from the Commanding Gen[eral] or other Officer. The same Department is to provide transpor[tation for all Military articles of every description and disburse the expence — Quarter Master Stores are in part of a kind that mu[st] be procured on the spot, and promptly to answer immediate necessity; these it is the duty of the Q[uarte]r M[aste]r Gen[eral] or his deputies to provide. A large proportion of them are however of a nature to either require time to provide in any quantities, or afford an opportunity to purchase more æconomically by means of the Purveyor of the War Dep[t]. — Requisitions for the latter are expected to come in season to the Sec[y] of War, specifying quantities & kinds either from the Commanding General or directly from the Q[uarte]r M[aste]r Gen[eral] as circumstances may require when procured by the Purveyor these articles are placed in the Public Stores, are charged to the Q[uarte]r M[aste]r Gen[eral] Dep[artmen]t. deliverable on application to use on other returns from the Q[uarte]r M[aste]r Gen[eral] or (when he is to distant to be used as the medicine) from the Commanding Gen[eral] or other superior Officer and pass th[r]o the same routine, under like responsibility & necessity as before It is proper to observe that all articles when put in pack[ages] directed by the Store Keeper in the name of the Commandant of the Post they are destined for, and that he is charged with th[em while] it is understood he delivers them over to the custody of a Q[uarte]r Master where there is one, if none, to an Officer acting in that capacity to a Garrison, or if the Post is a small one, [to] a confidential Surgeon also acting in the same capacity, [who] can i[ss]ue the articles composing the packages only on the Or[de]rs of a Command[an]t or superior Officer.— 5^th Pay of the Ar[my] — Having alrea[dy express]ed my conceptions respecting the manner in whi[ch this] is to be effected, and the injunctions of the la[w] and instructions [to] the Pay Master Gen[eral], intended to be conformable to law [from] the D[e]p[t o]f the Treasury on the subject. I must at [n]ot repeat that it is required. (Muster & Pay rolls in due form shall be made out and presented, previous to payment in any case to the Troop[s]; the] rolls shall be examined checked, a[nd] the sums due thereon [certifie]d by the Paymaster Gen[eral]. or when he has appointed them [as his] deputies) if the Comptroller shall, a[l]so explicitly concurr in [certification] to the Commanding Gen[eral] or other superior Officer who s[hall] [issue] upon [s]ue his warrant upon the Paymaster for paym[ent accordingly] that is considered to be th[e] [civi]l duty of the Sec[y] of [War to] [ad]vance such sums of money in the hands of the Paymaster G[eneral from] time to time as he sha[ll] require, either upon his own es[timation] conformably to requisitions upon him by the Comm[anding] Gen[eral] for the afore said purposes. (Hitherto the law had made no pro[vision for] Deputy Pay Master[s], and it would appear that by the 2[d] Act in addition to the act making further and mo[re ge]neral [pro]vis[ion] for the protection of the Frontiers of the United [States] providing [that] that the Army be in future paid in such manner that the arrears shall at no time exceed two months ha[s] imposed a course I shall immediately mention but Muster & Pay rolls I have never understood to have been dispensed with. They must necessarily have been required previous to actual payments to the Troops, for no credits have ever been allowed at the Treasury without Rolls in due form as exhibits or vouchers, to facilitate payments and make them conform as mu[ch] as possible to the short periods prescribed by the law [first] cited at the most remote or detached Military Points; [f] the Western Army from communication with the Paymaster[,] necessity obliged a recourse to the appointment of Agents, such [o]ne as Cap[t] Guion at the Natchez, Col[onel] H[enl]y at [K]noxville & e[ither] Freeman in Georgia, and on the Sea board to the substi-tution of the Accountant for Paymasters, who certified the pay due in the latter quarter to the different Garrisons recruiting parties or detachments directly to the Sec[y], always on Muster & Pay Rolls in due form forwarded or presented by the proper Officers.— The Rolls were never dispensed with and in no instance that has come to my knowledge has advance[s] been made to troops; these were sometimes made to Officers only under peculiar circumstances, as when they were ordered to a distant command, requiring an equipment and involving extra expence.— I have not only mentioned to the Paymaster General my approbation of the appointment of Distant deputies for the Commands of Gen[eral] Pinckney and yourself, but urged his taking measures for the appointments without delay; — with [each Army who shall be [paid] monies to the Regim[en]tal] [ea]ch division shall be charged [with the] supplies whi[ch] may be occasional[ly] [give]n in addition to the general supplies. [The Q[uarte]r M[aste]r] of each Brigade shall be charged with [the] Brigade [supplies] detached only, and always [according to the supply for] such Brigade, [with] the direction of all Brigade[d] Officers [with the] supply of Supplies — [Each Army shall] have a commissary of Forage and [issues] to be charged respectively with the [expence] or cost of those articles.— The Regimental Quarter Master shall receive and issue all supplies for the Regim[en]t except money and Clothing — The Regimental Pay Ma[st]er shall receive and [issue] all Supplies of money and Cloths for the Regiment — The Regimental Paymaste[r] shall issue monies for the Recruiting service to the Commanding Officers charged with that service pursuant to warr[a]nts from the Commanding Officers of the Regiment, or from the Superintending Officer of the recruiting service for such Reg[i]ment; taking from each an accountable receipt. [undecipherable] Whenever it is practicable he will him[self] pay the Officers, non Commiss[ioned] Officers and Privates of his regim[en]t individually. When by reason of distant detachments this cannot be done he will deliver the money to the Officers Comman[ding] companies or to the Officers Command[ing] parts of Com[panies] at [al]l Stations too distant of Com[panies]; taking [from them] The money must in ca[se be s]uffici[ent] to pay [rolls signed a]nd whenever it is practicable a[nd command of Commanding] Officers of Regim[en]ts when detached — For all monies which shall [be] disbursed by them, they sha[ll account;] regimental paymasters produc[ing] [vouch]ers, upon every such accoun[ting a Company] certificate of the substance thereof to the [Commanding General]; such accounting shall be specifying [the vouchers] which shall have been produced a[nd] left w[ith them] This accounting shall be pro[vi]sional only, a[nd] liable to the revision and con[tro]l of the proper Offic[ers] of the War De[par]t[men]t to whom the [a]ccounts and Vouchers must be forwarded.— The same regulations (as nearly as the subject will admit) shall be obs[erve]d in respect to the issuing of Clothing and other artice[s] (provisions excepted) which shall be issued to the non Commiss[ioned] Officers and Soldiers and in regard to the accounting for the same.— Every receipt for pay, bounty or other matter from a non Commission[e]d Officer or Private who cannot write shall be certified by a Commissioned Officer who, whenever it shall be practicable shall be other than the person from whom it is to serve as a voucher. All documents for Returns upon which issues of money or other articles are to be made, must be countersigned by the Chief Officer of the Regiment, or other particular Corps for whi[ch] the same is to be iss[ued]. [issuing of Military] [s]upplies [the issui]ng shall constitute one distinct [branch of issuing and pur]chasing. — [The Purveyor] shall be charged with the procuring [of articles] excep[t] those for w[h]ich contracts are made by [the] Purveyor or [the] War Departments.— [The Super]intendant [of] Military Stores shall superin-t[end the issue] of all supplies. [The Pur]veyor [shall] have near him three assistants[;] [one in] administration; one in relation to the supplies [whose past practice fall within the] departm[ent of supply; one regarding the] Q[uarte]r M[aste]r Gen[eral] including the means of transpor[ta]tion; [one] other in relation to the supplies which according to past practice fall within the Department of Commissary of Provisions with the addition of medical and hospital Stores. A third in relation to the supplies which according to past practice fall within the department of Commissary of Military Stores with the addition of Clothing. The person who now resides at the seat of Government in Quality of Quarter Master Gen[eral] may perform the duty of the first mentioned assistant.— The Superintendent of Military Stores shall have near him three principal Clerks of who m particularly to superintend the issues in one of the above mentioned Branches aided by as many Store Keepers as may be necessary.— The Purveyor shall have with [him to] becharg[ed] with the procuring [of articles to] be procured [for] the Army. The Superintendent shall h[ave] Deputies who shall have under h[im] to superintend the issues of Quarter [Master Stores,] to Superintend the issue [of] Provisions [and] the issue of other Military Stores. [A thi]rd [to superintend] The Purveyor and his deputies shall [ensure] that they provide to the Superintendent [that] the actual custody and [i]ssuing of articles to be [held by] Store Keepers pursuant to the written [orders of the] Superintendent and his Deputies.— The Quarter Master General with the Main Arm[y] and the Deputy Quarter Master Gen[eral] with each separate Army shall have the Superintend[ance] of the Deputies of the Purveyor with the respective Armies; to see that they do their duty according to their instructions from the heads of their respective branches and the orders of the Commander of the Army.— The Inspector General with the main Army and the Deputy Inspector Gen[eral] with each separate Army shall have a like charge of the Deputies of the Sup[erintendent] of Military Stores.— These Officers to serve as checks upon the respective deputies and points of union between the Military & Civil Authorities.— The Payma[ste]r Gen[eral] shall reside at the seat of Governm[ent] and be the [main]tainer of all issues of money for the pay, bounty [&] [s]e[rvic]e of the Tr[oo]ps. The effect of this regulation [to every] practicable extent, will be useful in facilitating inspec[tions] at certain periods, in preventin[g] losses and embezzlements a[nd] in reducing the number of [Col]umn[s] under the several heads of Accounts.— A perfect Arrangem[ent] pursuant to this Idea will be a work of time; but it is cons[idere]d to be important, and that it ought to be undertaken an[d ex]ecuted under Systematical instructions, to be framed [by the] Department of War.— The forms marked [A] [p]rescribed for the Journal an[d] Ledger [of your] Office [undecipherable] (Book & exemplify [undecipherable]) [undecipherable] [Quarter] Masters Department (Stores) This instance it a[pprove]d, will sufficiently elucidat[e] the proposed plan, for [keeping] the accounts of your Office.— The forms marked (B) [p]rescribed for returns of purch[ases] and deliveries of Articles in the several Departments.— It [will] be proper that similar [forms] should be adopted by yo[u for] registry of Warrants [iss]ued [by the] Secretary of War.— To prevent a [co]ns[tr]uction of the Instructions o[f the] Secretary of War in aspec[ts bus]iness I take the Liberty to [say] that an absolute Credit [should] not to be passed in conseg[uence] of a Warrant, o[nly when] it is known that a corr[esponding] delivery has been mad[e]. In a business of so [delicate] a nature as that c[ommitted] to your management, it [is impo]ssible to ad[op]t [rule]s for every case that will occur [dur]ing it ar[ises] [e]xcept to obtain Accounts of all articles [in the] [Publ]ic [Stores] [per]taining to the War Dep[t], and to hol[d] [charge of them], until a final delivery acco[mpanied] [with] [vouch]ers [to] supply whatever def[iciencies] — The [undecipherable] — It is proposed that this arrangement shall commence with respect to all stores and supplies which shall be on hand on the 1^st of January ensuing.— It will therefore be requisite to take speedy measures for issuing instruc-tions to the proper Officers and Agents and for obtaining accounts to the end of the present year.— for which purpose it is expected that you will obtain a list of the public Agents employed in purchases or deliveries and communi-cate to them the forms of the returns which they are to make in pursuance of this general Arrangement, and that you will consider yourself as responsible, for effecting due and punctual settlements with all [those and] concerned — I am very respectfully Sir Your obed[ient] Serv[ant] (Signed) Oliver Wolcott The acco[unts of the Regimental Paymasters] that [they] shall prev[ent] their transmiss[ion] to the [War] Dep[art]ment be presented to the Commanders of Regiments or [Battal]ions when detached, and to the persons from whom respectively they shall [h]ave received the objects [or with] which they are acco[un]table, w[ho] shall [su]b[mit] th[em] and certify th[em] [to the War Department] [T]he above [regulations shall] apply to all persons who carry out a[ccounts with] Officers to whom they rel[ate]. All Returns [and] Requisitions for obtaining supplies [of all kinds] of [the Sec]y of War shall go from the Deputy [Quarter Master General or Deputy Com-] Super[inten]dant [of Stores,] [and with each Army to] the said Superintendent[s]. Estimates for sup[plies] shall be reported by the Deputy Quarter Master Gen[eral] [with] each Army to the Comm[anding Officer] of such Army and shall [thereupo]n transmitted to the Sec[y] of War with his opinion[s]; the De]puty shall send a duplicate of every estima[te] to the Quarter Master Gen[eral], who shall report to the Comm[anding Officer] in Chief, general Estimates for all the Troops of the United States illustrated by the particular Estimates whi[ch] — such Estimates shall be transmitted by the Comm[anding Officer in] Chief to the Secretary of War with his Opinion[s].