The first image is an archival illegibility notice card, not the document. Images 2 and 3 are the address panel (outer cover) and the letter body respectively. Here is my transcription: --- [Endorsement on address panel: [undecipherable] December 1799 / Rec Dec 26] [Address: Samuel Hodgdon Philadelphia] Dear Sir— Before the inclos'd was sealed I forgot to request you would favour me with a copy of your [undecipherable: probable reading "Clauses"] in the M. & Q.M. Dept. be pleased to forward a copy as soon as convenient, for I find difficult to adjust my Accounts with out one. [valediction and signature undecipherable] about the last of January you shall have my Gen[undecipherable] Returns --- **Notes on condition:** The first image is an archival insert card noting that pages of this file are wholly or in part illegible. The second image (address panel) is severely damaged by moisture and foxing, with most marginal notations undecipherable beyond the address and receipt endorsement. The third image (letter body) is similarly degraded; the valediction, closing signature, and one key word in the body remain unclear. The letter appears to be from a military officer requesting a copy of some departmental document from Samuel Hodgdon (Quartermaster General), and promising to submit general returns by late January.