Lieu. Nath^s. Leonard. Accountants Office Windsor Vermont March 4^th 1800 Sir The Secretary of War has inclosed to me an account for expences incurred in pursuit of deserters which was transmitted to him by General Hamilton & requesting of me to take the necessary orders thereon. — On reference thereto I find the account stated by you amounting to ninety two dollars & 9/100, from the names of some of the parties to whom you say you paid expences I discover they are Soldiers & as it is probable from this circumstance that the pursuit was conducted by Soldiers, it is proper to inform you in that case that the rewards in addition to the expences cannot be allowed, that you may be informed correctly on the subject I shall quote a passage in a letter from me to the Secretary of War dated 16 October 1799 — "When detachments "have been sent in pursuit of Deserters agreeably to the directions contain "in the last resolutions in the appendix to the Articles of War, their "reasonable expences & not the premium has been allowed whether they "have been successfull or not." To enable me to decide on the account, a certificate must appear from the Commanding Officer who ordered the pursuit, stating that from the nature of the service performed, the expences are reasonable, the Oath of the parties must also be annexed to that account — that the sums charged for expences were necessarily incurred; in the execution of the duties assigned them, & were unavoidable. the accounts thus vouched embraced in a statement by you with a certificate annexed, stating that the payments were made accordingly to them by you, when received here, will be examined & paid. I return the accounts inclosed. Sam &c W. S.