Diary of John Adams, volume 3
Monday August 26. 1776. Three Letters of the 22 and 23 from General Washington with sundry Papers inclosed; a Letter from William Finnie, deputy Quarter Master general of the southern department, were read, and referred to the Board of War.
413A Letter of the 22d. from Colonel James Wilson, was read, and referred to Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Franklin and Mr. John Adams.1
Tuesday August 27. 1776. A Letter of the 23d from General Mercer, was read and referred to the Board of War.
The Board of War brought in a report, which was taken into Consideration; whereupon Resolved. See the several Resolutions in the Journal.1
The Committee to whom the Letter from Colonel Wilson was referred brought in a Report, which was taken into Consideration; whereupon Congress came to the following resolutions: which see in the Journal.2
A Committee of the whole, on the Plan of foreign Treaties. Mr. Nelson reported that the Committee had gone through the same and reported sundry Amendments.
Resolved that the Plan of Treaties, with the Amendments, be referred to the Committee who brought in the original Plan, in order to draw up Instructions, pursuant to the Amendments made by the Committee of the whole. That two Members be added to that Committee. The Members chosen Mr. Richard Henry Lee and Mr. Wilson.
A Petition from the deputy Commissary General was read, and referred to the Board of War.
Delegates from Virginia produced new Credentials. George Wythe, Thomas Nelson, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, and Francis Lightfoot Lee, Esqrs.3
JCC
, 5:706. These resolves provided for clothing the Continental troops raised in Virginia, &c.
Col. James Wilson, an officer in the “flying camp” at Amboy, had written to Pres. Hancock, 22 Aug. 1776, proposing that Congress offer rewards to the officers of the German mercenary troops encamped on Staten Island if they would desert the British service (Force, Archives
, 5th ser., 1:1110). The first proposal of this kind had been made in Congress on 21 May (see under that date in JA's Autobiography, above), and Congress had more recently put into effect an ingenious scheme to suborn the German troops themselves (
JCC
, 5:640, 653–655). The report of the present committee, written by Jefferson and brought in on 27 Aug., recommended that free land be offered to officers on a graduated scale according to their rank; it is printed in Jefferson's Papers, ed. Boyd, 1:509–510. On this whole curious episode see Procs., 94 (1950):233–241.
The Virginia delegates' new credentials were produced on 28, not 27, Aug., JA having once again overlooked a date caption in the Journals.
Thursday August 29. 1776. A Letter of the 27th. from R. H. Harrison, the Generals Secretary, and one of the 28th. from General Mercer, both giving an Account of an Action on Long Island on the 27th. were read and referred to the Board of War.
414The Board of War brought in a report, which was taken into Consideration, whereupon Resolved. See the several Resolutions in the Journal.1
Resolved That the Committee, to whom the Plan of Treaties with the Amendments, was recommitted, be impowered to prepare such farther Instructions as to them shall seem proper, and make report thereof to Congress.
JCC
, 5:717. This appears to be a single resolve, continuing George Measam as commissary of stores for the northern army and fixing his pay.