of the Council of Maryland. 107

[Council to Gen'l Smallwood.]

Sir Your Letter of the 7^th Ins^t was handed to us this Day by Col^o
lenifer and by the same Opportunity we enclose you Letters to the
Commissioners of Charles and Saint Mary's Counties, desiring them
to furnish, upon your Requisition, supplies of Provision and Forage,
for Recruiting Officers and Parties, in those Counties and also for
Officers on Furlough. The late Resignations of Commissaries and
Quartermasters have been attended with Inconvenience which, we
hope, may be, in some Measure, remedied, in this Instance, at least,
by the step we have taken.

[Council to Honble Board of War]

Gentlemen We had the Honor of receiving your Letter of the
7^th Ins^t at 6 o'clock last Evening: the Subject is of a most Serious
and alarming Nature and you may rely upon our immediate Atten-
tion to it. Every Exertion shall be made on our Part to extricate the
Army from its present Difficulties and Distress, we, however, cannot
avoid expressing our Astonishment on finding the Magazines in such
an exhausted State, after the Numberless Accounts received of plen-
tiful Supplies being received at Camp. These Accounts, we must
observe, were not officially given but they, however came through
such a Variety of Channels, we thought them entitled to some Credit,
especially as we had received nothing contradictory from Congress
Your Hon^ble Board or the General. We again beg you to be assured
that we will make every Effort to send forward to Camp, all the Flour
that is or may be collected, without Loss of Time.

Liber C C

No. 22

[Council to the Commissioners of the several Counties]
Circular Extract of a Letter from the honble the Board of War,

to the Governor dated March 7^th 1780

" We are alarmed and most feelingly distressed at the Accounts
we have just received from the Commissary General of Issues, of the
State of the Magazines of Provisions at Camp. Unless the Speediest
Relief is afforded it is by no Means improbable that the Army will
be obliged to disband the Vicinity of the Camp and indeed the whole
State of lersey being exhausted by its Exertions for the Supply of the
Troops this winter. We have therefore most earnestly to request
the Assistance of your Excellency and the Honorable Council upon
this disagreeable Exigency and we beg you will cause as much Flour
as possible to be forwarded that the Distress likely to fall on the
Army and the dangerous Consequences which may probably attend
it, may be prevented "
Gent. The above, we trust, is sufficient without any Exhortation of
ours, to impress on your Minds the absolute Necessity of forwarding,
without Delay, all the Flour you may have in Readiness and to

P.7S