Accept of my thanks for your attention to the service. Order one
pound and a half of flour or bread, and the like quantity of meat, to
each man, till the first of April. The duty is hard, and exercise
increases the appetite. Will it not advance the service to send you
down some biscuit? Give Commissary Leake no rest without vegetables.
His guard will be relieved by a militia one. How many sergeants'
parties have you? Your guard and that of the commissary will be taken
from the brigades, as 120 from Paterson's is to 60 from the others. In
returns, designate the strength from each brigade. The regiments whose
men have no bayonets, some means will be devised to furnish them.
Heavy packs should not be at the stated quarters. Fix a day beforehand
when you will hear the complaints of the disaffected. If any come on
other days, give them thirty-nine lashes first; wait the effects of
this discipline.
The oath of allegiance is no criterion of characters, nor the want of
a certificate thereof an evidence of a person's being disaffected.
Uniform character is the best rule to judge. Send up under guard all
women who stroll to New-York without leave. But cause them to be well
searched by matrons for papers _immediately_ when they are taken;
hair, caps, stays, and its lining, should be well examined. Do the
like to those going down. Send up the evidences against Bettice.
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