To George Washington from Henry Laurens, 25 January 1778
From Henry Laurens
[York, Pa.] 25th Jany 1778
Sir
The 22d Inst. I had the honour of writing to your Excellency by Lieut. Colo. duplessis whose assurances induces me to beleive he has travelled as expeditiously as any of our post Riders.
Inclosed your Excellency will receive an Act of Congress of yesterday relative to the Legal distribution of prize Money arising from Captures made on the Water by detachments from the Army, & in a seperate Packet six Copies of Extracts from the Journals of Congress ordered by the said Act to be transmitted to your Excellency & Genl Smallwood.1 I have the honour to be &ca.
LB, DNA:PCC, item 13. The letter was sent “⅌ Jones.”
1. For the resolution of 24 Jan. in response to GW’s query respecting distribution of the cargo captured with the British transport brig Symmetry, see GW to Laurens, 12 Jan., n.2. Laurens also wrote Smallwood on this date, informing him that he had “transmitted to Gen. Washington Six Copies of Extracts of the Journals of Congress relative to the Capture of prizes &ca—His Excellency will send you one or more as needful” (DNA:PCC, item 13). The extracts probably included portions of the congressional resolutions of 25 Nov. 1775, 6 Jan., 23 Mar. 1776, and 14 Oct. 1777 (see , 3:371–75, 4:36–37, 229–32, 9:802).