George Washington Papers

General Orders, 1 December 1777

General Orders

Head Quarters, White Marsh [Pa.] December 1st 1777.

Parole Durham.C. Signs Brunswick. Amboy.

Mr Robert Duncan is appointed Paymaster to the fourth North Carolina regiment, and is to be respected as such.1

A General Court Martial is to sit to morrow at 9 o’clock in the morng, at the tavern next to Col. Biddle’s quarters, for the trial of all prisoners which shall be brought before them—Col. Ogden is appointed president of this court—Lieut. Cols. Simms, Wallace and Major North and a captain from the 1st and 2nd Pennsylva:2 Maxwell’s, Conway’s, Woodford’s, Scott’s, Poor’s, Paterson’s, and Learned’s brigades are to be members of the court.

The Officers are to make out their Muster rolls to the first of December, immediately—The term of time, which the men inlisted for, is to be inserted in every muster roll—The non-effectives are not to be inserted a second time.

Officers must pay strict attention to the orders issued respecting this part of their duty.

Varick transcript, DLC:GW.

1Robert Duncan (1718–1800) served as regimental paymaster to the 4th North Carolina Regiment from 1 Dec. 1777 until 1 June 1778.

2Lieutenant Colonel Wallace may be Gustavus Brown Wallace (1749–1802) of King George County, Va., who commanded a company in the 3d Virginia Regiment from February 1776 to October 1777, when he was promoted to major of the 15th Virginia Regiment. Wallace apparently was not promoted to lieutenant colonel until the spring of 1778, however. He was captured at Charleston, S.C., in May 1780 and listed as still being a prisoner near the end of 1782.

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