1. Peter Perit (Perritt; c.1735-1803) of Milford, Conn., served as a captain in Col. Charles Webb’s regiment until April 1776, when GW ordered him to take command of the armed sloop Hester. In August 1776 Perit joined Henry Knox’s artillery regiment at Fort Washington, where he was captured. He was exchanged in October 1778. For Perit’s case, see ASP, Claims description begins Walter Lowrie et al., eds. American State Papers. Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington, D.C., Gales and Seaton, 1832–61. description ends , 129-33.

Samuel Holden Parsons (1737–1789), a lawyer who lived in Lyme and New London before the war, commanded the 6th Connecticut Regiment in 1775 and the 10th Continental Regiment in 1776. Parsons became a brigadier general on 9 Aug. 1776 and served until July 1782.

The resolve of 24 Nov. 1778 laid out rules for the settlement of ranks in the Continental army. The applicable section provided "That all officers who have been in the service, and, having been prisoners with the enemy, now are or hereafter may be exchanged or otherwise released, shall, if appointed by the authority of the State, be entitled, in case of vacancy, to enter into the service of their respective State in such rank as they would have had if they had never been captured; provided always, that every such officer do, within one month after his exchange or release, signify to the authority of the State to which he belongs, his release and his desire to enter again into the military service" and that such officers "shall, until entry into actual service, be allowed half pay of the commission to which by the foregoing resolve he stands entitled" (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 12:1157).

The resolve of 24 Nov. 1778 entitled supernumerary officers "to one year’s pay of their commissions." Officers made supernumerary by the resolves of 3 Oct. 1780 were "entitled to half pay for seven years, in specie, or other current money equivalent, and also to grants of land at the close of the war, agreeably to the resolution of the 16 September, 1776." On 1 Jan. 1781 Congress resolved "That in the new arrangement of the army it is the sense of Congress, that the officers of the continental lines, who have been exchanged since the said arrangement, or are now in captivity, ought to be considered and arranged according to their respective ranks, in the same manner with those who have not been prisoners" (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 12:1156; 18:896-97; 19:1).

2. Perit had submitted a memorial on the subject to Congress on 3 Feb. 1794, and Knox had subsequently reported to Congress on sixty petitions, including Perit’s. However, after Perit’s claim was separated out and referred to a new committee, the House of Representatives on 6 June voted to refer his memorial to Knox again (U.S. House Journal, Washington Administration, 6:108, 195, 289, 420).

3. Blanchard was referring to Section 14, article 13, of the Rules and Articles of War, adopted by the Continental Congress on 20 Sept. 1776. That article stated in part: "No commissioned officer shall be cashiered or dismissed from the service, excepting by an order from Congress, or by the sentence of a general court-martial" (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 5:803).

4. War Department accountant Joseph Howell, Jr., explained his rationale for denying Perit’s claim in a letter to Knox of 24 July 1794 (ASP, Claims description begins Walter Lowrie et al., eds. American State Papers. Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington, D.C., Gales and Seaton, 1832–61. description ends , 129).

5. Ethan Allen (1738-1789), commander of the Green Mountain Boys who captured Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775, was taken prisoner in September of that year. After his exchange in May 1778, he was given a brevet rank of colonel in the Continental Army but no command. Francis Murray (c.1732–1816) was a major in the 13th Pennsylvania Regiment when he was captured by Loyalists in February 1778 while visiting his family at Newtown, Pennsylvania. Murray was exchanged in October 1780 and later became county lieutenant of Bucks County in 1783 and a general of the militia in 1790. William Crawford (d. 1828) was a lieutenant in the 5th Pennsylvania Regiment when he was captured at Fort Washington in November 1776. Although he became eligible for a captaincy in 1777, he was not exchanged until December 1780 and did not re-enter active service. Aaron Stratton of Massachusetts was a lieutenant in the 16th Continental Infantry when captured in December 1776 and became eligible for a captaincy while still a prisoner in 1779. He was exchanged in December 1780. His 5 March 1782 petition to Congress for back pay was successful (DNA: PCC, item 42; JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 22:195). Robert Patton (c.1756-1814) was a lieutenant in the 11th Pennsylvania Regiment at the time of his capture in November 1776. He became entitled to a captaincy while still a captive in April 1778 but was deranged after his exchange in January 1781 (John Dwight Kilbourne, Virtutis Praemium: The Men Who Founded the State Society of the Cincinnati of Pennsylvania, 2 vols. [Rockport, Me., 1998], 2:764-67). Patton was at this time postmaster at Philadelphia. Andrew Dover (c.1751-1831) was a lieutenant in the 5th Pennsylvania Regiment taken prisoner at Fort Washington in November 1776. He was exchanged in October 1780 and did not re-enter the service. Andrew Robinson was a lieutenant in the 11th Pennsylvania Regiment taken prisoner at Fort Washington in November 1776. He was exchanged in January 1781 and did not rejoin the service. Thomas Janney (Jenney) was a lieutenant in the 5th Pennsylvania Regiment taken prisoner at Fort Washington in November 1776. He was exchanged in October 1780.

The settlements with Murray, Patton, Dover, Robinson, and Janney were copied in November and are printed in ASP, Claims description begins Walter Lowrie et al., eds. American State Papers. Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington, D.C., Gales and Seaton, 1832–61. description ends , 132-33.