1. On 17 Dec., Knox wrote Congress that GW had “instructed me to communicate, in confidence, to Congress” the two letters. In Wayne’s letter to Knox of 17 Oct., he reported the exhaustion of hospital supplies for his troops and other supply problems. He announced that the Kentucky mounted volunteers were returning to Fort Washington to be discharged, pointed out that he was left with only “the skeleton of the legion, as that body is daily wasting away from the expiration of the enlistments,” and enclosed an estimate of the expense of raising and arming 2,000 regular troops in order to “demonstrate the mistaken policy and bad economy of substituting mounted volunteers, in place of regular troops.” Wayne added, “unless effectual measures are immediately adopted by both Houses, for raising troops to garrison the Western posts, we have fought, bled, and conquered, in vain” because the Indians would again take possession of the area. Wayne also enclosed a deposition to show that British officials in Canada were “tampering with the hostile chiefs” to “prevent them from concluding a treaty of peace.”

In the letter of 12 Nov., Wayne enclosed correspondence about supplies and a narrative about Indian diplomacy. He also announced that the legion had returned to Fort Greene Ville, discussed his plans for garrisoning the frontier, and reiterated that “all this labor, and expense of blood and treasure, will be rendered abortive, and of none effect, unless speedy and efficient measures are adopted by the National Legislature, to raise troops to garrison those posts” (ASP 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 , Indian Affairs, 1:524–29).