1. Congress passed this act on 16 March in response to a report from the Board of War dated 5 Feb. that reads: “The Board having considered a letter from General Greene, of the 18th ult, referred to them by Congress, relative to the inferior Staff Officers, are entirely of his opinion that they should be exempted from confinement and punishment as common Soldiers, to which they are by some thought liable” (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 , 13:321; see also Nathanael Greene to John Jay, 18 Jan., in Greene Papers description begins Richard K. Showman et al., eds. The Papers of General Nathanael Greene. 13 vols. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1976–2005. description ends , 3:170).