Joseph Reed (1741–1785), a lawyer in Philadelphia, had been educated at the Middle Temple. In 1773–75 he carried on an extensive correspondence with the British secretary of state for colonial affairs, Lord Dartmouth, attempting to acquaint him with conditions and attitudes in the colonies and to warn him against instituting oppressive measures in dealing with America. In Nov. 1774 Reed was appointed to the committee of correspondence in Philadelphia, and in 1775 he became president of the provincial congress and a lieutenant colonel in the Pennsylvania militia. In June of that year GW appointed him his first military secretary. Reed became adjutant general of the Continental Army in 1776, a delegate to the Continental Congress 1777–78, and president of Pennsylvania 1778–81.