To George Washington from Noah Emery, Jr., 16 November 1780
From Noah Emery, Jr.
Exeter [N.H.] Novr 16th 1780
Sir
by Order of the Honble Meshech Weare I Inclose your Excellency a return of all the Supplies (that have come to my Knowledge[)] which the State of New Hampr. have furnished for the Use of the Army from the 1st July to 15th Novr 1780 on Continental Accot.1 I have the Honr to be your Excellencys Most Obedt Servt
Noah Emery Junr A. C. of Purchs.
ALS, DLC:GW.
Noah Emery, Jr., whose father served as clerk for the New Hampshire House of Representatives, became a state commissary in October 1777. He remained in Exeter after the war and held the position of “Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas” (Boston Daily Advertiser, 13 Jan. 1817).
1. The enclosure was “A Return of Supplies furnished by the State of New Hampshire for the use of the Continental Army, from 1st July to 15th Novr 1780,” with columns for number of beef cattle, the estimated weight of the cattle, hogsheads of rum, quantity of rum in gallons, number of horses, barrels of powder, and quantity of powder. Months were listed in rows. The fullest information was given for beef cattle, which in July weighed an estimated 102,963 pounds (Emery noted in a postscript: “N.B. the Number of Cattle sent in July I cannot at Present Obtain, they being sent forward before I was Appointed by Colo. Blaine to Receive them”). The other months give figures for the number of cattle and their estimated weight: August, 242 and 141,303; September, 458 and 256,989; October, 359 and 196,761; 1–15 Nov., 437 and 233,917. The total estimated weight for all beef cattle was 932,433. The return shows only 18 hogsheads of rum in July, apparently amounting to 2,281 gallons. The row for July also shows 130 horses and 62 barrels of powder weighing 7,300¾ pounds. The columns for gallons of rum and number of horses indicate that the former was sent to Claverack, N.Y., and the latter to Fishkill, New York. The powder was sent to Springfield, Mass. (DLC:GW).