1. Huntington enclosed a copy of a committee report and related congressional proceedings from 18 April. The detailed report found $24,057,157 in total debt and then continued: “The distresses of the army for want of provisions and their uneasiness and dissatisfaction for want of pay have been so great and so notorious; and the clamors of public creditors so loud that it is become necessary to state the measures which Congress have pursued & the steps they have taken from time to time to support the war; to provide for public exigencies and to guard against the dangers and embarrassments with which we are now threatened for want of timely supplies of money.

“It cannot be forgotten that these United States were plunged into a war, and that an Army was drawn together before any money was provided or funds established for defraying the expences thereof. Arms ammunition and implements of war were all to be procured, as well as provisions, subsistance and pay for the troops suddenly called forth to oppose an Enemy already in the heart of our Country and in possession of one of our Capital towns. In this situation of affairs Congress met in May 1775.” After recounting a history of congressional finances from that date until the autumn of 1779, the report notes that “the Army was in such extremity for want of provisions that the general was reduced to the sad alternative to suffer it to disband or to collect supplies by military force. He preferred the latter & the Inhabitants of New York and New Jersey though they felt the injury saw the necessity and patiently submitted.” The report then summarized financial measures taken in 1780 and early 1781 before concluding: “This recapitulation is made not with a view to criminate but to shew that Congress have done everything in their power to carry on the war, and to prevent the embarrassments under which our Affairs now labour.

“It now remains to estimate the supplies necessary for the current year and to point out the measures already taken for obtaining those supplies.” Calculating anticipated expenses ($19,407,457) and revenue (17,668,256) for “one year” yielded a “deficiency” of $1,739,256. The report then specified why revenue likely would amount to less than the projection and stressed the need for new funds (DLC:GW; see also 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 , 19:402–20, and Huntington to the States, 21 April, in Smith, Letters of Delegates description begins Paul H. Smith et al., eds. Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789. 26 vols. Washington, D.C., 1976–2000. description ends , 17:174). For the committee’s formation on 7 Feb., see 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 , 19:125.

2. The enclosed congressional resolution, adopted on 23 April, directed the Board of War “to take effectual Measures for the Removal of all public Stores, and also all Beef Cattle and provisions and forage collected or stored from the Peninsula between the Delaware and Chesapeak Bays and on the Jersey Shore adjacent to the Delaware which may probably fall into the hands of the Enemy on an Invasion. That the said Cattle provisions & Forage be transported to places of Security, and valued by proper persons and Certificates given by the Commissary General of purchases to the owners thereof specifying Quantity Quality & Value.

“That it be and hereby is recommended to the Executives of New Jersey, pennsylvania Delaware Maryland & Virginia to give every Assistance in their power to the Officers appointed to secure the Cattle provisions and forage aforesaid” (DLC:GW; see also 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 , 19:436). GW had prompted these resolutions (see his letter to Huntington, 16–19 April; see also Virginia Delegates to Thomas Jefferson, 24 April, in Smith, Letters of Delegates description begins Paul H. Smith et al., eds. Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789. 26 vols. Washington, D.C., 1976–2000. description ends , 17:183–85). For initial congressional action, see Ephraim Blaine to GW, 13 April, and n.2.

3. Huntington enclosed a letter Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates wrote him from Philadelphia on 24 April: “Unconscious, & Unaccused of any Military Crime, I have undergone the Mortification of being recalled from my late Command, with tacit Marks of Disesteem.

“I shall not dwell on what has been done to the Southward, Though I labourd under the most Wofull Wants. What is praise-worthy, must be sooner, or later, known to the public; but the Silent blame of Superiors, is too Affecting to be endured with Affected unconcern. Patience, in such Cases, implies Consciousness of Guilt.

“The Approbation from which I was Officially excluded by Congress, when they Thanked the Southern Army, and Distinguis’d Several Officers by Name, has been Generally construed, as The consequence of a positive charge against me. Since our Disaster near Camden, whenever they publish’d the Successes, & Various Operations of the Troops which I had the Honour to Command, they have Scarcely ever mention’d my Name. Whether such Omissions were accidental, or intended, my Character has been, and is still more, injured by them, than by the Malevolent Whispers of the most artfull Calumniators.

“Neither the Wisdom, nor the Generosity of Congress will, I trust, suffer me to remain a Useless Officer, Stain’d with Disgraceful Imputations unless they be supported by a legal Charge against me.

“It being in their power to do me Justice by their own Inquiry into my Conduct, as they have done in Similar Cases, respecting Others, I entreat your Excellency will Urge them to protect me against Standing, though Vague Accusations.

“To Support by my personal Efforts the Noblest Cause in which a Virtuous Man can be engaged is my most Ardent Desire in which I hope Shall be soon Indulged” (DLC:GW). Congress read this letter on 25 April and ordered its transmittal “to the Commander in Chief” (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 , 20:438; see also Gates to GW, 29 April). Congress had removed Gates from command of the southern department and authorized a court of inquiry (see GW to Nathanael Greene, 22 Oct. 1780; see also Gates to GW, 30 Aug., n.1, and John Armstrong to GW, 8 March 1781, notes 8 and 9). Five officers were named, but not Gates, when Congress adopted a resolution on 14 Oct. 1780 that recognized “bravery and good conduct, displayed in the action of the 16th of August last, near Camden, in the State of South Carolina” (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 , 18:924; see also 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 , 19:56–57, 246–47).