1. See GW to the Board of War, 21 June.

2. The board enclosed a copy of its letter to Samuel Huntington, president of Congress, written in Philadelphia on this date: “We beg leave to lay before Congress a copy of a letter received from his Excellency the Commander in Chief respecting the proposed contracts for supplying the Army with provisions which completes all we can offer for the consideration of Congress on that subject. We agree with the Genl on the propriety of adding vinegar to the ration and in his Ideas as to the proportion and quality of the several species of rum or spirits. We have doubled the number of rations mentioned in the Generals Estimate for the post at Philadelphia on account of the numbers of prisoners constantly stationed there.

“We partake in the Generals anxiety respecting the supplies for the opperation against New York and the means of transporting them and entreat the attention of Congress to that pressing and important subject. … P.S. A provision of salt is absolutely necessary; but this as well as all others of the Generals very important observations will no doubt be attended to by Congress in their directions respecting the Contracts. In the ration an equivalent in pork should have been mentioned as an alternative. One pound of beef or three quarters of a pound of pork have heretofore been given” (DLC:GW; see also Board of War to GW, 7 June, n.1). For GW’s intended operations, see The Wethersfield Conference and Aftermath, 14 May–16 June, editorial note.

The board also enclosed a copy of its letter to Huntington dated 21 June: “The Board have the honor to transmit Congress sundry enumerations of articles of which a ration may be composed and the value of each. Out of these, Congress will be pleased to elect which they think proper. If the ration is altered it will be proper to resolve.

“That the ration to be delivered the Troops of the United States consist of the following articles where the same can be obtained.

“That the Commander in Chief or the Commanding General of a seperate Army be and they are hereby authorised with the consent of the Contractor or Contractors to alter the ration as to the articles of which it is composed according to circumstances so as not to exceed the value of that hereby established” (DLC:GW). The board enclosed an undated document titled “Sundry Estimates of the Component parts of a Ration,” which provided prospective daily amounts of beef, bread, milk, peas, beans, cornmeal, vinegar, and rum. It also included allotments for molasses, candles, and soap (DLC:GW).

3. On 27 June, Congress read a board report “enclosing a copy of a letter, of 21, from the Commander in Chief” and directed “the same, together with report of the Board on the parts of a ration, be referred to the superintendant of finance” (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 , 20:701; see also Robert Morris to GW, 2 July, and 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 , 20:734).

4. On 22 June, Congress read a board report of the same date communicating a proposal to purchase “four wagons, and a suitable number of horses.” With sufficient money, “they can be immediately obtained and the cloathing sent forward without delay.” Congress directed the board “to confer with Mr. R. Morris to take order” (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 , 20:691).

5. See Board of War to GW, 22 June, and n.9.