Writes to disclose the cargo on Captain [Garrit] Rykeman's sloop. Ship carries the boards from a long building which was of no use but to harbour allmost all the Bell dames [pssibly camp followers] in this department; provides measurements of the boards and hopes Knox can put them to better use. Ship also carries two prisoners of war, which we cannot prudently exchange, indeed the Enemy have no claim on them, and we dare not discharge them, they will do very well to carry- stone & mortar to the new magazines. He would like to know when Knox will be ready to receive the military stores, that they might go at the Same time with Capt. [possibly Thomas] Seward's camp. Sends respects to Mrs. Knox and reports that his daughter has Just presented us with a fine Boy. Lastly adds that John Swans, a deserter from Colonel [perhaps Rufus] Putnam's regiment, is also on board the sloop.

Thanks Lord Stirling for the wagons and buildings he sent for use in the public service. Does not expect to require any more supplies from Albany, and says that the materials which have already arrived are in excellent order. Believes that muskets and other military stores might remain in Albany over the winter, but if Lord Stirling thinks otherwise, he will arrange to have them sent to West Point via Captain [Thomas] Seward. Describes a new negotiation between England and America which has begun under the auspices of Lord Shelbourne with an agent from England named Mr. Fitzherbert. Reports that It is said the American Independence is conceded by England in is utmost latitude. Also discusses the fate of the army's troops after the war, and mentions Secretary of War Benjamin Lincoln. Adds that Mrs. Knox sends her congratulations to Lord Stirling's daughter, Kitty [Catharine], on the birth of her son.

Mentions that he has received stores which were sent by Captain Leonard's company, including a brass mortar. Also discusses the prospects for the peace treaty currently in negotiations, as well as the way it is being considered in the newspapers.

This collection of documents, including many previously unpublished, details the role of the Army engineers in the American Revolution. Lacking trained military engineers, the Americans relied heavily on foreign officers, mostly from France, for sorely needed technical assistance. Native Americans joined the foreign engineer officers to plan and carry out offensive and defensive operations, direct the erection of fortifications, map vital terrain, and lay out encampments. During the war Congress created the Corps of Engineers with three companies of engineer troops as well as a separate geographer's department to assist the engineers with mapping. Both General George Washington and Major General Louis Lebéque Duportail, his third and longest serving Chief Engineer, recognized the disadvantages of relying on foreign powers to fill the Army's crucial need for engineers. America, they contended, must train its own engineers for the future. Accordingly, at the war's end, they suggested maintaining a peacetime engineering establishment and creating a military academy. However, Congress rejected the proposals, and the Corps of Engineers and its companies of sappers and miners mustered out of service. Eleven years passed before Congress authorized a new establishment, the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers.

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