Docketed by Langdon on verso. Reporting on the difficulties supplying the army and navy, military plans, and the mood in Congress. Mentions a shipment of guns with defects. Comments on officer promotions. Mentions the Marine Committee's answer to a letter from the Committee of Providence. Mentions the petition of an officer to be Releavd, which he describes as a Petition for a Public Body to break their own Genl: Rules. He doubts it will pass but states that he will render assistance. Discusses clothing the troops, who he finds in good spirit though almost naked. Doubts the states will respond to a recommendation to issue provisions. Reasserts his belief that independence will be achieved, but also expresses his wish to put a speedy end to Slaughter & devastation which already is great, but must still be greater if the war Continues which nothing will prevent but the utmost exertions of the Friends to Liberty & Humanity[.] such Exertions under the smiles of Heaven, will restore peace & Establish Happiness in this western world. Also comments on military rumors. Has heard it is likely that General William Howe has but two moves more in which we shall Check Mate him. Comments on a desertion by Hessians. Sends congressional resolutions relating to the navy. Includes a long post script on the departure of General Howe from White Plains, New York, General George Washington's dispatch of 4000 troops to protect New Jersey, and British retreat from Crown Point.

If Genl W. persues the enemy before they recover the present panic (which is his intention) he will still end the campaign gloriously...

A long letter from member of the Continental Congress (1776-1781, 1783-1785) and signer of the Declaration of Independence William Ellery to New Hampshire member of the Continental Congress (1776-1779) William Whipple which reprises events from the fall of 1777 to the present time and discusses British mistreatment of prisoners of war, morale and current events in the progress of the American Revolution. Notes that Howe was moving from Philadelphia; I am just this moment informed that our army will halt this winter in Valley Forge. Addressed to Whipple in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Free-franked. Docket reads: Answered in [illegible] 4th 5th June 1778. Written on different types of paper.

Originally published in 1982. Despite a necessary preoccupation with the Revolutionary struggle, America's Continental Congress succeeded in establishing itself as a governing body with national—and international—authority. How the Congress acquired and maintained this power and how the delegates sought to resolve the complex theoretical problems that arose in forming a federal government are the issues confronted in Jack N. Rakove's searching reappraisal of Revolution-era politics. Avoiding the tendency to interpret the decisions of the Congress in terms of competing factions or conflicting ideologies, Rakove opts for a more pragmatic view. He reconstructs the political climate of the Revolutionary period, mapping out both the immediate problems confronting the Congress and the available alternatives as perceived by the delegates. He recreates a landscape littered with unfamiliar issues, intractable problems, unattractive choices, and partial solutions, all of which influenced congressional decisions on matters as prosaic as military logistics or as abstract as the definition of federalism.

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