lacking and those to be had were unfit for the heavy loads bound to them.
And here at Fort Jefferson another and
to move with forty-five thousand rations, and from the letter above mentioned, the agent seems not to expect to move any beyond this place; for he says: 'If you move from thence (meaning this place) shortly, and take ten days' provisions with you, it will deprive us of the means to transport what may be necessary after that is exhausted.' After, then, that you know exactly what the contractors can do as to transportation, (for so far as they can do it, it is their business, and must not be taken out of their hands) you will take your measures so, as that, on the 27th instant, I may be able to move with three hundred horse-loads of flour, and that one hundred and fifty horse-loads succeed that every seven days; one hundred and fifty horses being sent back every seven days. For whatever expense may attend the arrangement, this shall be your warrant; and I am certain, from your personal character, as well as from your zeal for the public good, that no unnecessary expense will be incurred. It is to be observed, that our beef will be expended about the 5th or 6th of next month. When I left Fort Washington, the agent of the contractors informed me that he expected a drove of cattle very soon; whether they are arrived or not I am not informed. I have written to him on this occasion; but I request you to inform yourself, and, if necessary, to make provision there also; and, indeed, there is not a moment to lose about it, and to provide for any deficiency. He writes me that the measures he has taken will give a supply to the last of December or a month longer, but nothing must be left to hazard."—The St. Clair Papers, vol. ii, pp. 248–249.
