Dobbs, 15th Sept. 1777.
Sir:—
Your letter of the 2d current came this moment to hand. You with the officers left in this State to recruit, are to observe such instructions as I formerly gave the commanding officer of your Battalion, and make me returns agreeable to those instructions. If any thing new occurs, so as to make any alterations necessary, I will take the earliest opportunity of informing you. I cheerfully consent to Capt. Rice's staying in the State to recruit for the reasons you mention, till further orders: and have not the least objection to your attending to your own private concerns in the Western Country for so short a time as two or three weeks; but give me leave to recommend your directing the officers to be particularly attentive to the recruiting businss, and to send me the return required. I hope the reports you mention respecting Fort Pitt is groundless,
as I have received no information to confirm it, and time sufficient for that purpose is elapsed.