Forwards a document ["talk"?] concerning the Cherokees [not included], asking for Adams' signature on it. Notifies Adams that he is moving his family out of Philadelphia to Trenton to avoid yellow fever at the former.
McHenry notes that he has had to leave Philadelphia for reasons of health, but inquires as to Hamilton's response to General Knox's letter regarding the relative seniority of Major Generals in the Provisional Army,.
In this letter William Hindman, Congressman from Maryland, makes recommendations for military commissions to the Secretary at War. Hindman states that Federalist political credentials are essential for public appointments. Hindman further explains to McHenry that the Maryland militia has become tainted by "Jacobins." Hence, Hindman warns McHenry that the militia cannot be relied upon in the event of war with France. Hindman also discusses the unpopularity of the Alien and Sedition Acts among his constituents.
Certification that $122.53 is due Thomas H. Cushing, Major of the 1st Regiment and Inspector, being for his pay, subsistence, and forage for July 1798.
McHenry encloses a letter from General Knox in which Knox expresses his desire to serve in the Provisional Army but objects to being subordinate to officers who were subordinate to him in the War for Independence.
