PICTORIAL FIELD BOOK OF THE REVOLUTION.
VOLUME II.
BY BENSON J. LOSSING
1850.
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SUPPLEMENT.
V.
BOARD OF WAR AND ORDNANCE.
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ON the twelfth of June, 1776, Congress resolved that a committee of five should be appointed "by the name of the Board of War and Ordnance;" to have a secretary and one or more clerks. On the following day, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Harrison, James Wilson, and Edward Rutledge were elected commissioners, and Richard Peters, secretary. The duties of the Board were to consist in obtaining and keeping an alphabetical register of all officers of the land forces in the service of the United States, their rank and dates of commissions; an exact account of all artillery and military stores; an account of the troops in the respective colonies; to forward all dispatches for Congress to the colonies and the armies; to superintend the raising, fitting out, and dispatching all land forces, under the general direction of Congress; to have charge of all prisoners of war, and to keep correct copies, in books, of all the correspondence and dispatches of the Board. The secretary and clerks were required to take an oath of secrecy before entering upon their duties. The salary of the secretary was fixed at the rate of eight hundred dollars a year; of the clerks, two hundred and sixty-six dollars and sixty-six cents.
SEAL OF THE BOARD OF WAR.
A seal was adopted soon after the organization of the Board, of which
the engraving on the next page is an exact copy. Additions were made to the number of the commissioners, and there were frequent changes in the administration of its affairs. Owing to the extent of the field of war, subordinate boards were authorized in February, 1778. These were to consist of the commanding officers of artillery in any division of the grand army, the eldest colonel in the camp, and the chief engineer, who were to have the general supervision of the ordnance department of the camp and field, under the commander-in-chief of the division.A new Board was organized in November, 1777, consisting of three persons not members of Congress, to sit in the place where Congress should be in session. This Board was composed of General Mifflin, and Colonels T. Pickering and Robert H. Harrison. They were each to have a salary of two thousand dollars a year. Mr. Harrison declined the service, and on the twenty-seventh, General Gates, Colonel Joseph Trumbull, and Richard Peters were elected commissioners. Gates was appointed President of the Board, and at the same time he retained his rank and pay of major general in the army. Colonel Pickering and Mr. Peters, who were the "acting members of the Board," received each a salary of four thousand dollars a year. In October, 1778, another organization of the Board took place. It consisted of two members of Congress, and three persons not members, any three to constitute a quorum for business. The salary of the secretary, at that time, was increased to two thousand dollars.
On the new organization of the civil government, under the Articles of Confederation, Congress made another arrangement, and resolved to elect a Secretary of War [Feb., 1781.]. Richard Peters continued to discharge the duties of the Board until October 30th, 1781, when General Lincoln was elected Secretary of War, with a salary of five thousand dollars a year. Peters then resigned, and received the thanks of Congress for his industry and fidelity. Lincoln held the office until the close of the war.
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ENDNOTES
NONE.
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