Massachusetts Provincial Congress Resolution
In Provincial Congress, at Watertown, April 23, 1775.
RESOLVED, That the following Establishmet of Forces now immediately to be raised for the Recovery and Preservation of our undoubted Rights and Liberties, be as follows, viz
per Month.
|
To each Colonel of a Regiment of 598 Men |
£.15 |
0 |
0 |
|
To 1 Lieut. Colonel of such Regiment |
12 |
0 |
0 |
|
To 1 Major of such Regiment |
10 |
0 |
0 |
|
For a Captain of 59 Men including Officers |
6 |
0 |
0 |
|
For |
4 |
0 |
0 |
|
For 1 Ensign ditto |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
For 1 Adjutant for such Regiment |
5 |
10 |
0 |
|
For 1 Quarter-Master ditto |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
For 1 Chaplain ditto |
6 |
0 |
0 |
|
For 1 Chirugeon ditto |
7 |
10 |
0 |
|
For |
4 |
0 |
0 |
|
For each Serjeant |
2 |
8 |
0 |
|
For each Corporal |
2 |
4 |
0 |
|
For each Fifer |
2 |
4 |
0 |
|
For each private Centinel |
2 |
0 |
0 |
RESOLVED, That besides the above, a Coat for a Uniform, be given to each of the non-commission Officers and Privates, so soon as the State of the Province will admit of it.
Also RESOLVED, That the Selectmen of the several Towns and Districts within this Colony, be desired to furnish the Soldiers who shall inlist from their respective Towns and Districts with good and sufficient Blankets, and render their Accounts to the Committee of Supplies, who are hearby directed to draw on the Colony Treasurer for Payment of the same.
Jos Warren President, P.T.
Source: Broadside in Theodorus Bailey Myers Collection, New York: New York Public Library, microfilm reel 3, #1423. Printed document with signature in Warren’s hand. Corrective handwritten interlineations made for limiting the number of lieutenants and surgeon’s mates for each regiment. A similar document is listed in American Book Prices Realized as having been sold as lot #212 at the Sotheby’s Auction House sale on December 13, 2000 for $15,000. Also see entries for the same dates in: Lincoln, William. The Journals of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts in 1774 and 1775, and the Committee of Safety, with an Appendix, containing the Proceedings of the County Conventions, Narratives of the Events of April 19, 1775, Papers Relating to Ticonderoga and Crown Point and Other Documents. Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, 1838.
Commentary: From the moment he triggered the Lexington and Concord alarm on the evening of April 18, 1775, by dispatching Paul Revere and William Dawes on the iconic Midnight Ride, Joseph Warren was intimately involved with militia matters and the Siege of Boston. He exercised organizational influence through his interlocking roles as president pro tem of the Provincial Congress and as influential member of its Committees of Safety, Donations, and Supply.
In addition to his presidential signature on this document, we may infer Warren’s continuing interest in medical matters. The broadside as printed authorizes two surgeon’s mates per regiment. The final Congress vote halved that number, as well as the authorized number of lieutenants, a circumstance necessitating Warren to correct the printed broadsides by hand just he was signing them.
The image is an example of the first issuance of Massachusetts currency under revolutionary Provincial Congress authority. The printing plate was engraved by Paul Revere.
Follow
