Letter from Colonel John Trumbull to James Bowdoin

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Head Quarters, Ticonderoga, August 31, 1776.

SIR: I am ordered to acquaint you that Lieutenant-Colonel Reed, of Colonel Patterson' s, has left this Army without proper leave of absence. As he had appeared delirious some time before he went into the country, the General would willingly impute an action unjustifiable on any other grounds to the continuance of his disorder. You will please to cause inquiry to be made into the cause of his stay in the country, and likewise to inform Colonel Reed that the General expects he will either immediately return to his duty with the Army, where his character suffers daily, or resign his commission, that the service may not suffer for the want of an officer in the post which he has been pleased to desert.

I am, sir, with the highest respect, your most obedient, humble servant,
JOHN TRUMBULL, Dep˙ Adj˙ Gen.