The above is inadmissable without the sanction of the Secretary of War.

SIR: At sight pay to Elisha Tracey, esq., deputy commissary, or order, twenty thousand dollars, value received.

(Signed by the Treasurer.)

December 28, 1814.

Pay the contents to Mr. William H. Coit on my account. ELISHA TRACEY, D'y. Com'y.

[Endorsed.] Received the within December 30th, 1814.

W. H. COIT.

[Endorsed.] The within draft is a true copy of the original.

TH. T. TUCKER.

Presented for payment, October 11th, 1814, and refused.

Secretary of the Treasury to E. Tracey.

TREASURY DEPATRMENT, January 16, 1816. SIR: The facts that the Treasurer's draft in your favor for 20,000 dollars upon the collector at New London, dated the 24th day of September, 1814, was protested, and that it was not paid until the 31st day of December, 1814, are incontrovertibly true. But, in order to enable me to admit those facts, I have been under the necessity to examine the course of the transaction, as it appears from your letters and the records of this office, and I find that the draft was remitted to you, in your official capacity as a deputy commissary; that you were offered payment in treasury notes but declined it; and that you caused the draft to be protested, but still stated that it was an affair of the government. It is true, that you afterwards urged that you had been obliged to borrow money, upon interest, for the public service, in consequence of the non-payment of the draft; that the government had saved the interest on the treasury notes which you refused to accept; and that you were entitled, in equity, to be reimbursed the interest

which you had actually paid. But the proofs of these allegations have not been produced or required, because, whatever might be the equity resulting, I had no power to act upon them. If you borrowed money upon interest to make purchases as a commissary, the claim for reimbursement should form an item in your official accounts at the War Office.

I am, very respectfully, sir, your obedient servant,

ELISHA TRACEY, esq.

A. J. DALLAS.

H. Perkins's certficate.

NORWICH BANK, December 13, 1815.

I hereby certify that Elisha Tracey, esq., deputy commissary, paid interest at the bank on two thousand dollars from the 5th of January, 1813, to the 11th of February following, and on fifteen hundred dollars from January 19, 1813, to the 13th of June following; also on twelve hundred dollars from April 23, 1813, to June 14; and, from the nature of the checks drawn on the bank for the said sum, I have reason to believe they were expended for the service of the United States.

H. PERKINS, Cashier.

A. Thatcher's certificate.

NEW LONDON BANK, December 11, 1815. I certify that from the 1st day of January, to the 17th day of June, 1813, Elisha Tracey, esq., deputy commissary, was paying interest for money borowed of this bank, on the sum of ten thousand dollars, which money, from the nature of the checks which were drawn for it to many different persons, was in my opinion undoubtedly for the purpose of paying debts due from the United States to sundry persons who had furnished supplies for the same.

A. THATCHER, Cashier.

Secretary of the Treasury to E. Tracey.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 19, 1823. SIR: In reply to your letter of the 22d ultimo, I have the honor to state, that I recollect distinctly that when you were in this place in the winter of 1816, you presented an account for interest, and for the dif ference between the funds received by you, and specie, when you had been under the necessity of paying specie in Boston and Providence. I have no recollection of having offered any opinion in favor of the claim of interest upon balances from time to time due on account, but I recollect distinctly that I was then of opinion that you were en

titled to receive from the goverment the amount of interest you had paid to banks, or upon protested treasury drafts, and for any loss you had sustained in converting the funds placed in your hands by the government, when such conversion was necessary to meet the engagements you contracted on account of the government.

For interest paid by contracts to bank on account of the failure of the government to make the advances stipulated by contract, allowances were made by my direcion, when in the War Department, and I should not have hesitated to make the same allowance to an officer of the government, had claims of that kind been presented after the decision was made.

I recollect very distinctly advising you to waive those items in the settlement of your accounts at that time, under a belief that some general provision would be adopted in the course of the session which would prevent the necessity of resorting to any measure by the department which might be considered a departure from the established usage in the settlement of accounts.

I remain, with respect, your most obedient servant,

Colonel ELISHA TRACEY.

WM. H. CRAWFORD.

Secretary of War to E. Tracey.

DEPARTMENT OF WAR, December 19, 1828. SIR: I have examined with some attention the papers which you have presented to me in support of your claims against the government, for a compensation beyond what you have already received for services rendered and responsibilities incurred by you during the late war with Great Britain. I think that you have still some equitable claims, and, were your call now an original one, it is probable that I should make you some further allowances, without imposing on you the necessity of a resort to Congress.

But, inasmuch as your claims have already been, not only before the departments, but also before Congress, I do not feel at liberty to interfere; but recommend to you to continue your application to Congress, as the only means by which you can expect to obtain relief. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

ELISHA TRACEY, Esq.

P. B. PORTER.

Certificate of Second Auditor.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,

Second Auditor's Office, February 12, 1828.

It appears from the books of the late office of superintendent general of military supplies, deposited in this office, that Elisha Tracey,

then deputy commissary, made returns to that office for issues of clothing, ordnance supplies, &., &c., from the 1st of April, 1813, to the 30th June 1815.

D. Gelston's certificate.

W. LEE.

COLLECTOR'S OFFICE, NEW YORK,
January 2, 1815.

I do hereby certify that, on the 6th day of January, 1815, by direction of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, I paid to Elisha Tracey, deputy commissary, by my checks on the banks of this city, a draft in his favor for the sum of fourteen thousand five hundred dollars, drawn by Jedediah Huntington, esq., collector of the district of New London.

D. GELSTON, Collector.

J. Huntington's check.

December 20, 1814.

Cashier of Manhattan Company, pay to Elisha Tracey, or order, nine hundred dollars.

$900.

J. HUNTINGTON.

Paid and charged January 6, 1815.

S. FLEWELLING,

Cashier Manhattan Co.

Colonel Kingsbury's certificate.

FRANKLIN, Connecticut, October 30, 1828.

I certify that during the late war I was stationed in military district No. 2, constituted by the States of Connecticut and Rhode Island, as an inspector general, a part of which period I commanded in said district.

Colonel Elisha Tracey, of Norwich, during that whole period, performed the duties of purchasing commissary; he also, during the same period, performed the duties of the quartermaster's department, there being no other public officer in that district; as well as those of agent of fortification, Forts Griswold and Trumbull being rebuilt under his agency and disbursement of money; in addition to which he had an ordnance establishment at Norwich, where a great number of artificers were employed prior to and during the war, manufacturing gun-carriages and carriages for forts. This arduous and multiplied business was performed to the entire satisfaction, as I have reason to believe, of the commanding generals of that district.

truly say he was a vigilant and faithful officer, being the factotum of all the supplies in all the various army departments. In addition to this, he procured to be made and issued all the ready-made clothing and camp equipage for the troops at New London and elsewhere, in the district and for the recruiting service, as I believe, to a great extent. At the time the British fleet was blockading Commodore Decatur's ships, and threatening their destruction, it became necessary to keep out large bodies of militia, who required camp equipage, &c.; he exerted himself in every respect, and, as I verily believe, in addition to his personal exertions, lending his own personal credit to obtain supplies, the credit of the government being at that time prostrated in New England, by which he has always claimed a heavy loss in consequence of paying specie paper and receiving a depreciated currency.

The duties that were performed were, in other districts, divided between several public officers. I may cheerfully say, that not only the commanding and other officers of the district but Commodore Decatur, looked to him on all emergencies during the war, and that but for his exertions and his personal credit, the public service must have suffered. JACOB KINGSBURY.

Late Inspector Ceneral in the U. S. Army.

General Cushing's orders.

HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DISTRICT No. 2,
New London, September 8, 1814.

SIR: Your letter of the 30th of August, and 4th and 7th instant, have been duly received.

The arrival of the apothecary general in this district has removed the necessity for acting on the return of Doctor Cunningham.

The enclosed extract from the regulations of the War Department will show, that I have nothing to do with clothing returns, which must, in all cases, be signed by the senior officer of the corps, who will be held accountable for their correctness. Captain McKeon, being the senior officer of artillery in this military district, has been referred to you for such clothing as he is authorized to draw for under these regulations.

I am distressed by the information you give me in relation to the necessary arms for the national roops in this vicinity, as well as by a review of the very limited supply of camp equipage for the militia now in service. For God's sake, exert yourself to relieve our present wants, and to furnish such further supplies as may be called for.

The proclamation of the President, which you will have seen in the public papers, if it has not been officially communicated, admonishes us of what we are to expect from the enemy, and enjoins the most vigorous preparations for the defence of our country. With the proper arms, ammunition, quartermaster's stores, and cash, and the support of the militia of this State, which the proclamation authorizes me to call into service, I should have no fears for the safety of the seacoast. But when I reflect on our own deficiencies, and on the faint hope that