General Orders, 24 April 1776
General Orders
Head Quarters, New York, April 24th 1776
Parole Saville.Countersign Thanet.
The Regiments are ordered to be brigaded as follows. First Brigade under the Command of Brigdr Genl Heath[.] Learnard’s. Read’s.1 Prescot’s. Bailey’s and Baldwins.
Second Brigade under the Command of Brigd. Genl Spencer. Parsons’s. Huntington’s. Arnold’s.2 Ward’s. and Wyllys.
Third Brigade under the Command of Brig: Genl Sullivan. Hand’s. Reads.3 Nixon’s. Stark’s. and Webb’s.
Fourth Brigade under the Command of Brig: Genl Green. Varnum’s. Hitchcock’s. Little’s. Wayne’s. and Irvine.
Fifth Brigade under the Command of Brig: Genl The Earl of Stirling. Ritzema’s. McDougall’s. Dayton’s. and Wind’s.
A clean, well dress’d orderly Serjeant, from each Brigade, to attend in the General’s Guard Room, near Head Quarters, from Six in the morning until they are dismissed in the evening; they are to bring their Provisions with them, and to be relieved every morning.
The Commanding Officer of the Artillery, is immediately to examine, and report, the quantity of Case, and Grape Shot, in Store and see that a sufficiency of each, is immediately provided.
The Rifle-Men in Col. Irvine’s Regiment, have Liberty to fire their Rifles to morrow at Ten in the forenoon, at such place as Lieut. Col. Hartley shall appoint—This is mentioned, as no Person is to presume to fire without leave.4
Felix Micklehenny, Corporal, James Milliken, Corporal, John McGee, John McBride, George Connor, Privates, belonging to the 6th Battalion of Pennsylvanian Troops, tried at a late General Court Martial, whereof Col. Baldwin was President for “Mutiny and Disobedience of orders”—The Court are of Opinion that the Prisoners Corporal Milliken and Jno. McBride, are not guilty, but that the Prisoners Corporal Micklehenny, Jno. McGee, and George Connor are guilty of the charge against them, and do therefore sentence Corporal Micklehenny to be reduced to a Private, and that Jno. McGee be confin’d four days, and George Connor seven days both on Bread and Water.
The General approves the Sentence of the above Court Martial, upon Corporal Micklehenny, Jno. McGee and George Connor, and orders it to take place immediately.
Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
1. The 13th Continental Regiment was commanded by Col. Joseph Read of Massachusetts.
2. The colonelcy of the 20th Continental Regiment had been reserved for Benedict Arnold, but because he was promoted to brigadier general on 10 Jan. 1776, Lt. Col. John Durkee commanded the regiment. Durkee officially became its colonel on 10 Aug. (see General Orders, 12 Aug. 1776).
3. The 2d Continental Regiment was commanded by Col. James Reed of New Hampshire.
4. William Irvine (1741–1804), an Irish-born physician from Carlisle, commanded the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment, which marched to Canada under Gen. John Sullivan in early May. Irvine was captured at the Battle of Trois Rivières on 8 June 1776 and was not exchanged until nearly two years later. After his exchange he took command of the 7th Pennsylvania Regiment and in May 1779 became a brigadier general. From the spring of 1782 to the fall of 1783 Irvine served as commander of Fort Pitt. Thomas Hartley (1748–1800), a lawyer from York, was lieutenant colonel of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment. He assumed command of the regiment after Irvine was captured, and in January 1777 he became colonel of one of the sixteen additional Continental regiments. Hartley resigned from the army in February 1779 to take a seat in the Pennsylvania general assembly.