1. The enclosed list of 9 Aug. contains the names of four new major generals and six new brigadier generals that Congress appointed on that date (DLC:GW; see also JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 5:641, and General Orders, 12 Aug.).

2. Hancock struck out “Delaware” in front of “Battalion” and inserted “Continental” above the line. Congress on 5 Aug. directed the Secret Committee to furnish the Delaware Regiment with “as many of the arms, lately imported, as will be necessary to arm them completely” and ordered the regiment to march to New Jersey “subject to the farther orders and directions of the general” (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 5:631; see also Hancock to John Haslet, 6 Aug., in Smith, Letters of Delegates description begins Paul H. Smith et al., eds. Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789. 26 vols. Washington, D.C., 1976–2000. description ends , 4:629–30).

John Haslet (c.1727–1777) of Kent County, Del., was appointed colonel of the Delaware Regiment by Congress on 19 Jan. 1776 (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 4:68–69), and he remained in Continental service until his death at the Battle of Princeton on 3 Jan. 1777. A native of Ulster, Ireland, Haslet took his master’s degree at the University of Glasgow in 1749 and was an ordained Presbyterian minister in Ireland for several years before he immigrated to America about 1757. During the Forbes campaign of 1758, Haslet served as a captain in Col. James Burd’s 2d Pennsylvania Regiment. A short time later he established himself as a physician in Kent County, Del., where he became a close political ally of Caesar Rodney. Haslet was a member of the county committee of correspondence in 1774, the county council of safety from 1775 to 1776, and the assembly in 1773 and 1775, and on 25 Mar. 1775 he was elected colonel of one of the two Kent County militia regiments (see Moyne, “Haslet,” description begins Ernest J. Moyne. “Who Was Colonel John Haslet of Delaware?” Delaware History 13 (1968–69): 283–300. description ends 284, 287–91). As colonel of the Delaware Regiment during 1776, Haslet remained in the state until 20 July when Congress summoned him and his regiment to Philadelphia (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 5:596). Haslet’s troops joined GW’s army at New York sometime in late August and were sent to Long Island in time to participate in the battle there on 27 August. On 21 Oct. Haslet led a partially successful raid on Col. Robert Rogers’s Rangers at Mamaroneck, N.Y., and a week later he fought at the Battle of White Plains (see Haslet to Caesar Rodney, 28 Oct., 12 Nov. 1776, in Force, American Archives description begins Peter Force, ed. American Archives. 9 vols. Washington, D.C., 1837–53. description ends , 5th ser., 2:1270, 3:653–54). At the Battle of Princeton Haslet was shot fatally in the head while trying to rally his and Gen. Hugh Mercer’s troops.

3. Hancock enclosed his letters of this date to William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John Sullivan, and Nathanael Greene, informing them of their promotions to major general; to James Reed, John Nixon, Arthur St. Clair, Alexander McDougall, Samuel Holden Parsons, and James Clinton, informing them of their promotions to brigadier general; and to William Tudor, informing him of his promotion to lieutenant colonel (DNA:PCC, item 12A; see also Force, American Archives description begins Peter Force, ed. American Archives. 9 vols. Washington, D.C., 1837–53. description ends , 5th ser., 1:883).