Apparently, a contingent of Massachusetts and Connecticut militia officers complained, “The Virginia Riflemen are the only ones among us having any fun. Our troops are tired of digging new lines every few days.”

Whether that’s what prompted Brigadier General Horatio Gates, General Washington’s Adjutant General, to issue new orders we don’t know but at noon today, General Gates’s aide delivered a message to Capt. Morgan:

August 11th, 1775

Continental Army HQ, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dear Captain Morgan:

Please know Capt. Stephenson’s Rifle Company has arrived at Watertown and is now undergoing Smallpox variolation. His Rifle Company will soon be billeted near yours. Since your and his Virginia Rifle Companies are the first of the Ten Rifle Companies authorized by Congress to arrive, the Commander-in-Chief desires both Companies to Parade for His Excellency and our Senior Officers at Cambridge Headquarters at Noon on Monday, August 14th.

Effective immediately, all Rifle Company sharpshooters will be deployed to engage enemy targets only when under attack by our enemy or authorized in advance by this Headquarters.

Rifle Company personnel not otherwise engaged in contact with our enemy or authorized sniping duty shall henceforth assist our Continental soldiers in digging protective revetments and preparing field fortifications including abatis, fascines, and gabions.1

//signed// Horatio Gates, Brg Gnr’l., Adjutant General of the Army

Roxbury Heights, overlooking Boston

Tuesday, August 15th, 1775

Yesterday’s parade of our two Virginia Rifle Companies—led by Captain Morgan—included a “pass in review” accompanied by fifes and drums before General Washington and his mounted staff.

It will always be memorable to me because it was the first time I ever laid eyes on General Washington and the parade was held on the campus of Harvard College where my brother Joshua was a student when the British killed him at Concord, just four months ago.

After the parade, Captains Morgan and Stephenson were invited for “refreshments” with the Commander-in-Chief and his staff. The rest of us in the two Virginia Rifle Companies were treated to a gill of diluted rum, which helped relieve any lingering angst Capt. Stephenson’s Riflemen may have over Capt. Morgan’s “early departure” from Virginia on July 14th.

This morning, two sharpshooters of Capt. Stephenson’s Company killed two British officers as they were inspecting their Redcoat Regulars on Boston Neck. In the aftermath, ships of the British Fleet anchored around Boston fired at least 100 rounds of every possible artillery caliber toward our lines without inflicting a single casualty. Apparently, very few of the cannons aboard the British warships in the harbor can be elevated high enough to reach our position.

Roxbury Heights, overlooking Boston

Monday, August 28th, 1775