Excerpt from Out-Letters of the Continental Marine Committee and Board of Admiralty, Vol. 1: August, 1776-September, 1780 A brief account of the Continental Naval Depart ment will aid the reader to understand the corre Spondence in the letter-book. The first organ Of naval administration Of the Revolutionary government was the Naval Committee, which was established early in October, 1775, and which was composed first Of three and later Of seven members, all delegates to the Con tinental Congress. This committee acquired the first American ships of war, selected their officers, and fitted them for sea. It drafted the first naval rules and regula tions and not a little fundamental legislation for the navy, all Of which after amendment was adopted by Congress. Its letters, with but few exceptions, have not been preserved. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.