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<i>By His Excellency, The Lord of Rhode Island, Colonel & Commander-in-Chief, British Armies in America</i>
To <font color="yellow"><b> Mark Nelms </font id="yellow"></b>, Captain, commanding the
71st ROF, 1st Brigade of the Centre Column
To all who see these presents, greetings:
Reposing full confidence in your loyalty, courage and good conduct, and in recognition of the experience gained upon the field, I do hereby constitute and appoint you, during our pleasure, to exercise all rights and privileges pertaining to the rank of <font color="yellow"><b> Major </font id="yellow"></b>, taking such rank and precedence from the present day. You are, therefore, carefully and diligently to discharge all duties and responsibilities of such rank by exercising and well disciplining the inferior officers and men of the said regiment, and I do hereby command them to obey you as their <font color="yellow"><b> Major </font id="yellow"></b>, and you are to observe and follow all such orders and directions as you shall from time to time receive from me or your superior officers, according to law.
Given under My Hand and Seal at Philadelphia this Seventeenth Day of November 1779 and the nineteenth year of His Majesty's Reign,
<font face="Script MT Bold"><font size="5">Jones</font id="size5"></font id="Script MT Bold">
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