Below is a transcript of a letter from Richard Howell to his friend, and Commanding Officer, Colonel Israel Shreve about some personal letters Richard wrote to his future wife, Kaziah Burr, that were left unattended by the mail carrier and opened by an unknown individual. The letters were then presented to “the council,” presumably the Quaker Council of Elders. This greatly incensed Richard. It is known that Kaziah was a Quaker. Quakers, being anti-war, generally discouraged their daughters from being involved with military officers.