Part 6 (1/2)

”The service will be light and easy, for the arons and baggage-horses, as they carry those things that are absolutely necessary to the welfare of the army, must march with the army, and no faster; and are, for the army's sake, always placed where they can be most secure, whether in a march or in a caood and loyal subjects to his majesty, you may now do a most acceptable service, and make it easy to yourselves; for three or four of such as cannot separately spare froon and four horses and a driver, on, another one or two horses, and another the driver, and divide the pay proportionately between you; but if you do not this service to your king and country voluntarily, when such good pay and reasonable terly suspected The king's business must be done; so many brave troops, coh your backwardness to do what ons and horses must be had; violent measures will probably be used, and you will be left to seek for a recompense where you can find it, and your case, perhaps, be little pitied or regarded

”I have no particular interest in this affair, as, except the satisfaction of endeavouring to do good, I shall have only ons and horses is not likely to succeed, I aeneral in fourteen days; and I suppose Sir John St Clair, the hussar, with a body of soldiers, will immediately enter the province for the purpose, which I shall be sorry to hear, because I am very sincerely and truly your friend and isher, ”B Franklin”

I received of the general about eight hundred pounds, to be disbursed in advance- insufficient, I advanc'd upward of two hundred pounds ons, with two hundred and fifty-nine carrying horses, were on their march for the ca to the valuation, in case any waggon or horse should be lost The owners, however, alleging they did not know General Braddock, or what dependence ht be had on his promise, insisted on ave the with the officers of Colonel Dunbar's regiment, he represented to enerally not in affluence, and could ill afford, in this dear country, to lay in the stores thatawas to be purchas'd I co the, however, to hi to the committee of the assembly, who had the disposition of so the case of these officers to their consideration, and proposing that a present should be sent them of necessaries and refreshments My son, who had some experience of a camp life, and of its wants, drew up a list for me, which I enclos'd in ence that, conducted by ons They consisted of twenty parcels, each containing 6 lbs loaf sugar 6 lbs good Muscovado do 1 lb good green tea 1 lb good bohea do 6 lbs good ground coffee 6 lbs chocolate 1-2 cwt best white biscuit 1-2 lb pepper 1 quart best white wine vinegar 1 Gloucester cheese 1 kegg containing 20 lbs good butter 2 doz old Madeira wine 2 gallons Jamaica spirits 1 bottle flour of ues 6 lbs rice 6 lbs raisins

These twenty parcels, well pack'd, were placed on asintended as a present for one officer They were very thankfully receiv'd, and the kindness acknowledg'd by letters to rateful terhly satisfied with ons, etc, and readily paidprovisions after him I undertook this also, and was busily e for the service of , of which I sent him an account It came to his hands, luckily for me, a few days before the battle, and he return'd me immediately an order on the pay the reood luck, having never been able to obtain that reeneral was, I think, a brave ood officer in soh an opinion of the validity of regular troops, and too han, our Indian interpreter, join'd hiht have been of great use to his aruides, scouts, etc, if he had treated theradually left hiFort Duquesne,”[97] says he, ”I a taken that, to Frontenac,[98] if the season will allow time; and I suppose it will, for Duquesne can hardly detainthat can obstructbefore revolv'd inline his army must make in their march by a very narrow road, to be cut for them thro' the woods and bushes, and also what I had read of a former defeat of fifteen hundred French, who invaded the Iroquois country, I had conceiv'd son But I ventur'd only to say, ”To be sure, sir, if you arrive well before Duquesne, with these fine troops, so well provided with artillery, that place not yet coarrison, can probably er I apprehend of obstruction to your march is from ambuscades of Indians, who, by constant practice, are dexterous in laying and executing the, which your army must make, may expose it to be attack'd by surprise in its flanks, and to be cut like a thread into several pieces, which, from their distance, cannot co

[98] Kingston, at the eastern end of Lake Ontario

He ses may, indeed, be a for's regular and disciplin'd troops, sir, it is impossible they should make any i with a military man in matters of his profession, and said no e of his ar line of march expos'd it to, but let it advance without interruption till within nine miles of the place; and then, when more in a body (for it had just passed a river, where the front had halted till all were come over), and in a more open part of the woods than any it had pass'd, attack'd its advanced guard by heavy fire froence the general had of an eneeneral hurried the troops up to their assistance, which was done in great confusion, thro' waggons, baggage, and cattle; and presently the fire ca on horseback, were uish'd, pick'd out as ether in a huddle, having or hearing no orders, and standing to be shot at till two-thirds of the seiz'd with a panick, the whole fled with precipitation

[Illustration: ”The only danger I apprehend of obstruction to your oners took each a horse out of his team and scamper'd; their exaons, provisions, artillery, and stores were left to the eneht off with difficulty; his secretary, Mr shi+rley, was killed by his side; and out of eighty-six officers, sixty-three were killed or wounded, and seven hundred and fourteen men killed out of eleven hundred These eleven hundred had been picked men from the whole army; the rest had been left behind with Colonel Dunbar, as to folloith the heavier part of the stores, provisions, and baggage The flyers, not being pursu'd, arriv'd at Dunbar's caht with them instantly seiz'd him and all his people; and, tho' he had now above one thousand men, and the enemy who had beaten Braddock did not at ether, instead of proceeding, and endeavouring to recover some of the lost honour, he ordered all the stores, aht have ht towards the settlements, and less luovernors of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, that he would post his troops on the frontier, so as to afford some protection to the inhabitants; but he continued his hastyhimself safe till he arrived at Philadelphia, where the inhabitants could protect hiave us Americans the first suspicion that our exalted ideas of the prowess of British regulars had not been well founded[99]

[99] Other accounts of this expedition and defeat ton and his Country, or Lodge's George Washi+ngton, Vol 1

In their first ot beyond the settlements, they had plundered and stripped the inhabitants, totally ruining so the people if they reh to put us out of conceit of such defenders, if we had really wanted any How different was the conduct of our French friends in 1781, who, during a march thro' the inia, near seven hundred miles, occasioned not the s, a chicken, or even an apple

Captain Orrievously wounded, was brought off with him, and continu'd with him to his death, which happen'd in a few days, told ht only said, ”Who would have thought it?” That he was silent again the following day, saying only at last, ”We shall better kno to deal with them another time”; and dy'd in a few eneral's orders, instructions, and correspondence, falling into the enemy's hands, they selected and translated into French a number of the articles, which they printed, to prove the hostile intentions of the British court before the declaration of war Aeneral to the reat service I had rendered the ar me to their notice David Hume,[100] too, as some years after secretary to Lord Hertford, when minister in France, and afterward to General Conhen secretary of state, toldthe papers in that office, letters fro been unfortunate, ht of much value, for those recommendations were never of any use to me

[100] A famous Scotch philosopher and historian (1711-1776)

As to rewards froive orders to his officers not to enlist any e such as had been already enlisted This he readily granted, and several were accordingly return'd to their masters, on my application Dunbar, when the co at Philadelphia, on his retreat, or rather flight, I apply'd to hie of the servants of three poor far hieneral's orders on that head He promised me that, if the masters would come to him at Trenton, where he should be in a few days on his march to New York, he would there deliver their ly were at the expense and trouble of going to Trenton, and there he refus'd to perforreat loss and disappointons and horses was generally known, all the owners caiven bond to pay Their de them that the money was ready in the pay it must first be obtained fro the at a distance, an answer could not soon be receiv'd, and they must have patience, all this was not sufficient to satisfy, and soth relievedco payment They amounted to near twenty thousand pound, which to pay would have ruined me

[101] Governor of Massachusetts and commander of the British forces in America

Before we had the news of this defeat, the two Doctors Bond ca rand firework, which it was intended to exhibit at a rejoicing on receipt of the news of our taking Fort Duquesne I looked grave, and said it would, I thought, be ti e knee should have occasion to rejoice They seem'd surpris'd that I did not immediately comply with their proposal ”Why the d----l!” says one of them, ”you surely don't suppose that the fort will not be taken?” ”I don't know that it will not be taken, but I know that the events of war are subject to great uncertainty” I gave the; the subscription was dropt, and the projectors thereby one if the firework had been prepared Dr Bond, on some other occasion afterward, said that he did not like Franklin's forebodings

Governor Morris, who had continually worried the assee before the defeat of Braddock, to beat the of acts to raiseothers, the proprietary estates, and had rejected all their bills for not having such an exe clause, now redoubled his attacks with reater The asse they had justice on their side, and that it would be giving up an essential right if they suffered the governor to amend their ranting fifty thousand pounds, his propos'd ale word The bill express'd ”that all estates, real and personal, were to be taxed, those of the proprietaries not excepted” His amendment was, for not read only: a small, but very material alteration However, when the news of this disaster reached England, our friends there e had taken care to furnish with all the asseainst the proprietaries for their overnor such instructions; so the defense of their province, they forfeited their right to it They were intieneral to add five thousand pounds of their iven by the asse notified to the House, was accepted in lieu of their share of a general tax, and a new bill was forly By this act I was appointed one of the co of thethe bill and procuring its passage, and had, at the sa a voluntary militia, which I carried thro' the House without much difficulty, as care was taken in it to leave the Quakers at their liberty To promote the association necessary to for all the objections I could think of to such a reat effect

[102] This dialogue and the azine for February and March, 1756--Marg note

XVII

FRANKLIN'S DEFENSE OF THE FRONTIER

While the several co their exercise, the governor prevail'd with e of our North-western frontier, which was infested by the ene troops and building a line of forts I undertook this military business, tho' I did not conceive ave me a commission with full powers, and a parcel of blank coht fit I had but little difficulty in raisingsoon five hundred and sixty underwar been an officer in the arreat use to e settled by the Moravians, and ood situation for one of the forts

[103] pronounced Gna'-den-hoot

In order to march thither, I assembled the companies at Bethlehem, the chief establishood a posture of defense; the destruction of Gnadenhut had s were defended by a stockade; they had purchased a quantity of arms and ammunition fro stones between the s of their high stone houses, for their women to thron upon the heads of any Indians that should attempt to force into them The armed brethren, too, kept watch, and reliev'd as arrison town In conversation with the bishop, Spangenberg, Ithey had obtained an act of Parlia them from military duties in the colonies, I had suppos'd they were conscientiously scrupulous of bearing arms He answer'd me that it was not one of their established principles, but that, at the tiht to be a principle with many of their people On this occasion, however, they, to their surprise, found it adopted by but a few It seems they were either deceiv'd in themselves, or deceiv'd the Parliaer, will so for whi of January e set out upon this business of building forts I sent one detachment toward the Minisink, with instructions to erect one for the security of that upper part of the country, and another to the lower part, with sio myself with the rest of my force to Gnadenhut, where a fort was tho't gons for our tools, stores, baggage, etc

Just before we left Bethlehem, eleven farmers, who had been driven fro a supply of firearave theun with suitable aan to rain, and it continued raining all day; there were no habitations on the road to shelter us, till we arriv'd near night at the house of a Gerether, as wet as water could make us It e were not attack'd in our march, for our arms were of the un locks[104] dry The Indians are dexterous in contrivances for that purpose, which we had not They met that day the eleven poor farmers above mentioned, and killed ten of theuns would not go off, the priuns, discharged by means of a spark struck fro) in an open pan

[Illustration: ”We had not an to rain”]

The next day being fair, we continu'd our march, and arriv'd at the desolated Gnadenhut There was a saw-mill near, round which were left several piles of boards, hich we soon hutted ourselves; an operation the more necessary at that inclement season, as we had no tents Our first as to bury more effectually the dead we found there, who had been half interr'd by the country people

The nextour fort was plann'd andfour hundred and fifty-five feet, which would require as many palisades to be made of trees, one with another, of a foot diameter each Our axes, of which we had seventy, were i dexterous in the use of the the trees fall so fast, I had the curiosity to look at an to cut at a pine; in six round, and I found it of fourteen inches dia, pointed at one end While these were preparing, our othera trench all round, of three feet deep, in which the palisades were to be planted; and, our waggons, the bodies being taken off, and the fore and hind wheels separated by taking out the pin which united the two parts of the perch,[105] we had ten carriages, with two horses each, to bring the palisades from the woods to the spot When they were set up, our carpenters built a stage [Illustration: ”Our axeswere immediately set to work to cut down trees”]

of boards all round within, about six feet high, for the men to stand on when to fire thro' the loopholes We had one swivel gun, which we les, and fir'd it as soon as fix'd, to let the Indians know, if any ithin hearing, that we had such pieces; and thus our fort, if such a iven to so h it rain'd so hard every other day that thethe front and rear wheels of a wagon

This gave me occasion to observe, that, when men are employ'd, they are best content'd; for on the days they worked they were good-natur'd and cheerful, and, with the consciousness of having done a good day's work, they spent the evening jollily; but on our idle days they werefault with their pork, the bread, etc, and in continual ill-humour, which put me in mind of a sea-captain, whose rule it was to keep his men constantly at work; and, when his , and there was nothing further to employ them about, ”Oh,” says he, ”make them scour the anchor”

This kind of fort, however conteainst Indians, who have no cannon Finding ourselves now posted securely, and having a place to retreat to on occasion, we ventur'd out in parties to scour the adjacent country We hbouring hills where they had lain to watch our proceedings There was an art in their contrivance of those places that see winter, a fire was necessary for theround would by its light have discover'd their position at a distance They had therefore dug holes in the ground about three feet diameter, and somewhat deeper; here they had with their hatchets cut off the charcoal fro in the woods With these coals they had made s the weeds and grass the prints of their bodies,down in the holes to keep their feet warm, which, with the'd, could not discover theht, flame, sparks, or even sreat, and it seems they saere too e

We had for our chaplain a zealous Presbyterian minister, Mr Beatty, who coenerally attend his prayers and exhortations When they enlisted, they were proill of rum a day, which was punctually serv'd out to the; and I observed they were as punctual in attending to receive it; upon which I said to Mr Beatty, ”It is, perhaps, below the dignity of your profession to act as steward of the rum, but if you were to deal it out and only just after prayers, you would have them all about you” He liked the tho't, undertook the office, and, with the help of a few hands to measure out the liquor, executed it to satisfaction, and never were prayers ht this method preferable to the punishment inflicted by some military laws for non-attendance on divine service

I had hardly finish'd this business, and got my fort well stor'd with provisions, when I receiv'd a letter fro me that he had call'd the assembly, and wished my attendance there, if the posture of affairs on the frontiers was such that er necessary My friends, too, of the asse , andnow compleated, and the inhabitants contented to remain on their farms under that protection, I resolved to return; the land officer, Colonel Clapha on a visit to our establishave hiarrison, had it read before them, and introduc'd him to them as an officer who, from his skill in military affairs, wasthem a little exhortation, took my leave I was escorted as far as Bethleheue I had undergone The first night, being in a good bed, I could hardly sleep, it was so different fro on the floor of our hut at Gnaden wrapt only in a blanket or two

While at Bethlehem, I inquir'd a little into the practice of the Moravians: some of them had accompanied me, and all were very kind to me I found they work'd for a common stock, ate at coreat nuether In the dor just under the ceiling, which I thought judiciously placed for change of air I was at their church, where I was entertain'd with goodaccompanied with violins, hautboys, flutes, clarinets, etc I understood that their serations of men, women, and children, as is our common practice, but that they assembled sometimes thewomen, and the little children, each division by itself The sermon I heard was to the latter, who came in and were plac'd in rows on benches; the boys under the conduct of a youngwoman The discourse seem'd well adapted to their capacities, and was delivered in a pleasing, faood They behav'd very orderly, but looked pale and unhealthy, which made me suspect they were kept too much within doors, or not allow'd sufficient exercise

I inquir'd concerning the Moravian es, whether the report was true that they were by lot I was told that lots were us'd only in particular cases; that generally, when a young man found himself dispos'd to marry, he inform'd the elders of his class, who consulted the elder ladies that govern'd the young women As these elders of the different sexes ell acquainted with the tempers and dispositions of their respective pupils, they could best judge what enerally acquiesc'd in; but if, for exa wo man, the lot was then recurred to I objected, if the matches are not made by the mutual choice of the parties, some of them may chance to be very unhappy ”And so they may,” answer'd my informer, ”if you let the parties chuse for the returned to Philadelphia, I found the association went on swienerally come into it, formed themselves into cons, according to the ne Dr B visited ave ood liking to the law, and ascribed much to those endeavours I had had the vanity to ascribe all to ht be in the right, I let hienerally the best way in such cases The officers, iet how many companies we had, but we paraded about twelve hundred well-looking men, with a company of artillery, who had been furnished with six brass field-pieces, which they had become so expert in the use of as to fire twelve tiiment they accompanied me to my house, and would salute me with some rounds fired before lasses of my electrical apparatus And my new honour proved not much less brittle; for all our coland

During this short ti about to set out on a journey to Virginia, the officers of iment took it into their heads that it would be proper for them to escort etting on horseback they came to my door, between thirty and forty, mounted, and all in their uniforms I had not been previously acquainted with the project, or I should have prevented it, being naturally averse to the assurin'd at their appearance, as I could not avoid their accoan to move, they drew their swords and rode with them naked all the way Soave hireat offense No such honour had been paid hiovernors; and he said it was only proper to princes of the blood royal, which norant of the etiquette in such cases