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"^ ■ ' f i' : t 4 5 6 1 y:^^/ JOURNAL OP COLONEL GEORGE WASHINGTON, COMMANDING A DBTACHMKNT OF VIRGINIA TROOPS, i SENT HV ROBERT DINWIDDIE, LIEUTBNANT-GOVERNOR OF VIBGINIA, ACROSS THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS. IN 1754. TO BUILD ^nRTS AT TF^r HEAD OF THE OHIO. IT COMPRISES THE HISTORY OK mIrcheI CAMPINGS AND EVENTS. A SKIRMISH wixH THE FRPNCH. AND THE DEATH OK THEIR LEADER DE JUMONVILLE. The Journal fell into the hands of the enemy, who in i7.:6 printed a version of it in French; a new tninslltion of t^is into English is what is here given in the absence of th^ original. To complete the history of the Expedition AN APPENDIX '^ ""^^lir "^""^ ^""^"^ °'" ^ '''^^^' Sl-PI'LYING AN ACCOUNT OF TilE BATTI K OF THE GREAT MEADOWS AND THE CAriTULATION OF FORT NECESSI rv THE RETREAT OF THE ARMY; WITH COPIES OF ORIGInU MUSTER ' AND PAY ROLLS OF THE VIRGINIA REGI.MENT, AND OTHER DOCUMENTS CONNECTED WITH THIS EXPEDITION Edited, with Notes, By J. M. TONER, M. D. ALBANY, N. Y.: JOEL MUNSELL's SONS, PUBLISHERS. 1893. •■•»*■-»*« ^ . / ^.' Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-three, By J. M. TONER, In the-'office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. INTRODUCTION. The real provocation or motive for the armed expedition to the Ohio in 1754 was not frankly stated by the Governor to the Legislative Assembly of Virginia, or in any state paper by the British Ministry, and is only to be gathered from the official letters of Governor Dinwiddie and the correspondence of other parties, well informed in State affairs, of that period. The following extract from a letter written by Governor Dinwiddie to Colonel Thomas Cresap, and dated Williamsburg, January 23, 1752, presents the views then held by the Colony of Virginia as to the obligations it was in duty bound to observe toward the French in the region of the head-waters of the Ohio : " Sir : You herewith will receive the Opinion of the Council in Answer to your Letters. As to making Reprisals for the Robberies done by the French on the Ohio, it is inconsistent with the Laws of Nations, while We are In Peace with France, and your Letter is too general ; if you can give a particular Account of the different Robberies, we must apply to the Governor of Canada for Redress ; Upon his Refusal, we may proceed in another manner." The Governor shortly after writing this letter became interested in "the Ohio Company," which was a creation of the Introduction. British Ministry designed to test the strength and disposition of the French in maintaining their claim to that vast region of country and to see what support measures for asserting a counter-claim would receive from t le Colonies. The movement on the pPirt of Virginia was by no means a spontaneous outburst on the part of the people. On the contrary, the measure was set on foot by the Governor, almost without conference, except with his Council, although he solicited aid from the other Colonies soon after he had committed himself to the enterprise. It seems more than probable that the project was in- spired more by state-craft and private interest, than from any ambition on the part of Virginia to repel Indian depredations or to acquire additional territory. While the expedition was a war measure, war had not been declared, and the propriety of, ?nd necessity for, the measure were not apparent to. i^r sympathized in, by the mass of the people in the several Colonies and was, to a great degree, unpopular with the As- semblies of Virginia. Maryland and Pennsylvania. The following extract from a letter written on the subject by Governor Dinwiddie in January, 1754, to Lord Fairfax, discloses some of the State motives and, at the same time, shows the indifference of the people. He says: "As the French Forces on the Ohio intend down as far as Logstown early in the spring, I think it is for His M'y's Service and the Pro- tection of the Settlem'ts of this Dom'n to do all in our Power to prevent their building any Forts or Introduitioii. in or making any Settlem'ts on that river, and more par- ticularly so nigh us as that of the Logstown. I there- fore, with Advice of the Council, think proper to send immediately out 200 Men to protect those already sent by the Ohio Conip' to build a Fort, and to resist any Attempts on them. I have Commis- sion'd Major George Washington, the Bearer hereof, to command 100 Men to be rais'd in Frederick County and Augusta, therefore I trouble Y'r L'ds' to direct the Militia of Frederick to be drawn out and fifty Men to be enlisted for that service, that Number probably may voluntarily enlist themselves on this Expedit'n on the Pay settled by Act of Assembly, but if they do not voluntarialy enter on this Service, I think the>i must ballot, that the Number may be ascertained so as to prevent as far as we can, of being Surpriz'd. When the Men are properly order'd and their Names taken, they may proceed to Alex- andria to Maj'r Carlisle, who I have appointed Com- missary of Stores and Provisions, who will take proper Care of them." The drafts and enlistments were so slow and in- adequate to the purpose, as to induce Governor Din- widdle, February 19th, 1754, to issue a proclamation granting two hundred thousand acres of land on the Ohio, to be divided among , the officers and men serving in this expedition. In a letter in answer to Governor Hamilton, who requested of Governor Dinwiddle a specific state- ment of his purposes on the Ohio, he writes, 27th ."•^ 6 Introduction. of April, 1 754: •' The Plan of my Operat's is agreeable to His M'y's Com'ds to take Possess'n of the Lands on the Ohio in His Name, to build two Forts My Order to the Com'd'r in Chief, is to be on the De- fensive, but if oppos'd by the Enemy, to desire them to retire; if they sh'd still persist, to repel Force by Force. If You sh'd raise Men, they may be told to submit to the rules and regulat's of the other Forces." \Pa. Colo. Records, vi, p. 32.] The apathy of the people was so great as to amount to opposition, but was, in time, greatly overcome by personal influence, national pride, dislike of the French and fear of Indian atrocities which were pictured as imminent. The theory upon which the English government acted throughout was that the French had no valid claim to the territory or, indeed, any land in America, notwithstanding existing treaties which the British were bound to respect, and they made good these conclusions in a war of expulsion. 1 -^-^ THE JOURNAL OF MAJOR WASHINGTON.^ [Notes in the Krenth edition arc copied and referred to by letters, vhilc the editor's notes are referred to by numeraU.) On the 31"' of March [1754] I received from his WoviQx{af a Lieutenant Colonel's Commission" of the Virginia Regiment, whereof Joshua Fry, Esq/ was Colonel, dated the is"*, with Orders to take the troops, wh.ch were at the time quartered at Alex- andria,'^ under my command and to march" with them towards the Ohio, there to help Captain Trenf to build Forts, and to defend the possessions of his Majesty against the attempts and hostilities(<^) of the French. * This is a private journal of Colonel George Washington's, kept by him on his march from Alex- andria to the Ohio in the spring of 1 754. By mis- chance and the accidents attending war it fell into the hands of the French. The Journal was in no sense an official one, and even the French rendering of it makes it accord, in all essential points, with his letters to Governor Dinwiddie and to other corre- spondents. Sparks says the Journal was captured at the battle of the Monongahela. He does not, how- fa) Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia. (b) These hostilities had consisted in defending that country against the invasion of the English, and in summoning the latter to withdraw. This note in the French edition of the Journal is omitted in the English translation published by Gain in New York, 1757. - «_.-4^-.^ 8 IVashinc^ton^ s ever, give any authority for this statement. It is doubtless true that some of General Braddock's papers were captured at the battle of Monongahela, and some of Washington's may also have been lost in that engagement. But in the absence of any specified testimony to that effect, that this journal was cap- tured at that time, and there being no reason why Washington should have the Journal of 1754 with him in the campaign of 1755, »if*<^ ^he further fact that the record in the Journal is alleged to stop on the 27th of June, the time, Washington's forces began their retieat, I am of the opinion it was lost with his other papers at the battle of the Great Meadows. Again, the period between the date of the last entry and the battle of the Great Meadows was so inces- santly occupied as to preclude the giving of any thought to his Journal ; but had Washington pre- served his Journal after the battle, it would have been according to his usual custom and exactness to have completed it so as to include the history of the campaign to its close and his return to Williamsburg. This view is strengthened by Washington's statement of his losses in a letter to Carter Burwell, Esq., Chair- man of the Committee on Military Affairs in the House of Burgesses, bearing date the 20th of April, 1 755 : •' For besides the loss of many valuable papers, a valuable servant (who died a few days after of his wounds), my stores, wearing apparel, books & horses, amounting to no trifling sum on the whole, and in which I was in a manner singular by being the only person who got his baggage up before the engage- ment happened." This letter was written before the Braddock campaign began, and the loss is referred to the engagement of the Great Meadows. A fur- ther reference to his loss of papers occurs in the copy Journal. »rses, in only age- 2 the rred fur- copy of his first account with the county, rendered to the Assembly of Virginia, preserved in the Department of State, City of Washington, in which the closing item is: "To sundry small disbursements which I cannot recollect or ace', for, having lost all my papers in y" engagement," namely, the battle of the Great Meadows. " Robert Dinwiddle, Lieutenant-Governor of Vir- ginia from I 75 1-7. was born near Glasgow, Scotland, 1693; died near Clifton, England, August ist, 1770. Having been favored with a good education, he was disciplined to the counting-house and commerce. December ist, 1727, he was appointed Collector of Customs in the Island of Bermuda, which position he held, under successive commissions, until April iith, 1738, when, in recognition of his ability and fidelity, he was appointed " Surveyor-General of Customs of the SDuthern Ports on the Continent of America." In this office he was named, as his prede- cessors had been, a member of the Councils of the American Colonies. This mandate was recognized by Governor Gooch of Virginia, but the claim was resisted by the Councillors, who refused to allow him to sit with them and transmitted a remonstrance to the King, asking for his exclusion. The Board of Trade in May, 1742, advised that the royal purpose should- be adhered to in the matter. He was specially com- missioned August 17th, 1743, Inspector-General to examine into the duties and the collection of customs of the Island of Barbadoes and discovered flagrant frauds. In 1749 he appears to have resided in Eng- land as a merchant. He was appointed as Lieutenant- Governor of Virginia July 20th, 1751; and, on his arrival in November following, was warmly welcomed by the State officials. U nder his administration the at- '•'W*-"'^ i I lO Washington s tempt was begun to expel the French from the head of the Ohio Valley, at Fort Duquesne. He was a zealous and vigilant officer, and early discerned the capa- bilities of George Washington, whom he appointed Adjutant-General of a military district. He was a Loyalist of the sternest stamp. In 1 754 he suggested to the British Board of Trade, taxation of the Colonies to raise funds for military defenses, and in 1755 was one of the five Lieutenant-Governors who memorial- ized the Ministry to the same purpose. He left the Colony in 1 758, worn out with vexation, with the cares of office and with age. He was very meddle- some in military matters, and seemed at times un- generous enough to be jealous of the popularity of Washington, which left an unpleasant memory be- hind him. \Drake, also Brocks in the Dinwiddie Papers P\ ^ George Washington's Commission of Lieutenant- Colonel. — I have not been able to find a copy of this commission. — It is not certain whether the date given in the Journal, March 31st, should be taken as the date of this commission, or of its reception, since Governor Dinwiddie, writing in January, 1 754, to Lord Fairfax says that he had "commissioned Major George Washington to comm.and roo men," etc. Washington was attending to his duties as Lieutenant-Colonel before the ist of February, 1754. Governor Din- widdie, in a letter to George Washington, which bears date March 15th, 1754, says: "you have Com'o Lieut. Colo i2''6'*p day without any trouble of Com- manding a Company." In a letter to the Governor, written from Alexandria March 20th, 1 754, Washing- ton acknowledges the receipt of the commission with appreciative remarks. June 4th, of the same year, Governor Dinwiddie wrote to Lieutenant-Colonel ) I Jonrna/. I 1 >hing- with year, )lonel Washington nd sent him his commission as Colonel using the lollowing language: "Sir, on the death of Colonel Fry I have tho' it proper to send you the enclos'd Com'n to Com'd the Virg'a regiment and another for Maj'r Muse to be Lieut. Colo, The oldest Capt. to be Major, and the eldest Lieut, to be Capt., the eldest Ensign to be Lieut., unless you sh'd have Object'n to them.." Washington resigned this latter commission in October, 1754, because under the new military estab- lishment, devised by Governor Dinwiddie, to consist of ten independent companies of 100 men each, there was no grade or rank provided for above that of a Captain, and all Colonial appointments were to be subordinated to officers of whatever rank, holding commissions from the King. The effect of this arrangement was to reduce Colonel Washington to the rank of Captain and to place him under officers he had commanded. To this he would not consent, but quietly retired and remained in private life at Mount Vernon until invited in a letter from General Braddock of March 2nd, 1755, to join his staff as an aide, and in that capacity make the campaign to the Ohio. ^Colonel Joshua Fry, born in Somersetshire, Eng- land; educated at Oxford, and mentioned as being in Virginia and holding the position of Parish Vestry- man and Magistrate in 1710, in Essex county; mar- ried Mary, widow of Colonel Hill, an extensive landed proprietor, and daughter of Paul Micou, a Huguenot physician in exile. In 1729 Mr. Fry was appointed Master of the Grammar School of William and Mary College, and subsequently Professor of Mathematics. In 1737 he proposed to the Virginia Assembly, in conjunction with Major Robert Brock "T 12 Washinotons and Major William Mayo, "to make an exact survey of the Colony and print and publish a map thereof, &c., if the House should see fit to encourage the same." Later Mr. Fry appears to have been a mem- ber of the House of Burgesses and of the Council. He was Presiding Justice of Albemarle county from 1746 to 1748, and possibly longer; was appointed County Lieutenant March 28th, 1745; and the same year acted with Peter Jefferson as one of the Com- missioners of the Crown in marking the line from the head spring of the Potomac river, and defining the western lim.it of the grant of the " Northern Neck" — the Lord Fairfax landed estate. About. this time he assisted with Jefferson in the completion of the map of Virginia known as " Fry & Jefferson's." In 1749 Fry and Jefferson were Commissioners on the part of Virginia to continue the survey of the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina, which had been left in 1728 at Peter's creek. In 1752 he was one of the Commissioners for Virginia at a treaty with the Indians at Logstown, on the Ohio below Pitts- burg. He was commissioned in February, 1754, Col- onel, and intrusted with the command of the Virginia forces intended to circumvent the purposes of the French on the Ohio. He died from an injury, being accidentally thrown from his horse while marching to the region designated at Will's creek (now Cumber- land), May 31st, 1754. He was faithfully attended by Dr. Craik. On his death the command of the expedition devolved wholly upon Washington, as it had been managed by him from its inception. \Din- widdie Papers, vol. \, p. 7, Slaughter, Drake^ The following is a copy of Colonel Joshua Fry's commission: " Robert Dinwiddie, Esqr.: His Majesty's Lieuten- Jotirnal. 13 I Fry's juten- ant-Governor & Commander-in-Chief of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia. " To Joshua Fry., Esq.: " His Majesty having by His royal Instructions commanded me to send a proper Number of Forces to erect and maintain a Fort at the Fork of Monon- gahela, a Branch of the River Ohio.* And having a good opinion of your Loyalty, Conduct and Ability, 1 do hereby constitute, appoint and commission you, the said Joshua Fry, to be Colonel & Commander- in-Chief of the Forces now raising and to be called the Virginia Regiment, with which, and the Cannon, Armes, Ammunition — necessary Provision & Goods, you are with all possible Dispatch to proceed to the said Forks of Monongahela and there act according to Your Instructions. — And I hereby direct and re- quire all Officers, Soldiers, and others to obey Your Orders and Commands, for which this shall be yours and their warrant. " Given under my Hand & the Seal of the Col- ony at Williamsburg the 25*** Day of F'ebruary, in the 2f^ year of His Majesty's Reign, Annoque Domine 1754." [Front the origifial conwiissio7i noiv in the possession of Mrs, W. O. Fry, of Charlottes- ville, Va., 1890. "Instruction's to Joshua Fry, Esqr., Colo, and ComV-in-Chief of the Virg'a Regiment. "Mar., 1754. " Sir: The Forces under Y'r Com'd are rais'd to pro- tect our frontier Settlements from the incursions of the French and the Ind'sin F'dship with them. I therefore desire You will with all possible Expedition repair to Alexandria on the Head of the Poto. River, and ?, *--'■• i i ' if i 1 I f if I I I I H Washington s there take upon You the com'd of the Forces accord- ingly; w'ch I Expect will be at that Town the Mid- dle of next Mo. You are to march them to will's Creek, above the Falls of Poto. from thence with the Great Guns, Amunit'n and Provisions. You are to proceed to Monongahela, when ariv'd there. You are to make Choice of the best Place to erect a Fort for mounting y'r Cannon and ascertain'g His M'y the King of G. B's undoubt'd right to those Lands. My Orders to You is to be on the Defensive and if any foreign Force sh'd come to annoy You or inter- rupt Y'r quiet Settlem't, and building the Fort as afores'd. You are in that Case to represent to them the Powers and Orders You have from me, and I desire they w'd imediately retire and not to prevent You in the discharge of your Duty. If they sh'd continue to be obstinate after your desire to retire, you are then to repell Force by Force. I expect a Number of the Southern Indians will join you on this expedit'n, w'ch with the Indians on the Ohio, I desire You will cultivate a good Understanding and Correspondence with, supplying them with what Provisions and other Necessaries You can spare; and write to Maj'r Carlyle w'n You want Provisions, who has my Orders to purchase and Keep a proper Magazine for Your dem'ds. Keep up a good Com'd and regular Discipline, inculcate morality and Cour- age in Y'r Soldiers that they may answer the Views on w'ch they are rais'd. You are to constitute a Court Martial of the Chief of Your Officers, with whom You are to advise and consult on all Affairs of Consequence; and as the Fate of this Expedition greatly depends on You, from the Opinion I have of Your good Sense and Conduct, I refer the Manage- ment of the whole to You with the Advice of the \ \ Journal. 15 Court Martial. Sincerely recommending You to the Protection of God, wishing Success to our just De- signs, I heartily wish You farewell." ^ Alexandria, formerly " Bell Haven," was included within the original grant of 6,ocx) acres of land front- ing and lying along the Potomac river from Hunt- ing creek up to Pomit's run, nearly opposite Georgetown, from Sir William Berkeley, Lieutenant- Governor of Virginia, to Robert Howson, in October, 1669. In the same year, Mr. Howson, for the con- sideration- of six hogsheads of tobacco, conveyed these lands to John Alexander, who, with his two brothers, Robert and Gerard, had emigrated from Scotland to Virginia and were then seated upon their property. "A tobacco-rolling house," as such storage or ware- house was called in this part of Virginia, because of the mode of rolling the hogsheads of tobacco on their own periphery, was soon after established near the mouth of Hunting creek, and was for a time known as " Hunting Creek Warehouse," but later, as it grew to be a favorite shipping port for the upper Potomac plantation, as " Bell Haven." Fi- nally, as the village grew in importance, and the influence and large land possessions of the Alexan- ders increased, it came to be known as Alexandria. The laying out of the town was authorized by Act of Assembly in 1748, while Major Lawrence Washington was a member of the House of Bur- gesses, and it was regularly organized as a town in 1 749. George Washington was a member of its Board of Trustees in 1763. It became a corporation under the namv of Alexandria by an Act of the Assembly of Virginia in 1779. When the ten miles square was selected for the permanent seat of the govern- i Ml ( |i i6 Waskingtons ment of the United States, a part of Alexandria, then in Fairfax county, fell within the District. But in 1846, by Act of Congress, all that part of the Dis- trict lying south of the Potomac was retroceded to Virginia, and that portion which, for a time, was in the District of Columbia, is now known as Alexandria county. ^Governor Dinwiddie's Instructions to Major Washington. " Instruct^ s to be observd by Maj'r Geo. Waskington, on the Expedit'n to the Ohio, " Maj'r Geo. Washington : You are forthwith to repair to the Co'ty of Frederick and there to take under Y'r Com'd 50 Men of the Militia who will be deliver'd to You by the Comd'r of the s'd Co'ty pursuant to my Orders. You ar.; to send Y'r Lieut, at the same Time to the Co'ty of Augusta, to receive 50 Men from the Comd'r of that Co'ty as I have order'd, and with them he is to join You at Alex- andria, to which Place You are to proceed as soon as You have rec'd the Men in Frederick. Having rec'd the Detachm't, You are to train and discipline them in the best Manner You can, and for all Necessaries You are to apply Y'rself to Mr. Jno. Carlisle at Alex'a who has my Orders to supply You. Having all Things in readiness You are to use all Expedition in proceeding to the Fork of Ohio with the Men under Com'd and there you are to finish and compleat in the best Manner and as soon as You possibly can, the Fort w'ch I expect is there already begun by the Ohio Comp'a. You are to act on the Defensive, but in Case any Attempts are made to obstruct the Works or interrupt our Settlem'ts by any Persons Journal. 17 whatsoever You are to restrain all such Offenders, and in Case of resistance to make Prisoners of or kill and destroy them. For the rest You are to con- duct Y'rself as the Circumst's of the Service shall require and to act as You shall find best for the Furtherance of His M'y's Service and the Good of His Dom'n. Wishing You Health and Success I bid you Farewell." \ Brock in Dinividdtc Papers, vol. I, p. 59.] ~ Captain William Trent was a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, born about 171 5. His father was a distinguished citizen of the State. Captain Trent entered the military service of Pennsylvania under a commission from Governor Thomas in 1746, serving against Canada under the immediate orders of Gov- ernor Clinton. The following year he was honorably discharged, receiving the thanks of the Assembly. In 1749 he was appointed by Governor Hamilton, Justice of th':^ Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions of Peace, for Cumberland county. Pa., and the same year was employed as a confidential mes- senger to the Ohio Indians to deliver messages of good will and presents from the government of Pennsylvania. For this service he was paid by the Legislature £2/^^. In 1750 Captain Trent formed a co-partnership with his brother-in-law, Colonel George Croghan, and others, and engaged in trade with the Indians on the Ohio. The firm was pros- perous and it was said Dr. Benjamin Franklin was a member of the company. The Governor of Virginia also employed Captain Trent, because of his thor- ough acquaintance with the Indians on the Ohio river, as an agent to attend his Commissioners at a treaty with the Indians in 1752 at Logstown, below the forks of the Ohio. Before this treaty was con- 1 • , 1 liH \ t I i8 Washington s eluded he was diFpatched with messages and presents, to the Miami Indians. [See Trent's Journal.^ In August, 1/53, he was authorized by Governor Din- widdie to examine the site selected by the Commis- sioners in 1752 for a fort near the forks of the Ohio and to report. In September of the same year he was present at a treaty with Indians at Winchester, Va., and was selected as one of three, the others being Andrew Montour and Christopher Gist, to deliver presents to the Miami and Delaware Indians. Early in the spring of 1754, Governor Dinwiddle commissioned him to raise a company of 100 men for immediate service and directed him to protect and assist the Ohio Company or himself to erect a fort with his command at the forks of the Ohio. His men were to be recruited from the immediate vicinity and some of them were in his nominal or actual employment. John Frazer, who resided at the mouth ,of Turtle creek, on the Monongahela, was commissioned his Lieutenant and Edward Ward, his Ensign. The complement of men was not ob- tained, out work was begun on the fort. When, on the 17th of February, in the absence of Captain Trent, and also Lieutenant Frazer, Ensign Ward, was suddenly summoned by a su^ erior force of French and Indians to depart, a derr^and to which he was obliged to submit, Trent was severely cen- sured by Governor Dinwiddie for being absent from his post and ordered to be court-martialed, but he was never brought to trial. In 1761 Captain Trent had presented to the Assembly of Virginia a claim against the Province for money expended under engagements with Governor Dinwiddie. The fol- lowing is the report to the House of Burgesses on the matter from a committee to consider the merits Journal. '9 of the claim. Journal April 9th, 1761: "Mr Pendle- ton reported that the Committee appointed had, according to order, inquired whether any and what Part of a Judgment recovered in the General Court by William Tient, Gent, against the Hon. Robert Dinwiddle, Esq., late Lieutenant-Governor of this Coloiiy, ought to be paid by the Publick; and that they had agreed on a Report, and come to a Reso- lution th, reon, which he read in his place, and then delivered in at the table, where the same were again read, and are as follows: " It appears to your Committee that Mr. Trent's claim for ;^40 1-2-9^, Part of his Recovery, was for his expense and trouble in carrying out presents of Goods for the Indians at two several times by order of the Governour and Council ; that this Claim of ^29i-5--io was for the pay and Provisions of him- self and a Company of Men under his Command, raised by order of the said Lieutenant-Governour, before the first Virginia Regiment was established, and who afterwards were enlisted into the said Regi- ment, and that ;^io7-ii-4i, the residue of his recov- ery of ^800, was allowed by the Jury for interest on those sums, of which interest ^45-2-2 accrued on the said sum of ;^29i-5-io. " Resolved, that it is the Opinion of this Com- mittee that the said sum of ;^29i-5-io ought to be paid by the Publick, but no Part of the Interest as Application was never made to this House for Pay- ment of the said Money ; and it was a transaction entirely betv/een the said Lieutenant-Governour and Council, and the said Trent. ''The said Resolution being read a second time, and the Question put that the House agree thereto, it passed in the Negative." "^^'-Mr-yr, «..i 20 jriys/if)io/())i\ hi Ml It i, ( I 22 JVas/iinQfons efficient. Captain V^an Braam and Captain Stobo, both of whom were in the engagement at the Great Meadows and the capitulation of Fort Necessity July 3d, 1754, were retained as hostages by the French. From an unfortunate miswording in his translation to Washington of the articles of surrender, and par- ticularly in the expression " assassination," which he rendered " killing," of Jumonville. who fell in the skir- mish of May 28th, 1754, Van Braam has been much censured, and his fidelity to the British cause has even been questioned. On the matter of tlie mistransla- tion Washington wrote, March 27th, 1757: "That we were wilfully, or ignorantly, deceived by our inter, preter in regard to the word assassination I do aver, and will to my dying moment; so will every officer that was present." War had not been declared be- tween France and England, and the French prisoners taken by Washington were sent to Governor Din- wiudie ' t Williamsburg, who held them as tres- passers or prisoners of State. The Governor made but one effort for the exchange or release of Captains Van Braam and Stobo by sending a flag of truce to Fort Duquesne and offering to send Monsieur Druillon, of the rank of Major, and two Cadets, then prisoners, for the return of the two Captains. This offer was declined, and Captains Van Braam and Stobo were sent to Canada. The latter escaped from prison and the former was released on the surrender of Montreal, in 1760. The Virginia Gazette of No- vember 8th, 1760, announces the arrival in Williams- burg of Captain Van Braam. His name had been omitted in the resolutions of thanks to the officers and men for their good conduct in the battle of the Great Meadows. Distrust in his loyalty must have given place to sympathy for his long suffering, and his - E- Journal. n want of familiarity with the French language became the explanation of his mis-translation, else he would not have regained the confidence of the Governor of Virginia as he did {sec Journal House of Burgesses, Mare/i 2J^l/i, 1761): "On motion made, /c'rj.Wwv/, That the sum of ^'500 be paid by the Treasurer of this Colony to Captain Jacob Van Braam over and above the Ballance of his Pay that is due to him to this time, as a Compensation for his sufferings during a long and painful Confinement as a Hostage in the Enemy's Country. Ordered, That the said Resolution be en- grossed, and that Mr. Bland do carry it up to the Council for their Concurrence." And on March 3cth, 1 76 1, the Journal shows that "On motion made, Re- solved, neniine eontradicente, that an humble Address, be made to His Honour the Governour to desire that he will be pleased to take Capt. Jacob Van Braam, who has undergone a long and severe Captivity in Canada, to his special Favor and Protection, and recommend him for Promotion in His Majesty's Ser- vice ; and that Mr. Charles Carter and Mr. Bland do wait on his Honour with the said address." On the 2d of April, 1 76 1, " Mr. Charles Carter reported that he had, according to order, waited on His Honour the Governour with the Address of this House in Favour of Capt. Van Braam, to which His Honour was pleased to answer that he would recommend him to Lord Halifax and Mr. Secretary Pitt for Promotion in His Majesty's service." The Journal of the House of Burgesses further shows that on April loth, 1761, " His Honour" likewise gave his assent to the above resolution for extra pay as indemnity to Capt. Van Braam. His claim to land under Governor Din- widdie's proclamation of February, 1754, was duly allowed, and he received 9,000 acres. He was made 24 Washington s Major of the 30th Battalion of the 60th Foot of Royal Americans stationed, in 1777, in the West Indies. \Brock, Dinwiddie Papers, JourL House Burgesses, eic.'\ '*^ James Craik, surgeon in the Virginia regiment in the armed expedition to the Ohio in 1754, was born at Abigland, Scotland, in 1730, and died on his plantation " Vaucluse," near Alexandria, in Fairfax county, Va., February 6th, 18 14. He was educated at Edinburgh, graduating both in letters and in medi- cine at the University. On leaving college he went, as surgeon in the army, to the West Indies, but shortly after resigned, and, removing to Virginia, began the practice of his profession at Norfolk. It was from there that he received his appointment to the Virginia regiment in the spring of 1754. His name appears on some of the pay-rolls as an Ensign and on others as a Lieutenant, while he was also acting as Surgeon. The reason or explanation of this seems to be the scarcity of trained officers, combined with the Doctor's zeal for the success of the expedition and his desire to make a penny, for he seems to have been paid for both services. \^See the Rolls of officers and men at the end of the Journal.^ In ref- erence to Dr. Craik's serving as an Ensign, Gov- ernor Dinwiddie, in a letter to Colonel Fry of May 5th, 1 754, uses the following language: " The appoint- ing of Mr. Craik, Y'e surgeon, to be an Ensign I leave to your option, or any other you think proper." \pimviddie Papers, vol. i, /. 171.] Doctor Craik marched with Colonel Washington and his two com- panies from Alexandria to Will's creek, and over the Alleghany Mountains, was with him in his operations on the Monongahela, and in the battle of the Great Meadows. His name is included among the officers iM Journal. 25 of th^ V^irginia regiment thanked by the House of Burgesses for their bravery at the latter battle and he also received his proportion of land under Governor Dinwiddle's proclamation. The plot of this survey in Washington's handwriting is among the Washington papers in the Department of State. Surgeon Flem- ing held the rank of Ensign in Major Lewis's com- mand and attended as a surgeon Captain Hogg's company. \Scc Washiui^toiis letter to John Robin- son, November 9, 1756.] The Reverend Mr. Slaugh- ter in his Life of Colonel Fry, says Dr. Craik attended him in his last illness. Upon his return to Will's creek with the troops after the capitulation of Fort Necessity, he was stationed at Winchester where he also engaged in private practice. The next year he marched with the Virginia recjiment in the Braddock Expedition, and again on his return practiced at Winchester. From there he removed to a plantation he purchased below Alexandria in Maryland. But upon Washington's suggestion he located, about the close of the Revolution, in Alexandria, where he enjoyed an extensive practice and was on terms cf intimate friendship with Washington to the close of the latter's life. In 1760 he married Mariamna Ewell, daughter of Colonel Charles Ewell. On the breaking out of the Revolution, he entered the service as Surgeon and rose to the first rank. In 1777 he was active in unveiling a conspiracy to re- move the Commander-in-Chief. He was made Di- rector-in-Chief of the Military Hospitals at Yorktown in 1 781. Toward the close of his life he spent much of his time on his plantation, " Vaucluse," about five miles from Mount Vernon. Dr. Craik named one of his sons George Washington. This son studied medicine, but abandoned the practice to art as private 4 m ' : \\ \\ t 26 Washmgton s 'secretary to President Washington during his second term. Dr. Craik was remembered in affectionate terms by General Washington in his will as his "old and intimate friend," and given a chair and desk. " This Swedish gentleman is supposed to have been Carolus Gustavus de Spiltdorph. He seems to have been included among Washington's troops from the start. Acting as Ensign, he was sent with Lieu- tenant West and a guard of soldiers to convey the prisoners taken in the de Jumonville skirmish, and was then spoken of by Washington as Mr. Spiltdorph. He was in the battle of the Great Meadows, but is not mentioned among the officers who were thanked by the House of Burgesses. He was, however, only commissioned Ensign July 21st, 1754, and October 29th, the same year, was made Lieutenant. He served in this rank in the Braddock expedition, and was killed at the battle of the Monongahela. We left Alexandria on Tuesday Noon and pitched our tents about four miles from Cameron^'^ having marched six miles. (From the 3rd of April to the 19th of said month^^ this Journal only contains the march of the troops, and how they were joined by a detachment which was brought by Captain Stevens^^^ April 19"* Met an Express who had letters from Captain Trent^ at the Ohio, demanding a reinforce- ment with all speed, as he hourly expected a body of eight hundred French. I td^xxx^A'dX Job Pears aWs^^ for the arrival of the troops when they came the Jou7'?iai. 27 next day. When I received the above Express, I dispatched a Courier to Colonel Fry, to give him notice of it. ^^ Cameron was the name of Mr. Charles Broad- water's estate on Cameron run, near Alexandria, in Fairfax county, Va. There is also a Cameron parish in Loudoun county, Va. The patent for these lands was granted in 1 720-1. Mr. Broadwater is recorded as voting at an election in Fairfax county in 1748. He was a Scotchman and it was understood gave his estate the name of the clan to which his family be- longed. The name has also been given to a consid- erable stream known as Cameron run, and to one of the chief streets in Alexandria. In the last century there was on the level bottom of this estate a fine race course, at which parties owning racing stock annually congregated for the test of speed. General Washington in his Diaries records the fact that he attended races here in 1769 and 1770. ^^This French version of the Journal omits every thing recorded in it between the 3rd and the 19th of April, dismissing the subject with the remarks con- tained within the brackets. The route marched over by Colonel Washington will be given in another note. ^* General Adam Stephen was born about 1718 in the State of Pennsylvania, died and was buried on his own plantation in Virginia in 1791. His farm is now in part embraced within the limits of the town of Martinsburg, Berkeley county, Va. His will bears date June 5th, 1791, and was admitted to proba^ ■ in November following. As early as 1738 he migrated to what is now Berkeley county, and took up large Hi 28 WasJiiugtons \\ f' bodies of fine land, deriving his title from Lord Fair- fax. The New York Magazine in noticing the death of Adam Steven, Esq., says he was widely known and highly esteemed for his medical talents, his learning and mertal endowments. \^Ne'w York Magazine, August, 1791, /. 488.] This is the only reference I have seen to him as a physician. He had a taste for military life and served with Wash- ington in the Expedition of 1754, joining him at or near Winchester or en route to Will's creek. During the campaign he was promoted to be Major, was in the battle of the Great Meadows, and is named as of that rank in the vote of thanks by the House of Burgesses to Colonel Washington and the officers under his command for their gallant and brave behavior in the engagement. After the death of Colonel Fry, the resignation of Lieutenant-Colonel Muse, and the promotion of George Washington to be Colonel in command of the Virginia regiment, Major Stephen was made Lieutenant-Colonel with Andrew Lewis as Major. Colonel Stephen remained for a time with the regiment on their return to Will's creek and during the fall recruited the regiment. The follow- ing year he went out with the Virginia troops in the Braddock campaign, was in the disastrous battle of the Monongahela, and afterward was stationed for a time at Fort Cumberland. In 1756, being sent in command of some Virginia troops against the Creek Indians in South Carolina, he acquitted himself with much credit. Later in the same year he was placed in command of a detachment of troops to defend the frontier of Virginia. He served as Lieutenant-Col- onel in command of the regiment under Colonel Washington from 1756 to the close of 1758 and the fall of Fort Duquesne. Colonel Stephen petitioned ^:- ^4f. -.•mm Joitrnal. 29 the House of Burgesses for himself and the surviving part of the detachment of his regiment to be re- embursed for the loss of their arms, blankets and clothing on the occasion of Gram's defeat in the skirmish before Fort Duquesne. Mr. Withe from the committee reported that the allegations set forth in the petition were true and that the surviving mem- bers of the regiment in that action ought to be allowed ;^i75 for their losses. \Sec Joicrnal House of Burgesses, March 20th, 1759. J In 1764 charges were preferred by Thomas Rutherford against Col- onel Adam Stephen for a sort of peculation in the use of the Militia to escort and guard wagons carry ing his own personal property to Fort Cumberlana and Fort Bedford, outside the Colony of Virginia. He was acquitted of the main charges and compli- mented for his bravery and activity, but censured for a breach of duty in sending the Militia beyond the Province. [^Journal House Bu7^gesses, Deccmdcr I'^t/i, 1764.] On the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, he was commissioned a Colonel of one of the Virginia regiments. In September, 1776, he was made a Brigader-General, and on February 19th, i 'jj'j, a Major-General. He served with the main body of the army, enjoyed the confidence of General Wash- ington, and was a vigilant, brave and efficient officer ; but, yielding to the bad habit of drinking, was re- ported, court-martialed, convicted and dismissed from the army. He then retired to his plantation, where he passed a useful and honorable life. He did much to advance the interests of his section of the State in the organization of the new county of Berkeley. He warmly espoused the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, and in the convention held for its consideration made an able speech in its favor. M 30 Washington s III, f I ^"^ Job Pearsal was one of the fir&t settlers on the south branch of the Potomac, at or near the site of the present town of Romney. His cabin, on the right bank of the stream, was surrounded by a stock- ade, which in 1756 was enlarged to a garrison and troops were stationed there by the direction of Colonel Washington. This was on the line of the main road between Winchester, the forts on Patterson creek, Oldtown and Fort Cumberland. It is presumed that it was here that the junction of Washington's forces which composed the Virginia regiment took place. He set out with two companies ; three others joined him en route or were brought up to him by Major Muse. April 20''' Came down to Colonel Cresafs^^ to order the Detachment, and on my Route, had notice that the Fort was taken by the French. That news was confirmed by Mr Ward,^'' the Ensign of Captain Trent, who had been obliged to surrender to a Body of one thousand French and upwards, under the Command of Captain Contrecoeur,^'^ who was come from Venango^'^ Presque Isle(^) with sixty bateaux, and three hundred canoes, and who having planted eighteen pieces of Cannon against the Fort, after- wards had sent him a Summons to withdraw.^ Mr Ward also informed me that the Indians kept steadfastly attached to our Interest. He brought two young Indian Men with him, who were Mingoes, (c) In French the Peninsula. u---- V Journal. 3 1 that they might have the Satisfaction to see that we were marching with our troops to their succor. *® Colonel Thomas Cresap of Old Town, Mary- land, and the founder of the Cresap family in America, was born in Skipton, Yorkshire, England. At the age of 15 he came to America, and when about 30 married a Miss Johnson at a point now known as Havre-de-Grace, Md., on the Susque- hanna. With a desire to better his condition, he made a visit to Virginia and engaged to rent a farm from the Washington family. His wife's dislike, how- ever, to remove so far, led him to locate higher up the Susquehanna, where he secured a tract of some 500 acres of good land on the " Peach Bottom," and built himself a small stone house. His land title from Maryland, however, proved defective, Pennsylvania asserting and maintaining her claims, to which, after much litigation, he was obliged to submit. From there he removed to a tract of some 1,400 acres of fine land on the Antie- tam creek, called " Long Meadows," in what is now Washington county, Md., which he improved, and then began to trade with the Indians. He borrowed ^^500 from Mr. Dulany to invest in furs and skins, which he shipped to England, but, unfortunately, the ship was captured by the French and his whole fortune sunk. To repay the money borrowed of Mr. Dulany he transferred to the latter his farm, and himself removed to a more western venture, at " Old Town," in Maryland, nearly opposite the mouth of the south branch of the Potomac. Here he ac- quired a large body of land on both sides of the river, calling it at first " Skipton," for his native town, and conducted a profitable trade with the Indians. He had 'ii 32 Washingtofis become familiar with the art of surveying and held a commission to survey from Prince George's county, Md., which now inchided the whole of the western part of the State. With the aid of a noted Indian, named Nemacolin, he marked the line for the first road for the " Ohio Company " across the Alleghany Moun- tains. He was well established at the " Shawanese Old Town," where the project of organizing " the Ohio Company " was devised. He became one of the most valued members with Lawrence and Augustine Washington and others as proprietors. This com- pany prospered for a time and was one of the chief agents which brought about the expulsion of the French from the Ohio and the lakeS; trained the Colonies to arms and generalship, and finally wrought the independence of America. Colonel Cresap did much surveying for his section; in 1749 he surveyed Walnut Bottoms, just below the mouth of Will's creek, for Governor Bladen of Maryland. He was frequently called upon by his county to represent it in the Legislature and was reported one of the best members in that body. He was twice married ; the second time at the age of 80. By his first wife he had five children — three sons and two daughters. He understood the habits of the Indians, spoke their language and was populai with then. He lived to the exceptional age of 105 and died highly respected. \^ Jacobs Life of Captain Michael Cresap and other sources.] " Ensign, afterward Major Edward Ward, was an officer of Captain Trent's company, which was ordered by Governor Dinwiddle to protect the " Ohio Com- pany" and assist them in constructing a fort at the forks of the Ohio, now Pittsburg, in the spring of 1754. A small force was enlisted and work begun [ournal. 33 in accordance with the Governor's instructions. On the 17th of April, 1754, in the absence of Captain Trent and Lieutenant Frazier, Ensign Ward was summoned by a superior French force under Captain Contrecoeur to evacuate the worlds and depart. This order he was obliged to obey. He arrived at Will's creek with his men on the 2 2d April, where Lieuten- ant-Colonel Washington met him and learned from him all the particulars of the surrender. This infor- mation induced Lieutenant-Cvolonel Washington to call a council of war on the 23d to determine what course to pursue under all the circumstances. The result of this conference, together with a letter, Ensign Ward bore to Williamsburg to Governor Dinwiddle, who was greatly irritated by the news, and in a letter to Colonel Fry in May, 1754, uses the following language: " I am advised that Captain Trent, and his Lieutenant, Frasier, have been long absent from their duty, leaving Ensign Ward with ab't 23 men to guard the workmen whilst prep.iring materials to erect the fort begun and [who was] obliged to surrender on the summons of a French Com'd'r, which conduct and behavior I require and expect you will inquire into at a Court- Martial and give sentence accordingly." ^^ Captain M. de Contrecoeur, belonging to the French military forces in Canada, was sent early in the spring of 1 754 to construct a fort at the forks of the Monongahela and the Allegheny rivers. When he arrived, he found a small force at work, under Ensign Ward, erecting a fort for the English. Cap- tain Contrecoeur at once invested the place and sum- moned Ward to surrender possession and depart. This he was obliged to do April 17th, 1754. Captain ContreccEur continued the work and named it, when if! 34 VVasliiugton\^ t !'h completed, Fort Duquesne. June 23d, he sent out Ensign de Jumonville and a small force with instruc- tions to reconnoiter the region as far as the crest of the Allegheny Mountains, and to serve a summons upon any English forces he should meet to quit the terri- tory of the French. This party was encountered by Colonel Washington June 28th, a skirmish ensued and de Jumonville was killed. Captain de Contrecoeur was in command at Fort Duquesne at the time of Braddock's defeat. He was a capable ofiftcer and full of zeal for his king. ^® Venango is the name of an Indian town at the mouth of French creek, where it enters the Alle- gheny river. Here the French in 1751 or '52 con- structed a fort and trading post, which was destroyed in August. 1759, and then occupied as a British post. It is now the site of the town of Franklin, the capital of Venango county. Pa. -° " A summons sent by order of M. de Contrecoeur, captain of one of the Independent Companies of the detachment of Marines, Commander-in-Chief of his Christian Majesty's troops now at the Ohio, to the Commander of those troops belonging to the King of Great Britain, whereof M. le Mercier was Bearer, the 16th of April, 1754: " Nothing can surprise me more than to see you thus attempt to settle on the territories of the King my Master; 'tis that which obliges me this Day to send you M. Le Mercier, Captain of the Cannoneers, and Commander of the Artillery in Canada, that he may know, Sir, from yourself, by virtue of what orders you are erecting Forts on the Territories of the King my Master. This Motion appears to me so contrary to the last treaty of Peace concluded at Aix-la-Cha- pelle, between his most Christian Majesty, and his ,. Journa/. 35 Majesty the King of Great Britain, that I know not to whom I shall impute such usurpation ; since those Lands which are situated along the river Ohio, be- yond all dispute belong to the most Christian King. " I am certainly informed, Sir, that your schemes are contrived only by a company who hath the in- terest of trade more in view than to maintain the Union and Harmony existing between the crowns of Great Britain and France ; though, sir, the Main- tainance thereof, may be as advantageous to your nation as to ours. " However, sir, if you come vested with any orders to this place, I summons you from the King my Master, by virtue of the orders which I have from my General, peaceably to withdraw yourself, and your troops, from the King's territories ; if not, I shall be under the necessity, for the performance of my duty, to oblige you thereto. I hope, sir, you will not prolong the time, and thereby force me to Ex- tremes. You may, sir, in that case, be fully per- suaded, I shall give such orders to my Detachment, that you shall receive no damage thereby. "Sir, I give you notice now, that it will be to no purpose to demand one hour's Delay, or to expect I shall consent to your stay, until you receive Orders from your Governor, for none he can give upon the Lands of the King my Master The orders I have received from my General are a Law to me ; there- fore, sir, I cannot go from them. " But if, on the Contrary, you have no orders ; if you are only come here to trade, I am sorry to in- form you that I am obliged to seize your person, and confiscate your effects to the use of the Indians, who are our children, our allies, and our friends, as you are not permitted to follow any illicite Trade. 4 36 ll'as/un^lons " It was for that very reason, sir. that two English- men were by us arrested last year for trading on our Lands, luirthcrmon*, the King my Master demands only what is his right. His intentions are not to interrupt that good Harmony and I'Viendship sub- sisting between his Majesty and the King of Great Britain. The General of Canada can give proofs in what Manner he concurreth to keep up the Union existing between the two Princes ; for having been informed that some Indians of the Six Nations, in company with some Nepissengues, from the Lake of the two Mountains, had fallen upon, and destroyed an English Family towards Carolina, he stopped their Passage, and obliged them to deliver him up a little boy belonging to that Family, and who was the only one left alive ; he was brought back to Boston, by Mr Ulerich, v.-lio was then upon some Negotiation at Montrial. " Moreover, he has strictly forbidden all Indians to exercise their usual Cruelties on those English who are our friends. I could complain, sir, of the many Solicitations you have made last year to the Indians, to take up the Hatchet against us, whilst we were busy in maintaining Peace. " Sir, I am persuaded that you will rece" ve M le Mercier, in a polite manner, on account of his Com- mission, as also of his Distinction and personal merit; and I expect you will send him back to me with one of your officers, who will bring me an exact answer, signed by yourself. As you have Indians with you, I send an Interpreter with M. le Mercier, that he may acquaint them with my intentions on their account. I am, &c., (Signed) Coxtrecceur Done at Our Camp, the i6th of April, 1754. Journai. 37 \From " Memoirc coiitoiiuil /r Precis di's Fails, Cr'c." Translated ami printed by Uaine, N. K, \'JS7* P- ^5- J He also delivered me the following speech which the Hal/ Kin^ s^nX. to me.(^/)''' Fort on Ohio, April I8'^ 1754. A speech from the Half-King, Scruneyattha,'""' and belt of wampum, for the Governors of Virginia and Pennsylvania. My Brethren the English. The Bearer will let you understand in what manner the French have treated us. We waited a long time, thinking they would come and attack us ; we now see how they have a mind to use us.(^) '^^ Half-King was one of the titles of Tenacharison, a chief of the Senecas, 01 Mingoes, as the English traders called them, who was also spoken of as " the old King." He was an astute diplomatist, a brave warrior, had great influence among his people and was devoted to English interests. Frequently con- sulted by Washington, he was with the party that attacked de Jumonville and was credited, in certain quarters, with having slain that French officer with his hatchet ; but this was without any foundation in fact. He was very proud of the name " Dinwiddie " conferred on him by Colonel Washington in recog- (rf) This Half King was an Indian chief to whom the English had given the title, and whom they had greafly excited against the French. (f) Behold here is a confession of the goodness \.ith which the French had treated the Indians which had revolted. Those Indians expected to be pursued; surprised at the indulgence of the French they propose to attack them themselves and acquaint the £»^//,f A of their resolution. I' I 38 Washington s l\ !i I' I' ) nition of his services. As a part of the ceremony of investing him with this name, he was decorated with a medal sent by the Governor to the commander of the forces to be given to those Indians who were loyal to the English. When Washington first visited the Ohio in 1753, the Half-King had his hunting cabin on Little Beaver creek near the dividing line between the present States of Pennsylvania and Ohio. He died October 4th, 1756, at Aughquick, Pa., where he was residing with his family as wards of that Colony. [Brock in Dinwiddie Papers, vol. i, p. 148. | ^ Scruneyattha, an Indian chief who also had the title of King or Half-King. We are now ready to fall upon them, waiting only for your succor. Have good courage, and come as soon as possible; you will find us as ready to encounter with them as you are yourselves. We have sent those two young men to see if you are ready to come, and if so they are to return to us to let us know where you are, that we may come and join you. We should be glad if the troops belong- ing to the two Provinces could meet together at the Fort which is in the way. If you do not come to our assistance now, we are entirely undone, and imagine we shall never meet together again. I speak with a heart full of grief. A Belt of Wampum. The Half-King directed to me the following speech. " I am ready, if you think it proper, to go ; ul' Journal. 39 to both the Governors, with these two young men, for I have now no more dependence on those who have been gone so long, without returning or send- ing any message." A Belt of Wampum, April 2z'\ A Council of War held at VViirs Creels in order to consult upon what must be done on account of the news brought by Mr Ward, The News brought by Ensign ^^r^ having been examined into, as also the summons sent by Captain Coiitrecoeur Commander of the French troops and the speeches of the Half-Klng, and of the other chiefs of the Six-Nations; it appears, that Mr Ward, was forced to surrender the said Fort, the i f^ of this instant to the French, who were above one thou- sand strong and had eighteen artillery pieces, some of which were nine pounders(/) and also that the detachment of the Virginia regiment, amounting to one hundred and fifty men commanded by Colonel Washington had orders to reinforce the Company of Captain Trent, and that the aforesaid Garrison con- sisted only of thirty-three effective men.^ ^Will's creek derived its name from an Indian liv- J-"g-.^L^J^^_^_^"^"^"^^ ^^ ^^^ North branch of the u/f^^hS"''"''!' ^'■'''"' ^'^^ Ensign Ward had greatly exafrgerated the French forTpT summons '°'"'""° '"°"«*' ^"^ '^'"P'" '° do\vho Tbandon their fort at a bare 40 Washington s h Potomac and that creek, the present site of the city of Cumberland, Md. The name Will was given to the Indian by the Whites. And in time, as a matter of convenience, it came to be applied not only to this stream, but also to an adjacent mountain. The deep cut made by Will's creek through a detached range of the Alleghany, locally known as Savage Mountain, forming with the main range the divide between the head springs of the Potomac and the Youghiogeny river, a tributary of the Monongahela, made this the favorite Indian trail across the mountains; and, in a great measure, it has continued to be the route taken between the Potomac river and the head waters of the Ohio by all modern improved roads, to the present time. ^COMMISSION OF CAPTAIN WILLIAM TRENT. '' RoB't Dinwiddie Esq'r His Majesty's L't Govr Comd'r in Chief and Vice Admiral of his Colony a7id Do7nn of Virg'a — " To Wm. Trent, Esq'r : " Whereas certain Persons pretending to be Sub jects of his most X'n Majesty of the King of France, and that they act by his Como. have in a hostile Manner invaded the Territories of our Sovereign His M'y King George the 2d, King of Great B. &c. and have comitted divers Outrages and Violence on the Persons and Goods of His M'y's Subjects, in direct violation and infract'n of the Treaties at present subsisting between the two Crowns, ancl Whereas these Acts of hostility and depredations have been perpetrated in that Part of His Majesty's Dom's w'ch are under my Gov't ; In order therefore to the \< r' li nw ifj fc Journal. 41 Preservation of the Peace and Good understanding between the two Crowns and the Preservation of our Sovereign's undoubted rights and the Protection of his Subjects as much as in me lies, I have thought fit to appoint and by Virtue of the Power and Au- thority to me given as Com'd'r in Chief of this Col- ony, I do hereby constitute and appoint You Wm. Trent Esq'r to be Com'd'r of such and so many of His M'y's Subjects not exceeding 100 Men as You can immediately raise and enlist, and with the s'd Comp'a and the Assistance of our good and faithful Friends and Allies the Ind's of the Six Nat's and such others as are in Amity with them and Us, to keep Possession of His M'y's Lands on the Ohio and the Waters thereof and to dislodge and drive away, and in case of refusal and resistance to kill and destroy or take Prisoners all and every Person and Persons not Subjects of the King of G. B. who now are or shall hereafter come to settle and take Possess'n of any Lands on said River Ohio, or on any of the Branches or Waters thereof. And I do hereby require the s'd Men who shall so enlist them selves and every of them to obey You as their Com'd'r and Capt'n &c. and You are to 'constitute such and so many Officers under You as the Service shall require, not exceeding i Capt. and i Lieut't. " Given under my Hand and the Seal of the Col- ony at W'msburg the — Day of Jan'y in the 27 Year of His M'y's Reign, annoq Dom. 1754." \Dinwiddie Papers, vol. i,p. 56.] N i ' It was thought a thing impracticable to march to- wards the Fort without sufficient strength ; however, being strongly invited by the Indians, and particularly 6 % 42 Washington s i by the speeches of the Half-Kingy the president put the question to vote whether we should not advance, as far as Red-Stone Creek ^ on Monofigahela^'^ about thirty-seven miles on this side of the fort, and there to erect a fortification, clearing a road broad enough to pass with all our artillery and our baggage, and there to wait for fresh Orders. ^•^ Red Stone creek is a tributary of the Monon- gahela river. As early as 1752 the Ohio Company had erected a store-house and trading post on the right bank of the river. The improvement, known as the " Hangard," was near the mouth of this creek. The place is occasionally referred to as " Redstone Old Fort," as " Monongahela " and also as "Fort Burd" or " Byrd." The present town of Brownsville occupies the site of Burd's Fort, which is at the mouth of Nemacolin's or Dunlap's creek, a little over a mile above the mouth of Redstone creek. But the name Redstone was applied not only to the creek, but also to the region, ar' included the Dunlap Creek settlement, The forts, however, were distinct and over a mile apart. ^^ Monongahela river rises in Randolph county. West Virginia. Its head springs in the Alleghany Mountains, interlock with the sources of the Great Kanawha. This river flows in a northerly direction for nearly 200 miles, until by its union with the Alleghany at Pittsburg, it forms the Ohio river. In •jarly times, at certain seasons of the year, it was navigable for light bateaux and Indian canoes to a distance of one hundred and fifty miles above its mouth. I' i Journal. 43 The proposition aforesaid was adopted for the following reasons ; \st. That the mouth of Red-Stone is the first con- venient place on the River Monongahela. 2nd. The stores are already built at that place for the provisions of the Company,^ wherein our Ammunition may be laid up, our great guns may be also sent by water whenever vve shall think it con- venient to attack the Fort. ^'^'' The Ohio Company " v/as chartered by the British government in 1 749, with a grant of 500,000 acres of land, to be located west of the Alleghanies, on con- dition of settling within seven years 100 families, the purpose being to make settlements and to con- duct trade with the Indians on the Ohio, and to check French domination among the Indians. This company exercised great influence in the early settle- ments about Will's creek and the head waters of the Ohio river, and as early as 1 749 their agents explored the country and selected sites for forts and trading houses. Their agents were discreet and experienced woodsmen and hunters, acquainted with the habits and best methods of dealing with the natives. As early as 1 749 the company had a store house at Will's creek, well stocked for a frontier and Indian trade; and by 1752 another such house at Red-Stone Old Fort, which Villiers, the French Commander, in his Journal of operations in that region in 1754 de- Came to the Han- .tii scribed as follows: "June gard, which was a sort of a fort built with Logs, one upon another, well notched in, about 30 foot in length, 1 : It 44 Washingtotts and 20 in breadth, and as it was late, and would not do anything without consulting the Indians, I en- camped about two Musket shots from the place." The company was limited as to numbers and means, but was composed of energetic and capable business men resident in Virginia, Maryland and Great Britain. Among them were Thomas Lee, George Mason, Esq., John Mercer, Augustine and Lawrence Washington, John Hanbury, Thomas Cresap, Robert Dinwiddie and others. \For fuller sketch of, see My Journey over the Mountains, p. 64.] ■}^rd. We may easily (having all these conven- iences) preserve our men from \k ill consequences of inaction, and encourage the Indians our Allies, to remain in our interests. Whereupon I sent Mr. Ward to the Governor(_|^), with one of the young Indians and an interpreter : I though it proper also to acquaint the Governors of Maryland and Pennsyl- vania*^ of the news ; and I sent away the other Indi'zn to the Half-King, with the speeches enclosed in the following letter. 1 \ )! ^ Robert Dinwiddie, Governor of Virginia No- vember 20th, 1 751-175 7. Horatio Sharp, Governor of Maryland August loth, 1753-1769- James Hamilton, Governor of Pennsylvania 1748- 1754. ( »•) The Jovernor of Virginia is here undei-stoood. "■•"•W^MMM-MMpq >«iiiu«.jijla ■ "Kar.1 Journal. ^e '^^ ^^.1 honorable Robert Dinwiddie Esq. Gov- ernor &c^ Sir, Mr. Ward, an Ensign of Captain Trent's Company is this day come from Forks of Monongahela and has brought the sorrowful news of the surrender of the Fort on the i;^'^ of this instant; having been summoned by Captain Contrecoeur to surrender to a body of French troops who were a thousand strong who came from Venango with eighteen pieces of cannon, sixty bateaux and three hundred canoes, they permitted all our men to retire, and take with them their working-tools out of the Fort, which was done the same day. ^ This letter of Washington's to Governor Din- widdie, or what purports to be the same, is ^iven by Sparks with the date April 25th, 1754. Neither the original nor a transcript of it, has been found by the editor, but from the opening sentence he is led to surmise that it has been given a false date. It is of record that Ensign Ward arrived on the 22d at Wills creek and reported to Washington, who there- upon called a council of war which was held on the 23d, making it probable that the date should be 23d ^Pnl 1 754- Washington's letter to Governor Sharp of Maryland, giving him practically the same infor- mation, bears date April 24th, and it is not at all likely that Washington wrote to the Governor of Maryland before he did to the Governor of Virginia The letter, as printed by Sparks, bears evidence of ! i I t i n,g li m U n^>i 46 Washington' s being a compound of several letters and contains matter occurring from the 2 2d up to the 27th of April. Upon receiving this news, I called a council of war, in order to consult what was the best to be done in such circumstances; and have sent you a particular account of every thing agreed upon at the said coun- cil by the same express, that you may know things yet more particularly. Mr. Ward is the bearer of the summons as also of the speech from the half-king, wherein I enclosed the wampum ; he is in company with one of those hi- dians mentioned in the speech, who had been sent to see our forces, and to know what time they might expect us; the other Indian I have sent back with a message. I hope you will feel the absolute necessity of sending us our forces as soon as they are raised, as also a sufficient number of canoes, and other boats that can carry burden ; send us also some mortar-pieces, that we may be in a condition to at- tack the French with equal forces. And as we are informed that the Indians of the Six Nations, and the Ottowas are coming down Sciodo-Cree^ in order to join the French who are to meet at the Ohio ; so I think it would not be amiss to invite the Chcrokces, Catawbas, and the Chickasaws to come to our assistance ; as I have received intel- w Journal. 47 llgence, that there is no good understanding between thein and the Indians of the Six Nations aforesaid, should you do so, it would be well to have them brought here in good order, that they might be per- suaded to make a peace with the Six Nations; otherwise if they should meet at the Ohio, it might cause great disorder and turn out to our disadvantage. We find the great advantage there is in water-car- riage, wherefore, I would remind you to provide a number of boats for the purpose. This day, arrived the men belonging to Captain Trent, who by your Orders had been enlisted as Militia Troops; the officers having imprudently promised them two shillings per day, they now refuse to serve for less pay.^i Ward shall receive your Orders on that head. ^ The Scioto river rises in the central or a little north of the central part of the State of Ohio and flows m nearly a southerly course to the Ohio river at the mouth of which the Shawanese Indians had a town now the site of the city of Portsmouth, Ohio. It would seem that the pay promised the men enlisted by Captain Trent was higher than that pro- vided for by Act of Assembly. H is enlistruents were to be made on the western side of the mountains Most, if not all, of his men had been in the service of " the Ohio Company." They were, at best, a hetero- geneous set of frontier traders, trappers and adven- turers, all very impatient of restraint. The Captain ^\ \ A % i^ I! 1 I J % 48 Washington s himself, was more of a trader than a soldier accus- tomed to order and discipline, so that his men had learned but little of the manual of arms or how to submit to authority and be serviceable as soldiers. Those men who came with Ensign Ward to Will's creek were found by Washington to be intractable and were directed to camp at the New Store at Will's creek and there await orders from Governor Dinwid- dle. But they soon after dispersed without authority. Neither the officers nor men were included with those who received land and bounty under the Governor's proclamation for enlisting in the Expedition of 1754. It is probable that Trent's company were soldiers in the service of Virginia chiefly for diplomatic reasons, but on a different basis from that of the Virginia regiment. They received some pay guaranteed by the Governor and were at the same time under pay of " the Ohio Company." The exact status and agreement between the company and the province is not clear to the writer. [^Washington s letter to Gov. Dinwiddie, May i2>th, 1754.] To his Excellency Horatio Sharp, Governor of Maryland^ Sir, I have arrived here with a detachment of One hundred and Fifty men. We daily expect Colonel Fry with the remaining part of the regiment and the artillery ; however, we shall march quietly across the Mountains, clearing the roads as we go(//), that our (A) How can the English say that country was their's. They had not one road leading to it from their colonies. Journal. 49 cannon may, with the greater ease, be sent after us; we proposed to go as far as Red-Stone Creek, which falls into the Monongahela, about thirty-seven miles this side of the Fort which the French have taken, from thence all our heavy Luggage may be carried as far as the Ohio. A store is built there by " the Ohio Company," wherein may be placed our ammu- nition and provisions. ^^ Governor Horatio Sharp, of Maryland, who was appointed by the Crown to be the Executive of that State, arrived at his post August loth, 1753, and served until 1769. He had held the appointment of Lieutenant-Colonel, a local office, in the British West Indies, but had seen no active military service. He was a man of culture and integrity, but with limited capacity for the management of military and colonial affairs. His letter-book of official correspondence is preserved in the Historical Society of Maryland, and has been largely printed in the Maryland Archives. It is presumed that the letter from Washington to him of the 24th of April, 1754, may likewise be preserved in these Archives. The simi- larity of this letter given in the Journal to the one printed in the Baltimore Repository for March, 181 1, and reprinted in the American Magazine of History February, 1881, suggests that they are practically the same. Besides the French forces above mentioned we have reason to believe, according to the accounts we have heard, that anothe' Party is coming to the 7 I 1 ? I r 50 Waskingtofis Ohio; we have also learnt that six hundred of the Chippeways and Ollowais Indians, are coming down the River Scioto in order to join them. The following is my answer to the speech of the Uatf-Ki7ig. "To the Half-King, and the Chiefs and Warriors of the Shawancse and Loups our Friends and Brethren. I received your speech by brother Bticks who came to us with the two young men six days after their departure from you. We return you our greatest thanks and our hearts burn with love and affection towards you, in gratitude for your constant attach- ment to us, as also your gracious speech, and your wise counsels. This young man will inform you, where he found a small part of our army, making towards you, clear- ing the roads for a great number of our warriors, who are ready to follow us, with our great guns our ammunition and provisions. I cannot delay letting you know the thoughts of our hearts, I send you back this young man, with this speech, to acquaint you therewith, and the other young man I have sent to the Governor of Virginia, to deliver him your speech and your wampum, and to be an eye-witness of the preparations we are making, to come in all haste to the assistance of those whose interest is as Journal, »j clear to us as our lives. We know the character of the treacherous French, and our conduct shall plainly show you how much we have it at heart. I shall not be satisfied if I do not see you before all our forces are met together at the Fort which is in the way, wherefore, I desire with the greatest earnestness, that you, or at least one of you, Scruneyattha and send a necklace of wampum, should come as soon as possible to meet us on the road, and to assist us in council. I present you with these bunches of wam- pum, to assure you of the sincerity of my speech, and that you may remember how much I am your Friend and Brother Signed G° Washington or Conotocarious(/) April 28"^. There came to us some pieces of Cannon, which were taken up to the mouth of Pat- terson's River. (From the 29'^ of April to the ii^^ j^^^ ^j^^ Journal only contains marches, and things of little consequence.)'^^ May 11^ Detached a party of twenty-five men commanded by Captain Stevens and Ensign La Perome^ with orders to go to Mr Gist's,^ to enquire 52 Washington s I \ I I li e \1 where La Force'^{JS) and his party were; and in case they were in the neighborhood, to cease pursuing and 1-0 retire to a safe place. I also ordered them to examine closely all the v, oods round about, and if they should find any Frenchman apart from the rest, to seize him and bring hin: to us, that we might learn what we could from him. We were exceed- ingly desirous to know, if there was any possibility of sending down any tl ing by water, as also to find out some convenient place about the mouth of Red- Stone-Creek where we could build a fort, it being my design to salute the Half-Kmg, and send him back under a small i';uard, we were also desirous to en- quire what were the views of the French, what they had done, and what they intended to do(/) and to collect every thing, which cou.d give us the least intelligence. ^ This hiatus in the narrative with the remark in parenthesis is in the French version of the Journal. ^^ Captain William Chevalier La Peyronie was a native of France, well educated and of good family. He came to America and settled in Virginia about 1750. His correct habits and dignified and gentle- manly character won him friends. Having had some training in military tactics, he sought and obtained (/O) Mr i-nchinen and some I Htiiiins, after deserters, and Major Wasliin}>ton had Itnowledge of this from the Indians. U) If the English were ignorant of the designs of the French at that time, it cannot then be said that their Hostilities had occasioned the orders which Major Washington had to attack them. tl Journal. 53 an Ensign's commission in the Virginia regiment under Washington in 1754. He made a brave and efficient officer, was desperately wounded at the bat- tle of the Great Meadows, but finally recovered. Washington in a letter, June 12th, 1754, to Governor Dinwiddie strongly recommended him for the posi- tion of Adjutant of his regiment. He proved him- self capable and trustworthy in every position ; and was well acquainted with engineering and the con- struction of fortifications. The Governor wrote to Washington, September nth, that he had commis- sioned Mr. Peyronie a Captain on his recommenda- tion. His name appears among the officers under Colonel Washington in that engagement, receiving the thanks of the House of Burgesses for their courage and bravery. He was shortly after made a Captain, August 25th, 1754, remained in the service, went out the next year with the Virginia troops in the Braddock Expedition and was killed at the disastrous battle of the Monongahela. \_Sargent' s Braddock, p, 328.] •^ Captain Christopher Gist, surveyor, explorer and agent of the Ohio Company, was a native of Mary- land. In the interest of the Ohio Company h^ had explored the country from the head feeder of the Ohio river as far south as the falls, now Louisville. Ky., in 1750. Again the next year he traversed the valley of the Ohio on both sides of the river to the falls and kept a journal of his observations. In 1 752 he selected a site for a plantation in the Mononga- hela Valley, where he erected a cabin and began a clearing at a point now known as Mount Braddock, and which is alluded to in the Journal as his new settlement. This is very near the geographical center of Fayette county, Pa. By the early settlers the I ! 1': I 54 Washington's I'* '{ ' % '* 4 term Monongahela was applied to the large district of territory lying between the Youghiogheny and the Monongahela rivers. Washington, in his Journal of his journey to the French commandant on the Ohio, in returning, says: January ist, 1754, "We left Frazier's house and arrived at Mr Gists at Monon- gahela." Gist's place. Mount Braddock, is ten miles from the Monongahela river and almost as far from the Youghiogheny. In 1754 eleven other families had made imorovements and built cabins in the same vicinity, encouraged thereto by Mr. Gist and the Ohio Company. These were doubtless the first, or among the first, settlers in Western Pennsylvania. As Christopher Gist was commissioned a Captain in the Virginia troops in the fall of 1755, he may have left the service of the Ohio Company. In 1756 he was sent by the Governor of Virginia to the southwest to enlist a body of Cherokee Indians into the English military service, but his mission was attended with poor success, as all such schemes of enlisting Indians proved. In 1757 he was appointed Deputy Indian Agent, for which position he was strongly recom- mended by Colonel Washington. Captain Gist had three sons, Nathaniel, Thomas and Richard ; and two daughters, Anne and Violet. "^ La Force. — French records refer to Monsieur La Force as commander of stores in the Canadian con- tingent. In 1754 he was with the French troops at Fort Duquesne and was an active and influential emissary of that nation among the Indians. In the skirmish between Colonel Washington and de Jumonville on the 28th of May, he was taken prisoner, sent to the Governor of Virginia, and after being detained for more than a year, was sent to England. t! Journal. 55 May la*** Marched away, and, went on rising ground where we halted to dry ourselves, for we had been obliged to ford a rapid stream, where our shortest men had water up to their arm-pits. There came an Express to us with letters, ac- quainting us, that Col. /'VjK, with a detachment of one hundred men and upwards, was at Winchester and was to set out in a few days to join us ; as also, thai Col. Inne^'' was marching with three hundred and fifty men, raised in Carolina, that it was expected Maryland would raise two hundred men, and that Pennsylva7iia had raised teri thousand pounds (equal to about Fifty-tivo tho2isand five hundred livres^ to pay the soldiers raised in other Colonies, as that Province furnished no recruits, as also that Governor Sherley^^ had sent 600 men to harrass the French in Canada,(;?^) I hope that will give them some work to do, and will slacken their sending so many men to the Ohio as they have done. ^'''Colonel James Innes, a native of Scotland, was a personal friend of Governor Dinwiddle's. He was advanced in life and had resided for a few years in New Hanover county, N. C. The Colonel had seen some military service as a Captain in the unsuccess- ful Expedition against Carthagenia in the regiment under the command of Colonel, afterwards Lieuten- ant-Governor, William Gooch, the same regiment in (»«) The English are seen to attack every where. I i L 56 Washington s ii s if if. which Major Lawrence Washington had served. North Carolina raised a body of troops to assist Governor Dinwiddie in his project against the French, and Colonel Innes set out with about 300 men to join the command of Colonel Fry. From delays of one kind and another and bad management, Colonel Innes arrived at Winchester with but about 150 men on the 9th of July, 1 754, his troop being without arm .. \Sec Governor Sharps Letter?^ On the death of Colonel Fry, Governor Dinwiddie issued, June 4th, 1754, a commission of Colonel to George Washing- ton to command the Virginia regiment and appointed Colonel Innes, then en route from North Carolina, as Commander-in-Chief of all the forces of the Expedition to the Ohic^ Events were at this time, however, rapidly maturing to a crisis with the Expedition to the Ohio, west of the Alleghany Mountains, and cul- minated in the battle of the Great Meadows on the 3d of July, 1754. This reverse, perhaps, had a dis- heartening effect upon the North Carolina troops, for in a short time after, they nearly all dispersed and returned home without orders. Later in the year Governor Sharp, of Maryland, was notified of his appointment by His Majesty as Commander-in-Chief of the combined forces of Virginia and Maryland of the troops operating towards the Ohio. Governor Dinwiddie then appointed Colonel Innes Camp Mas- ter-General. S^See Governor Dinwiddids Letter y October 2^th, 1754, and in another letter June 2^thy 1755, he congratulates him on being appointed Gov- ernor of Fort Ctimberland.'] Although he enjoyed the confidence and friendship of the Governor, he made but an indifferent military record. He was one of the officers who acted under two com- missions, an old one from the King in a former war Journal. 57 and a new one from Governor Dinwiddle, to each of which he appealed as occasion required. By this means he kept up a double headed command for a time at Will's creek. Governor Dinwiddle s Commission to Colonel James Innes "His Majest-v George, the Second of G. B. F'r. and I. King, having been graciously pleas'd to Order and Com'd Me to raise Forces, build Fortresses on the river Ohio, and to protect his Lands on the s'd River ; also to pre\ent any foreign Power whatsoever to settle on the s'd Lands, as His M'y has an un- doubted right thereto, And I, rcpos'g especial Trust and Confidence in the known Loyalty, Courage and Conduct in You, the s'd James Innes, have, by Virtue of the Power and Authority given me by His s'd M'y, constituted and appointed, And do hereby constitute and appoint You, the 3'd Jas. Innes, to be Com'd'r in Chief of all the Forces already rais'd and destin'd, or that shall hereafter be rais'd, design'd and ordered on the Service of the s'd Expedit'n. You are, there- fore, carefully and diligently to discharge the Duty of a Com'd'r in Chief agreeable to the Instruct's herewith given You ; And I accordingly hereby Order and Com'd all the Officers and Soldiers to give due Obedience to such Orders and Direct's as from Time tc Time You may think proper and necessary to direct and Com'd. And You are to follow all suc!> further Instruct's and Orders as You may receive from me in discharge of the Duty of Y'r s'd Com'd for ail w'ch this shall be Y'r Warr't and Com'o. Given under my Hand and the Seal of the Colony at Winchester this 4^'' day of June, 1754." [^Dinwiddle Papers, vol. i, p. 194.] 8 I 58 Washington s II ■ 't is i II Pi If Governor Dinwiddie^ s Instructions to Colonel Innes. "All the Forces c.ppointed and by me directed and order'd to the Gen'i Rendezvous being joined, You are on the first convenient day [to] cause a Muster roll of the whole to be taken, and all such of the Articles of War to be publicly read as may relate to Mutiny, Disertion and the keeping up a proper Discipline among the Officers and Soldiers under Y'r Com'd, whereby each Officer may know and per- form their respective Duties. And that I may be acquainted with the Exact Number of the Forces, You are once in every two Months [to | cause a Gen'l Muster to be made and a List or Muster roll sent me by the first opp'ty or Courier, and the s'd Article of War, at such Musters, to be as publicly read. You are, before You enter on any Action of Attack or extraordinary Enterprize to annoy or cir- cumvent the Enemy, [to| call a Council of War, to consist of the Field Officers and Capt's of the Inde- pend't Compa's ; in w'ch Council You are to form a Plan of Operations and issue Your Orders accord- ing!}.. The Capt's and Officers of the Independ't Compas having their Com'ds signed by His M'y imagine they claim a distinguish'd rank, and being long trained in Arms expect suitable regards. " You will, therefore, consult and agree with Y'r Officers to shew them particular marks of Esteem, w'ch will avoid such Causes of Uneasiness as other- wise might obstruct His M'y's Service, wherein all are alike engag'd and must answer for any ill Conse- quences of an unhappy Disagreem't. You are to appoint and hold Courts- Martial as often as the same shall be thought necessary, to proceed and give Sen- tence according to the rules and Articles of War, of ^ W Journal. 59 /i w'ch You are to give me Advice. The French having unjustly invaded the King of G. B, Lands on the river Ohio and taken Possession of a Fort that was begun to be built by my Order for his s'd M'y and the Territory around the same. You are hereby order'd and directed, as soon as Your united Forces shall be sufficient, to repair thither, and summons the French possesing it, to surrender the Fort and evacuate the King of G. B. Lands. And in Case of refusal, You are to use Your utmost Efforts to com- pell and force them, and if You have the desired Suc- cess You are to take especial Care of the Prisoners by sending them down to W'mburg. Or if You sh'd think the sparing of Men to guard them thither w'd too much weaken Y'r small Army, then, You may give them some Canoes to go down the river Ohio ; by no means leting them go up that river to Canada or returning. If, in Y'r Council of War, the taking the above na'd Fort sh'd be judged impracticable. You are to build another Fort on the s'd river Ohio, in some proper Place, for the better security of Your Men, Arms, Stores, Provis's, &c., And prevention of any Supplies being carried to the French Garrison, whereby, in all probability. They will be reduced to the Necessity of Capitulating and accept'g such Terms as the Situation and Circumstance of Y'r Affairs may require and You may reasonably admit of. If any of the French Army sh'd desert to You, take proper notice of them, but not to give them too much Liberty, and w'n convenient, it may be proper to send them down the Country. "The Ohio Ind's having discover'd their Inclina- tions to join the English, being now convinced of their Intent's to defend and protect the Ind's ag'st the late Invasion and Encroachm'ts of the French 6o Washington's 1-i on the Ohio Lands, And particularly the Half King who has greatly distinguish'd Hiniself as our hearty Friend, and appears to me a Man of good Sense and great resolution, I therefore recomend him in the Kindest maner to Y'r F'dship and good Offices and let him and the other Ind's know that we come to aid and assist them and to protect their Lands from the ruinous Excursions of the French and their Ind's, and so order it that Y'r Soldiers behave to them with great Decency and Brotherly Affect'n. If any of Y'r officers sh'd die or unfortunately [be] slain in Battle, You are to supply their Places by the most deserving, hav'g regard to seniority in Com'o, And give me Advice thereof for my Approbat'n and Confirmation. Whilst it may be tho't unnecessary for His M'y's Service to keep his Forces on the river Ohio, a Courier will be appointed that I may be frequently advised of the Occurrences ; You will therefore embrace such Opp'tys. As I have hitherto exerted my utmost Endeavours to hasten the several Corps to their appointed rendezvous, purchas'd and sent the necessary Provisions and Stores, tho' at- tended with extraordinary and great Delays, I am determin'd to continue my resolutions to have Your army supplied in future, trusting that His M'y and myself will have the pleasing Acc't of Y'r well doing. As many Occurrences and Accidents may happen that cannot be fore-known, You are to act in such Cases in the best manner advisable, as may conduce to His M'y's Service, for the doing of w'ch You have my full Power and Instruct'n. Wishing You and the whole Corps good Health and Success, I am Sir, Y'r loving Friend." b .11 R Journal. Additional Instructs. 6i "To preserve regularity and Order, to keep up Discipline, and enforce Obedience, I do hereby further authorize and empower You to suspend any Officer who shall misbehave himself or be refractory, as You shall see Cause, and appoint another in his room, Giving me imediate Notice thereof. "June 25th, [1754]. W'msburg. — The Independ't Compa's are also under Y'r Com'd. You are, there- fore, to receive them in a particular manner, and give them Y'r Orders from Time to Time as You do the other regim'ts, they having my Orders to ob ; Y'r Com'ds, and to receive their Orders from You. I wish for Unanimity and good Conduct in defeating the Designs of the French. I wish You Health and Success. I Am, S'r, Y'r H'ble Serv't." \Dinwiddie Papers, vol. i,p. 195.] ^General William Shirley, Governor of Massa- chusetts 1741-56, was born at Preston, Sussex, Eng- land, and died at Roxbury, Mass., March 24, 1771. He was bred to the law, came to Boston in 1734 when about 40 years of age, and practiced his pro- fession with success and reputation. At the time of his appointment as Governor he was one of the commissioners for the settlement of the boundary between Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It was to his genius that the Expedition against Cape Breton was due and its success assured in 1 745. The Governor was in England much of the time between 1746-53' ?'itid was one of the commissioners at Paris for settling the limits of Nova Scotia and other con- troverted rights between the French and the English i u 62 IViishifijrfons In AiiuMMoa. lit" ("xplorcil tlic KcnndxT rrj^ion, built several iorts aiul mailc treaties with the I'.aslern liulians in 175.1. \\\ 17.S.S he was llu* C'oiniiiaiuier of the r>ritish forees in North America and i)lann(>(l the Mxpevlilion aj;.iinst Niai^ara, leailinj; it hiinscll as far as Oswej^o. In 1 754) he was made I aeutenant-Cien- eial. There was som(" ilisa_i;reement between him atul Cieneral lA>u«.loun whieh led to a ehani^e antl he was maile Ciovernor of the Hahama Isl.nuls. but re- turntMl to Massachusetts in x'j'jo. lie built himself a spacious house in l\oxbury. afterward the residence of Ciovernor Mustis | Ihitkt- ami Pmividdii' rapiis, vol. \ . /. (H). I May io'\ Met two trailers, who told us they lied for fear of the brench as parties of them were often seen towards Mr. C list's. These traders arc of opin- ion, as well as many others, that it is not possible to clear a roail for loaded wagons to go from hence t o Rid-Stonc- C/ it/i\ May 17"'. This evening Mr. //j;\/ arrived with the vouno lnd<\in from ]\'il/t\vnsdinx- and delivered me a letter, wherein the Ciovernor is so good as to approve of my proceedings, but is much displeased with Captain Trent, and has ordered him to be tried for leaving his men at the Ohio: The Governor also informs me that Capt. Mackay."^'' with an inde- pendent company of 100 men, excluding the officers, had arrived, and that we might expect them tlaily; s Journal. 63 and tliat tlu; iikmi from N(!W-Y()rk would join us within ton days.'" This ni^dit also camo two huHaus from tlic CV/^ who h-ft th(^ iM-cnch fort fiv(' days ajro; riu^y rclattt that th(; I'HMich f')rc(:s arc all (Mnjiloycd in hinUlin^r tluiir lu)rt, that it is already hrcast-hi^di, and of tlic thickness of twelve fed, and filled uj) with l-iarth, ston(?, cStc. 'I'hey have; cut down and burnt up all the trees which were about it and sown ^rrain inst(;ad thereof. The' Imiians Ixdieve they w(;r{; only 600 in numluM', althoujrh they say themselves they are 800: They expect a ^^reater number in a f(.'W days, which may amount to i,6o(j. Then they say they can defy the Eui^lish. •'"Captain James Mackaye, as he seems to have written his name in i 754, thou^di others usually wrote it McKay, was a native; of Scotland and was in com- mand of an Independent Company of about one hundred soldiers in His Majesty's service. The troops came from South Carolina and were sent to aid Governor Dinwiddie in his design against the French on the Ohio. 'I'he Governor of Virginia writes on the 20"' of June to Governor Sharp of Maryland setting forth his plans for settling the question of rank and asking his opinion of it. Cap- tain Mackaye wrote to the Governor from Will's Creek on the 10''' of June that he was detained there for want of flour. He joined Washington with his force on or about the 18"' of June. His was an 64 Washingtons actual instance of an officer of a lower rank, but holding his commission from the King, refusing to serve under or receive orders from an officer hold- ing a Commission from a Governor of one of the Provinces. It is due to the memory of Captain Mackaye to say that while he was punctilious, Colonel Washington was discreet, so that no actual collision of authority was developed. The fault was not in the officer, but in the system. In the battle of the Great Meadows, Washington found no fault with him and Captain James Mackaye's name is the first signed to the Articles of Capitulation at Fort Necessity. Was this an accident or as recognition of his claim to rank. No reference is made by either to this fact. The Virginia regiment and Captain Mackaye's Independent company marched back to Will's Creek together. After resting here a few days, he accompanied Washington to Williamsburg where they made a full report of the campaign and the battle of the Great Meadows. His name is included with that of Washington and the other officers who took part in the engagement with the French. From Williams- burg he went for a brief visit to Philadelphia and then returned to Will's Creek. From Philadelphia he wrote to Washington in September: " I had several disputes about our capitulation; but I satisfied every person that mentioned the subject as to the articles in question that they were owing to a bad interpreter, and contrary to the translation made to us when we signed them." After a time Captain Mackaye retired from the service, sold out his commission and went to reside in the state of Georgia. About 1787, while en route from Rhode Island by land to Georgia, he was taken sick and died at Alexandria, Va. \See Letter of Washington in Sparks, vol. 12, p. 303.] Journal. 65 to . On the subject of the independent companies Governor Didwiddie writes Colonel Joshua l*"ry, May 4"', I 754: " As the officers of the Independ't Compa's are Gent, of Experience in the Art Military, have serv'd in several Campaigns, are jealous of their own Hon'r, and are well reconiended, I hope You will con- cuct Y'rself towards them with I'rudence and receive their Advice with Candor, as the most probable means of promoting His M'y's Service and the success of the Expedit'n." \Dinwiddic Papers, vol. i, p. 147.] The same day the Governor writes to Colonel Washington: "The Independ't Compa from So. Car. arriv'd two days ago; is compleat; 100 Men besides Officers, and will re-embark for Alex** next Week, thence proceed imediately to join Col" ¥vy and You. The two Independ't Compa's from N. York may be Expected in ab'' ten days. The N. Car. Men, under the Com''' of Col° Innes, are imagin'd to be on their March, and will probably be at the Randez- vous ab^ the 15"* Inst." * * * '< I hope Capt. McKay, who Com'ds the Independ't Compa., will soon be with You And as he appears to be an Officer of some Experience and Importance, You will with Col° Fry and Col" Innes, so well agree as not to let some Punctillios ab' Com'd render the Service You are all engag'd in, perplex'd or obstiucted." The New York independent companies did not join Colonel Washington's forces until after the battle of the Great Meadows. They were therefore stopped and encamped at Will's Creek where they remained for some time and assisted during the fall and winter in building a fort, which was subse- quently named Fort Cumberland, in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, Commander-in-Chief of the British army. 9 i 66 Washington s May I8'^ The waters being yet very high, hin- dered me from sending forward my men and my baggage wherefore I determined to set myself in a positior of defence against any immediate attack from the Enemy,(;/.) and went down to observe the river. May I9'^ I despatched the young Indian who had returned with Mr Ward, to the Half -King, with the following speech. To the Half-King, &c My Brethren, It gives me great pleasure, to learn that you are marching to assist me with your counsels; be of good courage, my brethren, and march vigorously towards your brethren the English; for fresh forces will soon join them, who will protect you against your treach- erous enemy the French. I must send My friends to you, that they may acquaint you with an agree- able speech which the Governor of Virginia has sent to you: He is very sorry for the bad usage you have received. The swollen streams do not permit us to come to you quickly, for that reason I have sent this young man to invite you to come and meet us: he can tell you many things that he has seen in («) It has been seen in the foregoing; pieces that this pretended Enemy had no inclina tion to attack. j »u "u lutiina- •«* I •0* Journal. 67 Virginia, and also how well he was received by the most prominent men; they did not treat him as the French do your people who go to their Fort;(^) they refuse them provisions; this man has had given him all that his heart could wish; for the confirmation of all this, I here give you a Belt of Wampum. May 20^^ Embarked in a canoe with Lieu' West,^^ three soldiers, and one Indian; and having followed the river^^ along about half a mile, were obliged to come ashore, where I met Peter Suver, a Trader, who seemed to discourage me from seeking a passage by water ; that made me change my purpose of causing canoes to be made ; I ordered my men to wade, as the water was shallow enough, and continued myself going down the river. Now finding that our canoes were too small for six men, we stopped and built a Bark ; with which, together with our canoe, we reached Turkey-Foot,^^ by the be- ginning of the night. We met with some slight and unimportant difficulties about eight or ten miles from there, we passed some places where the water (un- less it became lower than it then was) yrouXd have been deep enough to allow the passage of canoes. (o) This is the only bad usage this pretendeii //,ose it possessed special interest for him through life. It is situated within a mile of the scene of the ski.iMsh with de Jumonville, where Washington fired the first gun in a war which blotted New France in America from the map of the world. It is also in the immediate vicinity of Braddock's Grave, at whose interment Washington read the funeral services. And last, though not least, it is the ground on which he threw up a hasty fort, and after battling for nine hours against a vastly superior forc> w^s obliged to capitu- late and did so with honor. t must have been some lingering regard for t.c place that led him to buy the tract of land on which " Fort Necessity " was built, as we learn from the His .ory of Fayette County, he did: "In 1767 Gener ' Washington acquired a claim to a tract of two hundred and thirty-four acres called ' Mount Washington,' and situated on Big Meadow Run, including Fort Necessity. It was con- firmed to him by Pennsylvania, and surveyed en Warrant No. 3383 for Lawrence Harrison, in right of William Brooks, and was patented to General Washington and devised by his will to be sold by his executors. It was bought by Andrew Park of Balti- more, who sold it to Gen. Thomas Meason, whose administrators sold it to Joseph Huston in 1816;" etc. Washington in his will after devising this land, in a note refers to it as follows: " This land is valuable on account of its local situation, and other properties. It affords an exceeding good stand on Braddock's road from Fort Cumberland to Pittsburg, beares a fertile soil, possesses a large quantity of natural meadow fit for the scythe. It is distinguished by the 10 74 WashingtoiCs 1 1 V < appellation of the Great Meadows, where the first action with the French in the year i 754 was fought." \F7'07n Washington s will^ May 25'** Detached a scouting party at Chavert to go along the roads/" and sent other small parties to scour the woods. I gave the Horse-men orders to examine the country well, and endeavor to get some views of the French, of their forces, of their move- ments, etc. In the evening all these parties returned, without having discovered anything, though they had been pretty far towards the place whence it was said the party was coming. May 26'^ Arrived William Jenkins ;^^ Col. Fry had sent him with a letter from Col. Fair/ax,^'^ which in- formed me, that the Governor himself, as also Col- onels Corbin^ and Liidivell^^ had arrived at Win- chester, and were desirous of seeing the Half-King there, whereupon I sent him word thereof. *^ The roads. — This, doubtless, refers to the roads opened across the Alleghany Mountains by the "Ohio Company" in 1753 and somewhat improved by Captain Trent, so that pack horses with their loads could readily pass. ^ William Jenkins, was a messenger much employed by the Governor to ride express between the capital of Virginia and the military posts. He is probably the same person whom Washington had in his em- •^ Journal. 75 m» ployment in the journey to deliver Governor Din- widdie's summons to the French commandant at Fort Le Bceuf. He also received land under Governor Dinwiddle's proclamation for service in 1754. Gov- ernor Dinwiddle in a letter to Colonel Washington, May 8, 1756, says: "I p'd Jenkins till the time you were order'd a Military Chest, and you are to con- tinue to pay him, as it's a necessary Service, and I shall support you therin." S^Dintviddie Papers, vol. 1 1, p. 407.] Jan. 16, I 762, the journal of the House of Burgesses shows that he applied for relief in the fol- lowing language: " A petition of William Jenkins, set- tmg forth that he has been employed in the service of the Public as an Express from the beginning of the war to this time, and has discharged his Duty therein with his utmost Care and fidelity; that in the Course of that time he has lost a great number of Horses of considerable value, and although he was by Agree- ment (when he first engaged in the service) to fur- nish his own Horses, yet he hopes the House will make him some allowance for his Losses, especially as he was often sent to places far remote from Win- chester, which was to be his furthest stage out; and praying also some Provision for his future support and Maintenance, being now old and infirm, was pre- sented to the House and read. Ordered, That the said Petition be referred to Mr. Richard Henry Lee and Mr. Attorney; that they examine into the Allega- tions thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereon, to the House." January 18, 1762, the journal contains the following reports: "Mr. Richard Henry Lee reported that the Committee to whom the Peti- tion of William Jenkin^^ vas referred and, according to Order, examined into the allegations thereof, and agreed on a Report and came to a Resolution 76 WaslLtngtofis thereon, which he read in his place, and then de- livered in at the table, where they were aj^ain twice read, and agreed to by the Mouse, as follow: " It appears to your Committee that the said Wil- liam Jenkin:> has been engaged in the service of the Public, as an Express, from the beginning of the war to this time; and has during that time been often charged with large sums of the Public Money, which he has faithfully delivered, and in every instance dis- charged his Duty with care and Fidelity. It also ap- pears to your Committee, by the oath of the said William Jenkins, that in the course of his said service he has lost 1 1 Horses and Mares, valued in the whole to £11-1^^ " Resolved, that the said William Jenkins ought to be allowed some Compensation for his said Losses for his Fidelity in the Execution of his office. " On Motion made, "Resolved, that the sum of ^loo be paid by the Public to the said William Jenkins as a Compensation for his Losses and services in the said report men- tioned. " Ordered, that the said Resolve be engrosed, and that Mr. Richard Henry Ivee carry it up to the Coun- cil for their concurrence." No further record is found in the case, but it is presumed the grant was made. '^^ Honorable William Fairfax was Lieutenant- Colonel of the County of F'airfax. He was at the same time a member of the Governor's Council. [For sketch of his life see p. 15 Journal of My Jotwney Over the Moii7itains^ ^^Hon. Richard Corbin of Laneville, King and Queen County, was the receiver general for the Colony of Virginia and a member of the Governor's Council, being for a time its president. He was a firm friend ^ I «> Journal. 11 « I • '» of the yoLin^ soldier and future statesman, George Washin^non, their families, accordin^r to Sparks, being related by marriage. He was born in Virginia about I 70(S and was living in 1783. It was known that Mr. Corbin warmly espoused the appointment of Washington as Lieutenant-Colonel in 1754. His wife Elizabeth was the daughter of John Tayloe of " Mt. Airy," Richmond county. \^Ji rock- Gilmer Papers. \ •"^'Colonel Philip Ludwell, whose fine estate, " Green Spring," was in James City County, Va., was a man of high character, held many positions of trust and honor in the State, among them that of County Lieutenant of his County. His daughter, Hannah, married Thomas Lee and was the happy mother of the patriot brothers — Richard Henry, Francis Light- foot, Thomas Ludwell, William and Arthur Lee. \Dimviiidie Papers, vol. \,p. 190.] May 27"^ Mr. Gist arrived early in the morning, who told us that Mr. la Force, with fifty men whose tracks he had seen five miles from here, had been at his plantation the day before, towards noon, and would have killed a cow, and broken every thing in the house, if t\wo Indians, whom he had left in charge of the house, had not prevented them from carrying out their design: I immediately detached 65 men under the command of Captain Hog, Lieutenant Mercer,^^ Ensign La Peronie, three Sergeants and three corporals, with instructions. The French had made many inquiries at Mr. Gist's, as to what had 7^ Washingtofis II i '■ become of the Half-King? I did not fail to let several young Indians who were in our Camp know that the French wanted to kill the Half-King; and it had its desired effect.(r) They immediately offered to accompany our people to go after the French, and if they found it true that he had been killed, or even insulted by them, one of them would presently carry the news thereof to the Mingo village, in order to incite their warriors to fail upon them. One of these young men was detached towards Mr. Gist's, and in case he should not find the Half-King \\\qx^, he was to send a message by a Delazvare.{s) •''~ Colonel George Mercer was the son of John Mercer, E.i,, of "Marlborough," Stafford Co., Va., born June 23, 1733, died in England April, 1784. He was educated at "William and Mary College," '^ Virginia, and afterward studied law. A military life had attraction for him and he served as a Lieutenant with Colonel Washington in the Expedition to the Ohio in 1 754, and was with him in the battle of the "Great Meadows," as was also his brother, John M Tcer, who was subsequently killed by the Indians at Fort Edwards on the Great Cacapon. Shortly after the affair at the Great Meadows, George was promoted to be Captain, and for a time served as aid to Colonel Washington. The names of both George and John Mercer are included with the officers of {>-) Major Washington it seems did not scruple to make use of an imposture, for here he takes priile in it. (s) The name of an Indian tribe. j ft'JB I Jotirnal. 79 ^ i i Virginia who received the vote of thanks of the House of Burgesses for their courage and brave defense in the battle of the Great Meadows. Cap- tain George was also in the Battle of the Monongahela with General Braddock, was severely wounded and was again complimented for his bravery. In 1756 he accompanied Colonel Washington from Williams- burg to Boston on his mission to General Shirley in behalf of the rank of the Virginia military officers. He was a capable and intelligent officer and in 1758 was promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel of the second Virginia regiment of which Colonel William Byrd, of Westover, was in command. After the French had been driven from Fort Pitt, he retired from the ser- vice and in 1761 was a member of the House of Burgesses. In a letter to a friend in England about 1 760, he gave a very particular and minute pen picture of the personal appearance and prominent character- istics of Colonel George Washington as he appeared when he took his seat in the House of Burgesses in 1759. A copy of this letter was in the possession of Colonel Lewis W. Washington, of Hall Town, Jeffer- son Co., Va., in 1855, and a copy of the descriptive part relating to General Washington made at the time by the writer. Colonel Mercer had acquired con- siderable quantities of land on both sides of Blue Ridge. Ao he resided much abroad, he had his lands sold in I 774 and 5. George Washington became an extensive purchaser of them. Being a man of educa- tion, good address and business habits and personally familiar with what the Ohio Company had done to secure settlements at the head of the Ohio, he w?.-j selected as the company's agent and sent to England in 1763. % \ H 80 Washington s The following is a copy of his Commission and Instruction: Stafford Court House [Va] July r 1 1^1 :bir From our knowledge of you, trusting in your skill, abilities and address, do, the Members of the Ohio Company, impower you to solicit for that Company, according to the following Instructions: Vou are to proceed, as soon as convenient, to Lon- don and upon your arrival there, communicate your errand and instructions to Mr Dinwiddle and Messrs Hanburys, who are Members of the Ohio Company, and will assist you in every particular for the general advantage of the Company. You are then to apply to Charlton Palmer, Esq., our present agent, with whom you are to act jointly to procure us Leave to take up our Lands according to the terms mentioned in our Petition to his Majesty, which you now have with you. If this cannot be ob- tained, to endeavor to have us reimbursed the Money we have spent on the Faith of the late King's former Grant to us. If any Objections should be made to either or both of those Points, you will be able fully to answer them by our stated Case, which Mr Palmer has, and the Papers you have with you. It will be of great service to us for you to wait upon Lord Halifax, and We desire you to use all possible Means to get him to be our Patron ; and it will be necessary to give him a Copy of the State of our Case, and also at the bottom of it a Memorandum of what we request now to be done. You will write us, we hope, by every Opportunity, what you have done. ^» J <# Journal. 8i % At some convenient time settle the Company's Ac- count with Messrs Hanburys, which, when done, in- form us of, for our Guidance. It will not be amiss, in your Transactions with the great People of Business, to say a great Deal in as few Words as possible, and often to put them in Mind if they seem to forget us. We doubt not of your Economy in the Expenses, and your Dispatch in returning to us ; therefore, wishing you success we have thf^ Pleasure to be. Sir, your real Friends, &c. J. Mercer John Tayloe Phil Lud Lee Presley Thornton Thos Lud Lee Lunford Lomax Richard Lee To Colonel George Mercer, \Front the American Historical Record, vol. 3, A 557-] His father John Mercer had long been the secretary of the board and in i 760 wrote out a history of the enterprise and a statement of the condition of the Company, to bring the needs of the enterprise to the attention of the Crown. Col. George Mercer went to England but there were adverse interests at work though he was hopeful and possessed warm attach- ments for his Virginia friends, as the following letter preserved among the manuscripts of the " Force " col- lection in the library of Congress shows. In the end he was not successful. My dear Sir. — As it always gave me the greatest pleasure to hear of a friend from any friends, I am so vain to think it will not be disagreeable to them to hear of me; and really I have only the old plain story to tell you, that I am well. As this Island affords no II '^^2 Washingtons news at present, nor is there any to be expected except the most melancholy accounts we receive from the outer world, which alarms and surprises every one here much, but me more especially, who knows every scalp, I see described in the papers as lost, every House I see burnt I remember to have been in, and every farm I hear is deserted raises my compassion for the poor unhappy proprietor and his little ones, help- less and destitute of the means of a support. — Good God what has occasioned this general revolution of those faithless, inhuman, merciless wretches ? When or where will it end ? I know they will and indeed see by the papers they have laid waste all our frontiers. I dare say you suspect that I am so engaged here in pleasures and so fond of this country that I am quite happy — but I tell you the truth I had rather be at Winchester six months, than in London. Really there are many things here remarkably curious and entertaining, but amidst them all, the true balm of life is wanting. Friendship can only be bought here, and you must pay high for the purchase, in short must be always laying out. [ never was more tired of a place in my life nor ever liked my uwn Country better — you may depend I shall see you so soon as I can get my business finished. — I am in hopes to obtain the payment of the arrears due the people in our county (Frederick) and Hampshire for the Cam- paignes under Generals Braddock and Stanwix, I have made push, and expect success — it will save them about ;^6,ooo. I have bought you of the jemmyest swords London could prodvice, and I shall send it you by the first safe conveyance — you should have had it now, but I did iiOt k;)ow whether the Parson would carry it. »^ Journal, H I »<• The bearer hereof Mr. Skyvin is a C!ero,-nan who has been recomended to me in the stn ' cresi manner and he goes with hopes of being received i'nio Frederick Parish. As it always will give me plea- sure, and I shall think it my duty to do every thing in my power for the good of my country it will rejoice me to hear of his fixing there, as he is a man of great learning and has an exceeding good moral character; — I beg to recomend him to your notice and that you will introduce him to our friends. I can not yet tell upon what establishment the surveyors in N° America will be put or whether I shall be one, should I obtain my desires on this occa- sion, I dare say you know I shall remember you. — My best wishes attend all our acquaintances. I hope you will tell them I say so, and that I am alive and remember them. I am my Dear Rutherford your obliged and sincere iriend London, Oct. 28, 1763. G^P Mercer. written on back of letter | To Captain Thom.'io Ru- in different handwritingr j therford. i In 1 765 he returned to Virginia with a Commission as Collector for the Crown under the SL~nip act. 'Fhe following letter and statement from him to the citizens of Williamsburg, Va., which show how he was received and the determined spirit of the people to resist the stamp tax are published in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History, vol. 2, p. 209. Account of Col. George Mercer's Arrival in Vir- ginia, and his resignation of the office of stamp Dis- tributor (see Pcnnsylvaju'a Joumai No. 1197.) Wil- iamsburg (in Virginia) Oct. 31 [1765.] 84 Washingto7t s This week arrived in York river, the Ship Leeds, Capt. Anderson, in 9 weeks from London, on board of which came passenger George Mercer, Esq., Chief Distributor of Stamps for this colony. Yesterday in the evening he arrived in this city, and upon his walk- ing up street as far as the Capitol, in his way to the Governor's, was accosted by a concourse of gentle- men assembled from all parts of the colony, the General court sitting at this time. They insisted he should immediately satisfy the company (which con- stantly increased) whether he intended to act as a commissioner under the Stamp Act; Mr. Mercer told them that any answer to so important a question that he should make, under such circumstances, would be attributed to fear ; though he believed none of his countrymen, as he had never injured them, could have any design against his person ; insisted that he ought to be allowed to wait on i"he Governor and Council, and to receive a true information of the sen- timents of the colony (whose benefit and prosperity he had as much at heart as any man in it) and that he would, for the satisfaction of the company then assembled, give them his answer on Friday at ten o'clock. This seemed to satisfy them, and they at- tended him up as far as the Coffee-House, where the Governor, most of the Council, and a great number of gentlemen were assembled ; but soon after many more people got together, and insisted on a more spec. Jy av.d satisfactory answer, declaring they would no^ depart without one. In some time, upon Mr. Mercer's 1 ron ising them an answer by five o'clock this e\'en!ng, they departed well pleased ; and he met with no further molestation. And accordin^dy he was met this evening at the capi- tol, and addressed himself to the company as follows : i Journal. 8s I* I now have met you agreeable to yesterday's prom- ise, to give my country some assurances which I would have been glad I could with any tolerable propriety have done sooner. I flatter myself no judicious man can blame me for accepting an office under an authority that was never disputed by any from whom I could be advised of the propr'ety or weight of the objections. I do acknowledge that some little time before I left England I heard of, and saw, some resolves which were said to be made by the House of Burgesses of Virginia ; but as the authenticity of them was disputed, they never appearing but in private hands, and so often and differently represented and explained to me, I determined to know the real sentiments of my countrymen from themselves : And I am concerned to say that those sentiments were so suddenly and unexpectedly communicated to me, that I was alto- gether unprepared to give an immediate answer upon so important a point ; for in however unpopular a light I may lately have been viewed, and notwith- standing the many insults I have from this day's conversation been informed were offered me in effigy in many parts of the colony ; yet I still flatter myself that time will justify me ; and that my conduct may not be condemned after being cooly inquired into. The commission so very disagreeable to my coun- trymen was solely obtained by the genteel recom- mendation of their representatives in General Assembly, unasked for ; and though this is con- tradictory to public report, which I am told charges me with assisting the passage of the Stamp Act, upon the promise of the commission in this colony, yet I hope it will meet with credit, when I assure you I was so far from assisting it, or having any previous ii> % U- 86 Washingtons promise from the Ministry, that I did not know of my appointment until some time after my return from Irehmtl, where I was at the commencement of the session of Parliament, and for a long time after the act had passed. Thus, gentlemen, am I circumstanced. I should be glad to act now in such a manner as would justify me to my friends and countrymen here, and the authority which appointed me; but the time you have allotted me for my answer is so very short that I have not yet been able to discover that happy medium, therefore must intreat you to be referred to my future conduct, with this assurance in the mean time that I will i.ot, directly or indirectly, by myself or deputies, proceed in the execution of the act until I receive further orders from Eno^land, and not then without the assent of the General Assembly of this colony; and that no man can more ardently and sincerely wish the pros- perity thereof, or is more desirous of securing all its just rights and privileges, than Gentlemen, Yours &c., George Mercer. Whatever his views as to the law before he arrived in Virginia may have been, the people did not permit him to remain in ignorance of their determined oppo- sition to the law and hostility to any persons attempt- ing to execute its mandates. He was personally popular and well known throughout Virginia and the other Provinces ; but the spirit of the people was ^^o aroused as to make it impossible for him or any other person to discharge the duties of the office. He concluded, therefore, to return to England. Before doing so, however, he executed a power of Attorney to James Mercer to care for the stamped paper and i • -1 \ Journal. 87 , parchment and do such other thiiiLrs as he could himself have done. The following- is a copy of this paper taken from the American Historical Record vol. 3- p. 557- Sir.— As I amobll^nred to quit this Colony on Busi- ness of Importance and expect some consi^rnments of Stamped Paper and Parchment will arrive in my absence, I desire you will have them immediately on their Arrival, properly secured for his Majesty's Use and Orders. And I impower and require you to do and perform every particular service as well for the security and preservation of the said Stamped Paper and Parchment which may hereafter arrive, or has been already imported for the use of this Colony as for the Distribution of them to the Country, if they shall hereafter think them necessary and demand them agreeably to the Act of Parliament. And I do also give you Power and Authority to appoint one or more Assistants, as you may find it necessary, and to act and do in the said office every Matter and thing whatsoever which I myself could do were I present, agreeable to the printed Instruc- tions herewith given. And for so doincr this shall be your Warrant. Given atWilliamsburgh,underMy Hand and Seal, this 1 8th day of November 1765. George Mercer, [l. s.] To James Mercer, Esq., of the Colony of Virginia. ^ Through the influenceof Lord Hillsborough, he was in September, 1 768,appointed Lieutenant-Governor of North Carolina. He soon found the office uncongenial and in a short time retired from it and returned to bngland. 1 hough twice married he left no children f 88 Waskin^tofti About eight in the evening I received an express from the I/a/f-Kim^, who informed me, that, as he was coming to join us, he had seen along the road, the tracks of two men, whicli he had followed, till he was brought thereby to a low obscure place ; that he was of opinion the whole party of the French was hidden there. That very moment I sent out forty men and ordered my ammunition to be put in a place of safety, fearing it to be a stratagem of the Fj'cnch to attack our camp; I left a guard to defend it, and with the rest of my men, set out in a heavy rain, and in a night as dark as pitch, along a path scarce broad enough for one man ; we were sometimes fifteen or twenty minutes out of the path before we could come to it again, and we would often strike against each other in the darkness : All night along we continued our route, and on the 28''' about sun-rise we arrived at the Indian camp, where after having held a coun- cil with the Half-King, we concluded to attack them together ; so we sent out two men to discover where they were, as also their posture and what sort of ground was thereabout, after which we prepared to surround them {t) marching one after the other, In- dian fashion : We had thus advanced pretty near to them^ when they discovered us ; I then ordered (t) Therefore certain it is that the English had orders to attack. JournaL 89 my corni)any to fire ; my fire* was su[)port(*cl by that of Mr. W^aggoner'^ and my comjiany and his received the whole fire of the I*'reiich, ihiring tlie greater part of the action, which only lasted a quarter of an hour before the enemy was routed. "^^ " Jumonville's Camp and the scene of the skir- mish in which he lost his life," says Mr. Veech, " is a place well known in the mountains. It is near half a mile southward of Dunbar's Camp and about five hundred yards eastward of Braddock's road — the same which Washington was then making * * ^ There is not above ground in b^ayette county a place so well calculated for concealment and for secretly watching and counting Washington's little army, as it would pass along the road, as this same J umonville's Camp." The spot is well known and frequently visited by tourists from motives of curiosity. ^^ Captain Thomas Waggoner. — A family of this name was early seated in Rappahannock Co., Va. Branches of it were among the first settlers on the South Branch and on Patterson's creek in Western Va., where they had two forts known as Waggoner's Fort and Waggoner's Upper Fort \scc Letters of Washmjrtofi]. Thomas was a Lieutenant with Wash- ington in his expedition to the Ohio in 1754, was serving as Captain when Jumonville was killed May 28'*" 1754 and was slightly wounded in that skirmish. His name is included with those who received the thanks of the House of Burgesses August 30, 1754, for " their gallant and brave conduct " in the campaign. Other members of this family also rendered good service to their country. Ensign Edmund Waggoner 12 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 Hi 12.5 ■ 2.2 :tf 1^ 12.0 ■- I. U 11.6 Photographic Sdences Corporation 73 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 (716) 872-4503 ■^^ i^ was in the Ohio ^.^^ftZ::W^^Xe pnso;;e. ^^„ ,,