USA > North Carolina > The history of North Carolina from the earliest period, Volume II > Part 6
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Governor Dobbs brought a few pieces of cannon and one thousand firelocks, a present from the crown to the province. He was accompanied by a number of his re- lations and countrymen, who had followed him with the hope of being promoted to lucrative offices, and the in- habitants of the province were not long without com- plaining of his too great fidelity in gratifying the desires of his followers.
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He qualified at Newbern, on the 1st of November, and met the legislature six weeks after, in that town. He recommended the fixing of a permanent and adequate revenue on the crown, to meet the expenses of govern- ment, and a proper salary for the governor for the time being: he drew the attention of the lower house to the necessity of making an early appropriation for the repairs of fort Johnston and the other fortifications, and the sup- port of a few soldiers; and of making provision for the support of a minister of the established church, in each county; for the regulation of trade, and the preser- vation of a good understanding, with the neighboring Indian tribes. The revision of the court system and the inspection laws were mentioned by him, as proper objects for the deliberation of the legislature, and he de- sired that some remedy might be applied to an alarming and growing evil, the great circulation of counterfeited bills of credit.
The assembly were ready to enter on the business re- commended, if we except the allowance of a salary for the chief magistrate. An aid of eight thousand pounds was granted to the king for the defence of the province: a duty was laid on every ton of shipping of one fourth of a pound of powder and one pound of lead, and a bounty was allowed for facilitating enlistments. Means of defence being thus provided, the legislature turned their attention to the internal concerns of the province. A new judicial system was formed; a supreme court was established in different districts of the province; and provision was made for holding courts of over and ter- miner and general jail delivery, defining the jurisdiction of county courts and settling the mode of proceeding therein. Inspections of tobacco were established and
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the exportation of that article, before it had been sub- mitted to some test, was forbidden. Inspectors' notes were made a tender at the public treasury, at the rate of one penny a pound. The cultivation of this commo- dity, it seems, was as yet confined to the northern part of the province, the act making no provision for the in- spection of it, to the southward of Tar river.
In their address to the governor, the lower house la- mented the repeal of the act, establishing several towns and counties.
The ministry, judging that the provincial forces were unequal to a conflict against the French, despatched commodore Reppei, with a squadron of ships of war, conveying major general Braddock and a reputable body of troops.
After a long and tedious passage, general Braddock reached Williamsburg, early in the following year. In the letter, announcing his arrival to Henry Fox, the secretary of war, on the 4th of February, he said, "I have found every thing in great confusion, as I expected: much money has already been spent, though very little is done. The governor here is of opinion, thit the peo- ple of the province are well inclined to give all the assistance in their power, to an affair that concerns them so nearly. Governor Dobbs is well enough satisfied with those of his province, and hopes to be more so hereafter; Pennsylvania will do nothing, and supplies the French with every thing they want."
His first step was to address a circular letter to the governors of the several provinces, to prevail on them to exert themselves in their respective gov- ernments, to obtain supplies of men and money; he recommended them to lock up their ports, so as
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to render it impossible for the enemy to draw any provisions from the provinces, and expressed a wish that a common fund might be established out of the money, granted by the several legislatures, In a letter of the 18th of March, to Sir Thomas Ro- binson, secretary of state, he complained of the dif- ficulties he had to encounter, in the following terms: "The jealousy of the people and the disunion of many of the colonies are such, that I almost despair of succeeding. I am indeed very sorry to tell you, that in all appearance. I shall meet with great diffi- culties in obtaining from those colonies, the supplies which the king expects from them and the general interest requires. Governor Dinwiddie has already obtained from his province twenty thousand pounds currency, and he hopes to obtain a still larger sum. North Carolina had granted eight thousand pounds and Maryland six thousand, each of the current coin of their respective governments. Although Penn- sylvania is, without contradiction, the richest and the most concerned in this expedition; yet, it has supplied nothing hitherto." And in a letter of a later date to the earl of Halifax, the general writes: "I am sorry to have been under the necessity of saying, that the inhabitants of these colonies have all shown a great indifference for the king's service, and their own interests. However, they do not all fall under this censure, and particularly those of the province I am now in, (Virginia,) are not to be compared with their neighbors, and may not have deserved reproaches. But I cannot sufficiently ex- press my indignation against the provinces of Penn-
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sylvania and Maryland, which, being quite as much concerned in this expedition as their neighbors, and much more so than any other on this continent, re- fuse to contribute in any shape towards the support of this project, and even what they propose, they do only on such terms, as are entirely contrary to the prerogative of the king and his instructions to the governors."
Early in April, governor Dobbs left the province in order to attend a meeting of the governors of the provinces, which general Braddock had requested, with a view of consulting them on the most proper mode of operation. They met him at Alexandria, on the 14th of April. The result of their delibera- tions was a recommendation of three expeditions.
The object of the first and principal one, was the reduction of fort Duquesne, which stood on the spot on which the present town of Pittsburg now stands, in the state of Pennsylvania. General Brad- dock was to command it in person, and his forces were to consist of the troops he had brought from England, and such reinforcements, as might be ob- tained from the southern provinces.
The second, which was to be under the com- mand of governor Shirley of the province of Mas- sachusetts, was intended against Niagara and fort Frontignac. Two regiments raised in that colony, were to be the main force employed in it.
The last had Crownpoint for its object. For this, provincial troops were to be raised from the pro- vince of New-York, and those of New England; major general William Johnston of New-York, was designated as the leader of it.
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General Braddock lost no time in making the ne- cessary arrangements for the expedition which he was to head. He formed two companies of carpen- ters, each composed of a captain, two subalterns, two sergeants and thirty m'en. One of them was to be employed in making roads and boats, and the other in repairing carriages: he also raised a com- pany of guides, composed of a captain, two aids and ten men. He established forts from the head quar- ters to Philadelphia, Annapolis and Williamsburg. His difficulties were increased by the great num- ber of horses, waggons and batteaux, necessary for transporting the artillery, baggage and provisions, and the scarcity of laborers and the excessive price they required: the provisions were to be drawn from many provinces, distant from each other; the want of forage was severely felt, and the expedition was detained a considerable time waiting for the ar- tillery. He set off. on the 20th of April, on his way to fort Frederick, in order to go by the way of Wills creek, where a post was established, on the spot since known as fort Cumberland, near the source of the Potomac, then the most western post, held in those parts by the English.
General Braddock was detained on the road at this post, by a coincidence of untoward circumstances, until the middle of June, when apprehensions were en- tertained, that this inauspicious delay would afford the enemy the opportunity of strengthening the post against which the expedition was aimed, so as to occasion its miscarriage. It was thought of the utmost importance to guard against this contingency, and the general, ta- king with him a chosen corps of twelve hundred men,
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began a rapid march : the baggage of the detachment was packed on horses, and as few waggons were taken with it as were sufficient for the removal of the military stores. Colonel Dunbar was left with the rest of the army, and directed to follow by slower and easier marches.
General Braddock was not, however, able to reach the Monongahela till the eighth of July ; the rugged state of the country did not allow a speedier progress, though the corps was disencumbered from every article that could be left behind.
After having crossed the stream, the general disposed his forces for battle: he placed in front three hundred British regulars, among whom were his grenadiers and light infantry, and followed, at some distance, with the ar- tillery and the main body of the army, divided into small columns. This was a most unfortunate arrangement, and the general had determined on it, notwithstanding the representations of all the American officers near him, who recommended, that the provincial companies should be made to advance in front, scour the woods, discover, and give alarm in case of any ambuscade. This recom- mendation was disregarded, the general having too con- temptuous an opinion of the enemy against whom he was advancing, and of the capacity of American soldiers. In the midst of a wide, open piece of ground, covered with grass to a man's height, the unseen foe fired on, and threw into confusion, the unsuspecting ranks in the van of the British forces : but the prompt advance of the main body, and the fall of the French commanding ofli- cer, put a momentary stop to the attack : but the assail- ants soon resumed it with great fury, and the van falling back on the main body, a general confusion followed.
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Every officer on horseback, except George Washing- ton, who was near the general as one of his aids, was killed or wounded, and the commander himself received a deadly wound : at this moment, his dismayed British soldiers ran in various directions, in disorder and confu- sion : the provincial forces kept the field a considerable time longer. Great was the carnage that ensued, till the Indians, who constituted a good portion of the enemy's army, diverted by the hope of plunder, gave up the pur- suit. Sixty-four out of eighty-five officers, and one half of the men were either killed or wounded : the artillery, stores and baggage were all taken. The portion of the army that escaped, reached colonel Dunbar's camp, where the general breathed his last. The colonel, alarm- ed for the safety of his men, sought their safety in a pre- cipitate retreat, and, after burning most of his stores, marched to Philadelphia.
By the unfortunate issue of this expedition, the west- ern settlements of the southern provinces were left open to the attacks of the Indians, and most of the planters sought an asylum in the more thickly inhabited parts of the country.
The expeditions, under governor Shirley and general Johnston, were not so disastrous, but neither of them was successful. The army of the latter, during the summer, lay on the eastern bank of the Hudson, a little south of the city of Albany. In the early part of June, the troops of the eastern provinces began to pour in, company after company, and such a motley assemblage of men never before thronged together, on such an occa- sion, unless an example may be found in the ragged re- giment of Sir John Falstaff. It would have relaxed the gravity of an anachorite, to have seen the descendants of
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the Puritans, marching through the streets of our an- cient city, take their situation to the left of the British army, some with long coats, some with short coats, and others with no coat at all, with colors as varied as the rainbow ; some with their hair cropped like the army of Cromwell, and others with wigs, the locks of which floated with grace around their shoulders. Their march, their accoutrements and the whole arrangement of the troops, furnished matter of amusement to the rest of the British army. The music played the airs of two centu- zies ago, and the tout ensemble, upon the whole, exhi- bited a sight to the wondering strangers, to which they had been unaccustomed. Among the club of wits that belonged to the British army, there was a Doctor Shack- burg, attached to the staff, who combined with the science of a surgeon the skill and talents of a musician : to please the new comers, he composed a tune, and with much gravity recommended it to the officers as one of the most celebrated airs of martial music. The joke took, to the no small amusement of the British : brother Jonathan exclaimed it was nation fine, and in a few days nothing was heard in the provincial camp, but the air of Yankee Doodle. Little did the author, in his composi- tions, then suppose, that an air made for the purpose of levity and ridicule, should ever be marked for such high destinies. In twenty years from that time, the national march inspired the heroes of Bunker's hill, and in less than thirty, lord Cornwallis and his army marched into the American lines to the tune of Yankee Doodle.
Governor Dobbs, in the course of the summer, visit- ed the western counties of the province, and the towns on the sea shore, with a view to ascertain on what spots fortifications might be erected with the greatest pros-
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pect of utility. He met the legislature on the 25th of September, at Newbern : in addressing the houses, he observed, that the situation of affairs in the province, being much altered since their last meeting, and the dan- ger increased of the French being able to accomplish the scheme they had formed, of confining the British provinces to the eastern side of the mountains, by a chain of forts from Canada to Louisiana; of gaining most of the nations of Indians to their alliance, and of preventing those who were friendly to the English from appearing in their defence, he was compelled to solicit them, in the king's name, to grant as large supplies as the situation of the province could allow, not only to defend the frontier counties, but also to co-operate in offensive measures with the other provinces, against the common enemy : he recommended the erection of a fort, between Third and Fourth creeks, near the South Yadkin, in the county of Rowan, near that of Iredell, a central spot between the northern and southern bounda- ries of the province.
The legislature granted a supply of ten thousand pounds, for the erection of this fort and for raising, equipping and paying three companies of fifty men each, exclusive of commissioned officers ; and with a view to facilitate the approvisionment of the king's forces, an act was passed prohibiting the exportation of provisions or live stock, to any of the enemy's or neutral ports.
Pork, beef, rice, indigo, naval stores and lumber, were this year made subjects of the laws of inspection, which hitherto related to tobacco only.
The people known by the appellation of Unitas Fra- trum or United Brethren, though more generally by that of the Moravians, having formed considerable sett le-
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ments in Wachovia, a large tract of land, which they owned in the county of Rowan, now in that of Stokes, were erected into a separate parish, that they might dis- charge their parochial duties with more convenience and ease : the new parish was called Dobbs' Parish.
To the distresses of the war, was now added the ca- lamity of one of those epidemical diseases, which at dif- ferent periods have scoured the continental provinces, in autumnal visitations.
In the following year, the fortification which the gover- nor had recommended, was raised : it was an oblong square, fifty-three feet long and forty-three wide: the opposite angles were twenty-two by twenty-four: it was twenty-four feet high, and had three floors, from each of which above one hundred muskets might be discharged at the same time.
The British now began to retaliate on their rivals, by captures at sea, and early in the following year, on the application of the French court for restitution of the ves- seis seized, the British cabinet required a previous satis- faction for the invasion of the king's territories and the hostilities committed on his American subjects. On receiving this answer, the French king granted letters of marque and reprisals. On the 18th of May, war was formalty declared by the court of Great Britain ; an ex- ample which was followed by France on the 18th of June.
The earl of Loudon, who had been appointed com- mander in chief of the king's troops in America, and governor of the province of Virginia, came over in the spring. Nothing of importance was, however, attempt- ed during the year.
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In the month of September, the marquis of Mont- calm made himself master of the important post of Oswego, on lake Ontario : the British garrison, con- sisting of sixteen hundred men, were made prisoners of war. This fortification, having been erected in the country of the Five Nations, was not viewed by them without jealousy : the marquis wisely destroyed it in presence of the Indians, telling them that the French wished to enable their red brethren to preserve their neu- trality, and would not make any other use of victory than to demolish the forts built by the English on the lands of the Indians, with the design of overawing and keeping them in subjection.
The general assembly of the province sat at Newbern on the last day of December. The attention of the houses was drawn by governor Dobbs to the change which had taken place since their last session : he said that the measures which the king had taken to preserve the rights and possessions of his American provinces, and compel the French to restore the territories they had taken possession of, had encouraged the hope of a speedy determination of all differences; but it now appeared, that the king of France, not only persisted in the deter- mination of hemming in the British colonies, securing the Indian trade, engaging the Indian tribes on the fron- tiers in his cause, and with their assistance expelling the English from the continent of America, but had invaded, previous to any declaration of war, the king's domin- jons in that of Europe, and threatened an invasion and the total destruction of the British empire, outrages which had compelled the king to declare war against France.
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After observing that the whole British empire, in America, was at a stake, and the religion, liberties and possessions of the nation in the utmost danger, unless her whole, united strength was exerted to repel those faithless neighbors and merciless enemies, he added, that the great weight of a war against the exorbitant power of France, without the assistance of any ally, under the pressure of a heavy debt, contracted for securing the in- tegrity of the territory of the American provinces, re- quired, that they should yield assistance to the mother country to the utmost of their ability, and recommended that, by an efficient aid, the province might be prevented from becoming the seat of war.
He informed the houses, he had received the king's instructions to recommend to them the passage of a bill for preventing desertions, and to encourage the recruit- ing service, and to request, that such sums as might be raised for the public service of the colonies, might be placed under the directions of his commander in chief, over all the colonies, and in compliance with the address of the assembly, at their last session, to re-enact the twelve laws, which had been repealed by the king in council, in 1754, for erecting counties and towns, re- serving to the king his right to create members to serve in the assembly, and also to agree to the repeal of such subsequent laws for erecting counties which had not been laid before the king in council, before the month of April, 1754, and to re-enact them with the same reservation.
He recommended the passage of a militia law, and the revision of those for the support of the clergy and for the inspection of commodities.
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The legislature granted a small aid only of three thou- sand four hundred pounds, which were appropriated to the defence of the western country ; and, in compliance with the recommendation of the governor, passed a law to prevent desertion. The acts establishing the' counties of Orange, Rowan and Cumberland, and those allowing the towns of Wilmington and Brunswick, the right of being represented in the lower house, were repealed, as containing clauses injurious to the prerogative of the crown, and acts were passed, for re-establishing those three counties, and all those, the erection of which had been disallowed by the king in council, by his orders of the 8th of April, 1754. A clause was inserted, declaring that the establishment of these counties was not to be construed as allowing the royal prerogative of granting letters of incorporation, ordering and regulating elections, and establishing fairs and markets.
More extensive regulations were made for the im- provement and establishment of roads and ferries. Pro- per amendments were introduced in the inspection laws, and measures were taken to secure the collection of the powder duty.
The governor now informed the upper house, that the fortifications on Cape Fear river, at Core sound and Topsail inlet, would soon be in a state of defence, and that he had information, that the artillery and ordnance for Fort Johnston would soon arrive, and that he had applied for artillery and ordnance stores for the other forts, and for a company of one hundred and twenty men, to be fixed on the British establishment; where- upon the house, at his recommendation, addressed the king, imploring his protection for the province, and resol-
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ved, that they would cheerfully concur with the other house, in making provision for the support of such men as he might send to garrison the forts.
The governor communicated the instructions he had received from the king, to fix on a proper spot for the seat of government, and the representations of the lords commissioners of trade and plantations; that it should be in a healthy situation, the most central,, and their in- tention to advise the king, that it should be somewhere on the river Neuse; a committee of both houses was appointed, to view the country and report the most advantageous spot.
A post, established between Suffolk and Wilming- ton (once a fortnight) was continued for one year.
The governor was authorized to apply the surplus of the sum of twelve thousand pounds, appropriated at the September session of the legislature, in 1754, to the raising and subsistence of the troops, destined for the service of the province of Virginia, and out of the sum of eight thousand pounds, granted at the following ses- sion, for the defence of the frontiers, to make up any de- ficiency that might happen in the sum of ten thosand pourds, granted at the last session, and promised to make further provision, at the next meeting, if necessary.
Governor Glen, of South Carolina, began to establish forts in the country lately acquired from the Cherokees, On the banks of the river Savannah, and at the distance of about three hundred miles from Charleston, he erect- · ed Fort Prince George, within gun shot of an Indian town called Keoovee. It was square, and had an earth- en rampart about six feet high, on which stockades were fixed, a ditch and a natural glacis on two sides, with bastions at the angles, on each of which four cannons
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were mounted : It contained barracks for four hundred men. About one hundred and seventy miles down the river, was built Fort Moore, on a much smaller scale. Andrew Lewis was sent, by the earl of Loudon, to build another fort on Tennessee river, on the southern bank, at the highest point of the navigation, opposite to the spot, on which Tellico block house has since been pla- ced, about thirty miles from the present town of Knox- ville: the fort was called Fort Loudon, These strong holds, with those of Frederica and Augusta, formed a strong barrier against the Indians, and the protection they afforded, induced the inhabitants to advance to- wards the western parts of the provinces of North and South Carolina.
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