USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. VI > Part 61
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Then the Governor told the Board that finding himself under particular Difficulties about making a proper Answer to the above Speech, as he was not able to afford the Delawares assistance neces- sary on such an Invitation, nor had his Majesty declared War against the French, he had advised with Mr. Weiser, who thought it best to give a general answer, viz: that he had laid the Speech before the Council & they joined with him in returning Thanks to Scarroyady for his kind advice and to the Delawares for their Regards for this Province, And that they hoped that Nation would always continue their Friendship to the English and wait the De- termination of the Six Nations.
The Governor and Council concurring in opinion with Mr. Wei- ser, the following answer was concluded on, and the Governor was desir'd to deliver it to Scarroyady when he came to take his leave of him.
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"Brother : What you tell me of the late General gives me much concern, particularly that part which relates to his Treatment of the Indians, however he found by dear experience that they would have been his best Guard ; and I have reason to believe that had he lived he would have altered his Conduct towards them. I agree with you that the English have numbers and strength enough, and when joined with the Six Nations are an overmatch for the French and their Indians, and I hope to see that the Event will show this to be true before the end of this Campaign.
" Brother : Return our hearty thanks to the Delawares and Nan- ticokes for their generous offer of engaging in another Expedition if this Government will put the Hatchet into their hands; We take this as a high proof of their particular attachment to us, and we hope they will always continue their Friendship to us and wait the Determination of the Six Nations, which they may expect to receive very soon from themselves.
Here gave a large Belt.
At a Council held at Philadelphia the 28th August, 1755.
PRESENT :
The Honourable ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS, Esqr- Lieu- tenant Governor, &ca.
John Penn, Richard Peters,
Robert Strettell, Lynford Lardner, S Esquires.
The Governor informed the Council that since their last sitting he had received two Messages from the Assembly, and the Mem- bers by whom they were sent telling him that the House inclined
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to adjourn to the 15th of September, he made them answer that it was indifferent to him to what time they adjourned, but if he found they had not given him a satisfactory answer to what he had said to them about a Militia he would call them again immediately.
A Letter from Governor De Lancey was read containing some intelligence from Admiral Boscawen, & informing this Government that an Embargo was thereupon laid in Jersey, & desiring that one might also be laid here. The Council concurring in opinion with the Governor that his Majestie's Service required that this should be done, an order was immediately drawn up by the Governor and served on the Collectors of all the Ports within this Province & the Lower Counties, prohibiting the Export of all sorts of Provisions.
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A Letter to Governor Morris from Governor Delancey. "NEW YORK, 25th August, 1755.
" Sir :
"I sent the Letters inclosed with yours of the 21st by express Yesterday to Albany, whence they will be forwarded to General Shirley; if some things are to be delayed till you hear from him you'l be obliged to wait a considerable time, for I suppose he is now at Oswego.
"I had Yesterday a Letter from Admiral Boscawen, dated at Halifax, wherein he tells me he keeps a Squadron continually cruising off Louisburgh, where he hears the French are much dis- tressed for provisions aud are very sickly with bolt, flux, and Small pox, & that from intercepted Letters he knows that the French Squadron which is now here will sail for Europe as soon as they think the English Squadron have left that Coast, & that they have at present there Four Ships of the Line and three Frigates. It is very possible the Fluxes at Louisbourg may proceed from eating large quantitys of Fish without a sufficiency of Bread and other provisions.
" Mr. Alexander informs me that in Jersey they have laid .an Embargo.
"You will be pleased to inform me what is done in your Govern- ments-we continue it still.
"I am sorry to see the disputes run so high in your Province at such a time as this, and should be pleased any expedient could be devised to drop them.
"I am, Sir, Your most obedient & most humble Servant,
"JAMES DELANCEY. "Governor MORRIS."
The Governor laid before the Board a Letter he had received
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from Colo Dunbar, and as he had been favoured with a Copy of Colonel Dunbar's answer to General Shirley, he ordered the Secre- tary to read it & likewise his own Letter to General Shirley, which he sent by the Express that forthwith went on with Colonel Dun- bar's dispatches.
A Letter to General Shirley from Colonel Dunbar.
" Sir :
" I lately had the Honour of writing to you in answer to yours of the 6th Instant, I then sent you a return of the State of the Troops under my Command, & particularly informed you of the condition they were all in, and the great Deficiency of Arms & Camp Equipage ; that I wish the Returns had reached you before you sent your orders of the 12" Inst., which I think must have prevented that trouble.
" Upon the receit of Yours of the 12th. I thought it proper to call the Field Officers and the Five Eldest Captains, to lay your Orders and Letters before them, as I thought it wou'd be more Satisfactory to you than a Letter founded intirely on my own Opinion, that after the most mature Deliberation we do unanimously agree that it is impracticable to carry on an Expedition to Fort Du Quesne from hence at this time of the Year, & give the following reasons :
"Ist. That the only Cannon we have are Four short six-pounders ; that the four Cannon at Winchester weigh upwards of Thirty Hundred Weight each, and left there by the late General Brad- dock's orders, from the Impossibility there was of carrying them with him, that those at Fort Cumberland are only four· pounders, weighing from twelve to thirteen Hundred Weight each, and mounted on Ship Carriages with Iron Trucks, & Captain Orde informs us that they are only fit for Ship Service."
" 2ndly. That we have not above one-third of our Camp Equip- age & our Soldiers almost naked, and that all the Cannon, Mortars, & Ammunition that the late General Braddock had with him, the French now have to strengthen their Fort, and we must beg leave to undeceive You in regard to what you are pleased to mention, of Guns being buried at the time of General Braddock ordered the Stores to be destroyed, for that there was not a Gun of any kind buried, & the four that are now left are two that Colonel Dunbar had with him & two that were left at Fort Cumberland."
" 3dly. That by some Mismanagement we had not one Indian with us; that what Friends there were last Year are lost, and no new ones gained ; that General Braddock cou'd not get above eight or nine to attend him, from web. Circumstances. he laboured under many Inconveniences, nor do we hear of Measures having been taken to get any ; that what assistance you may expect from Vir- VOL. VI .- 38.
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ginia by Troops We are under the strongest appehension you will be disappointed in, as more than half of the Virginia Companies who were with us have deserted for want of pay; that the Season is now approaching when the Falls of Rain may be expected, which will consegently raise the several Rivers we have to pass so as to occasion the building of Floats to transport the Troops &ca. over, which is almost impossible to put in Execution if the Enemy should chuse to make an opposition, and that the Swampy Grounds and Clayey mountains we have to march over would be rendered extremely difficult, scarcely practicable, and an absolute want of Forage but what we could carry with us ; That it greatly surprizes us Gov". Dinwiddie shou'd send to you such a Return of the Troops, as he could have no authority for so doing, not having had it in his power to know a truc and exact state of them.
" And lastly : Were we to march immediately from hence with the greatest Expedition it wou'd be impossible to arrive at Fort Du Quesne in less than six Weeks, and we humbly conceive that before we cou'd be provided with a proper Train, provision, & every thing that wou'd be necessary for such an Expedition, we cou'd not expect to arrive there before the middle of November, and should we not succeed in the attempt we must inevitably perish, as the mountains are covered with Snow generally in the latter end of October, & there is no place to retreat to nearer than Fort Cumberland.
"This is, Sir, the real state and Condition of both Officers and Soldiers; and as we are now so near Philadelphia, the only place to recruit our men with proper necessaries, We proceed to it, which we humbly conceive cannot retard our Schemes, provided You shall hereafter think proper to put them in Execution, either by going to Fort Du Quesne or to Albany; therefore shall wait Your further Commands at Philadelphia. I am, with great Respect, Sir,
"Your most obedient & most humble Servant,
"THOMAS DUNBAR. "Camp at Pine Ford, 2 August the 21st, 1755. S
" His Excellency Gen1. SHIRLEY.
" Signed as the opinion of "THOMAS DUNBAR. "THOMAS GAGE, Lieutt. Colo,
"RUP. CHAPMAN, Major.
" WILL. SPARKE, Major. " J. MERCER, Captain. " JNº. RUTHERFORD, Captain. " ROBT. DOBSON, Captain. "J. KENNEDY, Captain. "SAML HOBSON, Captain."
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A Letter to Governor Morris from Colonel Dunbar. " SHIPPENSBURGH, August 17th, 1755.
" Sir :
" I had the favour of your Letter by the Express that brought me General Shirley's orders ; the condition both Officers and Soldiers are in makes it absolutely necessary to repair many deficiencies be- fore we proceed on such a March & Voyage; as you'l see us in about 2 days I'll say no more on that Head. We have not half the Tents We should have. Shoes, Shirts, Stockings, Camp Kettles, and flasks, very few. Every thing taken to the place of Action is absolutely lost ; neither Officer nor Soldier save more than was on their backs ; more than half the Arms are lost.
"We are obliged to You for your Offer relative to Tents and Cloaths, but before extra things are ordered it will be necessary to know how they are to be paid for, for sure it is we have not a Fund for either ; Cloaths for those they are due to are certainly sent to some Port in America, but 400 there are that have no claim until next June, and they are naked.
" I have laid this before General Shirley. I mean our General condition, and beg'd he wou'd send particular Instructions about them, which I hoped to receive at Philadelphia ; his Letter came to me in 9 Days; it will take 12 to get to Philadelphia, as we usually march & the time absolutely necessary for us to halt there will make it very practicable to have an answer to the inclosed to him, which I beg may be dispatched without loss of Time. I am,
" Sir, Your most Humble & Obedient Servant,
"THO DUNBAR.
" GOVERNOR MORRIS."
A Letter to General Shirley from Governor Morris. "PHILADA., August 24th, 1755. " Dear Sir :
" With this you will receive Colonel Dunbar's return to Your orders of the 12th Instant & the reasons that he and his Officers have for that Opinion, in addition to which it may be observed that Pennsylvania, the Province in which Fort Du Quesne is, and the best able to contribute largely to such an Expedition, as it abounds with men, Horses, Carriages, & provisions, will do nothing towards it, the Assembly having sett a Month & Adjourned themselves with- out raising any money for that Service.
" My intelligence from the Army is that they are in a very bad
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order, the Officers disagreeing with one another, & most of them having a Contempt for the Colonel that Commands them, that the men are in a poor and ragged Condition & don't relish another Cam- paign, as it is called. I find also that the Scheme is to Loiter as much time and make as many difficultys as possible, that these troops may not move from this place, or if that cannot be done then that they may go no further than Albany this Season. I think it right to hint these matters to you that You may in Your orders & instructions quicken their motion a little without taking any notice of this information, which, tho' I believe it true, I have not such authority for as will bear a publick examination.
" I have Yours from Canada Creek, & immediately sent forward by a fresh Express your letter to Colonel Dunbar about filling up vacancies. I have mentioned to him several times the recruits that Captain Benzitt has raised for his and the other Regiments, but have had no answer upon the head. Benzitt has now about one hundred & fifty very fine men, who I think should join the Regi- ments as soon as possible.
"I am in hopes you are now quite Master of the Lake Ontario with your little fleet, and that by their means you have full intelli- gence of the strength of the Enemy, who, I knowing the Impor- tance of the pass you are to attack, will doubtless draw all their force thither ; and I heartily wish that these Troops under Dunbar were already at Albany.
" Should you prove successful against Niagara, as I have high hopes and warm wishes that you may, you will permit me to say that you should employ an Officer well attached to you to carry the News to England, who should be furnished with every Argu- ment to shew the importance of the place, and the weight & conse- quence it is of to all America, that without it the French Trade Settlements upon the Ohio and the Lakes to the Southward cannot be supported, and what they have to the Northward of it are not worth keeping. You are sensible, Sir, how deep the first Impres- sions are, and experience has shewn in the case of Cape Breton how difficult it is to remove them however wrong ; you will excuse me, therefore, for being anxious upon this head. Military Men, I mean those brought up in the Army, have strong prejudices in favor of such an Education, & are very apt to believe that nothing great can be done without it; such, therefore, are to be trusted with Caution. Indeed I think you cannot have any Person so fit to em- ploy upon this Service as your own Son, who can have no Interest but what is Yours, & cannot raise himself but by your means. The Honour of gaining and securing that pass that will put it in the power of the English to become Masters of America, will be wholly yours, & you & your Family should receive the advantage of it. You will pardon the Freedom that I have taken in giving
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you my sentiments upon this subject, but you know the Friendship I have for you, and how much
"I am, Dear Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant, "ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS.
" His Excellency, Gen1. SHIRLEY."
Then were read and taken into Consideration the two Messages of the Assembly, which are as follows :
A Message to the Governor from the Assembly.
" May it please the Governor:
" The Governor was pleased in his Message of the fourteenth Instant to tell us that 'he was not yet satisfied it was in his power or consistent with his Trust to pass our Bill without his Amend- ments, whatever he might be when he heard what we proposed to say to him on that Head,' and we understood those words to express a suspension of his Determination for that Time. We since sent him a long Message containing the reasons of our Judgment, that it was both in his power and consistent with his Trust to pass the Bill without those amendments, and yet in answer to our Message of Yesterday requesting his final Resolution he is only pleased to say that he is surprized at such a Message, having told us in his said Message of the Fourteenth that he adhered to his amendments. We cannot see the reason of the Governor's surprize on this Occa -. sion, since from all that had passed between us, and especially as he had not sent down our Bill, we think the Governor could not but expect such a Message from us.
" The Governor thought fit in his Message of the 16th to acquaint us 'That he would readily pass a Bill for striking any Sum in Paper Money the present Exigency may require, provided Funds are established for sinking the same in Five Years.
" But as we have no funds capable of sinking so great a sum in Five Years without the assistance of on equitable Tax, to which the Governor would still have his objections in favour of the Proprie- tary Estate, and the proposal of striking Paper Money might lead us again into many Disputes, which we chose by the Form of this Bill to avoid, agreeable to the Governor's advice in his Speech at the opening of the Session we, in our Turn, should be surprized to receive such a proposal now from him if we had the least reason to think he was sincerely desirous of having any thing done for the defence of the Province.
" But now convinced that no farther benefit to the Country can arise from our continuing longer together at this Time, and being under a necessity of meeting again in a few weeks to settle the accounts of the Year, we take leave to acquaint the Governor that
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we incline to adjourn this day to the Fifteenth of September ensu- ing if he had no objection to that Time.
" Signed by Order of the House.
"ISAAC NORRIS, Speaker. " August 22d, 1755." 1
1
A Message to the Governor from the Assembly.
" May it please the Governor :
"In our Message of the thirty-first day of December last we returned an answer to the request the Governor then made 'that we wou'd provide for the Defence and safety of the Province, not only by affording such aids as his Majesty from Time to Time might require, but by establishing a regular Militia within this Province, and providing Arms and Stores of War, and building proper Maga- zines in the most convenient places.' And we have now again reconsidered that Message and his other Messages of the ninth, fifteenth, & twenty-first Instant, wherein we are told we are still without a Militia or the necessary means of Defence. The Elec- tions throughout the Province are near at hand, and our Assemblies may hereafter consider whether it will be of any real advantage to establish a regular Militia by Law. But as we find by the Gov- ernor's result upon our Bill for granting Fifty thousand pounds for the King's use he cannot think it consistent with the Trust reposed in him by the Proprietaries to pass that Bill, we find by experience that it can answer no good purposes to waste our Time in preparing Bills for his Assent in which for the common security and defence of the Province we apprehend it wou'd be a high Breach of the Trust reposed in us to Exclude the Proprietaries Estate from bear- ing any part of the Burthen, and if not excluded as the Governor asserts, must at last be rejected by him for want of sufficient pow- ers in his Commission ; and, therefore (had we no other objections), we hope the Governor will judge it reasonable after so many re- peated refusals of the Bills we have offered to him for granting large Sums of Money for the King's use, that we now wait the De- termination of our Superiors what powers he has or ought to have as our Governor under the Royal and Provincial Charters, and what exclusive rights our Proprietaries may be justly entitled to in the Laying and Levying of Taxes for the common Security and Defence of their Estates with all the other Estates within this Province.
"In the mean time we have taken care to answer the Petitions from the Inhabitants of the several Parts of this Province, recom- mended to us in the Governor's Message of the Fifteenth Instant, in the best manner we are able, which we hope will be satisfactory
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to them, and a Proof of the care we have for the Ease and Safety as well as the just rights of those we represent.
"Signed by order of the House.
"ISAAC NORRIS, Speaker.
" August 22nd, 1755, P. M."
The Governor communicated to the Council the Draught of his Letter to Sir Thomas Robinson, Secretary of State :
A Letter to the Secretary of State from Governor Morris.
" PHILADELPHIA, August 28th, 1755.
" Sir :
"Immediately upon the News of General Braddock's defeat near Fort Du Quesne, of which I informed you in my last, I summoned the Assembly of this Province and pressed them to grant Supplys for raising men to reinforce the remainder of the British Troops, that another attempt might be made this Season for the Reduction of that fortress, In which I had reason to think the neighbouring Provinces wou'd have joined, and we might together have made up a body of about five thousand men, besides the King's Troops, if this Province had begun and set a good Example, which being best able and most immediately concerned it was our duty to do.
"The Inhabitants were so alarmed at their Situation after the defeat, and so much afraid of being attacked by the Indians that great numbers petitioned the Assembly to make provisions for their Defence; upon these Petitions, and while the people were under the Influence of their fears, the Assembly talked of contributing largely but took care to make all the Delay they could, and in the mean time all the Quaker preachers and others of great weight were em- ployed to shew in their publick Sermons, & by going from House to House through the Province the sin of taking up Arms, and to persuade the People to be easy and adhere to their principles and privileges; and they scrupled not to give out that the Defeat was a just Judgment upon our Forces for attempting to disturb the French in their Settlement.
"Immediately after the meeting of the Assembly I let them know that on behalf of the proprietarys I was willing to give two hundred Acres of Land West of the Allegheny Hills to every Soldier, and a larger quantity to every Officer in proportion to their Rank that would go on an Expedition from this or the neighbouring Provinces against Fort Du Quesne; that the Land should be granted to them without purchase Money or office Fees, and be free from the pay- ment of Quit-Rents for fifteen Years to come. But this Offer, tho' a very considerable one, and such as would have induced many to have gone and afterwards to have settled in that Country, they took pains to slight and lessen in the Eyes of the people, that they might
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have a greater pretence for insisting upon taxing the proprietary Estate.
" When the Quaker preachers and other Political Engines had brought the people to a proper temper, the Assembly sent up a Bill for raising Fifty thousand pounds, but that it might not pass they put in a clause for taxing the unprofitable Lands belonging to the proprietors. This I told them I was restrained from doing by a pro- viso in my Commission that the thing was unreasonable in itself, contrary to the nature of Government and the constant usage in this and the other Provinces. But they insisted on my passing their Bill without Amendments, a claim never made till lately, and upon my refusal they have sent me two long, very abusive Mes- sages, highly reflecting upon the Proprietarys, and plainly calcu- lated to render them odious to the people and particularly so to the Germans.
" The Messages Mr. Penn will lay before You, and I am satisfied that they will appear to be of a very dangerous nature at this criti- cal Time, being intended to heat and inflame the minds of the people and to set them against the Government; and as the lower Class of people, particularly the Germans, who are very numerous here, implicitly believe what the Assembly say, these Messages will make them Jealous of the Government they live under, backward in assisting it, and more inclinable to submit to the French, & ac- cept of the offers they will doubtless make them.
"It think it my duty to observe to You that Mr. Benjamin Franklin, who holds an office of profit under the General post office, is at the head of these extraordinary measures taken by the As- sembly, writes their Messages and directs their motions.
"The remainder of the late Sir Peter Halkett's and Col®: Dun- bar's Regiments with three Independant Companies will be in this Town to-morrow, on their way to Albany, in the Province of New York, where General Shirley, upon whom the command of the Forces devolved by the death of General Braddock, has ordered them in case these Provinces declined another attempt this Season against Fort Du Quesne, which this Province has already done.
" From Albany they will be ordered to assist Colonel 'Johnson against Crown point, or General Shirley against Niagara, as will be thought most for his Majesty's Service when they arrive there, which I immagine they may do in about 15 days from this time.
" My last accounts from General Shirley are that he was within three days of Oswego, that the last division of his army was about four days behind him, that three Vessels were launched upon the Lake Ontario and fit for Service, and that a fourth would be launched soon after he got there. He intended to stay as little time as pos- sible at that place and proceed to Niagara, whence he had intelli- gence that the French were very busy in putting their works in the best order.
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