USA > Pennsylvania > Historical register : notes and queries historical and genealogical, chiefly relating to interior Pennsylvania. Volume II > Part 19
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Early this year, the military rank was fixed, the Governor being Colonel of all the forces; other officers with rank as . follows :
1757, December 2, Lt. Col. John Armstrong, Cumberland.
1758, January 2, Lt. Col. James Burd, Lancaster.
1757, December 4, Major Hugh Mercer, * Cumberland.
1758, February 22, Major Thomas Lloyd ; and so on through. the array.
In February, Lieutenant Colonel Burd visited the posts "from Susquehanna to Delaware." His journal is in volume three, new series of Pennsylvania Archives. He reached Fort Hunter on his second day from Lancaster; thence along the Kittatinny valley to Bethlehem, Easton, and Philadelphia, which he reached on the 10th of March. He soon participated in more stirring military duties. During the early fall, great efforts were made to recruit the Provincials so as to reinforce the army under Forbes and Bouquet. For this service Colonel James Burd was able to bring into the field 582 men. Wash- ington and his Virginians numbered 461. In the progress of the attempt to secure Fort DuQuesne, a battle of two days' continuance was fought on the 5th and 6th of August, 1758. Bouquet had encamped on a confluent of Turtle creek, known as "Brushy Run," where he encountered the Indians, and there the contest, " the Battle of Loyal Hannon," took place. This . locality is about six miles from what is at present "Penn Sta- tion," on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and very near " Harrison
* This was General Mercer, killed at Princeton.
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Col. James Burd, of Tinian.
City," in Westmoreland county. Colonel Burd was in this en- gagement, but no clue to his account of it can be found. vet he evidently wrote one to his wife, alluded to in the letter about to be quoted. Among contemporary comments upon this ex- pedition, some remarks from the free and caustic pen of Colonel John Armstrong. of Kittanning fame. may not be uninterest- ing. It was written soon after the capture of DuQuesne. He says: "God knows what the issue may be, but I assure you the better part of the troops are not at all dismar'd. The General [Forbes] came at a critical and seasonable juncture. He is weak, but his spirits good. Colonel Bouquet is a very sensible and useful man." Continuing his observations about the route he further remarks: "The Virginians are much chagrined at the opening of the road through this government, and Colonel Washington has been a good deal sanguine and obstinate upon the occasion." and informs his correspondent "that everything is vastly dear with us. The money goes like old Boots."
Colonel Bouquet writes Burd, on the 16th of October, that "General Forbes has fired a feu de joie for your affair:" but docs not state what " affair " it was or where. That Burd ac- tively participated in the victorious engagement at Loval Han- non there can be no question, and the following. from his father- in-law, Shippen, never heretofore published-the original is among the papers of the Dauphin County Historical Society- is interesting. It presents his conduct as it was understood by the public authorities and his fellow-soldiers. The neat self- glorification on the part of the writer gives a pleasant glimpse .of the pride of a family circle over this "feat in arms" of a favorite son-in-law. The superscription bears an elaborate ad- dress. The bearer was Colonel George Gibson, father of the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of this State, John Bannister Gibson, whose mother was Fanny West. a niece of the Hermanus Alricks whom we have already quoted :
"To | Coll. James Burd, commander | of the Second Battalion | of the Pennsylvania Regiment | at | Loyal Hanning | Per Favour of | Mr. George Gibson, Q. D. : |
"LANCASTER, 6th Nov., 1758.
"Dear Mr. Burd : About the 15th or 16th ultimo, Johnny Gibson, Messrs. Hans Barr, & Levi Andrew Levi, wrote us from Raystown,
-
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that an acc't was just arrived there from Loyal Hanning. of your be- ing attackt by a very large party of French & Indians from Fort du Quesne, & that you had killed two or three hundred and taken as many prisoners & beat off the rest. This now, you may be sure, gave us great cause of rejoicing, as it did the people of Philada., to whom Mr. Barnabas Hughes carryed copy's of these letters. Nay, I sent down two or three copies of them to cousin Allen & Neddy, [his son, the Judge.] In two days afterwards we had the pleasure to see your letter to Sally, [ Mrs. Burd.] of the 14th ulto., with a confirmation of the repulse you had given the enemy: & tho' you were quite silent as to the number killed, &c., yet our joy was greatly increased. I make no doubt you have slain a considerable number of the enemy, and I don't care a farthing whether I ever know the quantity, nor do I care whether you have killed more than half a dozen of them ; it is enough for me to be convinced that you have driven off the enemy, & have bravely maintained the Post you were sent to sustain; & were you certain you had killed two or three hundred, out of 12 or fourteen hundred before their retreat, yet you could not be sure of success had you sallyed out and pursued them. Indeed, by taking such a greedy step, you might have been drawn into an ambuscade, & by that means been defeated, which might have put an end to the present expedi- tion. You happily called to mind, that a Bird in hand was worth two in a Bush ; & tho' you don't pretend to equal skill with an ex- perienced officer, yet I think you may lay claim to some share of Bravery, as you have so well defended your post, & I make no ques- tion but y'r General will pronounce you a good & faithful servant & will entrust you another time. I suppose he is with you by this time, considering the season of the year, the badness (now) of the road and the quantity of Provisions now at Raystown and Loyal Han- ning, and the difficulty, or rather, (if ye winter should shut in imme- diately.) the impossibility of getting ye any more before the spring : I say he is without doubt considering all those things ; and so am I. And I am almost ready to conclude it will be impracticable, not to say imprudent, to attempt to march a step further this fall. But let the glorious attempt be made now, or at any other time, I pray God to give Him success, & return you all home in peace and safety."
The letter is a very long one. Its public interest here ceases : we cannot. however, resist a further extract from its interesting allusions to domestic habits and foreign and local gossip :
" Your wife and children are all well ; but I can only just say so of poor Polly & Allen, who have been very ill these two or three months with ye Dumb ague, fever and ague, & intermitting fever, but no as- sistance your poor Mamma could give them has even been wanting.
"Last Friday I sold all the cattle from Shippensburg at vendue for £36, pyble. next spg. ; there were 29 head big & little. I reprimanded
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Col. James Burd, of Tinian.
Johny Pyper for not sending them down the minute he was sensible the Meadows would be destroyed by the cattle belonging to the army. It is true we heard from yourself six weeks or 2 months ago on this head, but then it was too late. No, they ought to have been sold in June & then they would have yielded twice as much money ; but what raised my indignation most, was, that after I had written to him he made no answer till to this day, & then ordered his brother Billy to call & tell us he was sick, & therefore expected we would send up for them."
Shippen states the expenses of this vendue "for Cryer 10 shillings, the expenses, travel & all at 40 shillings " and further on gives an item of public interest. " There is good news from Europe in the papers now sent under cover to Major Shippen. I refer him to your letter & him to yours. Mr. Franklin keeps a chariot in England. & visits our Mutual friend Mr. Hamilton sometimes." Then he closes :
" It was prudently and kindly done in you to let your Wife & us know you were safe & well, & I hope God's blessing will be con- tinued to you Both. I forgot to tell ye, Major, that Mr. Davis a min- ister has solicited twice & as often essayed to be President of Nassau Hall at Princetown. Mr. Findley is very clever and much approved by a great number of the Trustees, & particularly by the Tutors & Scholars. Nay, Mr. Halsey, (who took a bed with us night before last, on his return from Mr. Davis's) assured me that he was very lit- tle inferior to Mr. Burr-and if he was a New England man would be chosen Nominee con. It is bed time & Mr. Gibson is to be off at break of day, so must conclude with Mrs. Shippen's, Mrs. Gray, and Miss Patty & yr Daughter Sally's Love to you both, D'r Mr. Burd. " Your affectionate Father,
EDWARD SHIPPEN."
Indorsed by Burd. "Edward Shippen, Nov. 6, 1758." In another handwriting "Battle of Fort Hanning." From the tone of this letter, Mr. Shippen does not seem to have thought all the culture of the country centered in New England cler- gymen.
In April, 1759, Doctor, who had become Major, Mercer, at Fort Du Quesne, writes Burd, touching the very "hard times in the garrison," closing with the not very complimentary remark, that "your battalion and Col. Armstrong's will never be in character till half a dozen officers are broke." These officers were following the army "as peddlers."
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In September. Col. Burd addresses Bouquet from "camp at Little Meadows," that the road is excessively bad, and advises that greater labor should be applied to forming a better : "It is not more than 10 feet wide & directly up and down hill." Burd at the same time informs Gen. Stanwix that he has the road open to the mouth of Redstone creek, but it was in bad condition. He completed " Redstone " fort in this year.
The ensuing year, 1760, was one of activity. As early as May, orders were issued for the campaign. The following, not heretofore published, was sent to Burd:
" PHILADELPHIA, 22d May, 1760.
"SIR: I am directed by General Monckton to acquaint you, that orders are gone to Mr. Boude, Storekeeper at Lancaster, to deliver as many Arms & Accoutriments, as are wanted to Arm the effectives of the Two Battallions of The Pensilvania Regiments now under your command at Lancaster, for which you will give a receipt.
"I am further commanded by the General to acquaint you, it is his orders, you march with that part of The Pensilvania Regim't now at Lancaster, on the 3d of June next, for Carlisle, where the storekeeper of the Artillery, will deliver to your order, as many tents, as are the necessary for the effectives of the Battallion under your command. Upon your arrival at Carlisle, The General would have you encamp your Battallion until further orders, & what- ever Arms, or Accoutriments, are in wanting for the rest of the Pensilvania Regiment, will be provided at Carlisle. The General desires you will order all Recruiting and out Partys, & all Officers, &. Men who are absent from your Battallion (Those upon duty at the Posts on The Communication only excepted) to be at Carlisle on the 10th of June next. Mr. Peters will send these orders to all your Recruiting Partys on this side The Province.
"Major Jammeson is also ordered to march from York for Carlisle on the 3d of June.
" I am sir " Your most obedient " Most Humble Servant, " H. GATES, M. B."
This letter is addressed "On his Majesty's Service." "To Colonel Burd or officer commanding The Pensilvania Regi- ment at Lancaster." Sealed with the coat of arms, in wax, of Gates. Indorsed "Horatio Gates, Phil'a May 22d, answered 25th do. 1760." The original in the library of the Dauphin County Historical Society.
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Col. James Burd. of Tinian.
This campaign ended in August, in a conference at Pitts- bargh between Monekton and the Indians. Burd was a mem- ber of it as commanding the Pennsylvania regiment. This service, and the return of the troops to the eastern slope of the Allegheny mountains, terminated the campaign and secured Fort Pitt. The conference occurred on the 12th : was attended by a great concourse of Indians, ending in an amicable adjust- ment of differences, and was observed by both parties until the Pontiac war of 1763. Among the correspondence of the year is a note from Shippen to Burd at Fort Pitt. giving notice "that there will be no Spanish war this year," which the latter was " very glad to hear."
In July, 1762, William Allen writes from Philadelphia that the "ore " Burd had sent from Tinian " is not copper but iron." It is not probable that this specimen was found on Tinian, but the neighborhood is full of iron pyrites, and it may have been picked up on any of the adjoining farms toward the Swatara creek, in which neighborhood there are large deposits very much resembling copper.
In this year Col. Burd was commissioner "to receive all such prisoners as shall be brought to Fort Pitt as was agreed upon " by the "Lancaster treaty." On his return from this duty, he had much vexation with a clerk in the Provincial store at Fort Augusta, writing to the Government that "it really vexes me much to be eternally plagued in this manner * * the more so, that it is an accusation of the highest breach of trust for me to break a well known law of the Government whose bread I daily eat." The annoyance arose from the old story of sell- ing liquor to the Indians on their visits to the fort, against which stringent commands had been issued, but as loosely enforced then as they are at present.
In 1763, he was ordered by Gov. Hamilton to set off from Tinian in hot haste for Augusta, thence to Wyoming, to meet Connecticut Commissioners, an order for the appointment of such a Commission on the part of this Province having been issued by the King in June, but was not received and acted upon at Philadelphia until the 20th of October. The Connecticut Com- mission did not reach the valley of Wyoming until the follow-
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ing November. Upon a meeting, the business, so far as Burd was concerned, was completed. Strangely, Chapman's "His- tory of Wyoming," page 71, edition 1830, states that "Col. James Boyd was ordered, &c." He is followed by Miner, p. 54, edition 1845. To the latter the correspondence upon the subject was accessible. The fact is, there was no Col. James Boyd in the service of the Province in 1763. There was "Capt." Andrew Boyd, in 1774, who became a colonel about the close of the Revolution. This explanation is made, not so much upon Burd's account, as to correct an historical error which has long passed as entirely correct .*
Late in November Burd reached Augusta, where he found the "small-pox had very much reduced the garrison." Hav- ing no medicine, he closes with the melancholy remark that " nature must do the whole." Many of the poor fellows died for want of medicines and medical advice. He remained at the fort during the rest of this year and part of the next, as will be found by what follows.
Early in January, 1764, Shippen, from Lancaster, addresses Burd, at Augusta, about the conduct of the Paxtang Boys, and on the 19th Burd replies, "that he was heartily concerned for that murder of the Indians in Lancaster, not so much on ac- count of the Indians, as the thorough contempt showed the Gov- . ernment." To be sure, the " Government," at this juncture, was frightened out of its wits, and in that state was rather an object of contempt; discord reigned in every branch of it. At no period in Provincial history was the feud more bitter between the "proprietary " and " anti-proprietary " parties. Dr. Frank- lin, with his influence, tact, experience, and ability was at that mo- ment "in very courteous accord with the Quakers and the anti- proprietary party." On the other hand was the proprietary party,
* There was received, October 20, 1763, instructions from the King, dated June 15, 1763, relative to reported transactions in Wyoming, in pursuance of which Gov. Hamilton commissioned " Colonel James Burd, of the county of Lancaster, Esqr.," a Commissioner on the part of Pennsylvania, to act with one clothed with similar powers on behalf of Connecticut, to prevent further settlements on the property of the Six Nations ; for full particulars, consult Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, vol. 9, pages 59, 60.
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Col. James Burd, of Tinian.
with all the settlements from Schuylkill to Susquehanna at its back. a hearty friend in every cabin, influenced by men of cul- ture, courage, means, and great prudence. The violence of the borderers in the raid of the Paxtang Boys was provoked by the horrid atrocities of the Indians, which, it was truthfully al- leged, were suffered to go unpunished to satisfy morbid scru- ples of prominent Friends. The frontiersmen, failing to obtain just protection, took the last resort and were successful. They won protection, and with it prosperity. Life was secure there- after in all the Province south of the Kittatinny Mountain.
Burd does not appear to have been on extended or active duty during the Pontiac war.
From 1766 to 1770, Yeates, Ross, Atlee, and Burd, with kindred spirits, undertook to regulate the politics of Lancaster county. They found it a troublesome and expensive under- taking, "as the people of Hanover, Derry, Lebanon, and Pax- tang were so difficult to manage." Yet they were managed to the satisfaction of these leading gentlemen, then and after- wards.
Edward S. Burd, the son, writes to his father from Philadel- phia, where he was a young lawyer, a good deal about servants; at length he " has sent him a servant costing about £20"-or nearly $75 of to-day.
In March, 1769, "a meeting of the officers of the Pennsyl- vania Regiment who served from the years 1756 to 1760" was held at Lancaster, consisting of Colonel Burd, Major Joseph Shippen, Paymaster and Commissary James Young, Chaplain Thomas Barton, Captains David Jameson, Robert Callender, Edward Biddle, and Surgeon John Morgan, to give an account of the "several applications they had made" for a grant of land. A list of officers who served "was delivered in," prepared by Burd, as "Colonel and Deputy Quarter-master General by commission of General Monckton." The commit- tee was unsuccessful in its object. The original minutes and list of officers are in the collection of the Dauphin County His- torical Society and published by it in November, 1872. It is headed by John Armstrong, of Carlisle; Hugh Mercer, of Cumberland, now Franklin ; and James Burd, of Dauphin.
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After the security won by the men of Paxtang within the settlements and by Bouquet west of the Ohio, the Provincial forces were reduced but not disbanded. A force was on duty at all times, commanded in chief by the Governor, in theory but practically by Armstrong and Burd as senior Lt. Colonels. There was not much to be done, and Burd was at his farm, pay- ing an occasional visit to the posts along the Susquehanna usual- ly left in charge of an officer below the rank of Major. Thus these provincial military magnets closely followed the example of their English cousins, and it may be inferred with intensified dignity. This pride of rank was unfortunate for Burd in the stormy time approaching. The interval of quiet was not of long duration. We find him, July, 1774, chairman of the " Committee of Lancaster county for the relief of our fellow suf- ferers at Boston." In December, he was a delegate to the Lan- caster committee from Paxtang with Capt. Joseph Sherer as colleague, both "active in their efforts to recruit the army."
In May, 1775, he was reelected to the Lancaster Committee of Safety, with William Brown and Joseph Sherer as colleagues. In October, a contest for committeemen took place, John Harris and James Crouch on the one side, James Burd and Samuel Awl on the other. The four presented themselves as elected, but as Paxtang was only entitled to two delegates, a scrutiny led to the exclusion of Burd and Awl. Thus far Burd had an excellent record as a patriot. Subsequent occurrences and dis- putes respecting military rank created a suspicion that he was not heartily with the extreme patriots as all his neighbors were.
In the beginning of 1776, while Burd was recruiting two battalions for the campaign in which so many disasters occurred closing with success and glory at Trenton and Princeton, the enmity between the Shippens and their connections, most of whom held comfortable and lucrative Provincial offices, and the fiery patriots of the Executive Committee led by Wharton, Mifflin, and Wayne, broke out with great bitterness. Burd, a positive man and a Scotchman to boot, took sides with his con- nections. This, unquestionably, was the reason of his being overslaughed at the formation of the Pennsylvania Line dur- ing this year. In the contest for position, Mifflin, scarcely thirty
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Col. James Burd, of Tinian.
years of age, without military experience but "of the stuff of which men are made," an agreeable and popular orator, brave and earnest, became the Brigadier; Wayne, about as raw a soldier, a furious politician, soon a famous fighter, senior Colonel. Judging by the custom which governs promotion in military circles, Burd, after Armstrong, was clearly entitled to one or other of these positions. We know the valorous John Arm- strong, of Kittanning fame, was grievously offended. It took reams of letter-writing on the part of the "young fellows," as he dubbed them, to persuade his submission. He yielded at last, entered the service, and became a Brigadier before the con- test ended. Burd's feelings must have been seriously wounded ; at the very time, as a Provincial Colonel, he was enrolling men to aid in the overthrow of the Provincial authority. The an- tagonism alluded to had grown to such a height that, in 1777, with other prominent men, Edward and Joseph Shippen, two of Burd's brothers-in-law, were arrested by the Executive Com- mittee charged " with disloyalty ;" yet Edward afterwards be- came Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, and Joseph a Colonel on the Continental establishment. This imputation of Toryism upon the Shippens reacted upon Burd's pretensions, particu- larly in that part of the State in which he resided. Its popu- lation was full of fight, and could brook no delay for purposes of argument. Burd at his home, one hundred miles away, could only judge of the effects of them upon his own fortunes in the events which followed. He had great trouble and vexation of spirit at home. The levies did not wish to march in that in- clement December of 1776 without an organization or camp comforts ; the same feeling acted upon the officers. Thus, just at Christmas, at the moment of a most eminent success, Burd made the blunder of his life-he resigned. It is proper to say that these levies were very unruly recruits, but excellent soldiers, when the new regulations merged them under Gen. Hand.
Burd's letter to William AtLee, (not "Colonel" AtLee,) President of the Lancaster Committee, was conveyed to Gen- eral Mifflin through that channel.
In March, 1777, Judge Yeates addresses Burd hoping he will give his aid "to the establishment of a regular post-rider," from
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Harris's to Lancaster, adding a bit of family gossip, " that Sally [Mis. Y.] tells me Peggy [soon to be Mrs. Hublev] is not to cut out her rufiles until she can send up a pattern." Perhaps this was the very wedding dress of Miss Peggy Burd. This "post" was established about 1781. The rider set out from Lancaster, thence to Mount Joy, to Middletown, to Harris' Ferry ; returning after his two days' ride by way of Middletown, Conoy, Donegal. Columbia to Lancaster. This continued for about ten years, when a " stage wagon " left John Harris' for Lancaster, weekly." The post-office was established at Harris- burg in 1792. In Lancaster the year previous.
After this the life of Burd is entirely domestic : planting, securing, and disposing of his products. Tradition, for we have met but one or two persons that ever saw him, informs us that he was of rugged frame, about six feet in height, active and brisk in his movements, a fearless rider, and of polished address. Finding a residence so early within the present Dauphin county, he may be set down as one of the original settlers of "Paxtang," as all the country from Donegal to the Kittatinny was then known. The iconoclastic destination of his domestic corre- spondence, his books of accounts, and papers, after the usual reckless American habit, debars the inquirer or the curious from learning much more of the subject of this sketch.
Tradition is also silent as to his personal relations with his neighbors, but that he felt great interest in all that concerned his vicinage is illustrated by this incident. About 1770-5, the mill at Highspire was erected and early required repairs at the hands of an experienced millwright. Mr. Conrad Bombaugh, aftewards one of the original settlers of Harrisburg, was selected for this duty. In the progress of it, Burd, who was anxious for its success, visited the scene almost daily, and as a scarcity of water was apprehended from the uncertain supply of the stream, he offered the prudent German who owned the prem- ises the right to control a water-course of considerable flow on part of his land, with the sole condition that he should not be charged "toll for his grists brought to the mill." The owner slept on the matter and next day rejected the offer. The mill- wright scolded and neighbors laughed at this stupidity. Had
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