USA > Rhode Island > Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England. Printed by order of the General Assembly, Vol. V > Part 41
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly, and by the au-
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thority thereof it is enacted, that four companies, to consist of fifty men each, including officers, be forthwith raised and sub- sisted at the charge of the colony, to be added unto those al- ready raised and ordered to be raised for the expedition against Crown Point ; and that when said companies are raised, they be sent and joined unto the regiment of this government, under the command of Col. Christopher Harris ; and that an act be drawn up accordingly, by a committee to be appointed by both houses.
This Assembly do vote and resolve, and it is voted and re- solved, that Jeremiah Lippitt, William Richmond, Daniel Jenckes and Daniel Updike, Esqs., be, and they are hereby ap- pointed a committee, to prepare a bill for raising four compa- nies towards a reinforcement of the army gone against Crown Point, agreeably to the vote of this Assembly made and passed for that purpose.
An Act for raising two hundred men to reinforce the English army gone against Crown Point.
Whereas, by advices lately received from Major General Johnson, commander in chief of the provincial forces employed in the expedition against Crown Point, it appears that the French are in a condition to bring a much greater number of men to oppose that enterprise, than the colonies had at that time raised for carrying it on, which makes it absolutely ne- cessary that large reinforcements be speedily sent unto our army ; and as the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, and the colony of Connecticut, have already ordered very large num- bers of men to be immediately raised and employed in that service ; and this colony is willing also to contribute in propor- tion to their ability, towards so necessary a measure,-
Be it therefore enacted by this General Assembly, and by the authority thereof it is enacted, that two hundred men be forthwith raised in this colony, to be disposed into four compa- nies of fifty mon each, including officers ; and as soon as the said companies are respectively full, the committee of war im- mediately cause them to move forward and join the regiment al-
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ready raised, and now in the service, under the command of Col. Christopher Harris.
And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the sol- diers so to be raised, shall, upon their enlistment, receive each man a bounty of £40, and a good blanket, gratis ; or, in lieu thereof, £8, if he furnish himself with one; and the officers shall have and receive the following monthly wages, viz. :
Every captain, £100; every lieutenant, £60; every en- sign, £50; every sergeant and drummer, £20; every corporal, £18 ; and each common soldier, £16; all which wages and boun- ties, shall be paid and given in old tenor bills of public credit ; moreover, every officer and soldier shall have one month's pay advanced to him before he marches, and enjoy the same immuni- ties and advantages which the soldiers already raised in this colony are allowed by the former acts.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that officers shall be forthwith chosen to command the said four companies ; and in case any of them when chosen, shall refuse to take his office, or neglect to enter upon the duty of enlist- ing men forthwith, or shall die, that the committee of war shall appoint another or others in his or their stead ; and all and every of said officers shall be commissioned by His Honor, the Governor, in the same manner and form as the former officers were ; and shall use their best endeavors to enlist as many able bodied men as possible in any part of the colony, for the making up their respective companies, until the 22d day of this instant September, when they shall make a proper and ex- act return of their enlistment unto the committee of war; and if it shall happen that the companies are not filled up at said time, the committee of war shall forthwith cause the number of men wanted to be immediately impressed, according to the following proportion as near as may be, viz .:
The regiment of the county of Newport, seventy.
The regiment of the county of Providence, fifty-five.
The regiment of the county of Kings county, forty-eight.
The regiment of the county of Kent, twenty-seven.
Nevertheless, of the twenty men already enlisted, sixteen
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shall be assigned to the county of Kings county, and four to the county of Kent, as part of their proportion ; and when re- turn is made of the number of men necessary to complete the said four companies, the committee of war, or any two of them, shall forthwith give orders to the respective field officers of the regiments aforesaid, to cause an impress to be made immedi- ately, as near as may be in equal proportion, according to the number of soldiers in the several trained bands in their respec- tive regiments ; and this proportion shall be settled by the field officers in each regiment, according to the muster rolls of the several companies, which they shall cause to be laid before them, and sworn unto by the clerks; and thereupon, the prin- cipal field officer, in each regiment, shall issue warrants, direct- ed to the several captains in his regiment, requiring them forthwith to cause to be impressed the number of able bodied men respectively deficient, as aforesaid ; and requiring all the other officers and soldiers in his regiment, to be aiding and assisting therein ; and officers that shall refuse or omit to per- form the duties hereby enjoined, shall incur the following for- feitures, to be recovered in bills of credit, of the old tenor, by bill, plaint, or information, in any court of record, within this colony, viz. :
Every field officer, £500; every captain, lieutenant and en- sign, £200; and every sergeant and corporal, £100; and im- mediately after the number deficient is impressed, return shall be made unto the committee of war.
And every man impressed, as aforesaid, shall be obliged to attend the King's service, in the said expedition, upon the penalty of £100, old tenor, to be recovered as aforesaid; or shall find a good able bodied man to attend the service in his stead ; and every man impressed, as aforesaid, shall afterwards have liberty to enlist as a volunteer ; all which forfeitures and penalties made and recovered, as aforesaid, shall be disposed of to the colony's use ; and that His Honor, the Governor, forth- with issue warrants, requiring the field officers to conform themselves unto this act.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that
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all enlisting officers shall, upon the day appointed for making return of their enlistments, report the number of small arms wanted, unto the committee of war, who shall hire or give or- ders for impressing them, according to their discretion.
And be it further enacted, that in case there shall be at the time of marching, any deficiency in the number of soldiers, by sickness, death or desertion, the committee of war shall cause it to be supplied in manner aforesaid, according to their discre- tion ; and shall have power, if any be not duly qualified for the service when impressed, to grant him or them, a release, and cause another or others to be taken in his or their stead.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all who have deserted from the army shall be forgiven, in case they surrender themselves unto the committee of war, and again return to their duty before the troops by this act order- ed to be raised, shall move forward ; and hereof, the committee of war shall forthwith set up public advertisements.
And to the end that there may be a sufficiency in the gen- eral treasury for raising said men, paying the bounties and defraying other incident charges,-
Be it further enacted, that the sum of £60,000, old tenor, be forthwith struck off from the plates before used in this ex- pedition, and signed by the committee that signed the former bills, and lodged in the treasurer's office, to be drawn out by the committee of war, and used as occasion may require.
And be it further enacted, that the bills so emitted, shall, pursuant to act of Parliament, be called in and sunk within the space of two years from the passing this act, by a tax, to be assessed and levied upon the inhabitants of this colony, in the same manner as the money last made for carrying on this expedition, is to be called in and sunk.
An Act to prevent the desertion of the forces raised and to be raised in this colony, for the expedition against Crown Point.
Be it enacted by this General Assembly, and by the au- thority thereof it is enacted, that all magistrates, justices of the
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peace, sheriffs and their deputies, all constables, and other civil officers, and all military officers, and all other persons whatever, shall have power and authority to apprehend any person or persons in the King's service, that have or shall desert there- from, and cause him or them to be committed to any of His Majesty's jails in this colony, in order to be sent by some one of the committee of war unto the army, if the same can be done ; but if not, such deserter or deserters shall be imprison- ed until the return of the forces, and then to be tried and pun- ished for such desertion, by martial law ; and all deserters from the aforesaid army, that were enlisted in the neighboring govern- ments, shall, if found in this colony, be apprehended in like manner, and sent to the governments where, they respectively belong.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that whoever shall receive, or entertain in his, her, or their house, any such deserter, or deserters, or shall employ him or them to labor, or give, or sell him or them any victuals, or other sus- tenance, or shall conceal, or neglect to apprehend and deliver him or them to the authority, if in his, her, or their power, knowing such person or persons to have been guilty of deser- tion, as aforesaid, they shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of £60, old tenor, unto and for the use of this colony ; to be recovered in any court of record, by bill, plaint, or infor- mation.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no person or persons appearing in a common character, shall be permitted to travel within this colony, save in the county where such traveller or travellers actually dwell, without a pass, under the hand of a justice of the peace or some superior officer, in this or the neighboring governments.
And His Honor, the Governor, is desired to correspond with the governors of the Massachusetts Bay, and Connecticut, and agree with them upon some method of procuring constant in- telligence from the army gone against Crown Point.
Both houses being resolved into a grand committee, the fol-
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lowing officers were chosen to command the four companies now ordered to be raised, as a further reinforcement of the army, now gone against Crown Point, under the command of Major General Johnson, to wit :
Daniel Bosworth, captain ; Christopher Hargil, lieutenant ; and William Nichols ensign of the first (which will be the eighth) company in the service of this colony, for the expedi- tion, aforesaid.
John Potter, Jr., captain ; William Richmond, Jr., lieuten- ant; and James Tew, Jr., ensign, of the second (which will be the ninth) company, and is to be raised part in the county of Newport, and part in the county of Kent.
Robert Hopkins, captain ; Ebenezer Cahoone, lieutenant ; and Giles Russel, ensign of the third (which will be the tenth) company.
Barzillai Richmond, captain ; Ebenezer Jenckes, lieutenant ; and Nathaniel Peck, ensign, of the fourth (which will be the eleventh) company, and is to be raised in the county of Provi- dence.
This Assembly do vote and resolve, and it is voted and re- solved, that the general treasurer forthwith raise £5,000 of the colony's money, which he has let to Jeoffrey Watson, Esq., and deliver the same unto the committee appointed to re-build Fort George, agreeably to the act of the last Assembly.
Whereas, Joseph Scott, Esq., sheriff of the county of New- port, exhibited unto this Assembly, an account by him charged against the government, for his time, expenses and horse hire in apprehending Peleg Barker, of Tiverton, searching his house for counterfeit bills, and bringing him to Newport, in order to an examination ; and for money disbursed, in paying two men for their time and horse hire, to aid him in that mat- ter ; and for his time, horse hire and expenses in two journeys to Mendon, to apprehend people that had been concerned in counterfeiting bills of credit emitted by this colony, for money paid unto officers and sundry other persons that assisted him therein ; for searching after, and finding the plates, and for his
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expenses in putting up the pillory for, and taking it down, after cutting the ears of Joshua Reed, and treating his aid, &c .; which being duly examined,-
This Assembly do vote and resolve, and it is voted and re- solved, that the said account be, and the same is, hereby al- lowed ; and that £125 6s., the amount thereof, be paid the said Joseph Scott, out of the general treasury.
Whereas, Capt. Job Bennett, Jr., exhibited unto this Assem- bly, an account by him charged against the government, for his time, horse hire and expenses, when after persons suspect- ed to have been concerned in counterfeiting the Crown Point £16 bills, emitted by this colony ; and in apprehending Jo- seph Monroe and Joshua Reed, for money advanced to sun- dry officers who assisted him in that business; and for money advanced, to have the pillory put up for, and taken down, after cropping Monroe, Ide and Win, and treating his aid ; which being duly examined,-
This Assembly do vote and resolve, and it is voted and re- solved, that the said account be, and the same is hereby al- lowed ; and that £52 7s., the amount thereof, be paid the said Job Bennett, Jr., out of the general treasury.
Be it enacted by this General Assembly, and by the au- thority thereof it is enacted, that every master of a vessel that may befired at by Fort George, shall pay £5, in old tenor bills of credit, for every shot, to be applied unto the use of the colony ; and upon neglect or refusal to pay the same, shall be subject to a prosecution from the captain of the fort, for the time being, agreeably to the set forms now used in the courts of law, in this colony.
God save the King.
Governor Shirley to Major General Johnson.
Camp at Oswego, Sept. 19th. 1755.
Sir :- Three days ago, I received a letter from Mr. Stevenson, of Albany, en- closing a copy of the general letter, which you have sent to Lieutenant Governor Phipps, and the governors of the other colonies, which have raised forces for the expedition against Crown Point, giving an account of two actions, which happened
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on the 10th instant, between the army under your command, and the French; in the first of which, a detachment of one thousand English, commanded by Col. Williams, and a party of two hundred Indians of the Six Nations, were defeated, with a considerable loss on their side ; in the second, the French, &c., their Indians attacked the main body of your army in their camp, at Lake George, and were re- pulsed with a considerable one on theirs.
Mr. Stevenson informs me, that upon finding I had no letter directed to me among the paekets, which came from your camp, and discovering the words upon the seal side of that directed to Governor Phips, " Please to despatch a copy of this letter to General Shirley, my time and circumstances won't permit my writing to him immediately," he opened it, and took a copy of it, to be sent forthwith to me ; and as the events contained in it, so nearly concern His Majesty's service, under my immediate command, as well as his other service upon this continent, under my di- rection, I can't avoid expressing my surprise at your omission to acquaint me with them directly from yourself; which, let your hurry and circumstances be what they would, you might at least have done by ordering your secretary or any clerk, to transcribe a copy of your letter to the governors, to be sent me from Albany, in- stead of desiring Lieut. Governor Phips to send me one from Boston.
What could be your reason for postponing my being acquainted with these mat- ters, which I ought to have known as soon as possible, to so distant a time, as my hearing from Mr. Phips must have been, seems difficult to say.
However that may be, my duty to His Majesty requires me to take the first op- portunity of transmitting you my sentiments upon the present state of the service, which I have put under your immediate direction.
Upon the statement of your letter to the several governors, sir, it appears to me that the late defeat of the French forces and their Indians in the engagement at your camp, hath given you a favorable opportunity of proceeding, as soon as the expected reinforcements from New England shall join you at Ticonderoga ; which post, since you have taken the route to Crown Point, that you have done, it is of the utmost consequence to the success of the expedition under your command, to make yourself master of as soon as possible.
By the account given in the copy of the minutes of your council of war, enclosed to me in your letter of the 1st instant, of the strength of your army a few days be- fore the late actions, and in your letter to the governors, of the loss you have sus- tained in both engagements, the number of your remaining troops must, upon the arrival of your reinforcement from New England, exceed four thousand ; and that of your Indians, be upwards of two hundred.
From the account given you by the French general, your prisoner, of the strength of his army, in the beginning of the first action, it consisted of two hundred grenadiers, eight hundred Canadians and seven hundred Indians, of different na- tions ; and from the account given you by his aid-de-camp of the loss of the French and the Indians, in both actions, and the pursuit which ensued, they lost in the whole one thousand men, and the major part of their chief officers, together with Monsieur Pierre, the officer who had the chief command and greatest influence over the Indians ; so that according to their accounts, which seem most to be de- pended upon, the French had not above seven hundred men left of their whole army, which attacked your camp.
In these actions, sir, you have experienced the good behaviour of your officers and troops, who must be now flushed with their late victory ; the French, on
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the other hand, must be greatly disconcerted by the late defeat of their army, and loss of their general, and so many of their principal officers ; and the French In- dians, in particular (which consists of different nations), by the loss of Monsieur St. Pierre, who seems to have been a necessary officer for keeping them together.
You had before acquainted me, in your letter of the 1st instant, from your camp, at Lake George, that " some Indians, you * * sent out * * * * on the scout, told you, they had discovered a party of French and In- dians, at Ticonderoga ; but that no works were thrown up then ; and that you was impatient to get a number of batteaux up, and put in order ; when you proposed to proceed with a part of the troops, and endeavor to take post at Ticonderoga."
I hope, sir, if that is not yet done, that you still propose doing it, as soon as pos- sible ; the necessity of driving the enemy from that pass, still continues; the longer time is given them to fortify it, the more difficult it will be to dislodge them, and the more you will lose the advantage, which their defeat, and your own victory have given you to effect it.
You say in your letter to the governors, " Your men have suffered so much fa- tigue for three days past, and are constantly standing upon the arms by day, half the whole upon guard every night, and the rest lay down armed and accoutred, that both officers and men are almost worn out ; that the enemy may rally, and you judge they have considerable reinforcements near at hand ; so that you think it necessary to be on your guard, and be watchful to maintain the advantage, you have gained."
To make the most of the advantage you have gained, it seems clear, sir, that you should make use of the opportunity it hath given you, of proceeding upon your ex- pedition, whilst the spirits of your army are elated with success, and those of the enemy lowered by the loss of the greatest part of theirs.
As to your apprehensions, that the enemy might rally, and that they had con- siderable reinforcements near at hand ; it is mentioned in your letter, that your men and Indians pursued the French soon after their repulse, slaughtered great numbers, and took several prisoners, among whom, was the French general, him- self; so that their army was entirely routed, and yours master of the field ; rally- ing the second day after so general a rout as this, is, I believe, unknown in the case even of great armies ; and that the small remains of the French army should return the next day to the attack of your camp, where they had so lately felt the effects of your cannon against their musketry, seems not much to be apprehended ; it is more probable, that the slaughter they had suffered in the pursuit, with their loss of most of their chief officers, will in the end occasion, if not a total dissipation of the Indians, yet at least a great desertion among them, and of the Canadians, too.
Upon what foundation you judge that the French army had considerable rein- forcements near at hand, is not mentioned in your letter ; it seems more likely, that they sent all the forces they could spare, from Ticonderoga and Crown Point (where you say so many of the regular troops were posted) to attack your camp ; es- pecially as they were to do it only with musketry.
You say, further, in your letter to the governors, " that from the papers of Mon- sieur Dieshau, the French general, you find, he brought under his command in the men of war lately arrived at Quebec, three thousand one hundred and seventy-one VOL. V. 58
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regular troops, who are partly in garrisons at Crown Point, and encamped at Ti- conderoga, and other advantageous passes between your eamp and Crown Point.
That you expect very shortly, another and more formidable attack ; and that the enemy will then come with artillery ; that Col. Williams had the ground cleared for building a stockaded fort ; and that your men are so harrassed, and obliged to be so constantly upon watchful duty, that you think it would be both unreasonable, and, as you fear, in vain to set them at work upon the designed fort.
That you design to order the New Hampshire regiment up to your eamp, to re- inforce you ; and that you hoped some of the designed reinforcements would be with you in a few days ; and that when those fresh troops arrived, * * you should immediately set about building a fort."
I hope you will, before now, have received my letter of the 12th instant, in which I sent you an account from Admiral Boscawen's letter to the late General Brad- dock, of the number of troops which were sent from France this summer, to North America, and what part of them arrived in Canada ; which will show you that there must be some mistake in the above account extracted by you from Monsieur Die- shau's papers, of the number of those which arrived with him at Quebec.
It is clear from this account, that the whole number sent from France, was, as M. Dieshau's papers make them to be, about three thousand ; and by other un- doubted accounts, as well as the admiral's, that of these, he took eight companies in the Alcide and Lys men of war ; and that eleven hundred are in garrison at Louisbourg.
Now supposing that the remainder arrived at Quebec, without any loss in their passage (which is not very likely), the most that got to Quebee, must be sixteen hundred and seventy-one ; five hundred at least of which, I have intelligence from Indians, who came here from Cadaraqui, at different times within these five weeks, and a party of Indians and Albany men, whom I sent there since that time, are now encamped close to that fort ; and a number of them were killed (according to your own account,) in the late attack upon your camp and the pursuit which en- sued ; so that the remainder, supposing them to be now, as you say, partly in gar- rison at Crown Point, and encamped at Ticonderoga, and other advantageous passes between your camp and Crown Point, can't amount to near the number which you seem to think are there.
I can't therefore but think you may spare from the fort at the Carrying Place, and from your camp at Lake George, a body of troops more than sufficient to drive the French from Ticonderoga, and possess yourself of that pass ; and hope you will lose no time in doing it.
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