III. 1754. another quarter. The Assembly of Pennsylvania took CHAPTER alarm at the freedom, with which lands, situate as they said in that province, were given away. Governor Hamilton wrote an expostulatory letter. It was a perplexing case; but Governor Dinwiddie escaped from the difficulty March 21. by replying, that the claims of Pennsylvania were at least doubtful, the boundary line not having been run, that the object in view equally concerned both provinces, that his grant did not necessarily imply future jurisdiction, and that, if the Pennsylvania claim should be established, the quitrents might eventually be paid to the proprietary instead of the crown. Fresh encouragement was inspired by a letter from the Earl of Holdernesse, authorizing Governor Dinwiddie to call to his aid two independent companies from New York, and one from South Carolina. These were colonial troops, raised and supported at the King's charge, and commanded by officers with royal commissions. They could be marched to any part of the continent. None of these companies had ever been stationed in Virginia. Expresses were immediately despatched to the governors of the above colonies, requesting them to order forward the companies without delay. pros News came from North Carolina, also, that the Assembly had voted twelve thousand pounds for defence, and that a respectable force would soon be in the field to join their neighbors in the common cause. Thus far the pect was flattering. The sympathy of the other colonies, however, did not manifest itself in any direct efforts. The Assembly of Maryland brought in a money bill, which was rejected by the governor, under pretence, that the mode proposed for levying the taxes was an encroachment upon the prerogative. Indeed, the apparition of the prerogative never failed to stare the colonial governors in the face, whenever any measure salutary to the people was to be approved by them. It may be, that the bold experiments and aspiring demands of the assemblies sometimes required this cautionary check. Independent companies called to Virginia. D CHAPTER 1754. Disputes The spirit of liberty, even at that day, was restless under the burden of charters and usages, and was everywhere struggling to throw it off, or at least to diminish its weight. The prerogative was the potent charm, by which the governors endeavored to allay this spirit, when they found arguments and personal influence unavailing. In Pennsylvania, more exposed to the invasion than Virginia, the legislature were so busy in carrying on the bly of Penn- quarrel, which continued for years between themselves and the governor, that they had little leisure for other business. Here again was a prerogative, but not enforced in the name of the King, and hence perhaps the more odious to the people. between the governor and Assem sylvania. Troops The descendants of William Penn, called the proprietaries, owned large tracts of land in the province. The Assembly insisted, and very justly, that these lands, being equally benefited, ought to bear an equal portion of the tax for defence. They reported money bills upon that principle; the governor refused his signature, maintaining the proprietary prerogative. The bills fell to the ground, and nothing was done. In his letter of explanation, Governor Hamilton regretted the failure of the bills, but laid the blame at the door of the Quakers, who, he said, had scruples about arming. Although thus feebly sustained by their neighbors, the Virginians did not abate their exertions. The enlistments went on with considerable success. Colonel Washington continued his head-quarters at Alexandria till the beginning of April. Two companies had been collected at that place, with which he marched to Will's Creek, where he arrived on the 20th, having been joined on the way by another company under Captain Stephen. The march was slow and fatiguing, on account of the roughness of the roads, and the difficulty of procuring wagons to convey the baggage. It was necessary to put the militia law in execution, which authorized impressments; but measures of this sort are always disliked by the people, and orders are tardily obeyed or evaded. The artillery and some of the heavier articles went by water up the Potomac. III. 1754. Fort at the Ohio taken French. con- by the He A party of Captain Trent's men had already gone to CHAPTER the Ohio, and begun to build a fort. Just before Colonel Washington reached Will's Creek, a rumor came from the interior, that these men were taken by the French; and two days afterwards the alarming intelligence was firmed by the ensign of Captain Trent's company. reported, that, while they were at work, forty-one in number, a body of French troops descended the river from Venango, consisting of one thousand men, with eighteen pieces of cannon, sixty batteaux, and three hundred canoes, under the command of Captain Contrecœur, and summoned them to surrender, threatening to take forcible possession of the fort, if this summons were not immediately obeyed. No alternative remained, and, the captain and lieutenant being absent, Ensign Ward acceded to articles of capitulation, and gave up the fort, but was permitted to retire with his men. He came to Will's Creek, and brought the news of the disaster. His statement, however, as to the numbers of the French, their cannon and boats, turned out to be very much exaggerated. This was the first open act of hostility in the memorable war of seven years that followed. The French enlarged and completed the fort, which they called Fort Duquesne, in compliment to the governor of Canada. April 17. moves for the wilder To the little army under Colonel Washington, as yet amounting to no more than three small companies, this was a critical moment. They occupied an outpost, be- The army yond which there was no barrier to oppose the formidable ward into French force on the Ohio. Even a detachment, well ness. armed and disciplined, might surround and cut them off. Colonel Fry had not joined them, and the whole responsibility rested on the Lieutenant-Colonel. He instantly sent expresses to the governors of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, setting forth his weak and exposed condition, and calling for reinforcements. He then held a council of war. Notwithstanding the dangers that threatened on every side, it was resolved to push boldly into the wilderness, to clear and prepare the road as they ad III. 1754. CHAPTER vanced, and, if possible, to penetrate to the Monongahela at the mouth of Red-stone Creek, and erect there a fortification. The soldiers would thus be employed, their apprehensions quieted, the bane of idleness avoided, and a way opened for the more expeditious march of the troops in the rear. Difficulties of the march. Conveyance by water ble. May 20. So many obstacles intervened, that the progress was slow. Trees were to be felled, bridges made, marshes filled up, and rocks removed. In the midst of these difficulties the provisions failed, the commissaries having neglected to fulfil their engagements, and there was great distress for want of bread. At the Youghiogany, where they were detained in conimpractica- structing a bridge, Colonel Washington was told by the traders and Indians, that except at one place a passage might be had by water down that river. To ascertain this point, extremely advantageous if true, he embarked in a canoe with five men on a tour of discovery, leaving the army under the command of a subordinate officer. His hopes were disappointed. After navigating the river in his canoe near thirty miles, encountering rocks and shoals, he passed between two mountains, and came to a fall that arrested his course, and rendered any further attempt impracticable. He returned, and the project of a conveyance by water was given up.* * In his journal, as published by the French government, Colonel Washington gives the following account of this tour of discovery. "On the 20th of May I embarked in a canoe, with Lieutenant West, three soldiers, and an Indian. Having followed the river for about half a mile we were obliged to go ashore, where we found a trader, who seemed to discourage my attempting to seek a passage by water, which caused me to change my intention of having canoes made. I ordered the troops to wade the river, as the waters had now sufficiently subsided. I continued to descend the river, but, finding our canoe too small for six persons, we stopped to construct a bark, with which and the canoe we reached Turkey Foot just as the night began. Eight or ten miles further onward we encountered several difficulties, which were of little consequence. At this point we stopped some time to examine the position, and found it well suited for a fort, being at the mouth of three branches or small rivers, and having a gravelly foundation. III. 1754. Message dians that a French is from the In party of approach ing. He had scarcely rejoined the army, when a message CHAPTER was brought to him from his old friend Tanacharison, or the Half-King, then with his people near the Monongahela River, which warned him to be on his guard, as a party of French had been out two days, and were then marching towards him determined to attack the first English they should meet. His account was confirmed by another, which stated the French to be only fifteen miles distant. Not knowing their number, or at what moment they might approach, he hastened to a place called the Great Meadows, cleared away the bushes, threw up an entrenchment, and prepared, as he expressed it, "a charming field for an encounter." He then mounted some of the soldiers on wagon-horses, and sent them out to reconnoitre. They came back without having seen any traces of the enemy; but the camp was alarmed in the night, the sen "We went down about two miles to examine the course of the river, which is straight, with many currents, and full of rocks and rapids. We crossed it, though the water was high, which induced me to believe the canoes would easily pass, but this was not effected without difficulty. Besides these rapids we met with others, but, the water being more shallow and the current smoother, we passed them easily. We then found the water very deep, and mountains rising on both sides. After proceeding about ten miles, we came to a fall in the river, which arrested our progress, and compelled us to go ashore and desist from any further attempt."-Mémoire contenant le Précis des Faits, &c. p. 121. The full title of the book, which is here quoted, is as follows; "MÉMOIRE contenant le Précis des Fails, avec leurs Pièces Justificatives, pour servir de Réponse aux OBSERVATIONS envoyées, par les Ministres d'Angleterre, dans les Cours de l'Europe. A Paris; de l'Imprimerie Royale. 1756." Four or five years had been consumed in unavailing attempts at a negotiation between England and France, with the ostensible design on both sides to effect a reconciliation of difficulties, but neither party in reality was solicitous to avoid a war. At length hostilities were commenced in time of peace, and each nation charged the other with being the aggressor. Two French vessels on their way to Canada were taken by the British Admiral Boscawen, and, to justify this procedure, the "Observations" above mentioned were published, in which the position was maintained, that the French had actually begun the war, by their encroachments with a military force on the Ohio frontiers. To repel this charge, the French government circulated among Army adthe Great vances to Meadows. May 25. |