sideration, and proposing that a present should be sent them of necessaries and refreshments. My son, who had some experience of a camp life, and of its wants, drew up a list for me, which I enclosed in my letter. The committee approved, and used such diligence, that, conducted by my son, the stores arrived at the camp as soon as the waggons. They consisted of twenty parcels, each containing—

These parcels, well packed, were placed on as many horses, each parcel, with the horse, being intended as a present for one officer. They were very thankfully received, and the kindness acknowledged by letters to me from the Colonels of both regiments, in the most grateful terms. The General too was highly satisfied with my conduct in procuring him the waggons, &c. &c. and readily paid my account of disbursements; thanking me repeatedly, and requesting my further assistance in sending provisions after him. I undertook this also, and was busily employed in it 'till we heard of his defeat; advancing for the service, of my own money, upwards of 1000 sterling; of which I sent him an account. It came to his hands, luckily for me, a few days before the battle, and he returned me immediately an order on the paymaster for the round sum of £1000, leaving the remainder to the next account. I consider this payment as good luck; having never been able to obtain that remainder; of which more hereafter.

This general was, I think, a brave man, and might probably have made a figure as a good officer in some European war. But he had too much self-confidence, too high an opinion of the validity of regular troops, and too mean an one of both Americans and Indians. George Croghan, our Indian interpreter, joined him on his march with 100 of those people, who might have been of great use to his army as guides, scouts, &c. if he had treated them kindly: but he slighted and neglected them, and they gradually left him. In conversation with him one day, he was giving me some account of his intended progress. "After taking Fort Duquesne," said he, "I am to proceed to Niagara; and having taken that, to Frontenac, if the season will allow time, and I suppose it will; for Duquesne can hardly detain me

above three or four days; and then I see nothing that can obstruct my march to Niagara." Having before revolved in my mind the long line his army must make in their march by a very narrow road, to be cut for them through the woods and bushes; and also what I had read of a former defeat of 1500 French, who invaded the Illinois country, I had conceived some doubts and some fears for the event of the campaign. But I ventured only to say, "to be sure, Sir, if you arrive well before Duquesne, with these fine troops, so well provided with artillery, the fort though completely fortified, and assisted with a very strong garrison, can probably make but a short resistance. The only danger I apprehend of obstruction to your march, is from the ambuscades of the Indians, who by constant practice, are dextrous in laying and executing them: and the slender line, near four miles long, which your army must make, may expose it to be attacked by surprise in its flanks, and to be cut like a thread into several pieces, which from their distance cannot come up in time to support each other." He smiled at my ignorance, and replied, "These savages may indeed be a formidable enemy to your raw American militia; but upon the King's regular and disciplined troops, Sir, it is impossible they should make any impression." I was conscious of an impropriety in my disputing with a military man in matters of his profession, and said no more. The enemy however did not take the advantage of his army which I apprehended its long line of march exposed it to, but let it advance without interruption till within nine miles of the place; and then when more in a body, (for it had just passed a river, where the front had halted till all were come over) and in a more open part of the woods than any it had passed, attacked its advanced guard, by a heavy fire from behind trees and bushes; which was the first intelligence the General had of an enemy's being near him. This guard being disordered, the General hurried the troops up to their assistance, which was done in great confusion, through waggons, baggage, and cattle; and presently the fire came upon their flank: the officers being on horseback were more easily distinguished, picked out as marks, and fell very fast; and the soldiers were crowded together in a huddle, having or hearing no orders, and standing to be shot at 'till two-thirds of them were killed; and then being seized with a panic the remainder fled with precipitation. The waggoners took each a horse out of his team and scampered; their example was immediately followed by others; so that all the waggons, provisions, artillery, and stores were left to the enemy. The General being wounded was brought off with difficulty; his Secretary, Mr. Shirley, was killed by his side, and out of 86 officers 63 were killed or wounded; and 714 men killed of 1100. These 1100 had been picked men from the whole army; the VOL. I. P

rest had been left behind with Col. Dunbar, who was to follow with the heavier part of the stores, provisions, and baggage. The flyers not being pursued arrived at Dunbar's camp, and the panic they brought with them instantly seized him and all his people. And though he had now above 1000 men, and the enemy who had beaten Braddock, did not at most exceed 400 Indians and French together, instead of proceeding and endeavouring to recover some of the lost honor, he ordered all the stores, ammunition, &c. to be destroyed, that he might have more horses to assist his flight towards the settlements, and less lumber to remove. He was there met with requests from the Governor of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, that he would post his troops on the frontiers, so as to afford some protection to the inhabitants; but he continued his hasty march through all the country, not thinking himself safe 'till he arrived at Philadelphia, where the inhabitants could protect him. This whole transaction gave us Americans the first suspicion that our exalted ideas of the prowess of British regular troops had not been well founded.

In their first march too, from their landing 'till they got beyond the settlements, they had plundered and stripped the inhabitants, totally ruining some poor families, besides insulting, abusing, and confining the people if they remonstrated. This was enough to put us out of conceit of such defenders, if we had really wanted any. How different was the conduct of our French friends in 1781, who during a march through the most inhabited part of our country, from Rhode Island to Virginia, near 700 miles, occasioned not the smallest complaint, for the loss of a pig, a chicken, or even an apple!

Captain Orme, who was one of the General's aids-de-camp, and being grievously wounded was brought off with him, and continued with him to his death, which happened in a few days, told me that he was totally silent all the first day, and at night only said, "Who would have thought it?" That he was silent again the following day, saying only at last, "We shall better know how to deal with them another time;" and died in a few minutes after.

The Secretary's papers, with all the General's orders, instructions, and correspondence falling into the enemy's hands, they selected and translated into French a number of the articles, which they printed to prove the hostile intentions of the British Court before the declaration of war. Among these I saw some letters of the General to the Ministry, speaking highly of the great service I had rendered the army, and recommending me to their notice. David Hume, who was some years after secretary to Lord Hertford, when minister in France, and afterwards to Gen. Conway, when Secretary of State, told me he had seen among the papers in that

office, letters from Braddock, highly recommending me. But the expedition having been unfortunate, my service, it seems, was not thought of much value, for those recommendations were never of any use to me. As to rewards from himself, I asked only one, which was, that he would give orders to his officers, not to enlist any more of our bought servants, and that he would discharge such as had been already enlisted. This he readily granted, and several were accordingly returned to their masters, on my application. Dunbar, when the command devolved on him, was not so generous. He being at Philadelphia, on his retreat, or rather flight, I applied to him for the discharge of the servants of three poor farmers of Lancaster County, that he had enlisted, reminding him of the late General's orders on that head. He promised me that if the masters would come to him at Trenton, where he should be in a few days on his march to New-York, he would there deliver their men to them. They accordingly were at the expence and trouble of going to Trenton, and there he refused to perform his promise, to their great loss and disappointment.

As soon as the loss of the waggons and horses was generally known, all the owners came upon me for the valuation which I had given bond to pay. Their demands gave me a great deal of trouble: I acquainted them that the money was ready in the Paymaster's hands, but the order for paying it must first be obtained from General Shirley, and that I had applied for it; but he being at a distance an answer could not soon be received, and they must have patience. All this however was not sufficient to satisfy, and some began to sue me: General Shirley, at length relieved me from this terrible situation, by appointing commissioners to examine the claims, and ordering payment. They amounted to near twenty thousand pounds, which to pay would have ruined me.

Before we had the news of this defeat, the two doctors Bond came to me with a subscription paper for raising money to defray the expence of a grand firework, which it was intended to exhibit at a rejoicing on receiving the news of our taking Fort Duquesne. I looked grave, and said, "It would, I thought, be time enough to prepare the rejoicing when we knew we should have occasion to rejoice." They seemed surprised that I did not immediately comply with their proposal. "Why the d--1," said one of them, "you surely don't suppose that the Fort will not be taken ?" "I don't know that it will not be taken; but I know that the events of war are subject to great uncertainty." I gave them the reasons of my doubting: the subscription was dropped, and the projectors thereby missed the mortification they would have undergone if the firework had been prepared. Dr. Bond, on some other occasion afterwards, said that he did not like Franklin's forebodings.

Governor Morris, who had continually worried the Assembly with message after message before the defeat of Braddock, to beat them into the making of acts to raise money for the defence of the province, without taxing among others the proprietary estates, and had rejected all their bills for not having such an exempting clause, now redoubled his attacks with more hope of success, the danger and necessity being greater. The Assembly however continued firm, believing they had justice on their side; and that it would be giving up an essential right, if they suffered the Governor to amend their money bills. In one of the last indeed, which was for granting £50,000, his proposed amendment was only of a single word: the bill expressed,

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that all estates real and personal were to be taxed; those of the proprietaries not excepted." His amendment was; for not read only. A small, but very material alteration! However, when the news of the disaster reached England, our friends there, whom we had taken care to furnish with all the Assembly's answers to the Governor's messages, raised a clamour against the proprietaries for their meanness and injustice in giving their Governor such instructions; some going so far as to say, that by obstructing the defence of their province, they forfeited their right to it. They were intimidated by this, sent orders to their Receiver General to add £5000 of their money to whatever sum might be given by the Assembly for such purpose. This being testified to the House, was accepted in lieu of their share of a general tax, and a new bill was formed with an exempting clause, which passed accordingly. By this act I was appointed one of the commissioners for disposing of the money; £60,000. I had been active in modelling the bill, and procuring its passage; and had at the same time drawn one for establishing and disciplining a voluntary militia; which I carried through the House without much difficulty, as care was taken in it to leave the Quakers at liberty. To promote the association necessary to form the militia, I wrote a dialogue1 stating and answering all the objections I could think of to such a militia; which was printed, and had, as I thought, great effect. While the several companies in the city and country were forming, and learning their exercise, the Governor prevailed with me to take charge of our North Western Frontier, which was infested by the enemy, and provide for the defence of the inhabitants by raising troops, and building a line of forts. a line of forts. I undertook this military business, though I did not conceive myself well qualified for it. He gave me a commission with full powers, and a parcel of blank commissions for officers, to be given to whom

This Dialogue and the Militia Act, are in the Gentleman's Magazine for February and March, 1756.