hundred and thirty Six; which Number was accordingly left there and now continue in Garrison. Gentlemen, As the Time for which our Soldiers were enlisted is near expiring, I apprehend it to be of great Importance that those Men should be relieved and that the like Number of Soldiers should be raised in this Provin[ce] and sent to the said Forts without Delay; In which Affair I can do Nothing without your Assistance, I must therefore desire you would take this Matter under your immediate Consideration and make proper Provision for raising these Soldiers, that so his Majesty's Service and the Reputation and Influence of this Government may suffer no Damage by Delay. Province House Feby 4, 1756. W. SHIRLEY. ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS TO WILLIAM SHIRLEY1 Feby. 9th, 1756. SIR, I am at last returned to this Town from a fatiguing Journey upon the frontiers, where I have been putting things into as good a posture of defence as the nature of our government will admit, and find that without some Law for the establishment of Military Discipline among the troops in the pay of the Province, a great deal of money will be expended without doing the good it otherwise would. For the Defence of our western frontiers, I have caused four forts to Be built beyond the Kitticktiny Hills, The one stands upon the new Road opend by this Province towards the Ohio, and about twenty miles from the settlements, and I have calld it Fort Lytellton, in Honour of my friend Sr George. This fort will not only Protect the inhabitants in that part of the Province, but being upon a road that within a few miles Joyns Genl Braddocks rout, it will prevent the march of any regulars that way into the Province, and at the same time serve as an advanced post or magazine, in case 1 P. R. O., C. O. 5, 46. Extract inclosed in Shirley to Fox, Mar. 8 (second letter). See 1 Penna. Arch. 2, 569. of an attempt to the westward. For these reasons I have Caused it to be built in a regular form, so that it may in little time and at a small expence be so strengthened as to hold out against cannon. About twenty miles northward of Fort Lytellton, at a place calld Aughwick, another fort is Erected something larger than Fort Lytellton, which I have taken the Liberty to Honour with the name of Fort Shirley. This stands near the great Path used by the Indians and Indian Traders, to and from the Ohio, and consequently the easiest way of access for the Indians into the settlements of this Province. Fifteen miles northeast of Fort Shirley, near the mouth of a Branch of the Juniata called Kishequokilis, a third fort is erected, which I have called Fort Granville. This Fort commands a narrow pass where the Juniata falls through the mountains which is so circumstanced that a few men can maintain it against a much greater number, as the rocks are very High on each side, not above a gun shot assunder, and thus extended for six miles, and leads to a considerable settlement upon the Juniata, between Fort Granville and where that River falls into the Susquehana. From fort Granville towards Susquehana, at the distance of fifteen miles, and about twelve from the River, another Fort is Erected that commands that country, and is intended to prevent the Indians from penetrating into the Settlements from that quarter. This I have called Pomfret Castle, and in each of these forts I have posted a Company in the pay of the Province, consisting of seventy-five men, exclusive of officers who are from time to time to detach partys to Range and scour the woods Each way, from the several forts, by which means the Indians will be prevented from falling upon the inhabitants, and these Soldiers by the next summer will become expert woodsmen, and proper rangers, to attend an army in case it should be thought necessary to march one to the westward. On the East side of the Susquehanna, between that and the Delaware, are three forts at three of the most important passes through the mountains, the Principal and only Regu lar one is at a pass calld Tolihiao, which I named Fort Henry, the others are called Fort Allen and Fort Lebanon, and between these and in the same Range, there are small Staccados erected at the distance of about ten miles from each other, and the whole are garrisond with companys and detachments from fifty to twenty men each, according as the places are situated, and are of more or less importance. The troops stationed here are to employ themselves in ranging the woods, in the same manner as those on the west side the Susquehana. Were these troops under military Discipline, I should think our frontiers well guarded, but I have it not in my Power, tho' they are regularly inlisted, to Punish an of them for want of an order from the Crown to hold Court Martials, which I believe you can supply and I propose to write to you upon that head, in case my assembly now sitting Do not pass an act to put those troops under a proper Discipline. Inclosed I send you what I have said to my assembly upon the plan of operations, which I laid before them, but am quite unable to form a Judgment of what they will do in it. If the more Northern government could undertake to Carry on the Crown Point Expedition, I have some reason to think this Province would in that case enter willingly into one against Fort Duquesne. The Regulars you favoured me with are in very good order, and are posted at the two towns of Reading and Easton, where Both the officers and men are taken good Care of to their own satisfaction, and prove a great protection not only to the towns where they are placed but to the whole Country about them. Some days ago I had a letter from Govr. Dinwiddie, informing me that in a treaty he had held with the Cherokee and Catawba nations of Indians, he had prevailed on them to take up the Hatchet against the French and their allies the Shawanese. That one hundred and thirty of them had Joynd some of the Virginia Troops, and were gone against one of the Shawanese towns upon the Ohio, and he had reason to believe they would Joyn him with a thousand warriors in the Spring. His success in this treaty will in great measure render the meeting you proposed with the Southern Indians unnecessary however, I have recomended it to my assembly to send 'em some thing on the part of this Province as you will observe in my message. To Genl. Shirley. ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS TO WILLIAM SHIRLEY 1 SIR, Philada, 16 Feby, 1756. I have the Honor to enclose you an address from the Assembly of this Province to me, relating to the inlistment of Indentured servants, and my answer to it; you will observe by the former how disagreable that matter is to them, and the reasons they offer against it are certainly cogent and 1 A draft of this letter is printed: 1 Penna. Arch. 2, 576. See also Shirley to Fox, Mar. 8, 1756 (first letter), and Shirley to Morris of Feb. 29, post, p. 405. On Feb. 17 Shirley wrote Morris from Boston that he had "given orders to the Commanding officer of the Detachment of His Majesty's Troops in Pensilvania to march from there so as to be at the City of New York by the 15th day of March next." He closed by saying that he relied on Morris for carriages, quarters and provisions. For troubles over the question of enlisted servants, see Sharpe to Shirley, Feb. 2, 1756, ante, p. 386; and Shirley to Robinson, Sept. 19, 1755, for plans for the winter. The following letter relates to the same matter. It is from Shirley to Morris, and dated Boston, Feb. 20, 1756. SIR, I inclose your Honour an Extract of a Letter to me from the Major of my Regiment, which gives me extreme Concern; I doubt not but your Honour will take Care that Justice is done to his Majesty for the loss of the Sergeant, who Mr. Kinneer informs. me was murther'd by the Mob in the Discharge of his Duty, and which I am sorry to find there is so much Reason to attribute to the Encouragement given them by the Magistrates, if what Mr. Kinneer informs me is true, that they take all Servants and Appren strong, and I am satisfied your great regard for the people of this country will induce you to put a stop to a practice so injurious to the propertys of many of them, if it can be done Consistent with his Majesty's service and the genl Interest of this continent. As to the Legality of inlisting servants, no one can Judge better of that matter than yourself, whose knowledge and abilities in the laws of England make you perfectly acquainted with the rights both of the King and people. I shall only say, that I am fearfull this affair of the servts will throw my Assembly into such a temper as may hinder them from taking the part they otherwise would in the operations of the year. To General Shirley tices who inlist into his Majesty's Service out of it, and put them in Goal, and confine the recruiting Officers. I have already given an Instance of my great Desire that the recruiting Service should be attended with as few Inconveniences as might be to the people, by restraining the Officers from enlisting Indented Servants, whilst I thought the King's Service would admit of it, tho' I did not conceive the least Doubt but that his Majesty had as good a Right to their Service as to that of any others, who should voluntarily inlist as Soldiers. As the Officers have assur'd me that they cannot compleat their Regiments in time without entertaining Indented Servants, it is now become my indispensable Duty to permit them to entertain such Recruits. If the Masters are injur'd by that, they may sue the Recruiting Officers, and the Law ought to decide the point, according to the final Judgment which shall be given in the Case; and the sooner the point is try'd and receives such a determination, the better. In the mean time I hope that all Outrages of the populace and abuse of Civil power in the Magistrate against the Recruiting Officers will cease. If they do not, it must produce the most disagreeable Consequences in the Province under your Command. I am, with great Regard, Sir, W. SHIRLEY. |