SIR, WILLIAM SHIRLEY TO THOMAS BOWEN 1 Boston August 23, 1756. It has been represented to me that a number of the Men who were impressed for His Majesty's Service in the Expedition against Crown Point have paid the Fines required by Law to excuse them from the said Service, and that the same have not been applied towards providing able bodied Men in their Stead according to the intention of the Law in that case. You are therefore hereby strictly required to render an accompt of all Fines that have been, or that hereafter shall be received by any Officer in your Regiment from any Person or Persons impressed for the said Expedition; and also of the application of the same, in all which I expect you will not fail at your peril. I am Sir Your assured Friend W. SHIRLEY. Make Return of this 1 Shirley Manuscripts, No. 225, Boston Public Library. This is but a single example of the energy put forth by Shirley to raise forces for the Earl of Loudoun. See also Shirley to the General Court, Aug. 30 and Sept. 2, and to Israel Williams of Sept. 13, post, pp. 522, 527, and 560. THE EARL OF LOUDOUN TO WILLIAM SHIRLEY1 SIR, Albany, August 29th, 1756. I had just now the honour of your Letter of the 26th.2 to enquire the truth of the Report you had heard of the taking of Oswego; My publick letter to the Governor of Massachusetts will have inform'd you, long before this, of my opinion of that Affair; indeed after having seen Colonel Mercer's letter directed to you, which was plainly a series of correspondence on that subject, I never could doubt of the truth of it. We have had ten people from thence, some of which being deserters from the French and enlisted since in your Regiment, and in Major General Pepperell's, came off as soon as the Garrison capitulated; others stay'd and surrendered their Arms with the rest of the troops there, and made their escapes afterwards, who all agree in Fort Ontario's being abandon'd after being fired on with small Arms for two days, without even having one Cannon brought up to it: That night they raised a battery in the Front of Fort Ontario, and began to fire on the old Fort at five in the morning which surrendered about ten. As to Mr. Saul's letter I know nothing of it; he was very idle if he writ any such; As to what you call Mr. Pownall's Message, it was in reality mine; for on the Post's calling on him to know if he knew any thing further about Oswego I bid him say, I saw no reason to doubt of the truth of the first Report; that really was my opinion then, and experience now shews I was right. 1 P. R. O., C. O. 5, 46 and 47. Transcripts are in the Parkman Papers in the Mass. Hist. Society and in the Library of Congress. Shirley's letter of Aug. 26 is in P. R. O., C. O. 5, 47. It is of approximately 350 words, and consists mainly of an inquiry into the truth of the statement that Oswego had been captured by the French. See Shirley's comments upon these expressions in his letters to Loudoun of Sept. 4 (post, p. 538) and Sept. 5 (post, p. 542). Ce ma me to lay before You a Copy ALATT IN ran Es Excelency the Right Hoable: the T sadament de mer of Shirley to Abercromby the one 7 ms Creme interesting reading. *See Sumer to me Lana Loudoun Sept. 3, port, p. 528, and Sage & put A copy is Pinks & Belter to Loudoun Az 2o. by Sacgren. P. R. O., C. O. 5, 47, in- of Loudoun, General, and Commander in Chief of all ings Forces in North America, by which You will per*hat His Lordship received "Accounts on the 19th: it at Night, That His Majestys Fort and Garrison at ›, together with the Naval Armament and Stores, are to the hands of the French; that from the Condition ber of the Troops, left with His Lordship when he › Command, he can Scarce hope to do more, than French power in that Quarter; and therefore me an Aid of as Considerable a Body of Men I can send, to be raised in Companies, and it as fast as raised; and also a Number of Carriages or "Ox Teams, wherewith his Lordship may be able to Transport "Provisions, as the province of New York alone, is not able to Supply all." 1 663 You are too sensible Gentlemen of the bad Consequences, which must arise to all His Majesty's Colonies upon this Continent, from the loss of Oswego to the French, to Stand in need of being urg'd to Comply with his Lordship's demands upon this Occasion. 1 The letter of Aug. 20 from Loudoun follows: Albany, 20th August, 1756. SIR, As, by accounts I received last night, His Majesty's fort and garrison at Oswego, together with the naval armament and stores, have, by a series of bad circumstances, fallen into the hands of the French; and as, from the condition and number of the troops left to me, when I came to my command, I can scarce hope to do more than to resist the French power in that quarter, I must earnestly recommend to you to consider without delay, how far the provincials now in arms, are exposed to the weight of the French, in the parts towards Crown Point, and the dangerous events of any accident happening to them in consequence of these circumstances, and what forces you can immediately send to reinforce them, as it seems absolutely necessary to do, for the security and safety of the country. Therefore, in consequence of the powers given to me, by His Majesty's commission under the great seal, and of his orders signified to you, by his secretary of state, I do demand of you an aid of as considerable a body of men, with arms, as you can send, to be raised in companies, and sent off as fast as raised; and also a I sent off an Express from New York to Oswego the day after I arriv'd, which letters were return'd to me yesterday, the Messenger not being able to get into it for the Enemy's Partys, and the moment I knew the situation of the Garrison of Oswego from Mr. Mercer and of the defenseless Situation of the Fortifications of it from Mr. Mackellar, which you had never given me the least insinuation of, and had likewise conceal'd from Major General Abercromby,1 I used the utmost Expedition, the situation you left things in would permit, to throw in succours to it, but never had it in my power, either to throw in a letter, or get up Succours in time to it. I mean this as a publick Letter to your Government, to satisfy them as well as you, and do insist on your laying it before them,2 in the whole and not by Extracts, otherwise I shall be obliged to send them a Copy of it. His Excellency Wm. Shirley Esqr. Endorsed: I am etca. LOUDOUN. Copy of a Letter from his Excellency the Earl of Loudoun to Major Genl. Shirley dated Albany 29. August. 1756. WILLIAM SHIRLEY TO THE GENERAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS 3 GENTLEMEN OF THE COUNCIL AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, I have ordered the Secretary to lay before You a Copy of a Letter to me from His Excellency the Right Honble: the In view of this statement the letter of Shirley to Abercromby of June 27 (ante, p. 468) makes extremely interesting reading. 2 See Shirley to the Earl of Loudoun, Sept. 3, post, p. 528, and Sept. 4, post, p. 536. Massachusetts Archives. A copy is in P. R. O., C. O. 5, 47, inclosed in Shirley to Loudoun, Aug. 30. A transcript is in the Library of Congress. |