observed your total Silence upon that part of His Majestys Orders which relate to a Concert with the other Colonies, which you must be sensible is now become more essentially necessary for their common Defence, since the account received by you from Major Washington with regard to the Hostilities committed by the French upon the River Ohio, which verify in fact what was apprehended, when the Earl of Holdernesse wrote so fully to you in August last, & which might have been in great measure if not totally prevented had every one of His Majestys Governments exerted themselves according to those Directions, the Observance whereof I am now by the Kings Command to enforce to you in the strongest manner Lieu: Gov! of Pennsylvania I am Sr Your most Obedient humble Seryt T. ROBINSON SR. T. ROBINSONS LETTER TO THE GOVE OF PENSYLVA RECD Copy. WHITEHALL Oct: 26 1754 SIR Having informed you, in my letter of July 5th that the King had under his Royal Consideration, the State of affairs in North America, I am now to Acquaint you, that amongst other Measures, that are thought proper for the Defence of His Majesty's just Rights & Dominions, in those parts, the King has not only been pleas'd to order Two Regiments of Foot Consisting of 500 Men each, besides Commissioned & Non commissioned Officers, commanded by S Peter Halket & Colonel Dunbar, to repair to Virginia & to be there augmented to the Number of 700 each but likewise to send Orders to Gov Shirley & Sir W Pepperal, to raise two Regiments whereof they are respectively appointed Colonels of 1,000 men each, & also, to Sign Commissions for a Number of Officers to serve in the said two Regiments, & who will forthwith repair to North America, for that purpose. Whereas there will be wanting a Considerable Number of men to make up the designed Complements of the said four Regim. It is his Majestys Pleasure, that you should be taking the previous Steps, towards Contributing as far as you can, to have about 3,000 Men in readiness to be enlisted; And it is Majestys Intention, that a General Officer of Rank & Capacity, to be appointed to command in Chief all the Kings Forces in North America, a Deputy Quarter Master General, & a Commissary of the Musters, shall set out, as soon as Conveniently may be, in order to prepare every thing for the Arrival of the Forces above mentioned from Europe, & for the Raising of the others in America. You will receive from that General, & the other Officers just mentioned, a full & Exact Account of the Arms Cloathing & other Necessaries to be sent upon this Important occasion, as likewise the Ordnance Stores, & of the Officers & attendants belonging thereto; all which being order'd for this Service, are such Proofs of his Majestys Regard for the Security & Wellfare of his Subjects, in those parts, as cannot fail to excite you to exert yourself, and those under your Care, to take the most Vigorous Steps to repel your Common Danger, & to shew that the King's orders which were sent you last year, by the Earl of Holdernesse, & were renewed to you in my letter of the 5th of July, have at last roused that emulation & Spirit, which every man owes at this Time, to his Majesty, the Publick & himself. The King will not, therefore Imagine, that either you, or the rest of his Governours, `will suffer the least Neglect, or Delay in the Performance of the present Service, more Strongly recommended to you particularly with Regard to the following Points viz! That you should, Carefully provide a Sufficient Quantity of fresh Victuals at the Expense of your Governm to be Ready for the use of the Troops at their Arrival. That you should likewise furnish the Officers who may have Occasion to go from place to place, with all Necessaries for Travelling by land, in Case there are no means by going by Sea and that you should use your utmost Diligence and Authority, in procuring an Exact Observance of such Orders as shall be Issued from time to time, by the Commander in Chief for Quartering the Troops, Impressing Carriages, & providing all Necessarys for such Forces, as shall arrive or be raised, within your Government. As the Articles above mentioned are of a Local & peculiar Nature, and arising Intirely within your Government it is almost needless for me to acquaint you, That his Majesty will Expect, that the Charge thereof, be defrayed by his Subjects belonging to the Same, But with Regard to such other Articles, which are of a more general Concern, it is the Kings Pleasure, that the same should be Supplied by a Common Fund to be Established for the benefit of all the Colonies collectively in North America for which Purpose you will use your utmost Endeavours to induce the Assembly of your Province, to Raise, forthwith, as large a Sum as can be afforded, as their Contribution to this common Fund, to be Employed, provisionally for the general Service of North America (particularly for paying the Charge of Levying the Troops to make up the Complement of the Regiments above mentioned) until such time as a Plan of general Union of his Majesty's Northern Colonies for their common defence can be perfected You will Carefully confer, or Correspond as you shall have opportunity upon every thing, relative to the Present Service, with the said General Sir William Pepperell, & Governor Shirley or either of them; and as it is the Kings Intention to give all proper encouragement to such Per sons who shall Engage to Serve upon this Occasion, You will acquaint them in the Kings Name, that they will Receive Arms & Cloathing from hence, and that they shall be sent back (if desired) to their Respective Habitations when the Service in America shall be over. As the Several Governors in all the Kings Provinces & Colonies in North America will Receive by this Conveyance a letter to the same Effect with this which I now send you, they will be prepared, at the same time, to Obey his Majesty's Commands - And I am to Direct you to Correspond with all or either of them occasionally, as you shall find it Expedient for the General Service. I received your Letter by Captain Adams of the Warren Galley of March 6th and also of the 19th by the Ulysses. I am very glad to find that you have urged the officers of the service of recruiting, to prevail with the men that they raise, to bring their Arms with them; since (as all circumstances considered) it would be highly Improper if not unjustifiable, to remove either the Arms or Ammunition from the Garrison of Annapolis Royal, that have been lodged there for the Defence of it. I was extremely concerned to find by the first of your above Letters, that you was under the least doubt of being able to procure the quantity of Powder required, being an Article without which, it would be utterly impossible to -I proceed with any rational prospect of success, and your second Letter gave me still greater uneasiness, as I find thereby you are without hopes, after having tried every place and every expedient, of being provided with more then three Hundred Barrels: What proportion that number of Barrels bears to the whole quantity required, which as I remember was a Thousand & odd or Eleven Hundred, and what upon the closest calculation, was thought by Mr. Brewse & Capt. Brome barely sufficient; is too obvious. for it to be doubted one moment, whither you can proceed on your intended Expedition or not, with such a defficiency, in an article that above all others is so indispensably necessary. I confess that to find by your last Letter this was the case, surprised me a good deal, after being informed by Mr. Shirley in his Letter by Capt. Adams, that tho' Powder seemed to be a scarce Commodity upon the Continent; yet he had the Strongest hopes and assurances of being able to furnish us effectually with that Essential Requisite. All I can say with any propriety on this Important Circumstance is, that unless a Supply of Powder should arrive from England before this reaches you, or else that we can be assisted by an application to General Bradock, you must at all events postpone your Enterprise, beyond the appointed time of Sailing, and wait for the Supply which you say the Merchants of Boston are hourly in expectation of: It is true indeed that we have in store at Annapolis, if the Storekeeper there has not made a mistake in his last return to me of the State of the Stores, seven hundred Barrels of serviceable powder; but to remove that or any considerable part of it from thence, at this critical conjuncture, wou'd be a step, that if an accident should happen, I should be utterly at a loss to account for: Wherefore you must place no dependance upon a supply from that Garrison, farther then for three or four hundred Barrels at the Most, which I would run the Risk of assisting you with rather then unreasonably Retard the Ex |