Chapter 8 Part III (continuation of autobiography)｜3

To the Residents of Lancaster, York and Cumberland Friends and fellow citizens: A few days ago I chanced to go to the Fredericton camp, and found the general and officers greatly annoyed by the want of horses and wagons.They expected Pennsylvania to provide these facilities in the best position, but because our Governor and the Legislature are at odds, we have neither appropriations nor other measures for them. It was proposed that an armed force be sent at once into the counties of the State, to seize as many of the best chariots and horses as may be required, and to conscript as many people as are necessary to drive and tend them.

I am afraid that the entry of British soldiers into the counties of this State with such a mission, especially in view of their present anger and their resentment against us, would cause many great inconveniences to the inhabitants.I therefore prefer to go to the trouble of trying to solve this problem in a fair and reasonable way.Residents of the fringes of this State have lately complained to the Legislature of their want of money, and now you have an opportunity to acquire and share a considerable sum.For if the service of this crusade had continued to a hundred and twenty days, as it seemed bound to do, the hire of these chariots and horses would have exceeded thirty thousand pounds, which they would have paid for in the king's gold and silver. rent.

This service is light and easy, for this army does not cover twenty miles in a day.These wagons and pack-horses, since what they transport are absolutely necessary to the welfare of the army, must follow the army, not go too fast, and for the sake of the army, whether marching or camping, These carriages and horses are always placed in the safest place. If you are good and faithful subjects of His Majesty the King, as I believe you are, now you have a chance to do so, and do it without difficulty yourself.If it is impossible to provide a carriage, four horses and a driver alone because they are busy planting, then three or four families will be enough. One will provide a cart, another one or two horses, and another one Driver, you can share the rental fee in proportion.If in the face of such generous treatment and reasonable remuneration, you are still unwilling to voluntarily serve the country with allegiance, then people will greatly doubt your loyalty.The king's job must be done.So many brave warriors, who have traveled so far to defend you, must not stand idly by because you have neglected your duty; since vehicles and horses are necessary, they may resort to coercion, and then you will have nowhere to call, There is no way to avenge your injustice, and perhaps few people will sympathize with and care about you!

I have no particular interest in the matter, for I am only exhausted and exhausted, except to satisfy my desire to do good.If the required vehicles and horses cannot be obtained by this means, I shall have to report to the general within a fortnight.I guess John the Hussar.Sir St. Clair would immediately come to Pennsylvania with a company of soldiers to find horses and carriages.I shall be very sorry then, for I am your truest and most faithful friend and sympathizer. class.Franklin I received about eight hundred pounds from the General as an advance rent payment to the owner of the car, etc., but as this sum was not sufficient, I advanced another two hundred pounds or more.A fortnight later one hundred and fifty coaches and two hundred and fifty-nine driving horses set off for the barracks.The announcement originally stated that if there is any loss of carriages and horses, compensation will be made according to the estimated value.But the owners said they didn't know General Braddock, or that they didn't know if his word was true, so they insisted on my personal vouching, which I did.

One night I had dinner with the officers of Colonel Danba’s regiment in the barracks. Colonel Danba told me that he was worried about his subordinates. He said that these officers generally don’t earn much. However, they could not afford to buy the daily necessities necessary for the Long March through the deserted areas.I sympathized with their situation, and resolved to try to think of some remedy for them.But I did not tell him my intention, and the next morning I wrote a letter to a committee entitled to dispose of some public funds, earnestly hoping that they would consider the situation of these officers, and propose to give them food and daily necessities .My son had some experience and understanding of the life and needs of the military camp. He wrote a list for me, and I attached it to the letter.The committee acceded to my request, and the matter was so expedited that when the Pennsylvania wagon train arrived at the barracks, these daily necessities were escorted by my son.A total of 20 packs, each pack contains: six pounds of sugar tart.A piece of Gloucestershire cheese.Six pounds of fine brown sugar.One barrel (twenty pounds) of premium butter.One pound of fine green tea.Two dozen vintage white wines.One pound of the finest Wuyi tea.Two gallons of Jamaican wine.Six pounds of ground coffee.A bottle of mustard powder.Six pounds of chocolate.Two premium smoked legs.Fifty pounds of fine biscuits.Half a dozen pickled tongues.pepper half a pound.Rice six pounds.A quart of fine white wine vinegar.Six pounds of raisins.

These twenty big bales, well packed, were placed on twenty horses.Each pack was given to an officer along with a horse.The officers were overwhelmed with gratitude when they received these presents, and the colonels of both regiments wrote to me expressing their heartfelt thanks.The general was very satisfied when he saw that I had rented vehicles and other things for him. He immediately repaid my advance, thanked me repeatedly, and asked me to continue to assist him and deliver food and fodder for him.I consented to this, and busily procured rations till we heard of his defeat, having personally advanced over a thousand pounds sterling for his army, and sending him a bill.Fortunately he received this bill a few days before the battle, and he immediately sent back a money order, ordering the quartermaster to pay me back the whole sum of a thousand pounds, and to add the remainder to the next account.I now consider it a blessing to have been able to get back that sum, because I never got back the remainder.I will mention this matter later.

The general seemed to me a brave man, who might have made a good officer in some European war.But his self-confidence was too strong, he overestimated the combat strength of the regular army, and underestimated both the American colonial people and the Indians.Our Indian translator George.Crogan took a hundred Indians with him on his march, and these Indians, if he treated them well, might be of great use to his army as guides, scouts, etc., but he despised them and neglected They, so later they slowly left. I talked to him one day, and he told me a little of his plan of marching, saying: After taking Fort Durken, I'll go straight to Niagara; , I will be aggressive for Nike.I don't think it's too late in the season, because Fort Durken can't stop us for three or four days. Once Fort Duken, I don't know what can stop me from attacking Niagara.I long before this thought that he must draw his army very long when he marched in a narrow path, which could be cut off by woods and jungles, and I also thought that I had Having read that the previous fifteen hundred French invasion of the Iroquois had failed, I was a little skeptical, and I was also apprehensive about this expedition.But I muster all my courage to say: Of course, my lord general, if you get safely to Fort Durken with a good army with so many guns, for the defense of Fort Durken is not yet complete, and it is said that the garrison There are not many people, so it must be just around the corner.But my concern is only that an ambush by the Indians may hinder your advance.The Indians are well versed in ambushes, and therefore very skilful and agile in both cover and surprise attack.The march of your army must be long, nearly four miles apart, so that it may be attacked from the side, and may be cut in several sections.Due to the great distance, it is impossible for the severed parts to support each other in time.

He laughed at my ignorance, and replied: True, these aborigines may be a formidable enemy to your untrained American colonial militia, but they are nothing to His Majesty's well-trained regular army, sir.It occurred to me that I was not qualified to argue professionally with a soldier, so I stopped talking.But the enemy, instead of taking an opportunity to attack his long procession, as I had feared, let it go on without hindrance until they were nine miles from their destination.At that time, the troops were more concentrated (because the troops had just crossed the river, and the advance troops stopped to wait for the whole army to cross the river), and they were in a wider glade than had been passed before. Attack the vanguard with intensive fire from behind the trees and jungle.Only then did the general realize for the first time that the enemy was close at hand.Now that the vanguard was in disarray, the general urged the army to come forward to aid, but because of the carriages, luggage, and animals, the progress of the procession was very disordered.Soon the enemy opened fire from their flanks.The officers, because they were riding on horses, were clear targets, and they became the target of public criticism, and they all fell quickly.Soldiers huddled together and couldn't hear the orders of the officers, just stayed there and shot people until two-thirds of them were shot dead, and by then, they were so panicked that everyone would He ran away in a panic.

The drivers each pulled a horse from the herd, and fled hastily.The others immediately followed their example, and all the wagons, fodder, cannon, and ammunition were lost to the enemy.The general was wounded and he was rescued with difficulty.His secretary, Mr. Thurley, was shot beside him and died.Among the eighty-six officers, as many as sixty-three were killed or injured, and seven hundred and fourteen out of the eleven hundred soldiers died.The 1,100 soldiers were the best of the whole army, and the rest of the troops stayed behind and were led by Colonel Danba. According to the original plan, Colonel Danba would escort a large amount of munitions, provisions and luggage to follow.The fleeing soldiers were not pursued by the enemy, they fled to Danba's barracks, and the panic they brought immediately made Colonel Danba and his men panic.Although he still has more than a thousand people, the enemy who defeated Braddock will not exceed four hundred Indians and French at most.Instead of marching forward, seeking to avenge his shame, he ordered that all provisions, ammunition, etc., be destroyed, so as not to be encumbered, in order to obtain more horses to aid his escape to the colony.The governors of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania begged him to place troops on the frontier to protect the people, but he hastily continued his retreat as far as Philadelphia, where the people could protect him. safe.This incident reminded us of the colonies of America for the first time that our admiration for the invincibility of the British regular army was groundless.

And on their first march through the villages after landing, they plundered and looted in such a way that they bankrupted certain poor families.If the residents dared to disobey, insults, abuse and confinement followed.This incident is enough to make us turn away from such defenders, if we really need human guards.How different this is from the behavior of our French friends!The French marched nearly seven hundred miles from Rhode Island to Virginia in 1781 through the most populous part of our country without committing a single crime, not losing a single pig or a single pig. Chicken or even an apple and complained too.

One of the general's adjutants, Captain Ohm, was badly wounded, was rescued with the general, and continued to live with him until the general's death a few days later.Captain Ohm told me that the general didn't say a word on the first day, and during the night he only said: Who would have thought that!The next day he was silent again, and in the end just said: Next time we'll know how to deal with them.A few minutes later he was dead. The secretary's papers, including all the general's orders, instructions, and correspondence, fell into the enemy's hands, and a few were selected, translated into French, and printed, proving the hostility of the English before the declaration of war.Among these published papers I see several letters from generals to the cabinet, in which they commend me for the great service I have rendered to the Army, and call their attention to me.davidHume, who some years later was secretary to Lord Howard when he was minister to France, and then to General Quinway when he was secretary of state, also said that he had seen Braddock in the files of the secretary of state. Letter, highly recommends me.But since this expedition was a failure, my assistance was probably not considered of much value, since these recommendations never had any effect on me. For the general himself, I ask only one reward, and that is that he order his subordinates not to recruit any more of our indentured servants, but to release those who have already been recruited.He quickly agreed to this matter, so several indentured servants returned to their masters after my application.When the military power was transferred to Danba, Danba was less generous.When he retreated or fled to Philadelphia, I begged him to release the enlisted servants of three poor peasant families in Lancaster, and reminded him of the old general's orders in this regard.He assured me that his army was going to New York, and that in a few days he would be at Turlington, and that if these masters went to Turlington to see him, he would return their servants there.So these peasants, at great cost and trouble, went to Turlington, where he refused to keep his word, to their great disappointment and cost. When the news of the loss of the wagons and horses had been widely circulated, all the owners demanded from me the money which I had secured.I was very troubled by their demands, and I told them that the payment for compensation was already in the hands of the quartermaster, but that the order to pay must come from General Thurley, and I assured them that I had applied for compensation to General Thurley, but because he At a distance, we cannot get an immediate reply, they must be patient.These words did not satisfy everyone's demands, and some people started to file lawsuits against me.At last General Thurley relieved me from this dreadful position, and appointed several commissioners to examine the claims and pay the reparations.The sum of the reparations amounted to nearly twenty thousand pounds, and if I were to pay, I would be bankrupt. Before we got word of our defeat, two Dr. Pounds came to me with a collection book to raise money for a great firework, to be celebrated with revelry after news of our capture of Durkenberg.With a serious face, I said I thought it was never too late to start planning when we really knew we needed to celebrate.They seemed surprised that I didn't immediately go along with their suggestion.One of them said: Phew!You don't always think that this fort can't be beaten, do you?I don't think this fort will be impossible to attack, but I know that victory or defeat is difficult to predict.I told them the reasons for my doubts, and the collection was dropped, so that they avoided a thing that would be a source of dismay to them.If they bought fireworks, they would regret it!On another occasion later, Dr. Pound said that he did not like Franklin's premonitions. Prior to Braddock's setback, Governor Morris was constantly entangled with the state legislature, wrote many speeches in an attempt to force the state legislature to pass state defense funds exempting property owners, and he vetoed all state bills because they There is no clause exempting owner property.Now that the danger was greater, and the needs of the State's defense more urgent, he intensified his attack on the State House, with increasing hope of achieving his goal.But the state legislature stood firm because they believed that justice was theirs, and their authority would be seriously violated if they got the governor to amend their fiscal bill.In one of the last bills, for £50,000, it is true that the Governor proposed only one word to be amended.The original bill said: All movable and immovable property is taxable, including the owner's property.The governor changed the word "Yi" to "No". Although there are not many revisions, the meaning has changed a lot.We have been sending the State Assembly's reply to the Governor's Message to our friends in England.When the news of this military defeat reached England, these friends uproariously accused the proprietors of such base and unjust orders to their Governor.Some even said that since they destroyed the state defense of their colony, they forfeited their rights to the colony.They were pressured by public opinion, and ordered their revenue collectors to donate £5,000, however much the State Assembly passed for the defense of the State. The Assembly, being thus notified, accepted the five thousand pounds in payment of their dues, and a new bill was introduced, with an exemption clause, which was passed.According to this resolution, I was one of the commissioners who dealt with the funds, which amounted to £60,000.I was actively involved in drafting this bill and actively getting it passed.At the same time I drew up a bill for the founding and training of a Zoanie militia, and had it easily passed through Parliament, for in the bill we took care to keep the Quakers free.In order to establish the regiments necessary for the establishment of a militia, I wrote a dialogue (this dialogue and the militia bill appeared in the "Gentleman's Magazine", February-March, 1756.), presenting as much as I could. All ideas against such a militia are answered and refuted.This dialogue was printed, and I think it had a great effect. When several companies in the cities and villages were organizing and training, I agreed to the governor's request to take over our northwestern frontier defense, where the enemy often appeared, and asked me to go to the training regiment to build a series of forts to defend the local resident.I took up this military task, although I did not consider myself quite qualified for it.He gave me carte blanche, a stack of blank officer commissions to issue to whomever I thought fit.I didn't have much difficulty in recruiting the militia, and I recruited five hundred and sixty in no time, and I commanded them.My son, who was an officer in the army against Canada in the last war, was my adjutant, and he was very useful to me.The Indians had burned Nadenha (a Moravian village) and massacred the inhabitants, but we thought this place a good place for a battery. To march on Nadenha, I mustered my company at Bethlehem, the chief seat of the Moravian sect.To my surprise I found that Bethlehem's defenses were well prepared, for the devastation of Nadenha made them feel cold.The principal houses of the place were fenced in, and they bought some guns and ammunition from New York, and they even placed paving stones between the windows of their tall stone Head-throwing Indians attempting trespassing.The armed brethren also took turns to watch, alternately resting as methodically as any garrison in a garrisoned city.In conversation with their bishop, Skinberg, I mentioned my surprise at knowing that they had had a dispensation of Parliament exempting them from military service in the colonies, and I thought they were sincerely and seriously opposed to military service.He replied that opposition to military service was not one of their established principles, but it was thought, at the time of the charter of Parliament, that many of their followers were against it.But this time, unexpectedly, they found that only a very small number of people kept this belief.It appeared that either they had deceived themselves or they had deceived the Legislature, but common sense combined with the danger of the day was sometimes able to overcome eccentricities. At the beginning of January we set about building the battery.I sent a detachment to Minishink, where I ordered them to build a battery for the protection of that high point, and I sent another detachment with a similar mission to the lower country.In the end I myself took the rest of the force to Nadenhoe, where we thought it necessary to build a battery more quickly.Those Moravian friends arranged for me five carriages to carry our tools, provisions, munitions, luggage, etc. Eleven farmers were driven from their farms by the Indians.When we were about to start from Bethlehem, they came to me and asked for firearms so they could go back and save the animals.I gave each one a gun and some ammunition to use.We hadn't walked a few miles when it started raining and didn't stop all day.There was no place to take shelter from the rain on the road, and in the evening we arrived at the home of a German immigrant. In his woodshed, we all huddled tightly together and were soaked like soaked rats.Fortunately, we did not meet the enemy on the way, because our firearms were very simple, and our soldiers could not keep the gun from getting wet.The Indians can devise ingenious ways of keeping their guns dry, but we are helpless.That same day these Indians met the eleven poor peasants mentioned above, and shot ten of them dead.The only survivor who escaped from the tiger's mouth said that his and his companion's guns could not be fired because the barrels were wet from the rain. The next day it was fine, and we continued on our way to the deserted Nadenho.There is a sawmill nearby, and there are still a few piles of wood boards left beside the factory. With these boards, we will soon build some temporary barracks for ourselves. Since we have no tents, building barracks is very necessary in this severe cold season. .Our first task was to better bury the corpses left there, which until then had been merely collected by the country folk. Next morning we made a plan for our battery, and selected the foundations, which were four hundred and fifty-five feet in circumference, and which required four hundred and fifty-five fences, closely spaced, each with a diameter of made from a foot of tree trunk.We had seventy axes in all, and at once we felled the wood, with great efficiency, as our men were skilled woodcutters.I saw the speed of felling so quickly that I looked at my watch curiously when two men began to cut down a pine tree, and within six minutes they both had it down to the ground, and I found that Each tree is fourteen inches in diameter, and each pine will make three fences eighteen feet long, the trunks of which are tapered at one end.While the logging was going on, our other soldiers dug trenches up to three feet deep all around to drive the pine trunks into the soil.We dismantled the wagon body, pulled the nails that joined the front and rear shafts, and separated the front and rear wheels, so that we had ten wagons, each drawn by two horses, to carry pine trunks from the forest to the worksite. .When the fence was erected, our carpenter built a step of boards along the fence in the circle, about six feet above the ground, for men to stand on and shoot from the holes.We have a swivel gun mounted on a corner, and as soon as it is mounted we fire to inform the Indians (if any of them are around) that we have such an arm.Thus our fort was completed in a week, if our poor palisades deserved such a magnificent name, though every other day the heavy rains kept the soldiers from their work. This incident gave me an opportunity to see that when people are working, they feel very fulfilled, because on their working days, they are gentle and happy, and they realize that they have completed the whole day's work, and their evenings are very good. joy.But in their spare time, they were disobedient, quarreling, picking on their food, and losing their tempers.It reminds me of a captain who always keeps his sailors at work.Once his first mate reported that their work was all done and there was nothing to do for them.He said: Ah, tell them to wash the anchors. Although this kind of fort is rudimentary, it is more than enough to resist the Indians who have no cannon.When we had established ourselves, and had ground to retreat to if necessary, we ventured to search the adjacent country in company.We encountered no Indians, but we found them hiding and watching us on the hills near by.There is an ingenious contraption in these places which seems worth mentioning.It was winter at this time, and the Indians needed to warm up by the fire, but if an ordinary fire was lit on the ground, then people would know his position when they saw the light in the distance.So they dug a hole in the ground about three feet in diameter and a little over three feet deep.We observed how they hacked charcoal with axes from the edge of charred logs in the forest.With these charcoals they made a small fire at the bottom of the hole, and we see the marks made by their upper bodies lying on the grass all around the hole, their legs hanging in the hole to keep their feet warm, which is very important to them is very important.In this way of lighting the fire, the enemy cannot see the light, the flames, the sparks, or even the smoke, so they remain undetected.It seems that they were not many in number, as if they already knew that we were too many, and that they could not hope to win a battle if they attacked. We have a zealous Presbyterian chaplain, Mr. Beatty, who acts as our chaplain, and he complains to me that the soldiers generally do not come to prayer meetings, and his admonitions.When they were recruited, in addition to their salary and food, we also promised to give them a bottle of rum every day. We gave them wine on time, half in the morning and half in the evening.I found that they came to drink very punctually.So I said to Beatty: As a clergyman, it may be a bit condescending to ask you to manage the rum, but if you wait until the prayer meeting is over to serve the wine, they'll all come.He thought it was a good idea, accepted the position, had a few people to help him drink, it went well, the prayer meeting has never been full and on time, so I think it's better to use military law to punish Those who do not take part in the liturgy may do better in this way.