Chapter 5: A Fourth Journey and
the Kernels of Others’ Journals
As
far as we know, Washington did not keep a journal of his next foray into the Ohio
wilderness under the command of General Braddock. Others did.
Jacob Huber contributed his hearsay testimony. How did a German-speaking
wagoner end up giving a sworn statement to the Governor of Pennsylvania? Oddly enough, we owe Huber’s contribution to Benjamin
Franklin who capitalized (literally) on the failure of Washington, Dinwiddie
and Governor Horatio Sharpe of Maryland to control the public works aspect of
Braddock’s march to the headwaters of the Ohio.
Even
before Washington returned to Williamsburg, Governor Dinwiddie had sent reports
to neighboring colonies and to London, the sum result of which was the dispatch
of General Braddock and two regiments of the Coldstream guards to the colonies
for the purpose of establishing a unified command for the prosecution of the
war against France and its Indian allies.
Braddock
arrived at Hampton Roads, Virginia on 20 February 1755. Despite the fiasco at Great Meadow, Braddock
had Captain Robert Orme, a favorite member of his staff, solicit the services
of Washington to join Braddock’s command as a brevet captain aide-de-camp. Braddock wanted Washington not for his
military experience but rather for his knowledge of the terrain in the Ohio
region.[1] Washington elected to go along as a volunteer
rather than accept a demotion in rank.[2]
General
Braddock, though much maligned by historians, did have a great deal of military
training and experience; however, none especially suited to conducting a
military campaign in the colonial wilderness of the mid-eighteenth century.[3] Braddock’s orders from London, which he
followed unswervingly, called for a long march along the route previously taken
by Washington. Taking that route necessarily
entailed the construction of a more substantial road suitable for hauling heavy
siege artillery by wagon for the reduction of Fort Duquense. The road would be wider and better
constructed than the previous attempt and would continue all the way to Fort
Duquense:
Passing through the wilderness over the
“stoney” ridges of the Allegheny Mountains, this new road crossed over deep
ravines of many fast flowing mountain streams, and over upland meadows and
swamps in the ancient foreboding forests of North America. The 2,000 soldiers marched 200 miles in a
procession strung out at times for more than three miles. It was made up of 29 pieces of artillery, 407
wagons (150 from Pennsylvania thanks to Benjamin Franklin) pulled by 500
horses. There were 400 (pack) horses, a
herd of livestock and even a group of 40 to 50 support women (soldier’s wives)
of who [six] were officially part of the army and could draw rations (most were
sent back to Fort Cumberland). [4]
It
beggars the imagination to come up with a contemporary logistical, political
and engineering analogy for this effort, especially since there was not, in
advance of the undertaking, any adequate funding in place or even agreement
among the many colonial authorities to provide manpower, funding or other
support for the campaign. All aspects of
the effort were decreed by royal and parliamentary fiat from London. The colonials were expected to obey
regardless of the fact that London was clueless as to of the terrain as well as
the support capabilities on the frontier.
Wagoners,
their wagons, their horses and a second civilian army of laborers had to be
recruited and organized to support the massive road building effort. All of these logistics fell on the shoulders of
General Braddock’s irascible quartermaster Sir John St. Clair. In the words of Robert Orme:
General Braddock apprehended the greatest
difficulty in procuring wagons and horse, sufficient to attend him upon his
march, as the assembly had not passed an Act for the supplying of them, but Sir
John St. Clair assured the General that inconveniency would be easily removed,
for, in going for Fort Cumberland, he had been informed of a great number of
Dutch settlers, at the foot of the mountain called Blue Ridge, who would
undertake to carry by the hundred the provisions and stores, and that he
believed he could provide otherwise two hundred wagons and fifteen hundred
carrying horses to be at Fort Cumberland by the first of May.[5]
Napoleon
famously said, in the next century, "une
armée marche à son estomac" -- an army marches on its stomach. In Braddock’s case, the march became a crawl,
but even then only possible with an enormous number of wagons and
wagoners. Initial attempts to recruit in
Virginia failed.[6] Maryland Governor Sharpe suggested to
Braddock that some of the army should go through Maryland where, of course,
western Maryland farmers (mostly German speaking) would supply horses, wagons
and labor. Washington perceived this as
a ploy to divert the benefits of road construction to Maryland.[7] St. Clair responded to Sharpe’s initiative
and issued orders to haul freight through Maryland at 12 pence per mile.[8]
Braddock then began to move part of his
army through Maryland, but neither wagons nor a Maryland road had materialized
by the time he reached Frederick Maryland on April 20th. [9]
Pennsylvania
also wanted a piece of the largest public works project in the colonies.[10]
George Croghan, Indian trader, led a delegation of Pennsylvania commissioners who
met with St. Clair in mid-April at Fort Cumberland in Maryland. They proposed that St. Clair build yet
another road from Carlisle, Pennsylvania to the Youghiogheny River not too far
from Nimacolin. St. Clair flatly rejected the proposal as too little, too late.
Benjamin
Franklin joined Sharpe and Braddock in Frederick in the guise of his postmaster
roll for the purpose of coordinating relays of reports on Braddock’s march to
Philadelphia, Annapolis and Williamsburg, the three colonial capitals involved,
as well as dispatches back to London. The meeting went well. By his own account, Franklin had a hidden
agenda of repairing relations with Braddock and landing the deal that the
Croghan Commission had botched. Franklin
apparently used the same pitch that worked (temporarily) for Sharpe and failed
(immediately) for Croghan:
I happened to say that I thought it was a
pity they had not landed rather in Pennsylvania, as in that country almost
every farmer had his own wagon. “then you, sir,” Braddock replied, “who are a
man of interest there, can probably procure them for us, and I beg you will
undertake it.” Franklin immediately
agreed and asked Braddock what terms to offer the Pennsylvania farmers. Braddock said it was up to Franklin, and gave
him eight hundred pounds for advance payments.[11]
With
typical Franklin initiative, he immediately drafted an advertisement for
publication in English and German. The
advertisement provides a window into Franklin’s assessment of the public works
project as well as an insight into the character and motivations of German-speaking
farmers such as Jacob Huber:
Lancaster,
April 26, 1755.
Whereas
150 Waggons, with 4 Horses to each Waggon, and 1500 Saddle or Pack-Horses are
wanted for the Service of his Majesty’s Forces now about to rendezvous at
Wills’s Creek; and his Excellency General Braddock hath been pleased to impower
me to contract for the Hire of the same; I hereby give Notice, that I shall
attend for that Purpose at Lancaster from this Time till next Wednesday
Evening; and at York from next Thursday Morning ’till Friday Evening; where I
shall be ready to agree for Waggons and Teams, or single Horses, on the
following Terms viz.
1st.
That these shall be paid for each Waggon with 4 good Horses and a Driver,
Fifteen Shillings per Diem: And
for each able Horse with a Pack-Saddle or other Saddle and Furniture, Two
Shillings per Diem. And for
each able Horse without a Saddle, Eighteen Pence per Diem.
2dly,
That the Pay commence from the Time of their joining the Forces at Wills’s
Creek (which must be on or before the twentieth of May ensuing) and that a
reasonable Allowance be made over and above for the Time necessary for thier
travelling to Wills’s Creek and home again after their Discharge.
3dly,
Each Waggon and Team, and every Saddle or Pack Horse is to be valued by
indifferent Persons, chosen between me and the Owner, and in Case of the Loss
of any Waggon, Team or other Horse in the Service, the Price according to such
Valuation, is to be allowed and paid.
4thly,
Seven Days Pay is to be advanced and paid in hand by me to the Owner of each
Waggon and Team, or Horse, at the Time of contracting, if required; and the
Remainder to be paid by General Braddock, or by the Paymaster of the Army, at
the Time of their Discharge, or from time to time as it shall be demanded.
5thly,
No Drivers of Waggons, or Persons taking care of the hired Horses, are on any
Account to be called upon to do the Duty of Soldiers, or be otherwise employ’d
than in conducting or taking Care of their Carriages and Horses.
6thly,
All Oats, Indian Corn or other Forage, that Waggons or Horses bring to the Camp
more than is necessary for the Subsistence of the Horses, is to be taken for
the Use of the Army, and a reasonable Price paid for it.
Note. My Son William Franklin,
is impowered to enter into like Contracts with any Person in Cumberland County.
B.
Franklin.
Now here
are set forth terms that mean business,
which could not fail to attract the attention of the targeted
farmers: a daily rate, travel expenses,
seven days advance, insurance of a sort against loss, no risk of being drafted
to fight or bear arms and doing business with a man who had a reputation of
getting things done. But there was
more.
The
advertisement had with it a personal letter addressed to the inhabitants of the
three counties, most of whom were the same German speaking farmers. The letter emphasizes both the carrot of the
hard currency and the stick of the alternative prospect of a marching army
commandeering whatever it required with no recompense to the population. The prospective stick did not materialize in
either Maryland or Virginia and Franklin’s characterization of St. Clair as a
hussar was a pure invention of Franklin’s imagination. Further, Franklin added two sweetners to the
deal by allowing a consortium to put
together a wagon, horses and driver from several different farms and then
adding his personal bond to the deal.[12]
To the
Inhabitants of the Counties of Lancaster, York, and Cumberland.
Friends
and Countrymen,
Being
occasionally at the Camp at Frederic a few Days since, I found the General and
Officers of the Army extreamly exasperated, on Account of their not being
supply’d with Horses and Carriages, which had been expected from this Province
as most able to furnish them; but thro’ the Dissensions between our Governor
and Assembly, Money had not been provided nor any Steps taken for that Purpose.
It was
proposed to send an armed Force immediately into these Counties, to seize as
many of the best Carriages and Horses as should be wanted, and compel as many
Persons into the Service as would be necessary to drive and take care of them.
I
apprehended that the Progress of a Body of Soldiers thro’ these Counties on
such an Occasion, especially considering the Temper they are in, and their Resentment
against us, would be attended with many and great Inconveniencies to the
Inhabitants; and therefore more willingly undertook the Trouble of trying first
what might be done by fair and equitable Means.
The
People of these back Counties have lately complained to the Assembly that a
sufficient Currency was wanting; you have now an Opportunity of receiving and
dividing among you a very considerable Sum; for if the Service of this
Expedition should continue (as it’s more than probable it will) for 120 Days,
the Hire of these Waggons and Horses will amount to upwards of Thirty thousand
Pounds, which will be paid you in Silver and Gold of the King’s Money.
The
Service will be light and easy, for the Army will scarce march above 12 Miles
per Day, and the Waggons and Baggage Horses, as they carry those Things that
are absolutely necessary to the Welfare of the Army, must march with the Army
and no faster, and are, for the Army’s sake, always plac’d where they can be
most secure, whether on a March or in Camp.
If you
are really, as I believe you are, good and loyal Subjects to His Majesty, you
may now do a most acceptable Service, and make it easy to yourselves; for three
or four of such as cannot separately spare from the Business of their
Plantations a Waggon and four Horses and a Driver, may do it together, one
furnishing the Waggon, another one or two Horses, and another the Driver, and
divide the Pay proportionably between you. But if you do not this Service to
your King and Country voluntarily, when such good Pay and reasonable Terms are
offered you, your Loyalty will be strongly suspected; the King’s Business must
be done; so many brave Troops, come so far for your Defence, must not stand
idle, thro’ your backwardness to do what may be reasonably expected from you;
Waggons and Horses must be had; violent Measures will probably be used; and you
will be to seek for a Recompence where you can find it, and your Case perhaps
be little pitied or regarded.
I have
no particular Interest in this Affair; as (except the Satisfaction of
endeavouring to do Good and prevent Mischief) I shall have only my Labour for
my Pains. If this Method of obtaining the Waggons and Horses is not like to
succeed, I am oblig’d to send Word to the General in fourteen Days; and I
suppose Sir John St. Clair the Hussar, with a Body of Soldiers, will
immediately enter the Province, for the Purpose aforesaid, of which I shall be
sorry to hear, because I am, very sincerely and truly your Friend and
Well-wisher,
B.
Franklin.
Individual
contracts were drafted and signed. Here
is one example:
From Harbanus Ashebriner: Contract for
a Wagon and Horses
Printed form with MS insertions in
Blanks: Yale University Library
[May 2, 1755]
I Harbanus
Ashebriner of Parradice Township. in the County of
York and Province of Pennsylvania, do hereby agree and
promise that I will, on the Terms hereunder mentioned, provide one
good Waggon with four able Horses and a Driver, to be at Wills’s
Creek in Virginia, with as much Oats, Indian Corn, or other Forage as I can
procure and carry thither with the same, on or before the twentieth Day of May
Instant, then and there to attend the Orders of General Braddock. And I do
acknowledge to have received the Sum of Five Pounds Five Shillings
from Benjamin Franklin, in Advance towards the Pay or Hire of the said Waggon
Team and Driver and do oblige myself to return to him or his
Order, Double the said Sum in Case I fail of performing this Agreement. I
Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia, being for that purpose duly and fully
empowered by his Excellency Edward Braddock Esq; General of all his Majesty’s
Forces in North America, do hereby in his Name and Behalf, promise and agree,
that the said Harbanus Ashebriner shall receive for
the Hire of his said Waggon Team and Driver Fifteen Shillings
a Day, Pensilva: Money the Pay to commence the Day of their
Arrival at Wills’s Creek; and shall farther receive for travelling thither and
home again the Sum of a reasonable Allowance. And in Case of
the Loss of the said Waggon or any of the Horses, in the Service the same
shall be paid for according to the underwritten Valuation. The Driver shall not
be employ’d as a Soldier, nor any Duty required of him but to take Care of his
Horses and Waggon. And whatever Indian Corn, or other Forage shall be
brought in the Waggon to Wills’s Creek, more than is necessary for the
Subsistence of the Horses belonging to the Waggon shall be paid for at a
reasonable Price. To this Agreement, the Parties have interchangeably set their
Hands, this Second Day of May, 1755.
Witnesses present
Arban Aschenbrenner
John
Read
Michael
Swoope[?]
B Franklin
Franklin
apparently drafted his advertisement while still at Frederick.[15] Once published, results were immediate as
evidenced by the May 2 date on the Aschenbrenner contract. In part, Franklin’s advance of some of his
own money and his personal bond on many of the contracts may have been what
sealed the deal in Pennsylvania when wagons could not be had in Virginia and
Maryland. Franklin arranged the hire of about 150 wagons and 600 packhorses. The losses incurred from wear and tear in
addition to Braddock’s defeat gave rise to lawsuits against Franklin, which
were settled by the crown for the sum of 30,000 pounds by order of General
Shirley in September.
The
Franklin plan contrasted favorably with what later happened in Virginia. On May
16th, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gage arrived at Winchester,
Virginia, but had to commandeer 42 wagons and teams to haul stores and the
heavy artillery destined to meet up with General Braddock at Fort Cumberland in
Maryland on May 20th.[16] The same day, 160 wagons arrived at the fort from
Philadelphia laden with stores and 11 wagons containing presents for officers
from the Pennsylvania assembly accompanied by a delegation of five plump
Quakers.[17] Jacob Huber was, most likely, driving one of
those wagons.
On
May 22, the news of the first successful delivery of stores to General Braddock
appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette along with a notice that more wagons were
needed:
We hear from the camp at Will’s Creek that
his Excellency Generl Braddock, and all his forces were arrived there. … The
report we had of some of our waggoners being intercepted by the enemy, is
entirely groundless. Forty-one wagons
are immediately needed, to carry each a Load of Oats and Indian Corn from
Philadelphia to Will’s Creek, for which they are to be padid at their Return
Tweleve Pounds each Waggon. Protection
and Passes will be given the Waggoners by Authority of the General, to prevent
their being detained after Deleivery of their Loads. They are to set out together on Thursday the
29th Instant. Apply to
Benjamin Franklin, in Philadelphia.
Note- Several Neighbors may conveniently join in fitting out a Waggon,
as was lately done in the Back Counties.
If the Waggons cannot thus be obtained, there must be an impress. – B. Franklin[18]
No
record of Jacob Huber’s contract has been found. He also does not appear on the list of wagons
hired or the settlement records for the claims made for losses. His contract could have been made in the name of
another individual per the suggestion in both of Franklin’s advertisements to
combine wagons, horses and drivers from different farms. Nevertheless, the available contemporaneous
documentation leaves very little doubt that Jacob Huber, or his consortium,
were contacted by Franklin soon after April 26 and were in
The
Pennsylvania wagons are next mentioned in an account of Captain Orme concerning
the provision of spoiled meat and the failure provide flour as contracted by
Colonel Cresap. This incident
precipitated the discharge of Cressap as
a commissary and a re-organization of the wagon supply chain:
The General, to obviate as much as possible
these difficulties, appointed a wagon Master General, and under him wagon
masters over every forty wagons; and horse Masters over every hundred horses,
and also a drover to every seven horses; the wagon and horse master with the
drovers were to go into the woods with their respective divisions, to muster
their horses every night and morning, and to make a daily report to the wagon
master General, who is to report to the General.[19]
In
any event, we now know how Jacob Huber came to be a wagoner supporting
Braddock’s March. We will turn to the decision made on
the march that allowed his survival and ability to be a hearsay witness to
Braddock’s defeat.
[1] Kopperman at 156.
[2] Chernow at 53 citing PWC 1:243 Letter to Robert Orme.
[3] See, e.g.,
Robert Leckie, A Few Acres of Snow: The
Saga of the French and Indian Wars at 278-83 (Edison, NJ 1999) ISBN-13:
978-0-7858-2100-7. Paul E. Kopperman, Braddock at the Monogahela (Pittsburg
1977) ISBN 0-8229-3326-8
[4] Andrew J.
Wahll, Braddock Road Chronicles 1755:
From the Diaries and the Records of Members of the Braddock Expedition and
Others Arranged in a Day by Day Chronology at 3 (Westmister MD 1999) ISBN
978-0-7884-1205-1.
[5] Winthrop Sargent, ed. The History of an Expedition Against Fort Du Quense, in 1755 at
page 284 (1855 Philadelphia 1855 Historical Society of Pennsylvania)
[6] Thomas E. Crocker, Braddock’s March: How the Man Sent to Seize a Continent Changed
American History at 106-107 (2009
Yardley, PA) ISBN 978-1-59416-096-7.
[7] Ibid. Benefits
included not only the infusion of cash into the Maryland economy, but also the
long term benefits of a supply and migration route for generations to
come. Eventually, parts of the Maryland
route were incorporated into the National Road.
[8] Wahll at 110-111 from papers of St. Clair.
[9] Crocker at 115,
[10] Kooperman at 277 notes that it is not possible to
calculate the expenditures for roadbuilding much less the total amount infused
into the three colonial economies is soldier salaries and provisioning. Nevertheless, he documents colonial
allocations of 75000 pounds, an amount that must have been met or exceeded from
the king’s treasury.
[11] Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin at 219.
http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/page02.htm
[12] Crocker 119-120
[13]
http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedVolumes.jsp?vol=6&page=026a
[14] http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedVolumes.jsp?vol=6&page=026a
[15] Wahll at 157.
[16]
Crocker at 145; Wahll at 197, 202
[17]
Wahll at 202.
[18]
Wahll at 208.
[19]
Wahkk at 215.
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