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506 HISTORY OF MARYLANt)
" Though Fort Cumberland may be constructed, for anything we know, near a place
proper for the stationing a garrison at, for his majesty's service in general, yet being, as
we have been informed, between eighty and ninety miles from the settlements of the
westernmost inhabitants of this province, and in the truth of that information, are confirmed by your Excellency's message of the 11th of this instant,.wherein you say,'the
distance from Fort Frederick to Fort Cumberland, by the wagon road, is 75 miles,' and
consequently the carriage of provisions thither very expensive ; we humbly conceive it
cannot be reasonably desired, that the people of this province should be burthened with
the great expense of garrisoning that fort, which, if it contributes immediately to the
security of any of his majesty's frontier subjects, it must be those of Virginia or Pennsylvania, who do not at present contribute any thing towards the support of it, that we
know of.
" We understand, the most common track of the Indians, in making their incursions
into Virginia, (which have been lately very frequent) is through the wild desert country
lying between Fort Cumberland and Fort Frederick, and yet, we cannot learn that the
forces at Fort Cumberland (though the most of these that are in our pay the summer past,
have been stationed there, contrary, we humbly conceive, to the law that raised them)
have very rarely, if ever, molested those savages in those their incursions; from whence
we would willingly presume their passage is below the ranges which troops stationed at
Fort Cumberland, can with safety to that fort, extend themselves to; and consequently,
that any security arising from those troops, even to the Virginians who are most in the
way of being protected by them, must be very remote, and to us much more so.
" When, from the incursions and horrid depredations of the savage enemy in the
neighboring colonies, an opinion prevailed that a fort was necessary for the defence and
security of the western frontier of this province, it was thought most likely to be conducive to those ends, to have it placed somewhere near the place Fort Frederick is now
constructed; because from thence, the troops that might be judged proper to be kept on
foot for the security of the frontier inhabitants, might have it in their power to range
constantly in such a manner as to protect them against small parties; and in case any
considerable body of the enemy should appear, or the fort should be attacked, the troops
might, at a very short warning, be assisted by the inhabitants.
" Near the sum of £ 6,000 has been expended in purchasing the ground belonging to
and constructing Fort Frederick, and though we have not any exact information what
sum may be still wanting to complete it, (if ever it should be thought proper to be done)
yet we are afraid the sum requisite for that purpose must be considerable; and we are
apprehensive that fort is so large, that in case of attack it cannot be defended without a
number of men, larger than the province can support, purely to maintain a fortification."
To punish the assembly for their contumacy, Loudoun in December
quartered five companies of the Royal Americans upon the citizens of Annapolis, and notwithstanding all remonstrances, kept them there until March
22d. Even Sharpe expostulated at the severity and inefficiency of this
measure, which oppressed and annoyed the citizens, who had given no offence,
and left untouched the burgesses who were the real offenders. As Annapolis
contained at that time considerably less than a hundred families, of whom
many were barely able to provide for themselves, the whole burden of supporting these soldiers fell upon those who were in better circumstances, of
whom many were office-holders of the governor's appointing, and consequently
his partisans.
| Title | History of Maryland - 1 |
| Creator | Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas) |
| Publisher | J. B. Piet |
| Place of Publication | Baltimore |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000539 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 506 HISTORY OF MARYLANt) " Though Fort Cumberland may be constructed, for anything we know, near a place proper for the stationing a garrison at, for his majesty's service in general, yet being, as we have been informed, between eighty and ninety miles from the settlements of the westernmost inhabitants of this province, and in the truth of that information, are confirmed by your Excellency's message of the 11th of this instant,.wherein you say,'the distance from Fort Frederick to Fort Cumberland, by the wagon road, is 75 miles,' and consequently the carriage of provisions thither very expensive ; we humbly conceive it cannot be reasonably desired, that the people of this province should be burthened with the great expense of garrisoning that fort, which, if it contributes immediately to the security of any of his majesty's frontier subjects, it must be those of Virginia or Pennsylvania, who do not at present contribute any thing towards the support of it, that we know of. " We understand, the most common track of the Indians, in making their incursions into Virginia, (which have been lately very frequent) is through the wild desert country lying between Fort Cumberland and Fort Frederick, and yet, we cannot learn that the forces at Fort Cumberland (though the most of these that are in our pay the summer past, have been stationed there, contrary, we humbly conceive, to the law that raised them) have very rarely, if ever, molested those savages in those their incursions; from whence we would willingly presume their passage is below the ranges which troops stationed at Fort Cumberland, can with safety to that fort, extend themselves to; and consequently, that any security arising from those troops, even to the Virginians who are most in the way of being protected by them, must be very remote, and to us much more so. " When, from the incursions and horrid depredations of the savage enemy in the neighboring colonies, an opinion prevailed that a fort was necessary for the defence and security of the western frontier of this province, it was thought most likely to be conducive to those ends, to have it placed somewhere near the place Fort Frederick is now constructed; because from thence, the troops that might be judged proper to be kept on foot for the security of the frontier inhabitants, might have it in their power to range constantly in such a manner as to protect them against small parties; and in case any considerable body of the enemy should appear, or the fort should be attacked, the troops might, at a very short warning, be assisted by the inhabitants. " Near the sum of £ 6,000 has been expended in purchasing the ground belonging to and constructing Fort Frederick, and though we have not any exact information what sum may be still wanting to complete it, (if ever it should be thought proper to be done) yet we are afraid the sum requisite for that purpose must be considerable; and we are apprehensive that fort is so large, that in case of attack it cannot be defended without a number of men, larger than the province can support, purely to maintain a fortification." To punish the assembly for their contumacy, Loudoun in December quartered five companies of the Royal Americans upon the citizens of Annapolis, and notwithstanding all remonstrances, kept them there until March 22d. Even Sharpe expostulated at the severity and inefficiency of this measure, which oppressed and annoyed the citizens, who had given no offence, and left untouched the burgesses who were the real offenders. As Annapolis contained at that time considerably less than a hundred families, of whom many were barely able to provide for themselves, the whole burden of supporting these soldiers fell upon those who were in better circumstances, of whom many were office-holders of the governor's appointing, and consequently his partisans. |
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