Letter Bk. III

Sir
I am now to acknowledge the Receipt of Your Letter dated
the 18^th of May. It was indeed agreeable to me to have Fort
Cumberland garrison'd by some of the Troops in the pay of
this Province upon the Virginians being ordered to march
thence; & as the Earl of Loudoun was pleased to approve of
such a Disposition I did immediately on my Return from
Phil^a order Capt Dagworthy to march with a Detachment
thither, but as our Assembly seems to take a Pride in shew-
ing their Constituents that they are above all Direction they
signified to me by a very plain address that they disapproved
of the Disposition that His Ldp had made & of the orders
that I had thereupon given. They should as you observe have
considered that Fort Cumberland lies in this Province & that
the Virginians had much more reason to refuse to support a
Garrison there, but above all they should I think have consid-
ered that as His Majesty had been pleased to entrust the
Earl of Loudoun with the Command of all his Forces in
America it would ill become them to set themselves up as
better Judges of what Steps should be taken for the Defence
of these Colonies than the Officer whom His Majesty had pro-
moted to such a Command. Such Arguments as these how-
ever had little weight with the Gentlemen that I had to deal
with, & they laid me under the Necessity of accepting the 500
men on such Terms as they thought proper to offer them or
of putting an End to the Session without obtaining any Sup-
plies either for the general Service or the immediate Defence
of this Province. Such being the Temper & Resolution of
the Assembly I could do nothing more than get some words
inserted in the Bill which they were framing that would leave
me a sufficient power to order as many men as I should think
proper to Fort Cumberland or any other Place by way of De-
tachment & to impower me to put all the Troops that I should
think fit under the sole Command of Col^o Stanwix in case he
should proceed on an Expedition to the Westward or the
Exigency of Affairs should make it expedient for the Men to
be marched out of this Province. Before I assented to the
Bill I writ to Col^o Stanwix advising him of my having suc-
ceeded so far, & assuring him that if he would only send an
Officer to take the Chief Command I would take Care that
there should be always as many Subaltern Officers & Men
there as would make up the Number that was judged to be a
proper Garrison for that place. In answer to my Letter Col^o
Stanwix tells me that he cannot agree to the proposition but
that as he apprehends he has a Right to command all the