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Letter Bk. II]
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if this should not be the Case you are then to make up as
many Teams as you can at the Fort & employ them in this
Service & the owners of all the Waggons which shall be
employed will be paid after the Rate of 15/ a Day for each
by Sr I St Clair or me upon producing Your Certificates to
shew that they have done the Service.
[Sharpe to Tasker.]
29th of Iune 1758.
Sr
As I do not apprehend that there is any necessity for the As-
sembly's meeting at the time to which it stands prorogued I de-
sire the Favour of you to advise with the Gentlemen of the Coun-
cil & to prorogue the Assembly for such a longer time as you
& they shall think proper. The General being very unwilling
to lose the Men which have been raised in this Province &
have been hitherto kept up for the immediate Defence & Pro-
tection of our Frontier Inhabitants & expecting that he shall
be reimbursed by the Assembly at their next Session was
pleased about three weeks ago to advance the Men three
months pay to encourage them to keep together untill some
farther Provision shall be made for their Support & on the
9th Inst those of them that were in garrison here received
Orders from the General by Sr Iohn St Clair to evacuate the
Fort in six Days from that time & to go on a different Ser-
vice. As I had great Reason to apprehend that if this Place
should be left without a Garrison tho but a few Days the
People who live about Conegochiegh would abandon their
Plantations I immediately ordered two Companies of the
Militia of Frederick County to repair to this Place & Baker's
Fort to serve in Arms on the Frontiers for the necessary De-
fence of the Province untill some Companies could come up
from the Lower Counties. I have since agreeable to Your
Advice ordered up Capt Broome's Company from Calvert
County & another from Cecil to relieve them which will I
hope be enough to protect the Inhabitants till the Army shall
have left Fort Cumberland. I learn by a Letter from Capt
Dagworthy that a Party of fifteen or Sixteen Indians about a
fortnight ago fired upon six Men of a Party which had been
ordered out under the Command of Ensign Beall to repair
the Road between Fort Cumberland & the Old Town these
men were it seems advanced about 150 yards before the Rest
the Indians killed two of them & wounded two others, they
would have scalped those they had killed but were prevented
by Ensign Beall who immediately ran up with his Party &
obliged them to retire, last Friday Evening an Express that
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