| Washill;ton arid tile Potomac 499
no address and no date. One error in transcribing the undated letter
needs to be mentioned. Instead of " Sn_yerland Island " read
" Sugarland Island ".
What are evidently the rough notes from which the undated letter
was written are found on a fragile sheet bearing in the upper left-
hand corner a rough sketch of a portion of the Potomac. A bit of
extraneous matter on the back reads, " to represent to the assembly
their protection of the wounded men-also to have the articles of
War made authoris'd ". As Washington's letter to Governor Din-
widdie of August 20, 1754,' mentions the matter of martial versus
military law as that by which his men are to be guided; and as Din-
widdie's letter to Washington of September 11, 1754,5 refers to the
failure of the Assembly to provide for the wounded men, it seems
likely that both the rough notes and the letter describing the Potomac
were written in August, 1754. The fact that the undated letter was
written over the letter of August 12 places the date of the former
sometime after that of the latter.
GRACE L. NLTE.
r. JOHN SEMPLE'S PROPOSALS FOR CLEARING THE POTOMAC.6
The opening and making convenient Passage for Vessells of Ten to
Eifeteen Tons Burthen; through such particular parts of the River Po-
tomac, above the Great falls, as is now difficult, and render Tedious and
Expensive Portages necessary, has been long considered as highly meret-
ing the public attention; But as is often the fate of matters wherein many
are interested, little has been hitherto done to carry it into execution. On
Generall Braddocks arrivall att Alexandria a fair prospect was presented
of having it Speedily done. It admitted of no sort of dispute, that much
the readiest and easiest communication with the waters of the Ohio and
consequently Fort du Quisnie 7 must be by the river Potomac, as it woud
reduce the whole of the land carriage from Alexandria to the aforesd:
fort, (now fort Pitt) a distance of two hundred and Sixty miles to no
more than Seventy. The Generall Sensible of the Superior advantages of
this conveyance, undoubtedly had its improvement in view, and made use
of it even in the State. It was for the carriage of his Artillery, Ammu-
nition and Provisions a great part of the way: His defeat and Death and
4Writings of George Washington (ed. Sparks), Il, 60.
5"The Official Records of Robert Dinwiddie ", in Collections of the Virginia
Historical Society, 1. 317. Of course it is possible that Washington used a
piece
of scrap paper which chanced to have this statement on it, so that no
absolute
certainty as to the date of the observations on the Potomac is afforded
thereby.
If Stewart is correct (House Report no. 228, i9 Cong., x sess., p. z6), the
date
may be definitely placed as 1754; but he, too, may have been misled by the
fact
that a letter dated 1754 was written on the same sheet.
eTwo manuscripts of this document are included in the group, one apparently
copied from the other. Both are in Semple's handwriting and one of them is
endorsed by Washington.
7 Fort Duquesne.
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