To George Washington from Colonel Daniel Brodhead, 30 May 1780
From Colonel Daniel Brodhead
Fort Pitt [Pa.] May 30th 1780.
Dear General
Since my last,1 ten persons have been killed wounded & taken by the Indians in Westmoreland County. Parties of Regulars & Militia have endeavoured to overtake them but without success.2
The accounts I have received relative to the British Garrison at Detroit differ widely, some making it to consist of only two hundred men, some three hundred, & others upwards of four hundred.3 This has determined me to send Captain Brady with five white men & two Delaware Indians to Sandusky to endeavour to take a british Prisoner, which I hope he will effect.4 I have likewise offered other Delaware Warriors fifty hard Dollars worth of Goods for one british Soldier & they have promised to bring him immediately. Should an intelligent one be brought in, I intend to offer him some indulgence, upon his giving me the most perfect intelligence in his power.
I had lately called out 825 Rank & file & a proportionate number of Officers from the militia to aid me upon an enterprize against the Shawnese Towns, But upon finding the true State of what Provisions could be drawn from the Commissaries, and that they were prohibited from making further Purchases, I was compelled to postpone the attempt, untill a sufficient quantity of provisions can be procured.5
The Militia appear to be very anxious to aid me and I sincerely wish it was in my power to indulge them.
I expect a small supply of Salt provisions from below the mountains, which, if it proves to be of a good quality, will enable me to subsist the dependant posts, untill the first of September.6
The Soldiers frequently Desert, and are often Apprehended, and I expect sundry charges will soon be exhibited against some of the civil staff officers in this District. I shall therefore be much oblidged for a few more blank orders, to enable me, to assemble General Courts martial for their respective Trials.7
I cannot learn that the ordnance & Stores ordered from Philada have yet left Carlisle, nor do I know of what kind they are, or what their number, or quantity.8 I have the Honor to be with the most sincere respect & esteem your Excellencies most Obedt Servt
Daniel Brodhead
LS, DLC:GW; LB, NNGL. GW replied to Brodhead on 4 July.
1. See Brodhead to GW, 13 May.
2. In a letter dated 1 June at “Twelve Mile Run” near Ligonier, Westmoreland County, Pa., Col. Archibald Lochry wrote Joseph Reed, president of the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council, to report “three parties of the Savages amongst us—they have killed and taken five persons two miles from Ligonier, and burned a Mill belonging to one Laughlin.—They killed two men and wounded one near Brushey [Bushy] Run.—They likewise killed two men on Braddock’s Road near Brush Creek.—Their striking us again in so many different parts of the County as again drove the greatest part of the County on the north of Yohogeny River into Garrison.
“Colo. Brodhead called on me to Fort Pitt to confer on measures for the protection of the Frontiers. I am sorry to inform your Excellency that he is able to give very little assistance to our settlements from the Continental troops. … He requested me to call out sixty Rank and file of the militia of this County to cover our Frontiers and station them at posts we then agreed on. … I have got forty of the men out to their stations” (, 1st ser., 8:282–84).
3. These accounts have not been identified. Brodhead had received reports that the garrison consisted of 300 “Regulars” (Brodhead to GW, 10 Nov. 1779, and n.7).
4. For Capt. Samuel Brady’s mission, see Brodhead to GW, 29 June.
5. On this date, Brodhead used similar language in a letter to Timothy Pickering, president of the Board of War, but added that until money was provided “to purchase the necessary supplies the attempt [against the Shawnee] would prove abortive” (, 1st ser., 12:241). Brodhead already had determined that the expedition had become “impracticable” (Brodhead to George Rogers Clark, 20 May, in , 1st ser., 12:238–39).
6. For the arrival of these provisions, see Brodhead to A. Steel, 6 May, and to Pickering, 30 May, in , 1st ser., 12:230, 241.
7. The “blank orders” enabled Brodhead to initiate and administer courts-martial (see GW to Brodhead, 14 March; see also Brodhead to GW, 9 Oct. 1779, and n.5 to that document).