Memorandum respecting the Militia, 14 May 1756
Memorandum respecting the Militia
[Winchester, 14 May 1756]
May 14th The Orange Militia under Colo. Talliaferro consistg of 2 Field Officer’s 2 Captns 4 Subalterns & 100 private Men came to Town1 as did Colo. Barret with 130 Men from Louisa2 In the Evening of this day I summon’d all the Field Officers to meet, that we might advise and consult on the proper expedn to be taken with the Militia see a Copy of the proceedings in my orderly Book. in consequence of these resolves and advise fm Colo. Martin & Mr Comy Walker3 knowg in the Situation of our Frontiers I orderd the Commanding Officers of each Militia to furnish the following number of Men which was proportion’d equally among those that were here and appointed them to remain as below.4
| Fd | Offr | Capt. | Lt | E. | S. | |||
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | ||||
| at Mendenhals Fort. Lt Thomas ... wth 27 Men | from | Orange County | ||||||
| at the Mth of Sleepy Ck | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 50 | from | Caroline | |
| at the Mth of Little Cacn | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 90 | P. William | |
| at Ashby’s Fort | 1 | 2 | 25 | from | K. George | |||
| also at Do | 1 | 2 | 35 | from | Sp[otsylvani]a | |||
| at Cocks’s Fort | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 45 | from | Fairfax | |
| at pearsals | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 45 | from | Do | |
| at Harness’s Fort | 1 | 0 | 2 | 30 | Stafford | |||
| at Waggener’s uppr F. | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 50 | Culpeper | ||
| at Enochs’s | 1 | 0 | 2 | 35 | Louisa | |||
At Winchester to Work on the Fort and to be readey in cases of Emergency 75. exclusive of the abov⟨e⟩ and taken from all the Sevl Countys. Fairfax & P.W. have furnish a larger number of M⟨en⟩ than the other Countys because th⟨ey⟩ arrivd with those number’s and were orderd on to assist and relie⟨ve⟩ the Inhabitants on the Branch. & and it wd have run the Country to considerable additional expence to relieve them now and to no very gt purpose as we soon expected to receive the draughts.6
AD, DLC:GW. See Memorandum respecting the Militia, 1–2 May 1756.
1. William Taliaferro, the son of John Taliaferro, who was one of the founders of Orange County, and the brother of Francis and John Taliaferro, received his commission as lieutenant colonel of the Orange County militia on 4 May 1756.
2. Charles Barrett and Robert Anderson, officers of the Louisa County militia, approved the actions of the council of war held earlier in the evening. Barrett and Anderson were both at this time representing Louisa County in the House of Burgesses. GW wrote “from” before “with.”
3. Thomas Bryan Martin was county lieutenant for frontier Hampshire County, and Thomas Walker was the commissary for the Virginia Regiment.
4. GW made the actual assignment of officers and men to these posts in his orders of 15 May 1756.
5. This line of figures undoubtedly belongs with the information on Mendenhal’s fort.
6. The few small changes GW made in this memorandum are unimportant.