To Benjamin Franklin from Henry Bouquet, 27 August 1764
From Henry Bouquet
ALS: American Philosophical Society
Fort Loudoun 27th. August 1764
Dear Sir
I have the mortification to inform you privately that Bradstreet has granted Peace at Presqu’Isle to the Delaware and Shawanese without insisting on the least satisfaction for their Murders and Insults.
I flater myself that the General will not ratify Such a Scandalous Treaty;9 for my part I take no Notice of it, and proceed to the Ohio, fully determined to treat as Enemies Every Vilain of those Nations (Deputies excepted) as shall come in my way, till I receive contrary Orders from the General.1 I am Dear Sir Your most Humble Servant
H. B.
Addressed: To / Benjamin Franklin Esqr / At / Philadelphia
Endorsed: Col Bouquet Aug. 27.
9. Col. John Bradstreet commanded the northern force marching against the hostile Indians in the West. Leaving Niagara in early August, he landed near Presqu’Isle, where representatives of the Delaware and Shawnee met him to ask for peace. Something of an innocent in Indian negotiations and not realizing that others of these tribes were still on the warpath, Bradstreet accepted at face value these deputies’ protestations of good intentions. Without any authority to do so, he concluded a treaty of peace with them, August 12. In this agreement he failed to require “satisfaction” for the Indians’ prior depredations or adequate guarantees for the safe return of their white prisoners. General Gage was furious and, as Bouquet prophesied, refused to recognize the agreement. Howard H. Peckham, Pontiac and the Indian Uprising (2d edit., Chicago, [1961]), pp. 255–6.
1. Bouquet set out from Fort Pitt on October 1. He pursued the Indians as far as the Muskingum River, received the capitulations of several groups, and returned to Fort Pitt on November 28 with 200 restored captives and pledges (backed by the surrender of hostages) for the return of another hundred. Ibid., pp. 262–3.