"WATKINSES FERRY Febury ye 12th.. 1756

DEAR SR.

I wrote to you on Sunday Concerning the Imbaselment of the Stores which I have Recoverd and am going to Serch, and to have men upon tryal this day Concerning the Loss with Lieut. Lomax which I have great Reason to think will be found out, Mr. Rollins as one of the Soldiers was standing Centenie at the Barn Came & leand over him & Looked at the flower and said it was almost gone & that if Lomax was their he would not want for that nor Beef Neither & if the said Elliot would get him some flower that he would give him 1/2 pr pound in Rum for it which he Refused till that he made him Drunk & persuaded him to it,

... [Signed] by JNo. DEANE
... and Directed to Lieut. BLAGG

The above Elliot when made Drunk by Rawlins persuaded to Steel A Quantity of flower out of the Store which Rawlins Recd, and for which he was tried before Capt. Swearingham & Capt. Caton and found guilty & fined in five Pounds Sterling according to act of Parliament for embezling his Majesties Stores he was allowed some time for to Pay the fine, and when it Became Due Mr. Deane whent to ask for it he tould him he would not pay him any, upon which he applied to Capt. Caton1 who gave A Distress Warrant against him & when the Constable went to execute it; Caton forwarned him to doe it, told the Constable he would bear him harmless, & that Rawlins should not pay the fine, So that it Can be proved by A Letter from under Catons own Hand that he Screen'd Rollins from having Catons own Sentence Executed against him

[Note 1: 1 A civil magistrate.]

... W HUGHES

"MAIDSTONE June 20th. 1756

SIR/  I last night night had the pleasure of receiving your favours of Yesterday and am glad you are safely return'd. The Spirrit of Desertion was of late so prevalent here, that I once dreaded no other expedient than Hanging or shooting could affectually crush it. One Rollins who keeps a little tippling House here is in some measure the cause of that infamous and pernicious practice when I first arrived here I sent a Serjeant to him desiring him at his Perril not to sell Liquor to the Soldiers, this he paid no regard to, I then went to him and told him the terrible consequences of hurting the Service by making the Soldiers Drunk especially at such a Juncture but he still parsevered, I then plac'd a Centary on at each of his Doors with orders not to suffer a man of the Detachment to go in the House, but most of the Centrys were corrupted by his giving them liquor for liberty to supply others. I applied to Capt. Caton for redress the only Civil Magistrate in this Neighbourhood, he promised but put it off I renew'd my Application again and again at last I assured him that unless he would immediately take cognizance of this affair that I would complain of him to the Governor. Caton at length vouchsafed to have it tried, and when the allegations were plainly proven against Rollins by several of those who had been severely punished for Drunkeness and irregularity he granted a Supress Warrant to prevent his selling any more till the following Court, when he said his License would be taken from him however Rollins depended on the great Friendship Caton had for him and continued his Malicious Practices. We had daily Court Martials & constant punisments thro' the means of this Scoundrel which made me almost mad I sometimes thought of confining Rollins in the Guard House, and taking all his Liquors from him, but to put it out of their power to complain of illegal proceedings wch. the generality of people are apt to do of our Officers when without any foundation I once more applied to Caton he then truly told me that the Supress Warrant he had granted against Rollins was of no use unless it was sign'd by two Magistrates. I then immediately wrote to Capt. Swearingen informing him of the affair, but had no answer Ensign Crawford then went to his House. he came up here in a few days after but Caton was out of the way, thro' Catons neglect of this affair to call it no worse Rollins and the Soldiers always found some new method of getting the better of every precaution I could think of to prevent their getting drunk notwithstanding of the severe punishments that were almost daily inflicted which and the want of Clothes & necessaries first gave rise to the Hellish Spirrit of Desertion. --

By the Inclosed Letter you have an instance of the part Caton Acted (before I came here) notwithstanding of his pretended regard to his Country's welfare I would be extreemly glad you would apply to My Lord to have Rollin's License taken from him and to the Governor that he would order Caton's Conduct as a Justice of the peace to be enquired into If Rollins goes on with impunity it will be an encouragement to other such Scoundrels to follow his example and the Soldiery will at last begin to believe that their Officers can never effectually suppress such disturbers of orders and discipline to maintain which in the strictest sense you will at meeting see by the orders I have given and the care I have taken to see them executed that nothing in my power has been wanting I have 6 Deserters now in Irons & will be glad of your orders about them. One of them repented and help'd to discover and apprehend the others Inclosed you have a return of the Detachment I had many Sick but I have got an Hospital made and has a nurse by which means several are got well & the rest recovering

Its two weeks to Morrow since Governor Sharpe came up here, he Honour'd us with a short Visit but did not offer to give any orders or so much as view our Intrenchment, he set out immediately for the North Mountain where he now is & Preposes to remain for some Weeks, to expedite the construction of a Fort which they say is to be a strong regular & to Mount a quantity of Ordinance the Ground mark'd out for it is 14 Miles distant from the mouth of the Creek1 I can't learn that Maryland is to Build any other and they are to have but two Companys Commanded by Capt. Dagworthy & Bell for the defence of the Province to be supported till next December. they have only a Corperal and 6 Men at the Mouth of the Creek nor do I understand that they are to have any Garrison there

[Note 1: 1 This fort was called Fort Frederic. It was a work of considerable magnitude, situated on an eminence about five hundred yards from the Potomac River, of a quadrangular form, and constructed of durable materials.--FORD.]

Yesterday one Morgan from Pennsylvania inform'd us that on Munday last one of the Forts on the Fronteer of that Province had surrender'd to a large Body of the Enemy--As the Axes &c. you order'd did not arrive and as I was oblig'd to return the few I had borrowed, and was uncertain of remaining here any time did not attempt adding anything to the Strength of the place since you went down the Country. However I think I can do pretty well for double our Number of the Enemy if they only bring Musquetry against me--Inclosed is return of all the provision now on hand theres about 12000 lb Flower in a House of Colo. Cressop's which his Wife has positively denied delivering. I hope for your Orders soon & am with great respect

... Sir
... Your Most Obedt.
... Humb Servt
... ROBERT STEWART"

Maryland Bondholders, 1745-1755

Principals Names