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diff --git a/29653.txt b/29653.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e01bb99 --- /dev/null +++ b/29653.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1070 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Conestoga Wagons in Braddock's Campaign, +1755, by Don H. Berkebile + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Conestoga Wagons in Braddock's Campaign, 1755 + +Author: Don H. Berkebile + +Release Date: August 10, 2009 [EBook #29653] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONESTOGA WAGONS, 1755 *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Graeme Mackreth +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +CONTRIBUTIONS FROM +THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY: +PAPER 9 + +CONESTOGA WAGONS IN +BRADDOCKS CAMPAIGN, 1755 + +_Don H. Berkebile_ + + + + +_By Don H. Berkebile_ + + +_CONESTOGA WAGONS IN BRADDOCK'S CAMPAIGN_, 1755 + +_More than 200 years have passed since the Pennsylvania farm wagon, the +ancestral form of the Conestoga wagon, first won attention through +military service in the French and Indian War. These early wagons, while +not generally so well known, were the forerunners of the more popular +Conestoga freighter of the post-Revolutionary period and also of the +swaying, jolting prairie schooners that more recently carried hopeful +immigrants to the western territories._ + +THE AUTHOR: _Don H. Berkebile is on the exhibits staff of the +Smithsonian Institution's United States National Museum._ + +In a speech to the Pennsylvania Assembly on December 19, 1754, Governor +Morris suggested a law that would "settle and establish the wages" to be +paid for the use of the wagons and horses which soon were to be pressed +into military service for the expedition against Fort DuQuesne.[1] His +subsequent remarks on the subject were all too indicative of the +difficulties which were later to arise. The Assembly however, neglected +to pass such an act, and the Maryland and Virginia Assemblies were +equally lax in making provision for General Braddock's transportation. + +Sir John St. Clair had told Braddock, shortly after his arrival in the +colonies in late February 1755, "of a great number of Dutch settlers, at +the foot of a mountain called the Blue Ridge, who would undertake to +carry by the hundred the provisions and stores...."[2] St. Clair was +confident he could have 200 wagons and 1,500 pack horses at Fort +Cumberland by early May. On April 21 Braddock reached Frederick, in +Maryland. There he found that only 25 wagons had come in and several of +these were unserviceable. Furiously the General swore that the +expedition was at an end. At this point, Benjamin Franklin, who was in +Frederick to placate the wrath of Braddock and St. Clair against the +Pennsylvanians, commented on the advantages the expedition might have +gained had it landed in Philadelphia instead Alexandria,[3] and pointed +out that in eastern Pennsylvania every farmer had a wagon. Braddock then +suggested that Franklin try to raise the needed 150 wagons and the 1,500 +pack horses. Asking that the terms to be offered be first drawn up, +Franklin agreed to the undertaking and was accordingly commissioned. On +his return to Pennsylvania, Franklin published an advertisement at +Lancaster on April 26, setting forth the terms offered (the full text of +this advertisement is found in Franklin's autobiography). + +Although eventually successful, Franklin was beset by many difficulties +in collecting the wagons. Farmers argued that they could not spare teams +from the work of their farms. Others were not satisfied with the terms +offered. Furthermore, the Quaker-controlled Assembly had little interest +in the war and did nothing to regulate the hire of wagons, in spite of +the repeated pleas of the governor. Franklin published new +advertisements more strongly worded than the first, threatening an +impress of wagons and drivers if better cooperation could not be had.[4] +Finally the governor found it necessary to issue threatening warrants to +the magistrates of four of the more reluctant counties. This action +brought in the wagons but caused new difficulties to arise, for in order +to prevent trouble the townships had contributed, in addition to the +fifteen shillings per day offered in Franklin's terms, from five to +fifteen pounds to each owner who would hire out his wagon. + +[Illustration: Figure 1.--BRADDOCK'S ROUTE in the campaign of 1755. The +solid line approximates the present U.S. route 40. From Winthrop +Sargent, _The history of an expedition against Fort DuQuesne_, +Philadelphia, 1755.] + +This practice caused others to demand more for their services. Governor +Morris wrote to Richard Peters that he was "preparing to send sixty +waggon loads of oats and corn from hence (Philadelphia), for which I am +sorry to say, that I shall be obliged to give more for the transporting +of it, than the thing is worth, such advantages are taken by the people +of the Public wants...."[5] Two weeks later Edward Shippen, explaining +the teamsters side of the argument, told how they had to pay ferriage at +the Susquehannah and make the return trip with empty wagons.[6] It would +be well to mention here that not all of the wagons were to accompany the +expedition; many were to transport supplies only to Conococheague[7] or +to Wills Creek, and it was the owners of these wagons who, since they +did not feel bound by the same terms offered the 150 accompanying the +expedition, most often took advantage of the situation. In addition, +wagons were needed to supply Colonel James Burd and his party, who were +building the Pennsylvania road from Shippensburg to the forks of the +Youghiogheny,[8] where it was to meet with Braddock's road. When word +came back to the settlements that Indians had killed several of Burd's +wagoners, recruiting became still more difficult. The alarm became so +great that the road builders threatened to leave if protection was not +sent them. Accordingly, Captain Hogg was sent with his company from +Braddock's army to cover them.[9] + +[Illustration: Figure 2.--STRAKES BEFORE BEING COMPLETELY UNEARTHED. +Strakes are sections of wagon tire, equal in number to the felloes of +the wheel.] + +[Illustration: Figure 3.--SIX STRAKES ARRANGED IN A CIRCLE, as they +would encompass a 12-spoke wheel. In the center are two extra strakes, +two hub bands, and a hub boxing (the smaller ring).] + +The farm wagons used in these operations were often referred to as +Conestoga wagons.[10] This term was apparently in general use at least +as early as 1750, when the term "Dutch Wagon" was also used in referring +to this particular type of vehicle.[11] The Conestoga, deriving its +name from the Conestoga valley near Lancaster, was apparently a +Pennsylvania adaptation of the English wagon.[12] Unfortunately there +are no existing specimens of early wagons of whose age we can be +certain, and the few wagon fragments that have been unearthed are +insufficient to justify any conclusions. A number of strakes[13] were +found in Edmund's Swamp (figs. 2-5), on the route of the Forbes +expedition in 1758. These indicate a wheel diameter of 64 inches and a +tire 2 inches wide.[14] The 2-inch tires are undoubtedly relics of a +farmer's wagon, since the various military vehicles had tires no less +than 3 inches and often on the heavier types 4 inches wide. The use of +strakes also indicates that these early wagons had no brakes such as +the large Conestogas of a later era had.[15] From all indications it +would appear that these early farm wagons differed from the larger +freighters of the 1790's and were probably similar to the lighter, +farm-type Conestogas of the 19th century. Farm wagons are somewhat +smaller than road wagons, generally bear less ornamentation and lack the +more graceful lines of the latter. + +[Illustration: Figure 4.--A STRAKE, SHOWING SPIKES. On early vehicles +the tires were put on in sections and spiked in place. Later one endless +tire was "sweated" on by being heated to expand it, fitted on the wheel, +and cooled in place.] + +Contemporary letters and newspaper advertisements attest to the fact +that farm wagons were the type used by Braddock. For example, Franklin's +advertisement in the _Pennsylvania Gazette_ on May 22, 1755, noted that +"several Neighbors may conveniently join in fitting out a Waggon, as was +lately done in the Back Counties." Had these wagon owners been other +than farmers of poor means, such a notation would have been unnecessary. +In another communication to the inhabitants of Lancaster, York, and +Cumberland Counties Franklin said, "three or four of such as cannot +separately spare from the business of their Plantations a Wagon and four +Horses and a Driver, may do it together, one furnishing the Waggon, +another one or two Horses, and another the Driver, and divide the pay +proportionably between you."[16] Many letters describe the owners of the +wagons with such phrases as "the Poorer sort," and "narrow circumstances +of the Country People, who are to supply the waggons...."[17] These +remarks indicate that farm wagons were used and suggest that the larger +Conestogas, such as were driven by professional teamsters, probably had +not yet been developed. + +[Illustration: Figure 5.--BANDS AND HUB BOXING shown in figure 3. These +and the strakes shown in figures 2-4, parts of an old Pennsylvania farm +wagon, were found in Edmunds Swamp, Pennsylvania, along the route of the +Forbes Expedition of 1758.] + +That Braddock's wagons were small is evidenced by the loads carried. +Governor Morris seems to indicate loads as small as thirty-five bushels +when he sent a dispatch to Braddock informing him that he had bought +"one thousand bushels of Oats and one thousand bushels of Indian Corn in +this town [Philadelphia], and have directed sixty waggons to be taken +up."[18] This is substantiated by a remark in Captain Orme's journal, in +which he states that "The loads of all waggons were to be reduced to +fourteen hundred weight...." Under the same date, June 11, he indicated +that the farmers wagons were smaller than the English wagons when he +wrote "all the King's waggons were also sent back to the fort, they +being too heavy and requiring large horses for the shafts...."[19] +Another communication from Morris states that he "dispatched fifty-two +waggons from this town, each carrying fifty bushels of grain, one half +oats the ether Indian Corn."[20] This makes a load of about 2,200 +pounds,[21] quite in agreement with the statement in the _Gentlemen's +Magazine_ of August 1755, that loads were commonly around one ton. A +load of one ton is small in comparison to those hauled by later wagons +that sometimes carried as much as five or even six tons. + +An approximate description of the size of the wagon, taken from the +earliest existing specimens of the same type shows a bed about 12 feet +long on the bottom and 14 feet on the top. Depth of the bed ran about +32 inches and the width was approximately 42 to 46 inches. Though there +was little standardization in most features, eight bows usually +supported the dull white homespun cover. The diameter of the front +wheels varied from 40 to 45 inches, while the rear wheels ran 10 to 20 +inches larger.[22] + +[Illustration: Figure 6.--RESTORED FREIGHT-CARRYING CONESTOGA WAGON, +about 1830, in the collection of the author. The tongue is not full +length. (_Photo by the author._)] + +For a 1759 expedition it was recommended that wagon accessories include +drag chains, grass cutting knives, axes, shovels, tar buckets (for +lubricating axles), jacks, hobbles, and extra sets of such items as +clouts (axle-bearing plates), nails, horseshoes, hames, linch pins, and +hamestrings.[23] It is doubtful if many teamsters in the 1755 expedition +had so complete a selection of equipment; campaign experience in the +mountains of western Pennsylvania was necessary to convince them of +this necessity. There is no evidence that the hame bells later to be +found on professional teams were used at this early date. The +advertisement[24] that was circulated for the 1759 expedition mentions a +"slip bell ... for each horse" among the items necessary on an +expedition, so it is possible that some drivers of the 1755 expedition +may have used a single bell on each horse, as was the custom with pack +horses. These bells, kept stuffed during the day, were unstuffed at +night when the horses were put out to forage in the woods so that they +might be more easily found in the morning. Orme mentions no bells, +although he writes of other methods used to avoid losing horses at +night. + +Early in May detachments of the Army began to arrive at Wills Creek. +During the advance to Wills Creek the lack of transportation had been +keenly felt. Wagons had been forced to shuttle back and forth between +camps in order to keep all stores and provisions moving forward.[25] By +the latter part of May the Pennsylvania wagons were coming in; about 90 +arrived on May 20. That same night 30 wagons had to be sent on to +Winchester to bring up to Wills Creek the provisions which could not be +brought earlier for lack of wagons. Also, 300 of the pack horses had to +be sent back to Conococheague, through which the wagons had just passed, +to bring up the flour which agent Cresap of that place had through +neglect or intention failed to forward in the wagons as he had been +directed. On May 27, 100 wagons were on hand, with some still coming +in.[26] According to the accounts of the commission later appointed to +settle wagoner's claims, 146 wagons with teams, and about 510 pack +horses were provided by Pennsylvanians to accompany the army.[27] + +[Illustration: Figure 7.--FARM-TYPE CONESTOGA WAGON, about 1850 in the +collection of the author. The tongue is not full length. (_Photo by the +author._)] + +As the army prepared to move from Fort Cumberland, William Shirley, +secretary to General Braddock, advised Governor Morris "we move from +this place with 200 Waggons."[28] In many communications such as this +there appears a certain looseness in reporting numbers in round figures, +and also in using the words "waggons" or "carriages" in an all +inclusive sense. It is obvious that such figures must often have +included any wheeled vehicle, and sometimes even the gun carriages. Thus +the figure 200 undoubtedly includes 145 Pennsylvania wagons,[29] plus a +number of British Army wagons, tumbrils, and perhaps gun carriages. By +Braddock's own count he had about 40 wagons over and above those he got +from Pennsylvania;[30] how many of these were British wagons, tumbrils, +or possibly a few of the wagons Gage had impressed on his march to Wills +Creek, is unknown.[31] + +From the beginning of the march, the roads were a challenge, for both +Braddock's and Burd's roads presented what appeared to be unsurmountable +obstacles. An examination of the terrain over which they had to pass +causes far greater respect for these road builders and drivers than is +usually accorded them. Orme again comes forward with the picture of +their labors. Major Chapman had marched from Wills Creek at daybreak of +May 30,[32] with the advance unit of the army and, says Orme, "it was +night before the whole baggage had got over a mountain about two miles +from the camp. The ascent and descent were almost a perpendicular rock; +three waggons were entirely destroyed, which were replaced from the +camp; and many more were extremely shattered."[33] Braddock went out +from the fort and reconnoitered this section of road. Although 300 men +and the company of miners had been working on the road for several days, +the General "thought it impassable by howitzers," and was about to put +another 300 to work when Lt. Spendelowe of the detachment of seamen +informed him of an easier route he had found.[34] Thus the remainder of +the wagons were spared the trip over the "perpendicular rock." + +In addition to these difficulties of baggage movement, there was the +unavoidable peril of losing horses, particularly at night. Orme gives +the following description of the situation:[35] + + Most of the horses which brought up the train were either lost, or + carried home by their owners, the nature of the country making it + impossible to avoid this fatal inconvenience, the whole being a + continual forest for several hundred miles without inclosures or + bounds by which horses can be secured: they must be turned into the + woods for their subsistance, and feed upon leaves and young shoots of + trees. Many projects, such as belts, hobles, &c., were tried, but + none of these were a security against the wildness of the country and + the knavery of the people we were obliged to employ: by these means + we lost our horses almost as fast as we could collect them, and those + which remained grew very weak, so we found ourselves every day less + able to undertake the extra-ordinary march we were to perform. + +Braddock soon appointed a Wagon Master General, and under him wagon +masters, horse masters, and drovers. By his order, horses were to be +mustered both morning and evening. When the men made camp, the wagons +were to be drawn up in a single line along the road, with an interval +between companies. The horses were then turned into the woods to feed, +surrounded by a line of sentinels who were not to permit any horses to +pass them. + +By June 16, when the first brigade reached Little Meadows, Braddock +realized that the advance of his column was being retarded and his +troops weakened by the number of wagons in his train.[36] Washington, +who had profited from his 1754 experiences in Pennsylvania, previously +had recommended that Braddock use more pack horses and fewer wagons.[37] +It became obvious that wagons, while ordinarily superior to pack +animals, lost this advantage if the roads were not sufficiently opened +to admit their easy passage. In view of this, Braddock decided to +advance from Little Meadows with a picked detachment of 1,300 men and a +minimum of wagons, about 30 in number, and to leave the heavier baggage +with 84 wagons in charge of Colonel Dunbar and his 850 men.[38] Prior to +this re-organization at Little Meadows, four horse teams had been used +in accordance with the terms of Franklin's advertisements. Now, however, +the advance unit of the army marched with six horses to a wagon,[39] a +change necessitated equally by the rugged terrain and the hastily +constructed roads with which they were forced to contend, and by the +poor condition of the horses.[40] + +While this lightened column moved forward more rapidly, the mountainous +and rocky roads continued to impede the progress of the army. On the +morning of June 25 so steep a grade was encountered that the men were +obliged to ease the carriages down with tackles. Throughout the +remainder of June and the early part of July the column was so retarded +by the road conditions that only a few miles could be covered each +day.[41] By July 4 the country had become less difficult and the army +was able to add a few more miles to the daily march. At one o'clock on +the afternoon of July 9 this small train of wagons moved over the second +ford of the Monongahela between the troops of the 44th and 48th +regiments. A short time later the unfortunate expedition met defeat for +all its efforts. As the battle drew to a close, many of the surviving +troops began to gather around the wagons. This drew heavier fire on the +wagons and at this point, said Franklin, "the waggoners took each a +horse out of his team and scamper'd."[42] + +As evening drew on, the wounded Braddock sent Washington back to +Dunbar's Camp, nearly 45 miles behind, to order wagons forward with +provisions and hospital stores and to transport the wounded back to +Wills Creek. A number of these wagons met the retreating army on July +11, at Gist's Plantation; then, after wounds were dressed, they returned +to Dunbar's Camp. There most of the wagons were gathered with the stores +and burned in order to keep them from the hands of the enemy. The +survivors continued their retreat, accompanied by a few of the wagons +loaded with wounded comrades. + +The number of Pennsylvania wagons that arrived back at Wills Creek has +not been definitely established. For the service of their wagons, 30 +owners received payment for a period greater than the 51 days, but of +these, only 10 were paid for services beyond what appears to be July +20.[43] Only the wagon of William Douglas, out of 146 wagons involved, +seems to have survived the campaign intact.[44] Inasmuch as the other +owners were reimbursed for the loss of their wagons, it is likely that +those few that arrived back at Fort Cumberland were so badly damaged as +to render them unserviceable, and therefore not worth driving back to +eastern Pennsylvania. + +Seven criticisms were made of Braddock's advance to the forks of the +Ohio. Of these seven, six, in varying degrees, concern transportation.[45] +In choosing Alexandria to land his troops he put himself more distant +from the needed wagons; his horses were too few and too weak to bear the +burden of all the supplies on the entire march, without depots having +first been established at the various camps along the line of march; his +troops were delayed by the progress of the wagons and by the necessity of +their having to help with the wagons; the roads were inadequate in many +places for the excessively heavy artillery and the wagons; the pack horses +were weakened by the extra service they were required to perform; and due +to his lack of horses, Dunbar had been left too far behind.[46] While +other factors contributed to the outcome of the expedition, many of the +officers learned, as had Washington in 1754, the importance of proper +transportation. + + +_THE CONESTOGA WAGON AND THE PRAIRIE SCHOONER_ + +_Styles in farm equipment change slowly, and it is probable that the +farm-type Conestoga wagon of about 1850 shown in figure 7 is similar in +many respects to the Pennsylvania wagons used by Braddock a century +earlier. The prairie schooner, too, bore many of the characteristics of +these early farm wagons. It was about the same length as the Conestoga +wagon, but the lines of the bed were straight rather than curved and the +bows supporting the cloth cover were upright rather than slanting fore +and aft. Also, the prairie schooner had a seat where the driver, or at +least his family, could ride during the seemingly endless days of the +journey._ + +_In this respect the prairie schooner differed not only from the early +farm wagons, but also from the large freighting Conestogas, like that in +figure 6, which dates from about 1830. In the years following the +Revolution and before the coming of the railroad these freighters were +used to carry all types of merchandise to Pittsburgh from Philadelphia +by way of present route U.S. 30 and from Baltimore by way of present +route U.S. 40._ + +_The freighting Conestoga had no inside seats, and the teamster, when +not walking by his team, either rode the left wheel horse or the "lazy +board" projecting from the left side of the wagon, just in front of the +rear wheel. It is distinguished by its distinctive, overhanging end +bows, from which swept down the characteristic homespun cover, and by +its lines, which are longer and more graceful than those of either the +later prairie schooner or the earlier Pennsylvania farm wagon._ + +[Illustration: Figure 8.--FREIGHT-CARRYING WAGON OF THE PERIOD +1800-1820. (_Drawing by Donald W. Holst._)] + +This drawing and those of figures 9 and 10 are from specifications, +sketches, and photographs, now in the files of the division of +transportation, U.S. National Museum, taken in 1925 by Paul E. Garber +from a wagon then the property of Amos Gingrich, Lancaster, +Pennsylvania. This wagon is illustrated in John Omwake's _Conestoga +six-horse bell teams_, 1750-1850, Cincinnati, 1930, pp. 57, 63, 87. + +_a_: Bed and running gear, right side: 1, Bows for supporting cover. 2, +Ridgepole, or stringer. 3, Top rail, with bow staples and side-board +staples. 4, Side-boards, removable. 5, Feedbox in traveling position. 6, +Rubbing plates to prevent wheels wearing wooden frame. 7, Side-board +standards, forming framework of sides (on the inside, a few of these +sometimes project a few inches above the top rail to support the +side-boards). 9, Securing rings for the ends of the spread chains, two of +which span the bed to give extra support to the sides against inside +pressures. + +_b_: Tongue, or pole, top and side views: 1, doubletree hasp, shown in +proper position over the doubletree in the lower drawing: the +hammer-headed doubletree pin goes through it, then through the +doubletree and the tongue. 2, Wear plate for doubletree pin. 3, Feedbox +staple; in use, the feedbox is unhooked from the rear, the long pin on +one end of the box is passed through the hole for the doubletree pin, +and the lug on the other end of the box is slipped through the staple. +4, Hitching rings, for securing horses while feeding. 5, End ring. + +[Illustration: Figure 9.--DETAILS OF THE FREIGHT-CARRYING WAGON, +1800-1820, OF FIGURE 8. (_Drawing by Donald W. Holst._)] + +_a_: Running gear, top view: 1, Front and rear hounds. 2, Bolsters, with +axletrees directly underneath. 3, Coupling pole. 4, Brake beam. 5, +Brake-beam shelf, or support. 6, Segments forming the fifth wheel; these +prevented the bed from toppling, or swaying excessively on turns. 7, +Rear brace for front hounds, to keep tongue from dropping. + +_b_: Brake mechanism, detail: 1, Brake rocker bar, with squared end for +brake lever. 2, Rods connecting rocker bar to brake beam. 3, Rubber, or +brakeshoe, made of wood, often faced with old leather. 4, Brake beam. 5, +Brake-beam shelf, or support. 6, Brake lever, often 4 or 5 feet long. + +_c_: Front axletree and bolsters, front view: 1, Axletree. 2, Bolster, +showing wear plates. 3, Upper bolster, actually part of the wagon bed. +4, Axle, showing ironing. + +_d_: Rear axletree and bolster, rear view: 1, Axle tree, showing +linchpin in position in right axle. 2, Bolster. 3, Hook and staple for +holding bucket of tar used in lubricating axles. 4, Hound pins. + +_e_: Toolbox, showing front, end, and top; it was secured to left side +of wagon. + +_f_: Doubletree, with singletrees attached. + +_g_: Brake mechanism, side view. + +Figure 10.--DETAILS OF THE FREIGHT-CARRYING WAGON, 1800-1820, OF FIGURE +8. (_Drawing by Donald W. Holst._) + +_a_: Feedbox: 1, Top. 2, Side, showing pin and lug for securing to +tongue. 3, End, showing bracket into which the chains hooked for +traveling. + +_b_: Front end panel: 1, Bottom end rail. 2, Middle end rail. 3, Top end +rail. 4, Standard, or upright, forming end framing. 5, End boards. 6, +Bow. 7, Corner plates. + +_c_: Rear end gate: 1, Staples for end-gate standards. 2, End-gate hasps +and hooks. 3, Pins to secure gate to upper side rails. 4, Crossbar to +give extra support to end gate. + +_d_: Rear wheel. + +_e_: Cross section of wheel: 1, Boxings, of cast iron, wedged in hub to +take wear of axle. + +_f_: Front wheel: 1, Felly, or felloe. 2, Spoke. 3, Hub, or nave. + +_g_: Floor of wagon, from under side: 1, Crossbeams, the center and rear +ones being heavier, and projecting at the ends to hold the iron side +braces visible in figure 8,_a_. 2, Bottom side rails. 3, Floorboards. 4, +Position of rear bolster when bed is on running gear. 5, Front bolster, +showing hole for kingpin. + + + + +U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1959 + + +[Footnote 1: _Pennsylvania Archives_, ser. 8, vol. 5, Morris to the +House, Dec. 19, 1754.] + +[Footnote 2: Robert Orme's Journal, _in_ Winthrop Sargent, _The history +of an expedition against Fort DuQuesne_, p. 288, Philadelphia, 1855.] + +[Footnote 3: Benjamin Franklin, _Autobiography_, p. 166, New York, +1939.] + +[Footnote 4: _Pennsylvania Archives_, ser. 1, vol. 2, pp. 295-96. +Franklin suggested that St. Clair, with a body of troops, would probably +enter Pennsylvania and take what he wanted, if it could not be obtained +otherwise.] + +[Footnote 5: _Ibid._, ser. 1, vol. 2, Morris to Peters, May 30, 1755.] + +[Footnote 6: _Ibid._, Shippen to Morris, June 13, 1755.] + +[Footnote 7: The modern spelling is given above. A number of spellings +were common in 1755, among them Conegogee, Connecochieg, and +Cannokagig.] + +[Footnote 8: This is the modern spelling. Among those used in 1755 were +Yoxhio Geni and Ohiogany.] + +[Footnote 9: _Pennsylvania Archives_, ser. 1, vol. 2, Shippen to Allen, +June 30, 1755. Also, Orme's Journal, in Sargent, _op. cit._ (footnote 2) +p. 329.] + +[Footnote 10: Originally spelled Conestogoe. The first known reference +to a Conestoga wagon appears under date of 1717 in James Logan's +"Account Book, 1712-1719," the manuscript original of which is in the +Historical Society of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. It is likely that +the reference was only to a wagon from Conestogoe, and not to a definite +type of vehicle.] + +[Footnote 11: The term seems to have been in common use by 1750 since a +tavern in Philadelphia, called "The Sign of the Conestogoe Waggon," was +mentioned in an advertisement in the _Pennsylvania Gazette_, February 5, +1750, but another advertisement, (_ibid._, February 12, 1750), in +referring to what was apparently the same establishment, uses the term +"Dutch Waggon."] + +[Footnote 12: It is not certain at this time whether English or German +styles influenced the Conestoga wagon most. Judging from some early +English wagons still in existence, it would appear that some of these +lines were followed. Even today some farmers, and those who have been +close to the wagon and its use, frequently refer to the Conestoga type +as "English wagons."] + +[Footnote 13: Strakes are sections of wagon tire, equal in number to the +felloes of a wheel. On early vehicles the tires were put on in sections +and spiked in place. Later, one endless tire was "sweated" on, by being +heated, fitted on the wheel, and cooled in place.] + +[Footnote 14: Found in 1953 by the Field Corps for Historical Research, +these strakes are obviously from rear wheels. Though dimensions were by +no means standardized, front wheels were always smaller, so that in +turning the wagon the tires would be less likely to rub the sides of the +wagon box.] + +[Footnote 15: Strakes were spiked onto the wheel with large square +headed nails, as indicated in figure 3, and a brake shoe would have been +rapidly torn to pieces by rubbing against them.] + +[Footnote 16: _Pennsylvania Archives_, ser. 1, vol. 2, pp. 295-96.] + +[Footnote 17: _Ibid._, ser. 1, vol. 2, Shippen to Morris, February 17, +1756; and ser. 4, vol. 2, Denny to Amherst, March 3, 1759.] + +[Footnote 18: _Ibid._, ser. 1, vol. 2, Morris to Braddock, June 4, +1755.] + +[Footnote 19: Orme's Journal, in Sargent, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), pp. +331-32. English wagons were equipped with pairs of shafts, similar to +those of a spring wagon or buggy of recent times. Wagon shafts were, +however, much heavier than the latter.] + +[Footnote 20: _Pennsylvania Archives_, ser. 4, vol. 2, Morris to +Braddock, June 12, 1755.] + +[Footnote 21: R. Moore, _The universal assistant_, p. 205, New York, n.d. +The weight of corn is given at 56 pounds per bushel, and oats at 32 +pounds per bushel.] + +[Footnote 22: One light wagon of about 1800 had smaller wheels, the +front being 37 inches and the rear 49 inches in diameter.] + +[Footnote 23: _Pennsylvania Archives_, ser. 1, vol. 3, advertisement of +General Stanwix for wagons, May 4, 1759.] + +[Footnote 24: _Ibid._] + +[Footnote 25: Will H. Lowdermilk, _Edward Braddock's orderly books_, +Cumberland, 1880, p. 25.] + +[Footnote 26: Seaman's Journal, in Sargent, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), p. +380.] + +[Footnote 27: Lewis Burd Walker, ed., _The settlement of the waggoners' +accounts_, 1899.] + +[Footnote 28: _Pennsylvania Archives_, ser. 1, vol. 2, Shirley to +Morris, June 7, 1755.] + +[Footnote 29: Walker, _op. cit._ (footnote 27), p. 20. Of the 146 +wagons, one was apparently unserviceable by the time it reached Wills +Creek. Its owner was paid only for his services and the use of his +team.] + +[Footnote 30: Orme's Journal, in Sargent, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), p. +321.] + +[Footnote 31: _Ibid._, p. 312.] + +[Footnote 32: _Ibid._, p. 323. There is some question here whether the +incident reported occurred near Wills Creek, or on June 15 in the +Allegheny Mountains. Orme reports two such incidents with identical +figures and nearly identical language. Perhaps he was confusing the two +places.] + +[Footnote 33: _Ibid._, p. 334. When wagons were damaged on the march, +and repair was impossible, the load was divided among the other wagons +and the unserviceable wagon abandoned.] + +[Footnote 34: _Ibid._, p. 324 (see also Seaman's Journal, in Sargent, +_op. cit._ (footnote 2), p. 381). A detachment of 30 seamen and several +officers had been detached from the fleet and assigned to the expedition +to offer assistance in rigging cordages, in the event that the erection +of bridges would be necessary.] + +[Footnote 35: _Ibid._, p. 313.] + +[Footnote 36: _Ibid._, p. 334 (see also Seaman's Journal, in Sargent, +_op. cit._ (footnote 2), p. 383). At times it was necessary for half the +troops to ground their arms and assist in moving the wagons up or down +grades.] + +[Footnote 37: Douglas S. Freeman, _George Washington_, vol. 1, p. 140, +New York, 1949. Washington had written his brother John on June 14 and +given his opinion that they should "retrench the wagons and increase the +number of bat horses."] + +[Footnote 38: Sargent, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), p. 203. Wagons +apparently carried only artillery stores and other ammunition with the +advance detachment. All provisions were carried on pack horses.] + +[Footnote 39: Orme's Journal, in Sargent, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), p. +336.] + +[Footnote 40: _Ibid._, p. 332. Orme said the condition of the army was +such that they could not reject any horses, a situation that was used to +advantage by many contractors. He refers to the horses as "The offcasts +of Indian traders, and scarce able to stand under one hundred weight." +By contract they were to have carried twice that load.] + +[Footnote 41: _Ibid._, pp. 342-346. On June 26, due to the "extreme +badness of the road," the army covered 4 miles; on June 27, 6 miles; +June 28, 5 miles; and on June 30 passage over a mountain reduced the +day's march to 2 miles.] + +[Footnote 42: Walker, _op. cit._ (footnote 27). It is interesting to +note in the Waggoners' Accounts which of the teamsters apparently took a +horse and "scamper'd." On the accounts of a number of them is entered +the remark "to a horse returned," indicating that they were first +credited for the loss of wagon and team, but the value of one horse was +deducted in the final settlement, the one horse having arrived safely +back at Wills Creek, in company, no doubt, with its anxious driver.] + +[Footnote 43: A true picture is not presented here, since the accounts, +except for a few cases, do not contain either the number of days for +which the owners were paid or the dates of service. Only the amounts +paid are given, which, if broken down at 15 shillings per day, at first +would appear to indicate the last date of service. However, since it is +not known which, if any, of these wagons went to Winchester before the +march, no accurate conclusions can be reached. There can be little doubt +that the few wagons that reached Wills Creek late in July were among the +30.] + +[Footnote 44: Walker, _op. cit._ (footnote 27), p. 24. Douglas was not +reimbursed for the loss of his wagon and was paid for an additional 55 +days of service at a slightly reduced rate, due to the loss of one +horse.] + +[Footnote 45: Freeman, _op. cit._ (footnote 37), vol. 2, p. 89.] + +[Footnote 46: _Ibid._, p. 90. As wagons had been shuttled back in April, +it was also necessary for Dunbar to shuttle horses, drawing up the first +of his wagons one day and returning with his few horses on the following +day to bring up the balance of the wagons.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Conestoga Wagons in Braddock's +Campaign, 1755, by Don H. 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