Details
REED, Joseph. Letter signed (“Jos. Reed”) to Archibald Lockry, Philadelphia, 27 March 1779. 3 pages, folio, age-toned, expert repairs catching a few letters.
“WE HAVE IT UNDER DELIBERATION TO OFFER A REWARD FOR INDIAN SCALPS”
The two-front war against the British and Native American Indian tribes on the western frontier occupy this fascinating letter to a western constituent, worried about exposure to Indian attacks. Reed tells Lockry that he personally visited “General Washington..in person” at the commander-in-chief’s camp, and resolved matters “very much to his, and our satisfaction.” Reed tells Lockry he has ordered 380 Rangers to the frontier, and dispatched “Colonel Rawlins’s regiment, now at Frederick Town in Maryland guarding the British prisoners, to march to Fort Pitt and to be stationed at Kittaning…to cover the frontiers,” as well as calling up other militia units. “We shall do everything in our power for your comfort and protection. We have it under deliberation to offer a reward for Indian scalps, but it involves in it some considerations of [a] political nature, affecting the general system of the war with Great Britain. However, if it will answer an effectual purpose, beneficial to you, we will not hesitate to do it…”
“WE HAVE IT UNDER DELIBERATION TO OFFER A REWARD FOR INDIAN SCALPS”
The two-front war against the British and Native American Indian tribes on the western frontier occupy this fascinating letter to a western constituent, worried about exposure to Indian attacks. Reed tells Lockry that he personally visited “General Washington..in person” at the commander-in-chief’s camp, and resolved matters “very much to his, and our satisfaction.” Reed tells Lockry he has ordered 380 Rangers to the frontier, and dispatched “Colonel Rawlins’s regiment, now at Frederick Town in Maryland guarding the British prisoners, to march to Fort Pitt and to be stationed at Kittaning…to cover the frontiers,” as well as calling up other militia units. “We shall do everything in our power for your comfort and protection. We have it under deliberation to offer a reward for Indian scalps, but it involves in it some considerations of [a] political nature, affecting the general system of the war with Great Britain. However, if it will answer an effectual purpose, beneficial to you, we will not hesitate to do it…”