"Before I left Williamsburg I was informed by the Deputy Quarter Master general, who was then at this Fort, that 2500 Horses and 200 Wagons might be depended upon from Virginia and Maryland, but as I had the utmost reason to fear a Disappointment from my daily Experience of the Falsehood of every person with whom I was concern'd, I therefore before I left Frederick, desired Mr. Franklin, postmaster of Pennsylvania, and a Man of great Influence in that Province, to contract for 150 Waggons and a Number of Horses, which he has executed with great punctuality and Integrity, and is almost the only Instance of Ability and Honesty I have known in these provinces; His Waggons and Horses have all joined me, and are indeed my whole Dependence, the great promises of Virginia and Maryland having produc'd only about twenty Waggons and two hundred Horses: With the Number I now have I shall be enabled with the utmost difficulty to move from this place, marching with one half of the provision I entended and having been oblig'd to advance a large Detachment in order to make a Deposite of provisions upon the Alliganey Mountains about five days March from me. [Illustration: MAP OF BRADDOCK'S ROAD (ABOUT 1759) [_From original in British Museum_]] "It would be endless, Sir, to particularize the numberless Instances of the Want of public and private Faith, and of the most absolute Disregard of all Truth, which I have met with in carrying on of His Majesty's Service on this continent. I cannot avoid adding one or two Instances to what I have already given. "A Contract made by the Governor of Virginia for 1100 Beeves was laid before me to be delivered in July and August for the subsistence of the Troops, which Contract he had entered into upon the Credit of twenty thousand pounds Currency voted by the Assembly for the Service of the Expedition. Depending upon this I regulated my Convoys accordingly, and a few days since the Contractors inform'd me that the Assembly had refus'd to fulfill the Governors Engagements, and the Contract was consequently void: as it was an Affair of the greatest Importance, I immediately offer'd to advance the Money requir'd by the Terms of the Contract, but this the Contractor rejected, unless I would pay him one third more; and postpone the Delivery of the Beeves two Months, at which time they would have been of no use to me. "Another Instance is the Agent employ'd in the Province of Maryland for furnishing their Troops with provision, who delivered it in such Condition that it is all condemn'd upon a Survey, and I have been obliged to replace it by sending to the Distance of an hundred Miles.