Among other intrigues, it is stated, the Commissioners secretly offered to General Joseph Reed, then delegate to Congress, and afterwards President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, £10,000 sterling, with the best office in the Colonies to promote their plans. General Reed promptly replied: “I am not worth purchasing, but such as I am, the King of Great Britain is not rich enough to do it.” Upon occupation of Philadelphia, General Benedict Arnold was ordered by General Washington to take command of the city, and “prevent the disorders which were expected upon the evacuation of the place and return of the Whigs after being so long kept out of their property.” ---------- General Edward Hand Relieved of Command Following Squaw Campaign May 2, 1778 For some time General Washington had believed that the permanent safety of the western section of Pennsylvania could only be secured by carrying on a successful war, in an aggressive manner, against the enemy in their own country. That determination was strengthened by the Commissioners of Congress, who met in Pittsburgh late in 1777, and learned first handed of the barbarous warfare carried on against the western frontier by the British under Henry Hamilton, then Governor of Detroit, with the assistance of their Indian allies. During October and November, 1777, while General Edward Hand, then commandant at Fort Pitt, was trying to recruit his army for the invasion of the Indian country, many raids were made in Westmoreland County. Eleven men were killed and scalped near Palmer’s Fort, in Ligonier Valley, and a few days later four children were killed within sight of the fort. Three men were killed and a woman captured within a few miles of Ligonier. A band of Indians, led by a Canadian, made a fierce attack on Fort Wallace, near Blairsville, but the Canadian was killed and the savages repulsed. These maurauders were pursued by a party of rangers led by Captain James Smith and overtaken near Kittanning, where five redskins were killed and scalped. The snows of winter prevented other ravages. During the Christmas holidays General Hand learned that the British had built a magazine where Cleveland now stands and had stored arms, ammunition, clothing and provisions in it for the use of the Indians in the spring. He immediately planned an expedition for the destruction of the magazine. His call for troops required each man to be mounted and provided with food for a short campaign. He promised to provide the arms and ammunition. The general proposed, as a special inducement to enlist, that all plunder would be sold and the cash proceeds divided among the force. February 15, about 500 horsemen were at Pittsburgh ready for the adventure, and this considerable force caused General Hand to be sanguine for its success.