Then came disaster. General Braddock, who commanded the British, knew nothing about Indian fighting, and scorned the advice of those who did. "These savages may, indeed, be a formidable enemy to your raw American militia, but upon the King's regular and disciplined troops, sir, it is impossible that they should make any impression," he told Benjamin Franklin. So his advanced regiment, as it was filing through the woods, was attacked and cut to pieces. The Virginia contingent fought bravely, but could not stem the tide. Braddock himself was killed. Colonel Dunbar, in command of the other regiment, though his men had taken no part in the battle and still outnumbered the enemy, marched them off to Philadelphia, and left the Virginia frontier open. The dismay of the people when the news of this unexpected defeat reached them was tempered by their pride in the heroism of the Virginia troops, "who purchased with their lives immortal glory to their country and themselves on the banks of the Monongahela." So when Dinwiddie asked for more funds, the Assembly voted L40,000.[22] To raise this sum they levied heavy taxes on the people and placed a five per cent duty on imports. In times of peace no Governor would have consented to an import duty on British goods, for it would have brought immediate protests from the merchants. But Dinwiddie signed the bill and praised the Assembly for its "unanimity" and "martial spirit."[23] When they met again in October, 1755, they forgot for the moment the Indian terror and spent their time on a project to emit L200,000 in paper and set up a loan office. To this the Governor would not assent, and after a session of only twelve days, he dissolved them to take his chances on a new election. The Board of Trade praised him. "Their availing themselves of this time of danger and distress to establish a paper currency, so destructive of credit, justifies your dissolving them."[24] Dinwiddie was now so out of patience that he suggested once more that Parliament pass the Assembly by and itself levy a tax on the people of the colonies. He recommended a poll tax of twelve pence for two years, and a permanent tax of two shillings on every one hundred acres of land. "I know our people will be inflamed if they hear of my making this proposal, as they are averse to all taxes," he wrote the Board of Trade.[25] One wonders what the Americans would have done had the British Government followed this suggestion. It might have alienated their affection at the very moment when it was most needed. It would probably have been as impossible to collect the taxes as it was to enforce the Stamp Act a decade later. Fortunately, the Board of Trade decided that this was not the proper time to start a controversy with the colonies over this vital matter.