The Colonel, on perusing it, was of the same opinion, that certainly his
Lordship never intended me to be reduced. I went again to wait on the
General; but being denied admission, I immediately inquired for a vessel
bound to Virginia, and having at last found one, returned home after
spending between twenty and thirty guineas to no purpose; for had it
been his Lordship’s intention to have had me reduced, I could have been
no more in a young regiment, without sending me to New York, in North
America, for a commission.
I remained at home till January 1764, when the General Assembly of the
colony met for the dispatch of public business, whither I repaired to
petition for my expences from the Cherokee country to Williamsburg;
which, however, were greatly superior to the accounts I gave in, lest
they should judge any of them unreasonable. While my money lasted the
Indians wanted for nothing, and I am still considerably indebted on
their account.
I gained a majority, and a committee was appointed to look into my
accounts, who told me it was to be paid by the council, out of the money
for contingent charges, and not by the colony. After waiting a
considerable time, at a very great expence, whilst urgent business
required my presence elsewhere, I at last got the favour of Mr. Walthoe,
Clerk of the Council, to undertake presenting my petition and accounts
to the Governor and Council, in my absence, which he did at the next
meeting, and soon after sent me the following letter.
_Williamsburg, Feb. 3, 1764._
“Sir,
“It would have afforded me a very sensible pleasure, had I been
enabled by the resolution of the Council to have returned a
satisfactory answer to your letter of the 26th of last month. In
compliance with your request, I the last day of the sessions presented
to the board your account, and the opinion of the committee to which
it was referred. It was maturely considered and debated, and,
extremely contrary to my hopes, disapproved of and rejected; for this
reason principally, that you went, as they were persuaded, not by any
order, to the Cherokee nation, but in pursuit of your own profit or
pleasure, * * * * * * * * *, &c.
(Signed)
N. Walthoe.”
I was quite astonished to find, on the receipt of this letter, that
these gentlemen imagined I had made a party of pleasure to a savage
country, in the winter season; or that I went in the view of profit,
with a stock of twenty pounds worth of goods, most of which I
distributed amongst the necessitous prisoners. Had I intended profit, I
should certainly have taken the safest way, and a sufficient quantity of
goods to have recompensed me for all my fatigues and danger, as I surely
did not expect presents in the Cherokee country.
I went to convince the Indians of our sincerity, to know the navigation,
and to serve my country. Let others take care how they precipitate
themselves to serve so ungrateful a ——. But the reader, by this time, is
too well acquainted with the particulars of my journey, to pass judgment
with these gentlemen. I have already shewn, that my expences and losses,
during that unfortunate jaunt, was upwards of an hundred pounds in ready
money, besides what I gave them in presents at their return to their own
country, and what I am still indebted for on their account.
It was objected, that I was not ordered. I own it. Do they know Col.
Stephen? Did he ever order any officer on such a service? Is my service
of less merit, because I offered myself to do what, tho’ necessary, he
could not well command? Does the brave volunteer, who desires to mount
the breach, merit less than the coward, whose officer compells him to
it? No, certainly. We should praise and countenance such forwardness;
yet for this same reason have I been refused my expences. Can any one
think Col. Stephen would command any officer amongst a savage and
unsettled enemy, whose hands were still reeking, as I may say, with the
blood of Demeré and the garrison of Fort Loudoun, massacred after they
had capitulated, and were marching home according to agreement, who have
no laws, and are both judges and executors of their revenge?
I had no written orders. I never doubted they would be called in
question, tho’ verbal. But here are some extracts of two of Col.
Stephen’s letters to me, while in the Cherokee country, that may clear
up this particular. In one dated Fort Lewis, January 30, 1762, he says,
“Give my compliments to your best friends, and I should have been
extremely glad to have heard that Judd’s Friend (i. e. Ostenaco) had
received the small present I sent him from the Great Island. I know no
reason which will prevent you and Judd’s Friend taking your own time to
come in, and should be glad to see you, &c.”
In another, dated Fort Lewis, February 14, 1762, he says, “The Governor
is extremely pleased with Judd’s Friend’s favours to you, and the
kindness of all the Cherokees, and I think it is the better how soon the
chiefs come in with you.”