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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC09054.01 |
| From Archive Folder | Papers of British Secretary of War, Henry Fox, relating to Braddock's defeat near Fort Duquesne and the recall of William Shirley due to the "Intercepted Letters Scandal" |
| Title | Additional Instructions to Major General William Johnson, relative to the Indians of the Six Nations under his Command |
| Date | 24 December 1755 |
| Author | Shirley, William (1694-1771) |
| Additional authors | Alexander, William, Lord Stirling (1726-1783) |
| Recipient | Johnson, William |
| Document Type | Correspondence; Military document |
| Content Description | Copy of a letter instructing General William Johnson to ask the Six Nations to help fight against the French and their Indian allies. He requests that they "be engaged by private applications, and the offer of Rewards to take up the Hatchet against the French & their Indians, who have fallen upon the Provinces of Virginia, Maryland and Pensylvania." Wants them to muster in Pennsylvania by way of the Susquehanna river to join the others and bring as many people as possible. Instructs that the Indians should know they will be well supplied and rewarded for taking prisoners. Would like Indians to use spies "to get Intelligence, and to engage them to go the French Fort on the Ohio, and to the Towns in that neighbourhood..." Also gives assurance that wives and children will be provided for, protected and can accompany the warriors. Noted as a copy on the upper left hand corner. Noted as "/signed/ W. Shirley" and "By His Excellency's Command Wm. Alexander Secry." Gilt edges with a fleur-de-lis, V, backward C and I watermark on third page. |
| Subjects | Global History and Civics Military History Spying French and Indian War France Corruption and Scandal Prisoner of War American Indian History |
| People | Shirley, William (1694-1771) Alexander, William, Lord Stirling (1726-1783) Johnson, William (1715-1774) |
| Place written | New York |
| Theme | Foreign Affairs; French & Indian Wars; Native Americans |
| Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859 |
| Additional Information | Shirley was the British governor of Massachusetts from 1741 to 1759. Alexander was an American major-general during the American Revolutionary War. During the French and Indian War, he joined the British Army where he became aide-de-camp to Governor William Shirley. He traveled to London in 1756 to testify on behalf of Shirley, who was facing charges of dereliction of duty. Johnson was an army officer in colonial New York, and the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1755 to 1774. He served on the Governor's Council in New York, and earned the rank of Major General in the British forces during the French and Indian War. The Six Nations, or the Iroquois Confederacy is a group of First Nations/Native Americans that originally consisted of five tribes: the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Onondaga, the Cayuga, and the Seneca. A sixth tribe, the Tuscarora, joined after the original five nations were formed. They are often referred to as Iroquois. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859 |