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Daniel Purcell in the French & Indian War

PFA member Judith Purcell posted the following on the PFA Forum and agreed to have it reposted here. Please visit that thread if you'd like to chat with her and other PFA members!

The following proves that Daniel Purcell, son of Thomas and Christiana, served in the French and Indian War and would have served under George Washington at Fort Cumberland in Maryland. Daniel's land was near Fort Cumberland. It was a very dangerous service at this point in time as Indians were everywhere fighting the settlers.

http://aomol.msa.maryland.gov/000001/000055/html/am55--773.html Archives of Maryland Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, 1757-1758 Volume 55, Page 773 VI THE ACCOUNTS OF GOVERNOR HORATIO SHARPE, JUNE I758-MARCH 1759, ON DISBURSEMENTS FOR THE WESTERN EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT DUQUESNE, EXPENDED BY THE ORDERS OF BRIGADIER-GENERAL JOHN FORBES, COLONEL HENRY BOUQUET, AND SIR JOHN ST. CLAIR. An Account of Sundry Disbursements made by Governor Sharpe on Acco.t of the Western Expedition by Desire of Brigadier Forbes, Colo Bouquet & Sr John S.t Clair. MSS. Archives of Md. Portfolio No. 3 Paper 22 Hall of Records

1758 July 8 ....... To Dan.l Pursley & other Battoemen for Carrying Artillery Stores to Fort Cum.d ..........................46 12 8

Fort Cumberland was erected about 1754 on the Potomac River at Wills Creek in Maryland. It was, for its time and type, a large, elaborate fortification. Nothing is left of Fort Cumberland today; it has been effaced by the Maryland town that bears its abbreviated name. Local accounts say that early settlers made good use of the cut timbers for firewood and construction. When Gov. Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia ordered George Washington, in 1756, to supervise construction of a chain of forts on what was then the western frontier for English settlers, Washington was not impressed with the defense advantages of Fort Cumberland, despite its size. Washington's attention to this sector of the Potomac drainage reflected his belief that it was the key to saving the Allegheny frontier, and perhaps the New World, from French domination. The City of Cumberland was incorporated in Maryland in 1787. Maps as late as 1800 show the location as “Fort Cumberland.” The area of the confluence of Wills Creek and the Potomac was originally in Maryland’s Prince Georges County, then Frederick County (1748), Washington County (1776), and Allegany County (1789) where it now serves as the county seat.

NOTE: For detailed information on the history, uses and specifications of bateaux please refer to an article entitled Bateaux and 'Battoe Men': An American Colonial Response to the Problem of Logistics in Mountain Warfare, written by New York State Museum’s Senior Historian, Joseph Meaney. In the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, the inland rivers of Virginia and surrounding states teemed with graceful river boats known as Batteaux. Flat-bottomed and pointed at each end, these craft were the invention of two brothers from Amherst County, Virginia. http://royalyorkers.ca/bateaux.php http://www.batteau.net/

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