Fort
Cumberland by early May. On April 21 Braddock reached Frederick, in
Maryland. There he found that only 25 wagons had come in and several of
these were unserviceable. Furiously the General swore that the
expedition was at an end. At this point, Benjamin Franklin, who was in
Frederick to placate the wrath of Braddock and St. Clair against the
Pennsylvanians, commented on the advantages the expedition might have
gained had it landed in Philadelphia instead Alexandria,[3] and pointed
out that in eastern Pennsylvania every farmer had a wagon. Braddock then
suggested that Franklin try to raise the needed 150 wagons and the 1,500
pack horses. Asking that the terms to be offered be first drawn up,
Franklin agreed to the undertaking and was accordingly commissioned. On
his return to Pennsylvania, Franklin published an advertisement at
Lancaster on April 26, setting forth the terms offered (the full text of
this advertisement is found in Franklin's autobiography).

Although eventually successful, Franklin was beset by many difficulties
in collecting the wagons. Farmers argued that they could not spare teams
from the work of their farms. Others were not satisfied with the terms
offered. Furthermore, the Quaker-controlled Assembly had little interest
in the war and did nothing to regulate the hire of wagons, in spite of
the repeated pleas of the governor. Franklin published new
advertisements more strongly worded than the first, threatening an
impress of wagons and drivers if better cooperation could not be had.[4]
Finally the governor found it necessary to issue threatening warrants to
the magistrates of four of the more reluctant counties. This action
brought in the wagons but caused new difficulties to arise, for in order
to prevent trouble the townships had contributed, in addition to the
fifteen shillings per day offered in Franklin's terms, from five to
fifteen pounds to each owner who would hire out his wagon.

[Illustration: Figure 1.--BRADDOCK'S ROUTE in the campaign of 1755. The
solid line approximates the present U.S. route 40. From Winthrop
Sargent, _The history of an expedition against Fort DuQuesne_,
Philadelphia, 1755.]

This practice caused others to demand more for their services. Governor
Morris wrote to Richard Peters that he was "preparing to send sixty
waggon loads of oats and corn from hence (Philadelphia), for which I am
sorry to say, that I shall be obliged to give more for the transporting
of it, t