When the company separated, and the papers were collected, we found
above twelve hundred hands; and, other copies being dispersed
in the country, the subscribers amounted at length to upward
of ten thousand. These all furnished themselves as soon as they
could with arms, formed themselves into companies and regiments,
chose their own officers, and met every week to be instructed
in the manual exercise, and other parts of military discipline.
The women, by subscriptions among themselves, provided silk colors,
which they presented to the companies, painted with different devices
and mottos, which I supplied.
The officers of the companies composing the Philadelphia regiment,
being met, chose me for their colonel; but, conceiving myself unfit,
I declin'd that station, and recommended Mr. Lawrence, a fine
person, and man of influence, who was accordingly appointed.
I then propos'd a lottery to defray the expense of building
a battery below the town, and furnishing it with cannon.
It filled expeditiously, and the battery was soon erected, the merlons
being fram'd of logs and fill'd with earth. We bought some old
cannon from Boston, but, these not being sufficient, we wrote to
England for more, soliciting, at the same time, our proprietaries
for some assistance, tho' without much expectation of obtaining it.
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