The citizen., 1902-09-05

HOW udTSHU you lndko al tASnhdpo
from this honorable committee =
Der tluchter Dyvel,' cried an
other, 'how can you shtand so
shtyff for King Shorsh akainst
, dis koOntry.' Sacrament yelled
another, dis committee will let
/ ShOrsh know how to behave him.
self and the butcher exclaimed,
Il would kill all the English
tieves, as soon as ich would kill
an OK or a cow"
| 1t is needless to remark that
4 this story doubtless has basis of
truth, but is an evident caricature.
Dunmore was driven from Vir-
ginia and the West was left to
fall before George Rogers Clark.
There was no other who could
have raised the Western Loyalists
and Indians as Connolly might
have done. The vigilance of the
" eStern Maryland patriots had
caused the failure of plan which
seemed full of danger for the col
Onial cause.
One of the great services of
Western Maryland in the Revolu
ton was rendered as a magazine
of supplies. In August, 1775, a
Committee of the Provincial Con
vention reported that of the
twelve gun shops in the State,
nine were in Frederick county.
One of these was in Georgetown,
four were in Frederick town, and
one was near it, two were in
HagerStown and one was in Jeru
salemtown. Each of these was
able to complete 20 muskets per
month, and in these shops, doubt
less, Charles Beatty placed the
contracts for the $50 "good sub
stantial, proved muskets" which
the Council of Safety authorized
him to procure.
On December 2S, 1775, the con
vention appointed Charles Beatty,
James johnson and John Hanson,
Jr., committee to purchase
ground, not over one half acre, in
Frederick town, and to erect
thereon gunlock factory. Gl, 200,
common money, were appropri
ated therefor, and the commits
SionerS were requested to be "as
frugal of the public money as
may be" The factory was erected
and used for time, but appar
entity was not wholly a success
and it was sold in 1873. Bullets,
gunfints, bullet pouches, powder
horns, all seem to have been pro-
cured from the stores of Frederick
town. Frederick being an inland
town, it was a good depot for sup
plies, and we find that in April,
1711,a large quanty of gun powder
was sent thither from Baltimore
and "placed in the market house
until magazines can be built
Other supplies were kept at this
magazine, whence six trumpets
were taken for the use of the Con
tinental Horse.
Guns were not the only muni-
tions of war supplied by Western
Maryland A large powder mag
azine was kept in Frederick town
and saltpetre works were carried
on in the Lower and Middle Dis
tricts The first cannon said to
have been cast in this country
were made at the foundry of Col.
Daniel Hughes, on the Potomac
river, one Wile above Georgetown.
A portion of the building yet re
mained in 1880, while broken
fragments of cannon were still to
be found in the stream of water
flowing at the base of the build
ing. John Yost. of Georgetown,
is also said to have cast cannon,
and Hughes with his brothers
James and Samuel cast others at
the Antietam Iron Works in
Washington county. As early as
February. 1776, the Council of
Safety was sending men to An
tietam TO prove tue cannon man
ufactured there. Hughes had a
contract with the Provincial au-
thorlties to cast 20 nine Founders
and 90 eighteen Founders. An
other most important foundry for
shells and cannon was the CatOc-
tin Iron Furnace, owned by
James, Thomas and Baker John
son, a trio of notable brothers.
Some of their cannon were said
to have been used at the seige of
Yorktown.
The value of the Catoctin Fur
mace to the Province was seen as
early as July, 1916, when the
Council of Safety wrote to James
johnson asking him to furnish
them with 20 four pound cannon,
20 three pound cannon, 20 two
pound cannon and 40 SwivelS, as
we'll as 200 iron pots to supply
the place of camp kettles, some
t. contain 4 and others 2 gallons,
| with bales or handles So salts