Recruiting for Braddock's Campaign
Act of Assembly passed in December, 1754. At a session of Assembly, begun and held at the city of Annapolis, on Thursday the twelfth day of December, in the fourth year of the dominion of the Right Honourable Frederick, Lord Baron of Baltimore, absolute lord and proprietar of the provinces of Maryland and Avalon, &c. Annoque Domini 1754, the following act passed, viz. An act for taking and detaining able-bodied men for His Majesty’s service.
Annapolis: Jonas Green, 1755.
Price: $1,850.00
About the item
[2]pp. [Bound with:] Acts of the province of Maryland, made and passed at a session of Assembly, begun and held at the city of Annapolis, on Saturday the twenty-second day of February, in the fourth year of the dominion of the Right Honourable Frederick, Lord Baron of Baltimore, absolute lord and proprietary of the provinces of Maryland and Avalon, &c. Annoque Domini 1755. Published by authority. [8]pp. Folio. Recruiting for Braddock's Campaign. Period wrappers, restitched, some losses to the blue sugar paper, old repairs at head of each leaf with minor losses, old dampstaining. Bristol B1727 and Evans 7458; Wroth 179 and 180; ESTC W33246 and W7078.
Item #319725
Passed in December 1754 "to raise a Body of able Land-men, for his Majesty's Service, against the French and their Allies on this Continent", this separately-printed session law essentially authorizes a draft system for forcing "all and every able-bodied Freeman who live idle and do not follow or exercise some lawful Calling" to be enlisted as soldiers. Given the timing, it is believed that the troops being raised were intended for service on the Braddock expedition against Fort Duquesne.
Bound together with the above is a second session printing of Maryland laws, including acts relating to the French and Indian War: "An Act to Prevent the People of this Province from Supplying the French, or their Indian Allies, with Ammunition, Warlike Stores, or Provisions, of any Kind" and "An Act for Regulating the Rates of Carriage, and Quartering Soldiers in Public Houses, within this Province, for His Majesty's Service." Also included are acts on currency, courts, and tobacco.
Both session printings are rare, with ESTC recording only five copies (in four institutions) and eight copies (in six institutions), respectively.
