THE active military career of Benjamin Franklin endured
for six weeks, a curious and little-known episode in a life
replete with vicissitude. On December 19, 1755, after Brad-
dock's disastrous defeat had imperiled the very existence of
Pennsylvania as an English colony, the Sage departed upon
his expedition to the frontier. He organized the Moravian
settlements, built Fort Allen with its flanking fortresses,
and returned to Philadelphia when the Assembly recon-
vened on February 5, 1756. It was the only time that he
was under arms except for some chilly nights spent in sentry
duty on the bastion by the Delaware when a Spanish priva-
teer alarmed the city in 1744.

This march, ignored or very casually recounted by Frank-
lin's many biographers, is more fully discussed in the Auto-
biography. It however was written many years after the
Pennsylvania campaign, and stirring events had intervened
to cloud the memory of the scribe, who is not always trust-
worthy as to dates and circumstance, when these are criti-
cally examined in the light of contemporary evidence.

-v-