Dinwiddie's suggestion undoubtedly reflected the changed attitude of the British government. He would hardly have dared make it if he had thought it would shock the British Ministry. On the other hand, the violent reaction of the people of the colony to the pistole fee should have made it clear to him that they would resist taxation by Parliament fiercely. In other words, his action was revealing of how far apart Britain and her colonies had grown, and prophetic of the clash that was to come.
But now Dinwiddie was cheered by word that the King had promised £20,000 and 2,000 stand of arms from the royal stores to aid in the war. With this evidence that Great Britain was willing to do her part, he again appealed to the Assembly. He was overjoyed when they granted £20,000. "I parted with the Assembly on good terms. I shall try to keep them in good humor," he wrote the Board. When he heard that two regiments of British regulars were on their way to Virginia, he confidently expected that the French would soon be driven from the Ohio region. All Virginia was elated when the troops arrived at Alexandria in their brilliant red coats. The Assembly voted an additional £22,000.
Then came disaster. General Braddock, who commanded the British, knew nothing about Indian fighting, and scorned the advice of those who did. "These savages may, indeed, be a formidable enemy to your raw American militia, but upon the King's regular and disciplined troops, sir, it is impossible that they should make any impression," he told Benjamin Franklin. So his advanced regiment, as it was filing through the woods, was attacked and cut to pieces. The Virginia contingent fought bravely, but could not stem the tide. Braddock himself was killed. Colonel Dunbar, in command of the other regiment, though his men had taken no part in the battle and still outnumbered the enemy, marched them off to Philadelphia, and left the Virginia frontier open.
The dismay of the people when the news of this unexpected defeat reached them was tempered by their pride in the heroism of the Virginia troops, "who purchased with their lives immortal glory to their country and themselves on the banks of the Monongahela." So when Dinwiddie asked for more funds, the Assembly voted £40,000.[22] To raise this sum they levied heavy taxes on the people and placed a five per cent duty on imports. In times of peace no Governor would have consented to an import duty on British goods, for it would have brought immediate protests from the merchants. But Dinwiddie signed the bill and praised the Assembly for its "unanimity" and "martial spirit."[23]