Map of Braddock’s Road (about 1759)Click here for larger image sizeMap of Braddock’s Road(about 1759)[From original in British Museum]
Click here for larger image size
[From original in British Museum]
“It would be endless, Sir, to particularize the numberless Instances of the Want of public and private Faith, and of the most absolute Disregard of all Truth, which I have met with in carrying on of His Majesty’s Service on this continent. I cannot avoid adding one or two Instances to what I have already given.
“A Contract made by the Governor of Virginia for 1100 Beeves was laid before me to be delivered in July and August for the subsistence of the Troops, which Contract he had entered into upon the Credit of twenty thousand pounds Currency voted by the Assembly for the Service of the Expedition. Depending upon this I regulated my Convoys accordingly, and a fewdays since the Contractors inform’d me that the Assembly had refus’d to fulfill the Governors Engagements, and the Contract was consequently void: as it was an Affair of the greatest Importance, I immediately offer’d to advance the Money requir’d by the Terms of the Contract, but this the Contractor rejected, unless I would pay him one third more; and postpone the Delivery of the Beeves two Months, at which time they would have been of no use to me.
“Another Instance is the Agent employ’d in the Province of Maryland for furnishing their Troops with provision, who delivered it in such Condition that it is all condemn’d upon a Survey, and I have been obliged to replace it by sending to the Distance of an hundred Miles.
“This Behavior in the people does not only produce infinite Difficulty in carrying on His Majesty’s Service but also greatly increases the Expense of it, the Charge thereby occasion’d in the Transportation of provision and Stores through an unsettled Country (with which even the Inhabitants of the lower parts are entirely unacquainted) and over a continued succession of Mountains, is many times more than double the original Cost of them; for this reason I am obliged to leave a Quantity of provision at Alexandria, which would be of great Service to use at this place. The Behaviour of the Governments appears to me to be without excuse, but it may be some Extenuation of the Guilt of the lower Class of people, that upon former occasions their assistance in publick has been ill rewarded, and their payments neglected; the bad Effects of which proceeding we daily experience.
“As I have His Majesty’s Orders to establish as much as possible a good understanding with the Indians, I have gathered some from the Frontier of Pennsylvania chiefly of the Six Nations, with whom I have had two or three Conferences, and have given them proper Presents; the Number already with me is about fifty, and I have some hopes of more: Upon my first Arrivall in America, I received strong assurances of the assistance of a great Number of Southern Indians, which I have entirely lost through the Misconduct of theGovernment of Virginia: And indeed the whole Indian Affairs have been so imprudently and dishonestly conducted, that it was with the greatest difficulty I could gain a proper Confidence with those I have engag’d, and even that could not be attain’d, nor can be preserv’d without a great Expense.
“The Nature of the Country prevents all Communication with the French but by Indians, and their Intelligence is not much to be depended upon; they all agree the Number of French now in Fort Duquesne is very inconsiderable, but that they pretend to expect large Reinforcements.
“I have an Account of the arrival of the two thousand Arms for the New England Forces, and that they are sailed for Nova Scotia. Batteaus and Boats are preparing for the Forces destined to the Attacks of Niagara and Crown Point, but the province of New York, which by its situation must furnish the greater part, do not act with so much vigor as I could wish.
“In order to secure a short and easy Communication with the province of Pensilvania, after the Forces have pass’d theAlligany Mountains, I have apply’d to Governor Morris to get a Road cut from Shippensburg in that Province to the River Youghyaughani; up which he informs me he has set a proper Number of Men at work, and that it will be compleated in a Month: This I look upon to be an Affair of the greatest Importance, as well for securing future Supplies of Provisions, as for obtaining more speedy Intelligence of what passes in the Northern Colonies.[14]
“I wait now for the last Convoy and shall, if I do not meet with further Disappointments, begin my March over the Alleghaney Mountains in about five days. The Difficulties we have to meet with by the best Accounts are very great; the Distance from hence to the Forts is an hundred and ten miles, a Road to be cut and made the whole way with infinite Toil and Labor, over rocky Mountains of an excessive Height and Steepness, and many Stoney Creeks and Rivers to cross.”
Braddock’s army under Halket and Dunbar proceeded to Fort Cumberland from Alexandria by various routes. Governor Sharpe had had a new road built from Rock Creek to Fort Cumberland;[15]this was probably Dunbar’s route and is given as follows in Braddock’s Orderly Books:[16]
MILESTo Rock Creek[17]—To Owen’s Ordinary15To Dowdens15To Frederick15From Fredkon yeroad to Conogogee17From that halting place to Conogogee18From Conogogee to John Evens16To the Widow Baringer18To George Polls9To Henry Enock’s15To Cox’s at yemouth of little Cacaph12To Col. Cresaps8To Wills Creek16——174
Halket’s regiment went from Alexandria to Winchester, Virginia by the following route as given in Braddock’s Orderly Books:
MILESTo yeold Court House18To MrColemans on Sugar Land Run where there is Indian Corn &c.12To MrMiners15To MrThompson yeQuaker wh is 3000 wt corn12To MrThey’s yeFerry of Shanh17From MrThey’s to Winchester23—97
At Winchester Halket was only five miles distant from “Widow Baringer’s” on Dunbar’s road from Frederick to Fort Cumberland.
One of the few monuments of Braddock’s days stands beside the Potomac, within the limits of the city of Washington. It is a gigantic rock, the “Key of Keys,” now almost lost to sight and forgotten. It may still be found, and efforts are on foot to have it appropriately marked. It is known in tradition as “Braddock’s Rock”—on the supposition that here some of Braddock’s men landed just below the mouth of Rock Creek en route to Frederick and Fort Cumberland. It is unimportant whether the legend is literally true.[18]A writer, disputing the legend, yet affirms that the public has reason “to require that the destructive hand of man be stayed, and that the remnants of the ancient and historic rock should be rescued from oblivion.” The rock may well bear the name of Braddock, as the legend has it. Nothing could be more typical of the man—grim, firm, unreasoning, unyielding.
One of the most interesting documents relative to Braddock’s expedition is aJournalkept by one of the thirty seamen sent with Braddock by Commodore Keppel. The original manuscript was presented by Colonel Macbean to the Royal Artillery Library, Woolwich, and is first published here.
An expanded version of this document was published in Winthrop Sargent’sHistory of Braddock’s Expedition, entitled “The Morris Journal”—so called because it was in the possession of the Rev. Francis-Orpen Morris, Nunburnholme Rectory, Yorkshire, who had published it in pamphlet form.[19]Concerning its authorship Mr.Sargent says, “I do not know who was the author of this Journal: possibly he may have been of the family of Capt. Hewitt. He was clearly one of the naval officers detached for this service by Com. Keppel, whom sickness detained at Fort Cumberland during the expedition.”[20]
A comparison of the expanded version with the original here printed shows that the “Morris Journal” was written by Engineer Harry Gordon of the 48th Artillery. The entry in the expanded version for June 2 reads: “Col. Burton, Capt. Orme, Mr Spendlowe and self went out to reconnoitre the road.”[21]In the original, under the same date, we read: “Colonel Burton, Capt. Orme, Mr Engineer Gordon & Lieut Spendelow were order’d to reconnoitre the Roads.” Why Mr. Gordon desired to suppress his name is as inexplicable as the failure of the Rev. Francis-Orpen Morris, who compared the expanded and the original manuscripts, to announce it. The proof is made more sure by the fact that Mr. Gordon usually refers to himself as an “Engineer,”as in the entry for June 3: “This morning an Engineer and 100 men began working on the new road....” In the original the name is given: “Engineer Gordon with 100 Pioneers began to break Ground on the new Road....”[22]He refers to himself again on July 9 as “One of our Engineers”: “One of our Engineers, who was in the front of the Carpenters marking the road, saw the Enemy first.”[23]It is well known that Gordon first caught sight of the enemy and the original journal affirms this to have been the case: “Mr Engineer Gordon was the first Man that saw the Enemy.” Mr. Sargent said the author “was clearly one of the naval officers detached ... by Com. Keppel.” Though Mr. Gordon, as author, impersonated a seaman, there is certainly very much more light thrown on the daily duties of an engineer than on those of a sailor; there is far more matter treating of cutting and marking Braddock’s Road than of handlingropes and pulleys. It is also significant that Gordon, from first to last, was near the seamen and had all the necessary information for composing a journal of which one of them might have been the author. He was in Dunbar’s regiment on the march from Alexandria—as were the seamen. He, with the carpenters, was possibly brigaded in the Second Brigade, with the seamen, and in any case he was with the van of the army on the fatal ninth as were the seamen.
As to the authorship of the original journal the document gives no hint. From Mr. Gordon’s attempt to cover his own identity by introducing the word “self” in the latter part of the entry of June 3, it might be supposed the original manuscript was written by the “Midshipman” referred to under that date in the original journal. But the two midshipmen given as naval officers in the expedition, Haynes and Talbot, were killed in the defeat.[24]
The original journal which follows is of interest because of the description of the march of Dunbar’s brigade through Maryland and Virginia to Fort Cumberland.The remainder was evidently composed from descriptions given by officers after their return to Fort Cumberland:[25]
Extracts from
A Journal of the Proceedings of the Detachment of Seamen, ordered by Commodore Kepple, to Assist on the late Expedition to theOhiowith an impartial Account of the late Action on the Banks of theMonongohelathe 9thof July 1755 as related by some of the Principal Officers that day in the Field, from the 10thApril 1755 to the 18thAugst. when the Detachment of Seamen embark’d on board His Majisty’s Ship Guarland at Hampton in Virginia
April 10thOrders were given to March to Morrow with 6 Companies of SrP. Halket’s Regiment forWinchestertowardsWill’s Creeks; April 11thYesterdays Orders were Countermanded and others given to furnish Eight days Provisions, to proceed toRock’s Creek[26](8 Miles from Alexandria) in the Sea Horse & Nightingale Boats; April 12th: Arrived atRock’s Creek5 Miles from the lower falls ofPotomack& 4 Miles from the Eastern branch of it; where we encamped with Colonel Dunbars Regiment
April 13th: Employed in loading Waggon’s with Stores Provisions and all other conviniences very dearRock’s Creeka very pleasant Situation.
April 14th: Detachment of Seamen were order’d to March in the Front: arrived at Mr. Lawrence Owen’s: 15 Miles fromRock’s Creek; and encamp’d upon good Ground 8 Miles from the Upper falls ofPotomack
April 15th: Encamp’d on the side of a Hill near Mr. Michael Dowden’s;[27]15 Miles from Mr. Owen’s, in very bad Ground and in 1½ foot Snow
April 16th: Halted, but found it extreamly difficult to get either Provisions or Forrage.
April 17th: March’d toFredericks Town; 15 Miles from Dowden’s, the road very Mountanious, March’d 11 Miles, when we came to a River call’dMonskiso, which empties itself into thePotomack; it runs very rapid; and is, after hard Rain, 13 feet deep: We ferried over in a Float for that purpose. This Town has not been settled Above 7. Years; there are 200 Houses & 2 Churches 1 Dutch, 1 English;[28]the inhabitants chiefly Dutch, Industrious, but imposing People; Provisions & Forrage in Plenty.
April 18th: Encamp’d with a New York Company under the Command of Captain Gates, at the North End of the Town, upon very good Ground
April 19th: Exercising Recruits, & airing the Tents: several Waggons arrived with Ordnance Stores, heavy Dews at Night occasion it to be very unwholsome
April 20th: Nothing Material happen’d
April 21st: The General attended by Captains Orme, Morris and Secretary Shirley; with SrJohn StClair; arrived at Head Quarters.
April 24thinactive[29].
April 25th: Ordnance Stores Arrived, with 80 Recruits for the 2 Regiments
April 27th: Employ’d in preparing Harness for the Horses
April 29th: March’d to Mr. Walker’s 18 Miles fromFredericks Town; pass’d the South Ridge, commonly called the Blue Ridge orShanandoh MountainsVery easy Ascent and a fine Prospect ... no kind of Refreshment
April 30th: March’d toConnecochiag; 16 Miles from Mr. Walker’s, Close by thePotomack, a very fine Situation, where we found all the Artillery Stores preparing to go by Water to Wills Creek
May 1st: Employed in ferrying (over thePotomack) the Army Baggage into Virginia in 2 Floats and 5 Batteaux; The Army March’d to Mr. John Evans, 16 Miles from yePotomackand 20 Miles from Winchester, where we Encamp’d, and had tolerable good living with Forrage; the roads begin to be very indifferent
May 2nd: Halted and sent the Horses to Grass
May 3d: March’d to Widdow Barringers 18 Miles from Mr. Evans; the day was so excissive hot, that many Officers and Men could not Arrive at their Ground until Evening, this is 5 Miles from Winchester and a fine Situation
May 4th: March’d to Mr. Pots 9 Miles from the Widdow’s where we were refreshtwith Vinison and wild Turkeys the Roads excessive bad.
May 5th: March’d to Mr. Henry Enocks, a place called theforks of Cape Capon, 16 Miles from Mr. Pots; over prodigious Mountains, and between the Same we cross’d a Run of Water in 3 Miles distance, 20 times after marching 15 Miles we came to a River calledKahepatinwhere the Army ferried over, We found a Company of SrPeter Halkets Regiment waiting to escort the Train of Artillery toWills Creek
May 6th: Halted, as was the Custom to do every third day, The Officers for passing away the time, made Horse Races and agreed that no Horse should Run over 11 Hands and to carry 14 Stone
May 7th: March’d to Mr. Coxs’s by the side of yePotomack12 Miles from Mr. Enock’s, and Encamped we cross’d another run of Water 19 Times in 2 Miles Roads bad.
May 8th: Ferried over the River intoMaryland; and March’d to Mr. Jacksons, 8 Miles from Mr. Coxs’s where we found aMaryland Company encamp’d in a fine Situation on the Banks of thePotomack; with clear’d ground about it; there lives Colonel Cressop, a Rattle Snake, Colonel, and a D—d Rascal; calls himself a Frontierman, being nearest theOhio; he had a Summons some time since from the French to retire from his Settlement, which they claim’d as their property, but he refused it like a man of Spirit;[30]This place is the Track of Indian Warriours, when going to War, either to the Noward, or Soward He hath built a little Fort round his House, and is resolved to keep his Ground. We got plenty of Provisions &ca. The General arrived with Captains Orme and Morris, with Secretary Shirley and a Company of light Horse for his Guard, under the Command of Capt. Stewart, the General lay at the Colonels.
May 9th: Halted and made another Race to amuse the General
Do. 10th: March’d toWill’s Creek; and Encamp’d on a Hill to the Etward of the Fort, when the General past the Troops; Colonel Dunbar informed them, that there were a number of Indians atWill’s Creek, that were Friends to the English therefore it was the Generals positive Orders, that they should not be Molested upon any account, upon the Generals Arrival at the Fort, He was Saluted with 17. Guns, and we found 100 Indian Men, Women & Children with 6 Companies of SrPeter Halkets Regiment, 9 Virginian Companies and a Maryland Company.
May 11th:Fort Cumberland, is Situated within 200 Yards ofWills Creekon a Hill 400 Yards from thePotomack, it’s greatest length from East to West is 200 Yards, and breadth 40 it is built with Loggs drove into the Ground: and 12 feet above it Embrazures are cut for 12 Guns which are 4. Pounders, though 10 are only Mounted with loopholes for small Arms; The Indians were greatly surprised at the regular way of our Soldiers Marching and our Numbers.
I would willingly say something of the customs & manners of them, but they are hardly to be described. The Men are tall, well made and Active, but not strong; The Women not so tall yet well proportion’d & have many Children; they paint themselves in different Manners; Red, Yellow & Black intermixt, the Men have the outer Rim of their Ears cut; and hanging by a little bit at Top and bottom: they have also a Tuft of Hair left at Top of their Heads, dress’d with Feathers.... Their Match Coat which is their chief Cloathing, is a thick Blanket thrown round them; and instead of Shoes wear Mekosins, which laces round the foot and Ankle ... their manner of carrying Children are by lacing them on a Board, and tying them with a broad Bandage with a place to rest their feet, and Boards over their Heads to keep the Sun off and this is Slung to the Womens backs. These people have no Idea of a Superior Being or of Religion and I take them to be the most ignorant, as to the Knowledge of the World and things, of any Creatures living. When it becomes dark they Return to their Camp, which is [nigh] Woods, andDance for some Time with making the most hidious Noise.
May 12th: Orders for a Council of War at the Head Quarters when the Indians came, and were received by the Guard with Rested Arms, an Interpreter was directed to tell them that their Brothers, the English, who were their friends were come to assist them, that every misunderstanding in past times, should now be buried under that great Mountain (which was close by) and Accordingly the Ceremony was perform’d in giving them a string of Wampum or Beads; and the following speech was made, to Assure them that this string or Belt of Wampum was a suriety of our Friendship; and likewise a Declaration, that every one, who were Enemies to them, were consequently so to us. The Interpretor likewise assured them, the we had a Considerable Number of Men to the NoWard, under the Commands of our great War Captains Generals, Shirley, Pepperel & Johnson that were making preparations for War to settle them happily in their Countries, and make the French both ashamed & hungry, however, should any Indiansabsent themselves they would be deem’d our Enimies & treated as such; The Generals moreover told them, he should have presents for them soon, and would then make them another Speech, after which he parted with giving a Dram round.
May 13th: The Indian Camp were ¼ Miles from the Fort which I went to visit their Houses are composed of 2 Stakes, drove into the Ground, with a Ridge Pole & Bark of Trees laid down the sides of it, wch. is all they have to Shelter them from the Weather.... The Americans & Seamen Exercising.
May 14th: Inactive in our Camp. I went to the Indian to see them Dance which they do once or twice a Year round a Fire, first the Women dance, whilst the Men are Sitting, and then every Women takes out her Man; dances with him; lays with him for a Week, and then Returns to her proper Husband, & lives with him.[31]
May 15th: 22 Casks of Beef were Surveyed and condemn’d[32]
Do. 16th: Arrived Lt. Colo. Gage with 2 Companies, and the last Division of the Train, consisting of 8 Field Pieces; 4 Howitzers and a Number of Cohorns, with 42 Store Waggons Capt. Bromley of SrP. Halkets Regimt. died May 17th: Orders for the Funeral.
May 18th: Capt. Bromley was interred with great Solemnity[33]—19th: the Indians came to the Generals Tent when he made them a speech to this Effect; that they would send away immediately their Wives & Children to Pensilvania, and take up the Hatchet against the French, that the great King of England their Father had sent their Wives & Children such & such presents, and he had Ordered Arms, Ammunition &ca. to be delivered to their Warriors, and expressd a Concern for their ½ King killed last year—the presents consisted of Shrouds; Rings, Beads, Linnen, Knives, Wire & paint, they seem’d pleased, received their presents with 3 Belts & String ofWampum, and promised an Answer the next day in the Evening they Danced and made a most terrible Noise to shew were mightily pleased.
May 20th: Capt. Gates March’d into Camp with his New York Compy. The Indians met at the Generals Tent, and told him they were highly Obliged to the Great King their Father, for sending such Numbers of Men to fight for them, and they moreover promise to Join them, and do what was in their power by reconnoitring the Country, & bringing Intelligence, they were likewise oblidged to the General for expressing his Concern for the loss of their ½ King his Brother, and for the Presents he had made their Families. Their Chiefs Names were as follows
1st: Monicatoha their Mentor, 2dBelt of Wampum, or white Thunder, who always keep the Wampum, and has a Daughter call’d bright Lightning 3d: The great Tree and Silver Heels, Jimy Smith and Charles all belonging to the 6 Nations, The General Assured them of his Friendship and gave his Honour, that he never would deceive them, after which they sungtheir Song of War, put themselves into odd postures, wthShouting and making an uncommon Noise, declaring the French to be their pepetual Enemies, which they never had done before, then the General took the Indians to the Park of Artillery, Ordered 3 Howtzrs. 3:12 pounders to be Fired, the Drums beating & Fifes playing the point of War, which astonishtbut pleased the Indians greatly. They afterwards Retired to their own Camp to eat a Bullock and Dance in their usual manner, with shewing how they fight and Scalp, and expressing in their Dance, the exploits & Warlike Actions of their Ancestors and themselves—Arrived 80 Waggons from Pensylvania with Stores; and 11 likewise from Philidelpha with Liquors, Tea, Sugar, Coffe &c. to the Amount of 400£ With 20 Horses, as presents to the Officers of the 2 Regiments—An Indian came in 6 days from the French Fort, and assured us they have only 50 Men in the Fort, however they expected 900 more soon, yet they purpose blowing it up whenever the Army Appears—as this Indian was one of the Delawars, who never were our Friends hewas suspected to be a Rogue—100 Carpenters were Employed in making a Float, building a Magazine & squaring Timber to make a Bridge overWills Creek, The Smiths were making Miners Tools, The Bakers were baking Biscuit, and every thing was getting ready for a March.
May 21st: A Troop of light Horse & 2 Companies of SrP. Halkets Regimt. under the Command of Major Chapman came in from Winchester
May 22d: The Indians had Arms & Cloaths delivered to them
Do. 23d: The 2 Regiments were Exercised & went through their Formings
Do. 24th: Employed in Transporting the large Timber to the Fort, The Army consists of 2 Regiments, Each 700 Men; 2New York, 1 IndependentCarolinaCompanies of 100 Men, 9Virginia1MarylandCompanies of 50 Men; 1 Compy. of Artillery of 60 & 30 Seamen
May 25th: Preparations for Marching: 2 Men of SrP. Halkets were Drum’d out, and received 1000 lashes Each for Theft.
May 27th: The Companies employed inloading 100 Waggons wth. Provisions, A Captains Guard March’d forWinchesterto Escort Provisions to Camp—severalDelawarIndians came into Camp.
May 28th: TheDelawarIndians Assembled at the Generals Tent and told him they were come to Assist him, but desired to know his Intention the General thank’d them, and said that he should March in a few days for Fort Dec Quisne, The Indians then replyed, they would return home, Collect their Warriors and meet them on his March.
May 29th: Major Chapman with a Detachment of 600 Soldiers March’d with 2 Field Pieces and 50 Waggons full of Provisions when SrJohn StClair, 2 Engineers, Lieut. Spendelow & 6 Seamen with some Indians were Order’d to clean the Roads for them.
May 30th: March’d in, Capt. Dobbs with aNorth CarolinaCompany
June 1st: The Detachment got 15 Miles though the Roads were very bad; Lieut. Spendelow returned with his 6 Seamen.
June 2d: Colonel Burton, Capt. Orme, Mr. Engineer Gordon[34]& Lieut. Spendelow were order’d to reconnoitre the Roads, thelatter reported that he had found a tolerable Road, which might avoid the bad Mountain that they would otherwise be obliged to pass; and accordingly it was determined to March the Army that way, it being only 2 Miles about.
June 3d: Engineer Gordon[35]with 100 Pioneers began to break Ground on the new Road, when Lieut. Spendelow, 1 Midshipman[36]& 10 Men were sent to the Place that leads into the Old Road, cleard away and compleated 1 Mile,
June 4th: 1 Midshipman & 20 Men cleard ¾ of a Mile
5th: continued working on the Roads
6th: Compleated the new Road & Return’d to Camp.
7th: SrP. Halkets Brigade March’d with 2 Field Pieces and some Waggons with Provisions 1 Midshipman & 12 Seamen were Orderd to Assist the Train June 9th. Inactive June 10th: The General March’d wth. the remaining part of the Army.
25th: it was reported that a party of Indians had Surprized Kill’d, and Scalp’d 2 families to the Number of 12 within 4 Miles of yeFort
June 26th: Accounts of another family’s Scalp’d within 3 Miles of us. The Governor detach’d a party to bury the Dead, and to look for the Indians, they found a Child standing in the Water scalp’d, which had 2 holes in its Skull, they brought it to the Doctor, who dressed it but Died in a Week.[37]
June 10th: the last Division of His Majesty’s Forces March’d fromWills Creekwith General Braddock, when the General Arrived at the little Meadows 22 Miles from theCreek, and having all his Forceswth. him, found that the Carriages, Pack horses &ca. he had with him, retardid his Marches greatly, insomuch that in all probability, the French would be renforced, before he could possibly get there, provided he kept the whole Army together—he therefore selected 1200 of the Choicest Men besides Artillery & Seamen with the most Necessary Stores that might be wanted, which compleated 51 Carriages, and left the heavy Baggage Provisions &ca. with Colo. Dunbar and the rest of the Forces wth. Orders to follow as fast as possible: then March’d & continued untill 8th. July without Interruption save 8 or 9 Scalps on the March a Number much inferior to the Expectations, he Encamp’d within 8 Miles ofFort Dec Quisnewhere he held a Councill of War, when it was unaimously agreed that they should pass theMonongohelaRiver in the Morning twice and that the advanced Party should March at 2 o’Clock in the Morning to secure that pass (the River being very broad and easily defended as the Fort was very near they thought it advisable to take that oppertunity, that the Enemy might not have a View of them, Therefore the General order’d that theArmy should March over with fixt Bayonets to make a show.
On the 9th. July the advanced party of 400 Men March’d about 7. o’Clock some Indians Rush’d out of the Bushes, but did no Execution, the Party went on & secured both passes of the River, and at 11 the Main Body began to cross with Colours flying, Drums beating, & Fifes playing the Granadier’s March, and soon formed, when they thought that the French would not Attack them, as they might have done it wth. such advantages in crossing theMonogohela, The advanced party was ¼ Mile before the Main Body, the Rear of which was just over the River, when the Front was attacked The 2. Granadier Compys. formed the Flank The Piquets with the rest of the Men were Sustaining the Carpenters while they were cutting the Roads. The first Fire the Enemy gave was in Front, & they likewise gaul’d the Piquets in Flank, so that in few Minutes the Granadiers were nearly cut to pieces and drove into the greatest Confusion as was Capt. Polsons Compy. of Carpentrs. As soon as the Main Body heard that the Front wasAttack’d they instantly advanced to secure them but found them retreating Upon which, the General Orderd the Artillery to draw up, & the Battalion to form, by this time the Enemy had Attacked the Main Body, which faced to the Right & left and engaged them, but could not see whom they Fired at, it was in an open Road, that the Main Body were drawn up, but the Trees were excessive thick round them, And the Enemy had possession of a Hill to the Right, which consequently was a great advantage to them, Many Officers declare, that they never saw above 5 of the Enemy at one time during the whole Action Our Soldiers were Encouraged to make many Attempts by the Officers (who behaved Gloriously) to take the Hill, but they had been so intimidated before by seeing their Comrades Scalp’d in their sight and such Numbers falling, that as they advanced up towards the Hill and there Officer’s being pict off which was generally the Case; they turn’d to their Rt. About & retired down the Hill. When the General perceived & was convinced that the Soldiers would not fight in a regular Manner without Officers, he devided them into small parties, and endeavour’d to surround the Enemy, but by this time the Major part of the Officers were either Kill’d or Wounded, and in short the Soldiers were totally deaf to the Commands & persuasions of the few Officers that were left unhurt. The General had 4 Horses shot under him before he was wounded, which was towards the latter part of the Action, when he was put into a Waggon with great dificulty as he was very Sollicitious for being left in the Field. The Retreat now became general, and it was the opinion of many people that had we greater Numbers, it would have been just the same thing, as our advanc’d party never regained the Ground they were first Attacked upon, it was extreamly lucky they pursued no farther than the first Crossing the River but they kill’d & Scalp’d every one they met with, The Army March’d all Night & Join’d Colonel Dunbar the next Day, 50 Miles distance from the Field of Battle, when the General order’d Colo. Dunbar to prepare for a Retreat in Order for which, they were Obliged to destroy great quantities ofStores and Provisions, to furnish the Wounded Officers & Soldiers with Waggons The Generals Pains encreased hourly, and on the 12thof July he Died greatly lamented by the whole Army, was decently though privately buried the next Morning.
The Numbers kill’d; Wounded & left in the Field as appeared by the Returns of the different Companies were 896 besides Officers The 2 Companies of the Grenadiers and Carpenters sufferd most Colo. Dunbars Grenadiers were 79 Compleat out of which 9 Returned untouch’d. SrP. Halkets, were 69 & only 13 came out of yeField Every Grenadier Officer was either kill’d or Wounded The Seamen had 11 Kill’d & wounded out of 33 it was impossible to tell the exact Nunbers of the Enemy but it was premised by the continual smart Fire the kept during the whole Action, that they must have at least Man for Man Mr. Engineer Gordon[38]was the first Man that saw the Enemy, being in theFront of the Carpenters, making & Picketing the Roads for them, and he declared where he first descover’d them, that they were on the Run, which plainly shews they were just come fromFort Dec Quesneand that their principal Intention was to secure the pass ofMonnongohela Riverbut the Officer who was their leader, dressed like an Indian, wth. a Gorgeton, waved his Hatt, by way of Signal to disperse to yeRight and left forming a half Moon Colo. Dunbar continued his Retreat and Arrived with the Remains of the Army atFort Cumberlandthe 20th. July, and the 21st. the Wounded Officers & Soldiers were brought in.... 30th. July Orders were given for the Army to March the 2nd. August 1st. August Colo. Dunbar received a Letter from Commodore Kepple to send the Seamen toHamptonand accordingly the 2d. they March’d with the Army & on the 3d. August left them August 5th. Arrived atWinchesterAugust 11th. March’d intoFredericksburghand hired a Vessel to carry the Seamen toHamptonwhere they embarked on board his Majesty’s Ship Guarland the 18th. August 1755.
4:6 pounders. 2. 12 pounders, 3 Howitzers, 8 Cohorns, 51 Carriages of Provisions Ammunition Hospital Stores, The Generals private Chest which had about 1000£ in it with 200 Horses loaded with Officers Baggage.[39]
Sir Peter Halket moved out from Fort Cumberland on June 7 with a brigade comprising the 44th Regiment, two Independent Companies of New York, two companies of Virginia Rangers, one of Maryland Rangers, a total of nine hundred and eighty-four men, six hundred woodchoppers under Sir John St. Clair having been sent forward to widen and improve Washington’s road. The next day but one Colonel Thomas Dunbar marched away with another brigade comprising the 48th Regiment, a company of carpenters, three companies of Virginia Rangers, and one from South and North Carolina each, a total of nine hundred and ninety-three men. On the tenth, Braddock and his aides and the rest of the army which was approximately two thousand two hundred strong—a force powerful enough to haverazed Duquesne, Venango, La Bœuf, Presque Isle, and Niagara to the ground—if it could have reached them.
This Franklin who secured Braddock horses and wagons was a prophet. And once he predicted that this “slender line” of an army would be greatly in danger of Indian ambuscade “and be cut, like a thread, into several pieces, which, from their distance, cannot come up in time to support each other.” Braddock laughed at the prophecy, but his army had not been swallowed up in the gloom of the forests two days before its line was thinner and longer than Braddock could ever have believed. When encamped at night, the line of wagons compactly drawn together was half a mile long; in marching order by day the army was often spread out to a length of four miles. And even in this fashion it could only creep along. Halket with the first division made only five miles in three days. In ten days Braddock had only covered the twenty-four miles to Little Crossings. The road makers followed implicitly the Indian path where it was possible; when on the high ground the roadwas so rugged that many wagons were entirely demolished and more temporarily disabled; when off this track in the ravines they were buried axle deep in the bogs.
To haul the wagons and cannon over this worst road ever trod Braddock had the poorest horses available. All the weak, spavined, wind-broken, and crippled beasts in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia were palmed off on Braddock by unscrupulous contractors. And horses, dead or dying, were always left with the demolished wagons. “There has been vile management in regard to horses,” wrote Washington; before the army had covered one third of its journey there were not enough to draw all the wagons, the strongest being sent back each day to bring up the wagons left behind the morning before. The continuous diet of salt meat brought an epidemic of bloody flux on the army; some died, many were sick. Washington’s strong system was in the grasp of a fever before Little Crossings was reached.
The situation now was desperate and would have appalled a less stubborn man than Edward Braddock. Acting on Washington’s advice he here divided his army, preparing to push on to Fort Duquesne with a flying column of fourteen hundred men. Washington found the first western river almost dry and reasoned that Riviere aux Bœufs would be too dry to transport southward the reinforcements that were hurrying from Canada.
On the nineteenth, Braddock advanced with Colonel Halket and Lieutenant Colonels Burton and Gage and Major Sparks, leaving Colonel Dunbar and Major Chapman—to their disgust—to hobble on with the sick and dying men and horses, the sorry line of wagons creaking under their heavy loads. The young Virginian Colonel was left at the very first camp in a raging fever. Though unable to push on further with the column that would capture Duquesne, yet Braddock considerately satisfied the ambition of Washington by promising that he should be brought up before the attack was made. Washington wrote home that he would not miss the capture of Duquesne “for five hundred pounds!”
With the flying column were taken the Indians that were with the army but whichnumbered less than a dozen. Braddock has been severely blamed for his neglect of the Indians, but any earnest study of this campaign will assure the student that the commanding general was no more at fault here than for the failure of the contractors and the indifference of the colonies. He had been promised Indians as freely as stores and horses and wagons. The Indian question seems to have been handled most wretchedly since Washington’s late campaign. Through the negligence of the busy-body Dinwiddie (so eager for so many unimportant matters) even the majority of the Indians who served Washington faithfully and had followed his retreating army back to Virginia were allowed to drift back to the French through sheer neglect. As none of Dinwiddie’s promises were fulfilled in this respect Braddock turned in despair to Morris for such Ohio Indians as were living in Pennsylvania. There had been at least three hundred Indians of the Six Nations living in that province, but in April the Pennsylvania Assembly had resolved to “do nothing more for them”; accordingly they went westward and mostof them joined the French. Morris, however, urged George Croghan to send word to the Delawares, Shawanese, Wyandots, etc., bidding them come and join Braddock’s army. But Croghan brought less than fifty and Braddock was not destined to keep all of these, for Colonel Innes, commanding at Fort Cumberland, not desiring the Indian families on his hands during the absence of the fathers, persuaded Braddock that there were not enough to add to the fighting strength of the army and that a few would be as serviceable for spies as many. Nor was this bad reasoning: Braddock would have been no better off with thirty than with ten. The fact is, he was in nothing deceived more by false promises and assurances than in the matter of Indian coöperation. And was he more at fault for the lack of frontiersmen? True, he refused the services of Captain Jack and his company, but only because the latter refused to be governed by the discipline to which the rest of the army was subject; Braddock could not agree to such an arrangement and it is doubtful if Washington would have acted differently undersimilar circumstances. At least the Virginian had nothing to do with Captain Jack’s renowned company the year before. To other border fighters Braddock gave a warm reception; Gist and Croghan, the two best known men on the frontier, held important offices in the army. It is as easy as common to lay at the door of a defeated and dead commander all the misfortunes of a campaign; whatever Braddock’s errors, the fact remains that the colonies failed absolutely to make the least move to provide an Indian army for Braddock’s use. Nothing could have more surely promised defeat and disgrace.
The flying column flew like a partridge with a broken wing. “We set out,” wrote Washington who started with it but was compelled to stop, “with less than thirty carriages, including those that transported the ammunition for the howitzers, and six-pounders, and all of them strongly horsed; which was a prospect that conveyed infinite delight to my mind, though I was excessively ill at the time. But this prospect was soon clouded, and my hopes brought very low indeed, when I found, that,instead of pushing on with vigor, without regarding a little rough road, they were halting to level every mole-hill, and to erect bridges over every brook, by which means we were four days in getting twelve miles.”
On the third of July the flying column had passed the Youghiogheny and were encamped ten miles north of it, forty miles from Fort Duquesne. It had not averaged three miles a day since leaving Little Crossings! Here a Council of War was held to decide whether to push on alone or await the coming of Dunbar and the wagons. Could the Grenadiers and their officers have seen through that narrow path to their destination, how quickly would their decision have been made, how eagerly would they have hurried on to the Ohio! Contrecœur at Fort Duquesne was in a miserable plight; every returning red-skin told of the advance of the great British army in the face of Governor Duquesne’s proud boast to Vaudreuil that it was impossible for the English to cross the Alleghenies in sufficient force to cause uneasiness! Braddock, despite the utter lack ofproper support from the colonies, was accomplishing the eighth wonder of the world. It was desperate work. But a Bull-dog was creeping nearer each day.
Throughout the winter the British ministry and the Court of Versailles had been exchanging the most ridiculous pretenses of peace while secretly preparing for war with dispatch. For every ill-recruited regiment King George sent to Virginia, King Louis sent two famous regiments to Canada, and they arrived there despite Boscawen, the English admiral, who captured two unimportant ships. Yet that was enough to precipitate the struggle and save more fables from the respective ambassadors; “I will not pardon the piracies of that insolent nation,” exclaimed Louis—and open war was inevitable.
At his landing at Quebec Vaudreuil found not less than twelve thousand soldiers in Canada to defend the claims of his King. But that was a long frontier to man, from Quebec to New Orleans, and in April only about one thousand men were forwarded to defend the Ohio river. Of these Contrecœur had not more than three hundred, probablyless. The summer before he had two thousand defenders, but Duquesne, blindly trusting to the ephemeral league he had made with the Alleghenies, had not been liberal again. In vain Contrecœur sent messages northward to Venango and Presque Isle. Riviere aux Bœufs was as dry as the Youghiogheny. Inevitable surrender or capitulation stared the French commander in the face. Even the crowds of Indians within hail were not to be reckoned on; they were terrified at the proportions of Braddock’s army.
Accordingly, Contrecœur made his arrangements for a capitulation, as Washington had done one year ago. Braddock had accomplished the impossible; the Indians were demoralized and took to “cooking and counciling”; Fort Duquesne was as good as captured.
On the seventh Braddock reached Brush Fork of Turtle Creek, but the country immediately between him and the Ohio was so rough that the army turned westward and pitched its nineteenth encampment in Long Run valley two miles from the Monongahela. Here Washington came upwith the army in a covered wagon, still weak but ready to move with the army in the morning and sleep in Duquesne that night. The whole army was infused with this hope as the ninth of July dawned.
For no one questioned Braddock’s success if he could once throw that army across the mountains. No one knew the situation better than Washington, and early in the campaign he wrote his brother: “As to any danger from the enemy, I look upon it as trifling.” In London profane wits cited Scripture (Ezekiel xxxv: 1-10) to justify the conquest of the Ohio valley: “Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, set thy face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it, and say unto it, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee and I will stretch out mine hand against thee and I will make thee most desolate.... Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it.” Already subscription papers were being passed about in Philadelphia to provide festal fires to illumine the Quaker Citywhen the news of Braddock’s victory came.
“Why, the d—l,” exclaimed one of the enthusiasts to that odd man Franklin who did not sign his name at once, “you surely don’t suppose the fort will not be taken?” “I don’t know it will not be taken,” replied the Postmaster-General, “but I know that the events of war are subject to great uncertainty.” A jingling ballad in Chester County, Pennsylvania, was spreading throughout the frontier. It ran, in part:
To arms, to arms! my jolly grenadiers!Hark, how the drums do roll it along!To horse, to horse, with valiant good cheer;We’ll meet our proud foe, before it is long.Let not your courage fail you:Be valiant, stout and bold;And it will soon avail you,My loyal hearts of gold.Huzzah, my valiant countrymen!—again I say huzzah!’Tis nobly done—the day’s our own—huzzah, huzzah!March on, march on, brave Braddock leads the foremost;The battle is begun as you may fairly see.Stand firm, be bold, and it will soon be over;We’ll soon gain the field from our proud enemy.A squadron now appears, my boys;If that they do but stand!Boys, never fear, be sure you mindThe word of command!Huzzah, my valiant countrymen!—again I say huzzah!’Tis nobly done—the day’s our own—huzzah, huzzah!
Before daybreak on the morning of the fatal ninth Lieutenant Colonel Gage moved to the Monongahela to secure the two fords the army was to use on the last day’s march. At four o’clock Sir John St. Clair with two hundred and fifty men went forward to prepare the roads. At five Braddock advanced and made the first crossing at eight o’clock. He then formed his army for a triumphant march to the second ford and on to Fort Duquesne. It had been feared that, however weak, Contrecœur would attempt to defend this ford of the Monongahela. But this fear was dissipated on receipt of the news that Gage held the second ford.
Contrecœur knew it would be foolhardyto give Braddock battle. He was in no mind to waste his men futilely. He knew an honorable capitulation was all for which he could hope. But on the 8th a captain of the regulars, M. de Beaujeu, asked leave to go out with a band to oppose Braddock’s passage of the Monongahela. Reluctantly, it is said, Contrecœur gave his permission and, the whole garrison desiring to attend Beaujeu, the commander detailed him selected troops on the condition that he could obtain the assistance of the Indians who were about the fort.
The impetuous Beaujeu hurried off to the Indians and unfolded his plan to them. But they were afraid of Braddock; some of them had even gone into the English camp, at Cumberland, or in the mountains, on pretense of joining the English army; they had seen the long lines of grenadiers and wagons laden with cannon.
“How, my Father,” they replied, “are you so bent upon death that you would also sacrifice us? With our eight hundred men do you ask us to attack four thousand English? Truly, this is not the saying of a wise man. But we will lay up what wehave heard, and tomorrow you shall know our thoughts.”
Baffled, Beaujeu withdrew while the redskinned allies of the French frittered away the hours in debate—and the spies brought word that Braddock was encamped in Long Run valley. The indomitable Beaujeu, however, went and examined the ground at the ford of the Monongahela, which Braddock would pass on the next day. On the ninth, however, the Indians brought word that they would not join in the unequal contest.
But even as they spoke an Indian scout came running down the narrow trail toward the fort. He brought the news of Braddock’s advance on the Monongahela fords. Beaujeu, cunning actor, played his last card desperately and well:
“I am determined,” he cried, “to go out against the enemy; I am certain of victory. What! will you suffer your father to depart alone?”
The reproach stung the savage breasts. In a moment hundreds of hoarse voices were drowning the long roll of the drums. A mad scene followed; wild with enthusiasm, casks of bullets and flints and powder were rolled to fort gates and their heads knocked out. About these the savages, even while painting themselves for the fray, came in crowds, each one free to help himself as he needed. Then came the race for the ford of the Monongahela. Down the narrow trail burst the horde of warriors, led by the daring Beaujeu dressed in savage costume, an Indian gorget swinging from his neck for good fortune. Behind him poured Delawares, Ojibways, Pottawattamies, Abenakis, Caughnawagas, Iroquois, Ottawas, led by their young King Pontiac; Shawanese, Wyandots, Hurons, led by Athanasius from the mission of Lorette, who gloried in a name “torn from the most famous page of Christian history.” With the six hundred savages ran two hundred Canadians and four score French regulars.
This rabble could not have left Fort Duquesne before high noon; no wonder Beaujeu ran—fearing Braddock had passed the battle-ground he had chosen last night. In that case he despaired of delaying the advance even a single day; yet in one daythe expected reinforcements might arrive from the north!
Washington rode with Braddock today, though he rode on a pillow in his saddle. In after life he often recalled the sight of Braddock’s grenadiers marching beside the Monongahela in battle array, a fine picture with the thin red line framed in the fresh green of the forests. With the receipt of Gage’s note, the fear of ambuscade which had been omnipresent since the army left Fort Cumberland, vanished. During that month the Indian guides, flanking squads, and woodchoppers had rushed into camp time and again calling the companies to arms; each alarm had been false. As Fort Duquesne was neared Braddock grew doubly cautious. He even attempted to leave the Indian trail which ran through the “Narrows” and which crossed the Monongahela at the mouth of Turtle Creek. When another course was found impossible for the wagons he turned reluctantly back to the old thoroughfare, but had passed the “Narrows” safely and his advance guards now held the fords. All was well.
By two o’clock Braddock was across theriver, bag and baggage. Beyond, the Indian trail wound along to the uplands, skirting the heads of numerous ravines and clinging persistently, like all the trails of the Indians and buffalo, to the high ground between the brook and swamp. The ridge which the trail followed here to the second terrace was twenty rods in width, with the path near the center. On the west a deep ravine, completely hidden in the deep underbrush, lay almost parallel with the trail for a distance of over five hundred feet. On the opposite side smaller ravines also lay nearly parallel with the trail. On the high ground between these hidden ravines, and not more than two hundred feet from them, Braddock’s engineers and woodchoppers widened their road for Gage’s advance guard which was ordered to march on until three o’clock.
As the engineers reached the extremity of the second terrace Beaujeu came bounding into sight, the pack of eight hundred wolves at his heels. Seeing the English, the daring but dismayed Frenchman stopped still in his tracks. He was an hour too late. Attempting to surprise Braddock, Beaujeu was himself surprised. But he waved his hat above his head and the crowd of warriors scattered behind him like a partridge’s brood into the forest leaves.
The French captain knew the ground and Braddock did not, and the ground was admirably formed for a desperate stand against the advancing army. Burton, who was just leaving the river shore, was ordered up to support Gage on the second upland after the first fire. This brought the whole army, save four hundred men, to the second terrace between the unseen ravines on the east and west. Into these ravines poured the Indian rabble. The ravine on the east being shorter than that on the west, many savages ran through it and posted themselves in the dense underbrush on the hillside.
Thus, in a twinkling of an eye, the Indians running southward in the two ravines and the British northward on the high ground between them, the fatal position of the battle was quickly assumed.[40]No encounter has been more incorrectly described and pictured than the Battle of the Monongahela.[41]Braddock was not surprised; his advance guard saw the enemy long before they opened fire; George Croghan affirmed that the grenadiers delivered their first charge when two hundred yards distant from the Indians, completely throwing it away. Nor did Braddock march blindly into a deep ravine; his army was ever on the high ground, caught almost in the vortex of the cross-fire of the savages hidden on the brink of the ravines on either side, or posted on the high ground to the right.[42]
The road was but twelve feet in width. Even as Burton came up, Gage’s grenadiers were frightened and retreating. The meeting of the advancing and retiring troops caused a fatal confusion and delay in the narrow road. The fire from the Indians on the high ground to the right being severe, Braddock attempted to form his bewildered men and charge. It wasfutile. The companies were in an inextricable tangle. Finally, to reduce things to order, the various standards were advanced in different directions and the officers strove to organize their commands in separate detachments, with a hope of surrounding the savages. This, too, proved futile. The Indians on either side completely hidden in the ravines, the smoke of the rifles hardly visible through the dense underbrush, poured a deadly fire on the swarm of red-coats huddled in the narrow track. Not a rifle ball could miss its mark there. As the standards were advanced here and there, the standard bearers and the officers who followed encouraging their men to form again were shot down both from behind and before.[43]As once and again the paralyzed grenadiers broke into the forest to raid the ravines, in the vain hope of dislodging the enemy, they offered only a surer mark for the thirsty rifles toward which they ran.
The Virginians took to the trees like ducks to water, but the sight enraged Braddock, mad to have the men form in battleline and charge in solid phalanx. In vain Washington pleaded to be allowed to place his men behind the trees; Braddock drove them away with the flat blade of his sword. Yet they came back and fought bravely from the trees as was their habit. But it availed nothing to fight behind trees with the enemy on both flanks; the Virginians were, after all, no safer there than elsewhere, as the death-roll plainly shows. The provincial portion of the army suffered as heavily, if not more heavily, than any other. No army could have stood its ground there and won that battle. The only chance of victory was to advance or retreat out of range of those hidden rifles. The army could not be advanced for every step brought the men nearer the very center of that terrible cross-fire. And the Bull-dog Braddock knew not the word “retreat.” That was the secret of his defeat.[44]
Soon there were not enough officers left to command the men, most of whom werehopelessly bewildered at seeing half the army shot down by a foe they themselves had never seen. Many survivors of the battle affirmed that they never saw above five Indians during the conflict. Braddock was mortally wounded by a ball which pierced his right arm and lung. Sir Peter Halket lay dead, his son’s dead corpse lying across his own. Of twenty-one captains, seven were dead and seven wounded; of thirty-eight lieutenants, fifteen were wounded and eleven were dead; of fourteen second lieutenants or ensigns, five were wounded and three were dead; of fifty-eight sergeants, twenty were wounded and seventeen dead; of sixty-one corporals and bombardiers, twenty-two were wounded and eighteen dead; of eighteen gunners, eight were wounded and six were dead; of twelve hundred privates, three hundred and twenty-eight were wounded and three hundred and eighty-six were dead. Each Frenchman, Canadian, and Indian had hit his man and more than every other one had killed his man. Their own absolutely impregnable position can be realized when it is known that not twenty-five French,Canadians or Indians were killed and wounded. Among the first to fall was the hero of the day, Beaujeu; his Indian gorget could not save his own life, but it delayed the capture of Fort Duquesne—three years.
Yet the stubborn, doomed army held its ground until the retreat was ordered. The wounded Braddock, who pleaded, it is said, to be left upon the ground, and even begged for Croghan’s pistol with which to finish what a French bullet had begun, was placed in a cart and afterwards in a wagon and brought off the field.[45]No sooner was retreat ordered than it became an utter rout. Some fifty Indians pursued the army into the river, but none crossed it. Here and there efforts were made to stem the tide but to no purpose. The army fled back to Dunbar, who had now crawled along to Laurel Hill and was encamped at a great spring at the foot of what is now Dunbar’s Knob, half a mile north of Jumonville’s hiding place and grave. Dunbar’s situation was already deplorable, evenWashington having prophesied that, though he had crossed the worst of the mountain road, he could never reach Fort Duquesne.
But as Braddock’s demoralized army threw itself upon him, Dunbar’s condition was indescribably wretched. A large portion of the survivors of the battle and of Dunbar’s own command, lost to all order, hurried on toward Fort Cumberland. Dunbar himself, now senior officer in command, ordered his cannons spiked and his ammunition destroyed and, with such horses as could be of service, began to retreat across the mountains. For this he was, and has often been, roundly condemned; yet, since we have Washington’s plain testimony that he could never have hauled his wagons and cannon over the thirty comparatively easy miles to Fort Duquesne, who can fairly blame him for not attempting to haul them over the sixty difficult miles to Fort Cumberland? To fortify himself, so far removed from hopes of sustenance and succor, was equally impossible. There was nothing Dunbar could do but retreat.