THE NEW ROAD
The correspondence included in the chapter preceding affords probably
the utmost light that can be thrown today upon the reason of the making
of the great Pennsylvanian thoroughfare to the Ohio. It cannot be
affirmed, as has often been said, that Forbes was early prejudiced in
favor of a Pennsylvania route; he never could have been such a hypocrite
as to pen the words to be found on page 94. That his first plans were
completely altered at the advice of Sir John St. Clair is very plain
from his letters to Governor Denny (March 20) and to Colonel Bouquet
(July 6); but up to the very last he leaves the question open, to be
decided wholly according to the reports of the guides and explorers. It
is difficult, however, to reconcile the words in Forbes's letter to
Bouquet of July 23, in which he states that St. Clair, when advising
the Raystown route, affirmed "that he nor nobody else knew anything of
the road leading from Laurell hill." It is evident from this that Forbes
originally expected to fall down to the Braddock road from Raystown, but
that when once on the ground, with the distances clear in his mind, he
was compelled to find a shorter road westward if there was one to be
found. This is the only explanation of his immediate change of plan at
St. Clair's advice, knowing that St. Clair had found no route westward
by Laurel Hill; it seems that St. Clair thought only of proceeding via
Raystown to Fort Cumberland, as he affirmed in his letter of June 9 to
Bouquet. St. Clair was undoubtedly right in deciding that the best
course to Fort Cumberland from Philadelphia for the army was through
populous Pennsylvania, and his understanding that the Braddock Road
would be followed from that point would easily explain why he had
provided forage at Fort Cumberland, which occasioned Forbes's criticism
in his letter of July 14. Indeed from Forbes's letters of June 16, 19,
and 27, it does not seem that he had any definite plan for the
construction of a new road.
On the other hand Forbes very correctly doubted the advisability of
using Braddock's long route when his army was once gathered together
along the road from Carlisle to Raystown. Bouquet stated his (Forbes's)
position very soundly when he said: "You cannot take the Cumberland
until you are in a position to demonstrate the impossibility of finding
another road, or at any rate the impossibility of opening one without
risking the expedition by too great an expenditure of time." Moreover,
Forbes had a comprehensive view of the situation such as probably no one
else had.
So far as Bouquet's position was concerned, his correspondence shows
that he was assiduous in carrying out Forbes's directions; as to any
conspiracy on his part to win Forbes over to the Pennsylvania route, as
Washington insinuated, who can believe one existed after reading his
letters? Bouquet very properly threw the burden of ultimate decision
upon Forbes, as it was his duty to do; he sent him all the information
which he could obtain, pro and con, concerning all routes; he sent
Colonel Burd out, with his guides, in order to have testimony upon which
he was sure he could rely; he urged Forbes to defer his decision of
route until he (Forbes) could have a personal interview with Washington;
he had Braddock's Road partly cleared and plainly described it as
needing "very little in the way of repair;" he never seems to have
attempted to minimize the difficulties of making a new route or maximize
those of the old; he continually urges the necessity of great caution in
the selection of a route.
The motives which directed the movements of Sir John St. Clair during
these months of controversy are quite beyond fathoming. It is easy to
believe that the "new light," which Forbes said Sir John had received
"at Winchester," made it clear that if he did not send the army over the
southern route (Fort Frederick-Fort Cumberland) to Cumberland, it was
possible that Forbes would never traverse Braddock's Road at all. It is
certain that upon Governor Sharpe's and Washington's arrival upon the
scene, Sir John began to shower upon Bouquet letters advising the
opening of the Fort Frederick-Fort Cumberland road; "and I believe from
thence," Forbes wrote of St. Clair's meeting with Governor Sharpe,
"proceeded to the opening the road from Fort Frederick to Fort
Cumberland." Indeed, it would be interesting to know whether it was not
St. Clair's suddenly raised clamor over the length of the Raystown route
to Fort Cumberland (hoping to "drive" Forbes over the Fort Frederick
route) that determined Forbes to ignore Fort Cumberland and push out on
a new, shorter route to the Ohio.
Whatever were St. Clair's reasons for such vacillating plans, it is sure
he fell into disgrace in Forbes's eyes. In addition to the upbraiding he
received from the general's own lips, Forbes wrote in his letter of July
14 that the wagons were the plague of his life and denied that St. Clair
had taken "the smallest pains" or made the "least inquiry" concerning
the matters he had been detailed to care for. Again, in Forbes's letter
to Bouquet of July 17 he says: "Sir John acknowledges taking some
(kettles &c from Pennsylvania troops) and applying them to the use of
the Virginians &c which is terrible." In a letter previously quoted
Forbes affirms that St. Clair--who was sent in advance of the army to
settle the matter of route--"knows nothing of the matter." Forbes's
wrath at St. Clair reached a climax before the end of August when he
savagely declared that he suspected his "heart as well as the head."[70]
And now as to Washington. His letters are typical of the young man to
whom these western forests were not unfamiliar; they are patriotic and
loyal. Though he was standing for election to the House of Burgesses in
his home county, he had refused to accept a leave of absence to do his
electioneering--which in no wise prevented his election. I cannot find
any ill-boding prophecy in his letters, concerning the making of a new
road westward from Raystown, which after events did not justify. He
affirmed that Forbes could not reach Fort Duquesne by a new road before
the winter set in; and no prophecy ever seemed more accurately
fulfilled. For before Fort Duquesne was reached it was decided not to
attempt to continue the campaign further. An unexpected occurrence
suddenly turned the tide and Forbes went on--to a splendid conquest.
But, nevertheless, Washington's prophecy was, not long after it was
made, found to have been that of a wise man. Had Forbes been one iota
less fortunate than Braddock was unfortunate, Washington's words would
have come true to the letter. So much for his judgment, which Forbes
ignored.
But Washington's knowledge was limited, so far as the general situation
of the army was concerned. Forbes's expedition was one of three
simultaneous campaigns; and the three commanders were somewhat dependent
upon each other. At any time Forbes might be called upon to give
assistance to Abercrombie or Johnson. Forbes was in constant
correspondence with both of his colleagues; after Abercrombie's repulse
the prosecution of the Fort Duquesne campaign, it may almost be said,
was in question. At any rate it was important to have open the shortest
possible route of communication to the northern colonies where the other
campaigns were being pushed; in case Fort Duquesne was captured a
straight road through populous, grain-growing Pennsylvania would be of
utmost importance; especially as Pennsylvania abounded in vehicles,
while in Virginia they were scarce.
Washington thought only of a quick campaign completed in the same season
as begun. Forbes, however, was not in eager haste and had good reason
for moving slowly. As early as August 9 he wrote Bouquet: "Between you
and I be it said, as we are now so late, we are yet too soon. This is a
parable that I shall soon explain." Three reasons appealed to Forbes for
moving slowly, though it is doubtful if he intended moving as slowly as
he actually did move: Frederick Post, the missionary, had been sent to
the Indians on the Beaver asking them to withdraw from the French; the
Indian chiefs were invited to the treaty at Easton, where their alliance
with the French would, it was hoped, be undermined; winter was drawing
on apace, when the Indians who were with the French would withdraw to
their villages and begin to prepare for the inclement season.
One of the direct serious charges brought against Washington was that he
did "not know the difference between a party and an army." This is
brought by Colonel Bouquet and I do not believe that he was in error or
that the accusation can be proved unjust. Washington had had much
experience, such as it was, in the Fort Necessity campaign, with
Braddock, and on the Virginia frontier. But the Fort Necessity campaign
was conspicuous as a political, not a military event. The force he led
west did not number two hundred men. This was, surely, a party, not an
army. Now, be it remembered, the great difficulty of leading any body of
men, small or great, lay in provisioning them and feeding the horses.
The larger the army the greater the difficulty--indeed the difficulty
trebled as the number of men and horses was doubled. On those mountain
roads the second wagon was drawn with much greater difficulty than the
first. Again, a small body of men could, in part, be supplied with food
from the forests; in the case of an army this source of supply must be
ignored. In the case of Washington's Fort Necessity campaign, how did
his handful of men fare? They nearly starved--and capitulated because
they did not have the food to give them the necessary strength to
retreat. This was not Washington's fault, for he, properly, left this
matter with those whose business it was; but the experience certainly
did not teach him how to handle an army.
I cannot see that he had the opportunity to learn much more in
Braddock's campaign in 1755. He was that general's aide, a carrier of
messages and orders, and a member of the military family. He had ever
before his eyes a thousand examples of carelessness, chicanery, and
mismanagement, but those could not teach him how an army was to be cared
for properly. His advice was often asked and minded, but he gave it in
the capacity of a frontiersman, not as a tactician or officer. The one
exception was when he urged that Braddock divide the _army_ into two
_parties_ by sending a small flying column rapidly against Fort
Duquesne.
It is clear from preceding pages that, on the Virginia frontier, he
learned no lessons on the control of large bodies of men.
But now, in 1758, as colonel of an important branch of the army General
Forbes was throwing across the Alleghenies, Washington came forward
conspicuously as a champion of a certain route to be pursued by an army
of five thousand men. Frankly, what did he know of the needs of five
thousand men on a march of two hundred miles from their base of
supplies? His correspondence on this point is not satisfactory. He had
never passed over the Pennsylvania Road, and, though he understood
better than anyone what it meant to cut a new road, he does not answer
the argument that the Braddock Road failed to offer as much pasturage
for horses and cattle as the Pennsylvania route. He confines himself
largely to the matter of celerity: and the situation, as we have
explained, did not demand haste. Forbes had the best of reasons for
moving slowly. From a commissary's standpoint Washington's argument
could have had no weight whatever.
Washington was strongly prejudiced in favor of the Virginia route; and
no man could have had better reasons for prejudice, as will be shown. He
argued conspicuously and vehemently on a subject with which he had no
experience. Great and good as he became, and brave and faithful as he
was, it is all the easier to confess to a weakness which was due to a
lack of experience and to loyal, old-time Virginia pride. It is an
exceedingly pleasant duty to emphasize the fact that, after his repeated
arguments were cast aside by his superiors and a route was chosen in the
face of the strongest opposition he could bring to bear on the subject,
the young man swallowed his chagrin and the slights under which his fine
spirit must have writhed, and worked manfully and heroically for
measures which he had heartily opposed. In all that he had done in the
past five years he never played the man better than here and now.
It is very difficult to unravel what General Forbes continually calls
the plot of certain Virginians to force him into Braddock's Road. The
matter is of additional interest because, in his letter to Bouquet of
August 9, Forbes utters a very sharp criticism of Washington: "By a very
unguarded letter of Col. Washington's that accidentally fell into my
hands, I am now at the bottom of their scheme against this new road, a
scheme that I think was a shame for any officer to be concerned in, but
more of this at [our] meeting." Again on September 4 he wrote:
"Therefore [I] would consult C. Washington, altho perhaps not follow his
advice, as his Behaviour about the roads, was in no ways like a
soldier." What letter this was of Washington's I do not know. It could
not have been the letter written to Halket (page 113); it hardly seems
possible that it could have been the following letter which Washington
wrote to Governor Fouquier: "The Pennsylvanians, whose present as well
as future interest it was to have the expedition conducted through their
government, and along that way, because it secures their frontiers at
present, and their trade hereafter, a chain of forts being erected, had
prejudiced the General absolutely against the old road, and made him
believe that we were the partial people, and determined him at all
events to pursue that route."[71] The doubt is not whether Forbes would
have spoken sharply if he had seen this letter, but whether it could
have fallen into his hands. It was undoubtedly sent from Fort Cumberland
straight to Winchester and Williamsburg. From one point the letter does
Washington no credit, though it shows plainly that there was a bitter
factional fight and that he felt strongly the righteousness of the
Virginian side of the question, for which he is not to be blamed. As to
his accusation against his general, it seems to me unreasonably bitter.
Forbes's correspondence with Bouquet is convincing proof of the
falseness of Washington's theory that the Pennsylvanians "had prejudiced
the General absolutely against the old road ... and determined him at
all events to pursue that (new) route." After wrestling with the route
question two months Forbes wrote General Abercrombie as late as July 25
that he was unwilling to bring the divisions of his army together "till
the Route is finally determined." Forbes had no predilection for
Pennsylvanians; when, in September, a spirit of jealousy appeared
concerning the province from which the army provisions should be
obtained, Forbes wrote Bouquet (September 17): "I believe neither you
nor I values one farthing where we get provisions from, provided we are
supplyed, or Interest ourselves either with Virginia or Pennsylvania,
which last I hope will be damn'd for their treatment of us with the
Waggons, and every other thing where they could profit by us from their
impositions, altho at the risque of our perdition."
The controversy as to whether Forbes's route should be through
Pennsylvania or Virginia serves to bring into clear perspective one of
the most interesting and one of the most important phases of our
study--the meaning of the building of a road at that time to either one
of those colonies. Nothing could emphasize this more than the sharpness
of the quarrel and the position of those concerned in it. It meant very
much to Pennsylvania to have Forbes cut a road to the Ohio in both of
the two ways suggested by Washington to Governor Fouquier--it fortified
her frontier and opened a future avenue of trade. The Old Trading Path
had been her best course westward and her trade with the Indians had
been nothing to what it would now become. But such as it had been, it
was most distasteful to the Virginians to the south who called the West
their own. This rivalry was intense for more than a quarter of a century
and came near ending in bloodshed; the quarrel was only forgotten in the
tumultuous days of 1775. General Forbes seems to have understood very
well that his new road would be of utmost importance to Pennsylvania as
that province would then have a "nigher Communication [than Virginia] to
the Ohio;" and that was the very reason he cut it: because it was
shorter--not to please Pennsylvania. If Fort Duquesne was to be captured
and fortified and manned and supplied, the shortest route thither would
be, as the dark days of 1764 and 1775 and 1791 proved, a desperately
long road to travel.
On the other hand the building of Forbes's road in Pennsylvania was a
boon which that province far less deserved than Virginia. Virginia men
and capital were foremost in the field for securing the Indian trade of
the Ohio; they had, nearly ten years before, secured a grant of land
between the Monongahela and Kanawha, and sent explorers and a number of
pioneers to occupy the land; their private means had been given to clear
the first white man's road thither and erect storehouses at Wills Creek
and Redstone; the activity of these ambitious, worthy men had brought on
the war now existing. When open strife became the colonies' only hope of
holding the West, Virginia was first and foremost in the field; the same
spirit that showed itself in commercial energy was very evident when war
broke out, and for four years Virginia had given of her treasure and of
her citizens for the cause. During this time Pennsylvania had hardly
lifted a finger, steadily pursuing a course which brought down upon her
legislators most bitter invectives from every portion of the colonies.
And now, in the last year of the war, the conquering army was to pass
through Pennsylvania to the Ohio, building a road thither which should
for all time give this province an advantage very much greater than that
ever enjoyed by any of the others. True, Braddock's Road curled along
over the mountains, but after the defeat by the Monongahela it had
never been used except by small parties on foot and had become well-nigh
impassable otherwise. We do not know what Washington wrote in the letter
which Forbes so roundly criticised, but it can easily be conceived,
without detriment to his character, that he might have spoken in a way
Forbes could not understand concerning lethargic Pennsylvania's
undeserved good fortune.[72] But Forbes had the present to deal with,
not the past, and the shortest route to the Ohio was all too long.
This became alarmingly plain in a very short time after the day, August
1, on which Bouquet began to cut it. The story of the hewing of this
road cannot be told better than by quoting the fragments appertaining to
it contained in the letters of those closely concerned in its building.
Old St. Clair, who, as we have seen, was sent on by Forbes to Bouquet,
was the advance supervisor. As early as August 12 he was writing Bouquet
from "Camp on y^e Side of Alleganys" that not as much progress had been
made as he had hoped, and that the "Work to be done on this Road is
immense. Send as many men as you can with digging tools, this is a most
diabolical work, and whiskey must be had. I told you that the road wou'd
take 500 Men 5 Days in cutting to the Top of the Mountain." On the
sixteenth he wrote: "A small retrench^t is picked out at Kikeny
Pawlings."
"... The Stages will be from Rays Town
to the Shanoe Cabins 11 Miles,
to S^r Allan McLeans camp 9 or 10 Miles
to Edmunds Swamp 9 or 10 Miles."
"... The Pack Horses returning from Kikoney Paulins have taken the
other Road, so you may send them back loaded."
Forbes, writing to Bouquet, refers as follows to the new road August 7:
"Extremely well satisfied with your accounts of the Road, and very glad
to find that you have, entered upon the making of it;" (August 9): "I
hope your new road advances briskly, and that from the Alleghany Hill to
Laurell Hill may be carrying forward by different partys, at the same
time, that you are making the pass of the Allegany practicable;" (August
15): "I hope the new road goes on fast and that soon we shall be able to
take post at Loyal Haning. I see nothing that can facilitate this more
than by still amusing the Enemy by pushing Considerable parties along
M^r Braddock's route, which parties might endeavour to try to find
communications betwixt the two roads where they approach the nearest, or
where most likely such passages can be found. As it will be necessary
very soon to make a disposition of our small Army I beg you will give
your thoughts a little that way. At present I think the greatest part
ought to be assembled at Raestown to make our main push by that road,
while Col^l Washington, or some other officer might push along the
other road and might join us if a Communication can be found when called
upon. But this is only an Idea in Embryo...." (August 18): "In carrying
forward the new road I think there might easily be a small road carried
on at the same time, at about 100 yards to the right and left of it, and
parallel with it, by which our flanking partys might advance easier
along with the line. I dont mean here to cut down any large trees, only
to clear away the Brushwood and saplins, so as the men either on foot or
on horseback may pass the easier along...."
Bouquet forwarded this order to St. Clair on August 23, also writing:
"Colonel Burd is to command on the West of Lawrell Hill, and to march
without delay and before the Road is cut to Loyal H-- [Hannan]." On the
same date St. Clair wrote Bouquet from Stoney Creek as follows: "I wrote
you yesterday ... that three waggons have got to this place, the Road
not so good as I shall make it.... I hope to get to Kikoney Pawlins to
morrow night, if not shall do it next day. Tell Mr Sinclair to send me
my Down Quilt the weather is cold." That evening he wrote again, in
reply to Bouquet's letter, from "Kikoney Paulins:" "It is impossible for
me to tell you any more than I have done about the Road to L-- H--
[Loyal Hannan]. I required 600 Men to make the Road over the Lai Ri--ge
in three days on condition I was to see it done my Self, and perhaps I
might reach L-- H the 3^d Day. I expect to get the Road cleared as far
as the clear fields a Mile from the foot of L--R on this Side, by the
time the A--y [army] comes up, and work afterwards with as many men as
the Other Corps will give me." From Edmonds Swamp St. Clair wrote next
(no date): "I got the Waggons safe as far as this post yesterday the
road is so far good, and if it had not rain'd so hard I was in hopes to
report the Road good this Night to Kikoney Pawlings.... If you think the
Road from Rays town to the Shanoe Cabins will be wet in the autumn, it
wou'd be well to open the Road over the two Risings, and it wou'd be
shorter for our Returned Waggons. I shall send out a Reconoitering party
25 Miles northward that we may know the Paths that lead to sidling
Hill."
By the last of August all parties concerned were beginning to realize
that the young Washington had been telling some plain truth when he
urged Forbes not to try this new route. On the twenty-seventh Bouquet
wrote St. Clair: "I am extremely disappointed in my Expectation of the
Road being open before this time to the foot of Lawrell Hill ... push
that Road with all possible dispatch ... the Chief thing we want is the
Communication open for Waggons to Loyal Hannon. Employ all your Strength
there, and Colonel Burd has order to cut backwards to you from L.
Han.... Capt Dudgeon and M^r Dapt will oversee some Part of the Road,
and every body is to stir and make amend for their unaccountable
slowness." Bouquet blamed St. Clair for the delay and Forbes wrote him
from Shippensburg August 28: "The slow advance of the new road and the
cause of it touch me to the quick, it was a thing I early foresaw and
guarded again[st] such an assistant with all the force and Energy of
words that I was master of, but being over ruled was resolved to make
the most I could of a wrong head ... the Virginians who are able to
march ... might advance as far forward upon Braddock's road as to that
part of it which is most contiguous to our second deposite, which I
think might be about Saltlick Creek.... The using of Braddock's road I
have always had in mind was it only a blind--pray lose no time as that
does not oblidge us to march, before we see proper."
Forbes alone realized that despatch was not to be, necessarily, the
secret of the success of his campaign, though he had urged Bouquet to
hasten the roadmaking as fast as possible. He had his eyes fixed
elsewhere than on the Allegheny ranges; he knew the Indians at Fort
Duquesne were weary of the listless campaign; that Bradstreet had been
sent against Fort Frontenac (which, if captured, would shut Fort
Duquesne completely off from Quebec); that by the first of September a
hundred Indians were already gathered at Easton ready for a treaty; that
the brave Post was now among the Delawares bringing the final
opportunity for them to abandon the French cause. On September 2 he
wrote Bouquet hinting of all these circumstances and urging delay in
everything but mere road-building. On the sixth of September Forbes
wrote Pitt:
"In my last I had the honour to acquaint you, of my proceedings in the
new road across the Alleganey mountains, and over Laurell Hill, (leaving
the Rivers Yohieganey and Monongahela to my left hand) strait to the
Ohio, by which I have saved a great deal of way, and prevented the
misfortunes that the overflowing of those rivers might occasion.
"I acquainted you likewise of the suspicions I had, of the small trust I
could repose in the Pennsylvanians in assisting of me with anyone
necessary, or any help in furthering the service that they did not think
themselves compelled to do by the words of your letter to them.... My
advanced post consisting of 1500 men, are now in possession of a strong
post 9 miles on the other side of Laurell Hill, and about 40 from Fort
Du Quesne, nor had the Enemy even suspected my attempting such a road
till very lately, they having been all along securing the strong
passes, and fords of the rivers upon Gen^l Braddock's route."[73]
Forbes had been in Philadelphia while Bouquet was struggling away at
Raystown with his thousand perplexities. Early in July he had proceeded
to Carlisle where he remained stricken down "with a cursed flux" until
the eleventh of August. Two days later he reached Shippensburg, where he
was again prostrated and unable to advance until the middle of
September. It is difficult to realize that the campaign had been
directed so largely by this prostrate man whose "excruciating pains"
often left him "as weak as a new-born infant" and who, when able to be
about camp, retired "at eight at night, if able to sit up so late." All
of this might well have been stated long ago but it is of particular
significance now that Forbes's correspondence of the whole summer has
been systematically reviewed. The very trials and perplexities, the
crying need for his bravery and resolution, seemed in a measure to keep
him alive.
No one can study this campaign without yearning to know more of the
impetuous soul which threw its last grain of strength into making it a
triumphant success. The Indians called Forbes "The Head of Iron"--and no
words can better describe the man. Giving all praise possible to Bouquet
for his sturdy and active service throughout the summer, it is still
plain that the dying Forbes was the magnetic influence that made others
strong. Those were dark days at Raystown when at last the pale general
arrived upon the ground; "had not the General come up," wrote an officer
on the spot, "the Consequence wou'd have been dangerous."[74] Bouquet
was an invaluable man but the "Head of Iron" in command was needed.
The remainder of the campaign has been often told and in detail.
Washington and his Virginians came northward over the newly-cut road to
Fort Bedford at Raystown and plunged westward to the Loyalhannan, to
which point Armstrong and St. Clair pushed the road-building. Washington
himself supervised the cutting of Forbes's road westward from Fort
Ligonier toward Fort Duquesne. Much as he had wrangled with Bouquet as
to the propriety of making a new road he was as good as his word and
worked heroically for its success. Never, even in Braddock's death-trap
on the Monongahela, did he come nearer giving his life to his country.
Forbes's first check came when Grant's command, sent forward from Fort
Ligonier to reconnoitre Fort Duquesne, was cut to pieces on Grant's Hill
within sight of the French fort. Eight hundred men went on the
expedition; two hundred and seventy-three were killed, wounded, or
captured. Bouquet reported the disaster to Forbes on the seventeenth of
September, upon which the sad man "deeply touched by this reverse,"
writes Parkman, "yet expressed himself with a moderation that does him
honor." "Your letter of the seventeenth I read with no less surprise
than concern, as I could not believe that such an attempt would have
been made without my knowledge and concurrence. The breaking in upon our
fair and flattering hopes of success touches me most sensibly. There are
two wounded highland officers just now arrived, who give so lame an
account of the matter that one can draw nothing from them, only that my
friend Grant most certainly lost his wits, and by his thirst of fame
brought on his own perdition, and ran great risk of ours." The brave
generosity of these words is not so significant as the fact that this
pain-racked man, far behind on the road, had such a grasp of the
minutest detail of the whole campaign that Bouquet, he believed, would
not even send out a scouting party in force without his "knowledge and
concurrence."
A letter from Forbes to Bouquet dated Reastown, September 23rd, contains
some interesting paragraphs: "The description of the roads is so various
and disagreeable that I do not know what to think or say. Lieutenant
Evans came down here the other day, and described Laurell Hill as, at
present, impracticable, but he said he could mend it with the assistance
of 500 men, fascines and fagots, in one day's time. Col. Stephens
writes Col. Washington that he is told by everybody that the road from
Loyal Hannon to the Ohio and the French fort is now impracticable. For
what reason, or why, he writes thus I do not know; but I see Col.
Washington and my friend, Col. Byrd, would rather be glad this was true
than otherways, seeing the other road (their favourite scheme) was not
followed out. I told them plainly that, whatever they thought, yet I did
aver that, in our prosecuting the present road, we had proceeded from
the best intelligence that could be got for the good and convenience of
the army, without any views to oblige any one province or another; and
added that those two gentlemen were the only people that I had met with
who had shewed their weakness in their attachment to the province they
belong to, by declaring so publickly in favour of one road without their
knowing anything of the other, having never heard from any Pennsylvania
person one word about the road; and that, as for myself, I could safely
say--and believed I might answer for you--that the good of the service
was the only view we had at heart, not valuing the provincial interest,
jealousys, or suspicions, one single two-pence; and that, therefore, I
could not believe Col. Stephen's descriptions untill I had heard from
you, which I hope you will very soon be able to disprove. I fancy what I
have said more on this subject will cure them from coming upon this
topic again."
Forbes's next check was more ominous than Grant's scrimmage. It was not
administered by the French--though they followed up the decisive victory
on Grant's Hill with various attacks in force upon Fort Ligonier--but by
the clouded heavens. A wet autumn set in early as if to make St. Clair's
road doubly "diabolical." Forbes wrote Bouquet on October 15: "Your
Description of the roads pierces me to the very soul yet still my hopes
are that a few Dry days would make things wear a more favourable aspect
as all Clay Countries are either good or bad for Carriages according to
the wet or dry season. It is true we cannot surmount impossibilities nor
prevent unforseen accidents but it must be a comfort both to you and I
still that we proceeded w^t Caution in the choice of this road and in
the opinion of every Disinterested man, it had every advantage over the
other. And I am not sure but it has so still considering the Yachiogeny
& Monongehela rivers--so I beg y^t you will without taking notice to any
body make yourself master of the arguments for and objections against
the two roads so that upon comparison one may Judge how far we have been
in the right in our Choice. N. B. If any party goes out after the Enemy
they ought to have instructions always with regard to the roads forward
as likewise ye Communication twixt Loyalhana and the nearest part of M^r
Braddocks road which want of all things to be reconnoitred in order to
stop foolish mouths if it chances to prove anyways as good or
practicable. May not such a communication be found without crossing
Laurel hill?"
These are exceedingly interesting words when we know that failure stared
Forbes in the face. This might mean official inquiry or court martial;
in such a case there would have been, no doubt, question raised as to
the "right" of Forbes's and Bouquet's "choice." But the fact that
Forbes desired to know the exact condition of Braddock's Road, to get
into it if it seemed best, and to prove the soundness of his judgment if
it was found to be useless, is especially significant because it shows
so plainly that the weary man already scented failure. In a few days he
wrote again: "These four days of constant rain have completely ruined
the road. The wagons would cut it up more in an hour than we could
repair in a week. I have written to General Abercrombie, but have not
had one scrap of a pen from him since the beginning of September; so it
looks as if we were either forgot or left to our fate."
Early in November the poor man was carried on over the mountains to Fort
Ligonier where the whole army, approximately six thousand strong, lay.
Hope of continuing the campaign had fled and the desperate prospect of
wintering amid the mountains, with no certainty of receiving sufficient
stores to keep man and beast alive, stared the whole army in the face.
Nevertheless, at a council of officers it was decided to attempt nothing
further that season.
In a few hours three prisoners were brought into camp who reported the
true condition of affairs at Fort Duquesne. Bradstreet had destroyed the
stores destined for the Ohio by the destruction of Fort Frontenac.
Ligneris, the commandant, had consequently been compelled to send home
his Illinois and Louisiana militia. The brave Post had succeeded in
alienating the Ohio Indians. The remainder at Fort Duquesne were glad
now to hurry away into their winter quarters in their distant homelands.
The gods had favored the brave.
Immediately Forbes determined upon a hurried advance with a picked body
of twenty-five hundred men, unencumbered. Washington and Armstrong
hastened ahead to cut the pathway. A strong vanguard led the way. Behind
them came the hero of the hour and of the campaign, Forbes, borne on his
litter. The Highlanders occupied the center of the rear, with the Royal
Americans and provincials on their right and left under Bouquet and
Washington. On the night of the twenty-fourth the little army lay on its
arms in the hills of Turkey Creek, near Braddock's fatal field. At
midnight a booming report startled them. Were the French welcoming the
long-expected reenforcements from Presque Isle and Niagara--or had a
magazine exploded? In the morning some advised a delay to reconnoitre.
Forbes scorned the suggestion; "I will sleep," he is said to have
exclaimed, "in Fort Duquesne or in hell tonight."
At dusk that November evening the army marched breathlessly down the
wide, hard trace over which Beaujeu had led his rabble toward Braddock's
army and, without opposition, came at last within sight of the goal upon
which the eyes of the world had been directed so long. The barracks and
store-house of Fort Duquesne were burned, the fortifications blown up
and the French--gone forever.
Two days later a weary man sat within an improvised house and with a
feeble hand indited a letter to the British Secretary of State. And all
it contained was summed up in its first words: "Pittsbourgh 27^{th}
Novem^r 1758." It was Pitt's bourgh now. The region about the junction
of the Allegheny and Monongahela was known in Kentucky as "the Pitt
country."
The generous Bouquet expressed the sentiment of the army when he
affirmed: "After God, the success of this expedition is entirely due to
the General." When Forbes's physical condition is understood, his last
campaign must be considered one of the most heroic in the annals of
America. "Its solid value was above price. It opened the Great West to
English enterprise, took from France half her savage allies, and
relieved the western borders from the scourge of Indian war. From
southern New York to North Carolina, the frontier populations had cause
to bless the memory of the steadfast and all-enduring soldier."[75]
Forbes soon became unable to write or dictate a letter. On the terrible
return journey over his freshly-hewn road he suffered intensely,
sometimes losing consciousness. He was carried the entire distance to
Philadelphia on his litter, and in March he died. His body, at last free
from pain, was laid with befitting honors in the chancel of Christ
Church.
The following death notice and appreciation of General Forbes appeared
in the Pennsylvania _Gazette_ March 15, 1759:
"On Sunday last, died, of a tedious illness, John Forbes, Esq., in the
49th year of his age, son to ---- Forbes, Esq., of Petmerief, in the
Shire of Fife, in Scotland, Brigadier General, Colonel of the 17th
Regiment of North America; a gentleman generally known and esteemed, and
most sincerely and universally regretted. In his younger days he was
bred to the profession of physic, but, early ambitious of the military
character, he purchased into the Regiment of _Scott's Grey Dragoons_,
where, by repeated purchases and faithful services, he arrived to the
rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His superior abilities soon recommended him
to the protection of General Campbell, the Earl of Stair, Duke of
Bedford, Lord Ligonier, and other distinguished characters in the army;
with some of them as an aid; with the rest in the familiarity of a
family man. During the last war he had the honor to be employed in the
post of Quarter-Master General, in the army under his Royal Highness,
the Duke, which duty he discharged with accuracy, dignity and dispatch.
His services in America are well known. By a steady pursuit of
well-concerted measures, in defiance of disease and numberless
obstructions, he brought to a happy issue a most extraordinary campaign,
and made a willing sacrifice of his own life to what he valued more--the
interests of his king and country. As a man he was just and without
prejudices; brave, without ostentation; uncommonly warm in his
friendships, and incapable of flattery; acquainted with the world and
mankind, he was well-bred, but absolutely impatient of formality and
affectation. As an officer, he was quick to discern useful men and
useful measures, generally seeing both at first view, according to their
real qualities; steady in his measures, and open to information and
council; in command he had dignity without superciliousness; and though
perfectly master of the forms, never hesitated to drop them, when the
spirit and more essential parts of the service required it.
"Yesterday, (14th,) he was interred in the Chancel of Christ's Church,
in this city."
A fellow-countryman of Forbes has built beside Forbes's Road (now Forbes
Street), in the city of Pittsburg, a magnificent library. What could be
more fitting or beautiful than that this brave Scotchman's memory should
be honored with a monumental pillar here on his road which "opened the
Great West to English enterprise?" And let it bear the sweet human
testimony of a British historian: "No general was ever more beloved by
the men under his command."[76]