It was about noon when, as I have said, being in the rear of the
Forty-eighth Foot, we heard a noise behind us. We drew up at the side
within the wood to see what was coming.
Amid a great dust came General Braddock, in a fine red chariot bought
of Governor Sharpe, with an escort of light horse, all in great haste,
and bumping over the worst road possible. Presently they flew by the
troops, who saluted, the drums beating the Grenadier’s March, a tune I
was to hear again.
“If I were the general,” I said, “I should have preferred a horse to a
coach.”
“Not if you were he,” said his lordship.
“But the man is not a fool,” I ventured to say. “He seemed to me not to
want for intelligence.”
“An intelligent fool, George, is the worst fool. His intelligence feeds
his folly.”
This, like much else that his lordship said to me, was not so plain as
it would be now, and, accordingly, I made no reply.
After being silent for a time, his lordship went on to say that I
should do well to talk little, and quietly to observe things for
myself; that he himself knew General Braddock to be a spendthrift,
obstinate as a pig, and very self-confident; and, finally, that I knew
what a lot of drilled regulars would be worth in the woods. He feared
also that the officers were quite unfit for the service.
As it was the way of his lordship to mock at most things, it did not
affect me as much as what I saw and heard later, for, unfortunately, he
was not alone in his opinion concerning the general.
By and by, the general having preceded us by an hour, we heard the
salute of seventeen guns, fired as he entered the camp.
We came in sight of the tents about Wills Creek early in the afternoon,
and were walking our horses, very tired, man and beast, when a
gentleman came towards us. He was mounted on a rather uneasy animal,
and I saw, as he met us and we bowed, that his girth was loose and he
in danger of a fall. I dismounted and, with an apology, set it right.
He thanked me and got off his horse, saying, as was plain to see, that
he was no horseman and would walk, preferring two certain legs to four
uncertain ones. On this his lordship also dismounted, and, our servants
taking the horses, we walked on together. But first his lordship said:
“I am Lord Fairfax, and this is my friend, Colonel George Washington.
May we have the honour to know your name?”
He replied, “I am Benjamin Franklin,” and asked if this were Colonel
Washington who had been in command in the Jumonville affair. I said I
had had that good fortune, and after this he turned to his lordship,
and, they conversing, I was able to observe the looks and ways of Mr.
Franklin, who was now the Postmaster-General and known throughout the
colonies as a learned man, and in affairs very competent. I was to be
deeply engaged with him in the future.
He was at this time a vigorous man of forty-nine years, with a great
head and a kindly look, clad very simply in a gray suit. When he began
to talk I envied him the ease and exactness with which he expressed
himself, and the prudence he showed in speech, of which quality his
lordship had little.
When at last the Postmaster-General learned that I was to serve as a
volunteer aide, he smiled and remarked that that was to manufacture
glory for others and not even to get pay. To this I replied that I
considered my ends were clear enough to me, for that I was, as it were,
an apprentice, and was bent to acquire experience in war under one
who knew the business. He said he hoped I should not be disappointed,
and at this I saw his lordship smile; and so no more of moment passed
between us, for we met Captain Orme and Sir John St. Clair, and were
soon in the camp.
Here was our most western fort. It lay very well, what there was of it
finished, just where Wills Creek falls into the Potomac.
I went, with Captain Orme guiding me, to headquarters at the fort to
report, passing a few Indians and squads of ill-clad Virginians whom
an officer, one Ensign Allen, was cursing and trying to drill into
regulars.
Everybody was out of temper for one reason or another. Sir John could
get neither waggons nor flour, and the Indian squaws were making
mischief because of the unchecked license of the younger officers.
Having reported, I was received very agreeably by the general and his
aides, and he would have me to dine with him that day. At four in the
afternoon――for the general kept very fashionable hours――we sat down in
a great room in the fort, and as he told us his cooks could make a good
ragout out of old boots, we were served with a great variety of dishes,
and in fine state.
The general had Lord Fairfax on his right and Mr. Franklin on his left,
and I was fortunate to find myself beside a very courteous gentleman
just come to the fort, Mr. Richard Peters, secretary of Governor
Morris of Pennsylvania. I engaged this gentleman in talk concerning
the proprietary government and the Quakers, and their unwillingness to
be taxed for defence, until, the wine being freely used and then punch
more than enough, men’s tongues were loosed. There were toasts to the
King and the governor, and at last I heard the general’s voice raised.
He said: “Your health, Mr. Peters, and when do you set out to cut that
road for my troops? You are long about it.” Mr. Peters said quietly:
“When, sir, I get guards against the Indians for the wood-cutters;
until then it will not be possible.”
The general damned Pennsylvania and the Quakers, and said: “That colony
must find guards for their own wood-cutters, and as to the Indians, his
Majesty’s regulars laugh at the idea of danger from them.” Upon which,
several officers, not very sober, cried out, “Hear, hear!”
Mr. Peters, who had taken very little wine, replied that they were not
to be despised, meaning the savages, but that every step of the march
would be at risk of ambuscades.
Then, to my amazement, General Braddock cried out that he despised such
counsels and that the colonials were like old women.
On this Mr. Peters rose, and one or two other gentlemen, and I saw Mr.
Franklin glance at him. As he hesitated, I said so that he alone could
hear: “Pardon me, Mr. Peters, the man is drunk, and you are entirely
right.” Then I saw that his lordship spoke quickly to the general,
who cried out: “My apologies, Mr. Peters, and a glass with you. We
have had too many vinous counsellors. You shall have your guards”――as
indeed he did, but not until my lord had been very urgent, and also Mr.
Franklin. Mr. Peters, very grave, bowed and sat down. When shortly his
lordship went away, I made my own excuses and followed him.
The next day I happened to be in his lordship’s quarters and Mr.
Franklin present, when General Braddock called to pay his respects to
Lord Fairfax. We rose to go out, but his lordship detained us. The
general was in high spirits. He said to Mr. Franklin: “Only let the
colonies keep their promise and all will be well.”
I confess I was unprepared for the confidence with which he assured
Mr. Franklin that he would take Duquesne and go on to Niagara and
Frontenac, and that the fort would be an affair of a day or two.
“But, sir,” said Mr. Franklin, “you must march through a narrow road in
pathless, dense forests, and your line will be some four miles long.
You will, I hope, take Duquesne, but you will be, I fear, in constant
danger of being cut in two, for the French and Indians are dexterous
in ambuscades, and to send back relief quickly, if attacked, will be
nigh to impossible with woods all about you. As to the waggons we
talked of, I will get you all the waggons you want out of Pennsylvania,
and shall set out for Lancaster at once.”
The general thanked him, but said he must remind Mr. Franklin that
he talked as a civilian, and that, although these savages might be
formidable to raw American militia, they would make no impression on
disciplined troops, and much more to like effect.
Mr. Franklin replied quietly: “I am conscious, sir, of the impropriety
of arguing such matters with a military man, but I should like to ask
Colonel Washington his opinion. He has had some experience in the
irregular warfare of our woods.”
His lordship, desirous, as I learned later, that I should not
contradict my superiour, said: “I beg to answer for Mr. Washington that
I am sure General Braddock will, as time serves, consult such colonial
officers as have seen service on the frontier.”
After other talk the general rose, and said he should be sure to take
his lordship’s advice.