BRADDOCK'S ADVANCE.--HIS DEFEAT.
On the 10th of June, Braddock set off from Fort Cumberland with his
aides-de-camp, and others of his staff, and his body guard of light
horse. Sir Peter Halket, with his brigade, had marched three days
previously; and a detachment of six hundred men, under the command of
Colonel Chapman and the supervision of Sir John St. Clair, had been
employed upwards of ten days in cutting down trees, removing rocks,
and opening a road. The march over the mountains proved, as Washington
had foretold, a "tremendous undertaking." It was with difficulty the
heavily laden wagons could be dragged up the steep and rugged roads,
newly made, or imperfectly repaired. Often they extended for three or
four miles in a straggling and broken line, with the soldiers so
dispersed, in guarding them, that an attack on any side would have
thrown the whole in confusion.
By the time the advanced corps had struggled over two mountains, and
through the intervening forest, and reached (16th June) the Little
Meadows, where Sir John St. Clair had made a temporary camp, General
Braddock had become aware of the difference between campaigning in a
new country, or on the old well-beaten battle-grounds of Europe. He
now, of his own accord, turned to Washington for advice. Thus
unexpectedly called on, Washington gave his counsel with becoming
modesty, but with his accustomed clearness. There was just now an
opportunity to strike an effective blow at Fort Duquesne, but it might
be lost by delay. The garrison, according to credible reports, was
weak; large reinforcements and supplies, which were on their way,
would be detained by the drought, which rendered the river by which
they must come low and unnavigable. The blow must be struck before
they could arrive. He advised the general, therefore, to divide his
forces; leave one part to come on with the stores and baggage, and all
the cumbrous appurtenances of an army, and to throw himself in the
advance with the other part, composed of his choicest troops,
lightened of every thing superfluous that might impede a rapid march.
His advice was adopted. Twelve hundred men, selected out of all the
companies, and furnished with ten field-pieces, were to form the first
division, their provisions, and necessaries, to be carried on
pack-horses. The second division, with all the stores, munitions, and
heavy baggage, was to be brought on by Colonel Dunbar. The least
practicable part of the arrangement was with regard to the officers of
the advance. Washington had urged a retrenchment of their baggage and
camp equipage, that as many of their horses as possible might be used
as pack-horses. Here was the difficulty. Brought up, many of them, in
fashionable and luxurious life, or the loitering indulgence of country
quarters, they were so encumbered with what they considered
indispensable necessaries, that out of two hundred and twelve horses
generally appropriated to their use, not more than a dozen could be
spared by them for the public service.
During the halt at the Little Meadows, Captain Jack and his band of
forest rangers, whom Croghan had engaged at Governor Morris's
suggestion, made their appearance in the camp. The captain asked an
interview with the general, by whom, it would seem, he was not
expected. Braddock received him in his tent, in his usual stiff and
stately manner. The "Black Rifle" spoke of himself and his followers
as men inured to hardships, and accustomed to deal with Indians, who
preferred stealth and stratagem to open warfare. He requested his
company should be employed as a reconnoitring party, to beat up the
Indians in their lurking-places and ambuscades. Braddock, who had a
sovereign contempt for the chivalry of the woods, and despised their
boasted strategy, replied to the hero of the Pennsylvania settlements
in a manner to which he had not been accustomed. "There was time
enough," he said, "for making arrangements; and he had experienced
troops, on whom he could completely rely for all purposes." Captain
Jack withdrew, indignant at so haughty a reception, and informed his
leathern-clad followers of his rebuff. They forthwith shouldered their
rifles and turned their backs upon the camp.
On the 19th of June, Braddock's first division set out, with less than
thirty carriages, including those that transported ammunition for the
artillery, all strongly horsed. The Indians marched with the advanced
party. In the course of the day, Scarooyadi and his son being at a
small distance from the line of march, was surrounded and taken by
some French and Indians. His son escaped, and brought intelligence to
his warriors; they hastened to rescue or revenge him, but found him
tied to a tree. The French had been disposed to shoot him, but their
savage allies declared they would abandon them should they do so;
having some tie of friendship or kindred with the chieftain, who thus
rejoined the troops unharmed.
For several days Washington had suffered from fever, accompanied by
intense headache, and his illness increased in violence to such a
degree that he was unable to ride, and had to be conveyed for a part
of the time in a covered wagon. He was unable to bear the jolting of
the wagon, but it needed an interposition of the kindly-intended
authority of General Braddock to bring him to a halt at the great
crossings of the Youghiogeny. There the general assigned him a guard,
provided him with necessaries, and requested him to remain, under care
of his physician, Dr. Craik, until the arrival of Colonel Dunbar's
detachment, which was two days' march in the rear; giving him his word
of honor that he should, at all events, be enabled to rejoin the main
division before it reached the French fort.
[The march of the army, after leaving Washington, was excessively
slow. In the course of the first day, (June 24th) they came to a
deserted Indian camp, the trees about it being stripped and painted
with threats and scurrilous taunts written in the French language,
showing that white men were with the savages. On the next day, Indians
were seen hovering in the woods. In crossing a mountain the carriages
had to be lowered with the assistance of the sailors, by means of
tackle. On the 26th there was a laborious march of but four miles. In
the evening they came to a deserted camp, the fires of which were yet
burning. The march continued to be toilful and difficult. On one day
it did not exceed two miles, having to cut a passage over a mountain.
On July 4th they encamped at Thicketty Run. The general now supposed
himself to be within thirty miles of Fort Duquesne. Two Indians
consented to reconnoitre it. They returned on the 6th, having been
close to the fort. But few men were to be seen, and few tracks, if
any. Gist, who had also reconnoitred the fort, returned and
corroborated their story. He had, however, observed a smoke between
the camp and the fort, made probably by some scouting party.]
On the same day, during the march, three or four men, loitering in the
rear of the grenadiers, were killed and scalped. Several of the
grenadiers set off to take revenge. They came upon a party of Indians,
who held up boughs and grounded their arms--the concerted sign of
amity. Not perceiving or understanding it, the grenadiers fired upon
them and one fell. It proved to be the son of Scarooyadi. Aware too
late of their error, the grenadiers brought the body to the camp. The
conduct of Braddock was admirable on the occasion. He sent for the
father and the other Indians, and condoled with them on the lamentable
occurrence; making them the customary presents of expiation. But what
was more to the point, he caused the youth to be buried with the
honors of war; at his request the officers attended the funeral, and a
volley was fired over the grave. These soldier-like tributes of
respect to the deceased, and sympathy with the survivors, soothed the
feelings and gratified the pride of the father, and attached him more
firmly to the service.
We will return now to Washington in his sick encampment on the banks
of the Youghiogeny, where he was left repining at the departure of the
troops without him. He now considered himself sufficiently recovered
to rejoin the troops, and his only anxiety was that he should not be
able to do it in time for the great blow. He was rejoiced, therefore,
on the 3d of July, by the arrival of an advanced party of one hundred
men convoying provisions. Being still too weak to mount his horse, he
set off with the escort in a covered wagon; and after a most fatiguing
journey, over mountain and through forest, reached Braddock's camp on
the 8th of July. It was on the east side of the Monongahela, about two
miles from the river, and about fifteen miles from Fort Duquesne.
Washington was warmly received on his arrival, especially by his
fellow aides-de-camp, Morris and Orme. He was just in time, for the
attack upon Fort Duquesne was to be made on the following day. The
neighboring country had been reconnoitred to determine upon a plan of
attack. The fort stood on the same side of the Monongahela with the
camp, but there was a narrow pass between them of about two miles,
with the river on the left and a very high mountain on the right, and
in its present state quite impassable for carriages. The route
determined on was to cross the Monongahela by a ford immediately
opposite to the camp; proceed along the west bank of the river, for
about five miles, then recross by another ford to the eastern side,
and push on to the fort. The river at these fords was shallow, and the
banks were not steep.
According to the plan of arrangement, Lieutenant-Colonel Gage, with
the advance, was to cross the river before daybreak, march to the
second ford, and recrossing there, take post to secure the passage of
the main force. The advance was to be composed of two companies of
grenadiers, one hundred and sixty infantry, the independent company of
Captain Horatio Gates, and two six-pounders. Washington, who had
already seen enough of regular troops to doubt their infallibility in
wild bush-fighting, and who knew the dangerous nature of the ground
they were to traverse, ventured to suggest that the Virginia rangers,
being accustomed to the country and to Indian warfare, might be thrown
in the advance. The proposition drew an angry reply from the general,
indignant, very probably, that a young provincial officer should
presume to school a veteran like himself.
Early next morning (July 9th), before daylight, Colonel Gage crossed
with the advance. He was followed, at some distance, by Sir John St.
Clair, with a working party of two hundred and fifty men, to make
roads for the artillery and baggage. They had with them their wagons
of tools, and two six-pounders. By sunrise, the main body turned out
in full uniform. All looked as if arrayed for a fête, rather than a
battle. As it was supposed the enemy would be on the watch for the
crossing of the troops, it had been agreed that they should do it in
the greatest order, with bayonets fixed, colors flying, and drums and
fifes beating and playing. They accordingly made a gallant appearance
as they forded the Monongahela and wound along its banks and through
the open forests. About noon they reached the second ford. Gage, with
the advance, was on the opposite side of the Monongahela, posted
according to orders; but the river bank had not been sufficiently
sloped. The artillery and baggage drew up along the beach and halted
until one, when the second crossing took place. When all had passed,
there was again a halt close by a small stream called Frazier's Run,
until the general arranged the order of march.
First went the advance, under Gage, preceded by the engineers and
guides, and six light horsemen. Then, Sir John St. Clair and the
working party, with their wagons and the two six-pounders. On each
side were thrown out four flanking parties. Then, at some distance,
the general was to follow with the main body, the artillery and
baggage preceded and flanked by light horse and squads of infantry;
while the Virginian, and other provincial troops, were to form the
rear guard.
The ground before them was level until about half a mile from the
river, where a rising ground, covered with long grass, low bushes, and
scattered trees, sloped gently up to a range of hills. The whole
country, generally speaking, was a forest, with no clear opening but
the road, which was about twelve feet wide, and flanked by two
ravines, concealed by trees and thickets. Had Braddock been schooled
in the warfare of the woods, he would have thrown out Indian scouts or
Virginia rangers in the advance, and on the flanks, to beat up the
woods and ravines; but he suffered his troops to march forward through
the centre of the plain, with merely their usual guides and flanking
parties.
It was now near two o'clock. The advanced party and the working party
had crossed the plain and were ascending the rising ground. Braddock
was about to follow with the main body and had given the word to
march, when he heard an excessively quick and heavy firing in front.
Washington, who was with the general, surmised that the evil he had
apprehended had come to pass. For want of scouting parties ahead, the
advance parties were suddenly and warmly attacked. Braddock ordered
Lieutenant-Colonel Burton to hasten to their assistance with the
vanguard of the main body, eight hundred strong. The residue, four
hundred, were halted, and posted to protect the artillery and baggage.
The firing continued, with fearful yelling. There was a terrible
uproar. By the general's orders an aide-de-camp spurred forward to
bring him an account of the nature of the attack. Without waiting for
his return the general himself, finding the turmoil increase, moved
forward, leaving Sir Peter Halket with the command of the baggage.
The van of the advance had indeed been taken by surprise. It was
composed of two companies of carpenters or pioneers to cut the road,
and two flank companies of grenadiers to protect them. Suddenly the
engineer who preceded them to mark out the road gave the alarm,
"French and Indians!" A body of them was approaching rapidly. There
was sharp firing on both sides at first. Several of the enemy fell;
among them their leader; but a murderous fire broke out from among
trees and a ravine on the right, and the woods resounded with
unearthly whoops and yellings. The Indian rifle was at work, levelled
by unseen hands. Most of the grenadiers and many of the pioneers were
shot down. The survivors were driven in on the advance.
Gage ordered his men to fix bayonets and form in order of battle. They
did so in hurry and trepidation. He would have scaled a hill on the
right, whence there was the severest firing. Not a platoon would quit
the line of march. They were more dismayed by the yells than by the
rifles of the unseen savages. The latter extended themselves along the
hill and in the ravines; but their whereabouts was only known by their
demoniac cries and the puffs of smoke from their rifles. The soldiers
fired wherever they saw the smoke. The officers tried in vain to
restrain them until they should see their foe. All orders were
unheeded; in their fright they shot at random, killing some of their
own flanking parties, and of the vanguard, as they came running in.
The covert fire grew more intense. In a short time most of the
officers and many of the men of the advance were killed or wounded.
Colonel Gage himself received a wound. The advance fell back in dismay
upon Sir John St. Clair's corps, which was equally dismayed. The
cannon belonging to it were deserted.
Colonel Burton had come up with the reinforcement, and was forming his
men to face the rising ground on the right, when both of the advanced
detachments fell back upon him, and all now was confusion. By this
time the general was upon the ground. He tried to rally the men. The
colors were advanced in different places to separate the men of the
two regiments. The general ordered the officers to form the men, tell
them off into small divisions, and advance with them; but the soldiers
could not be prevailed upon either by threats or entreaties. The
Virginia troops, accustomed to the Indian mode of fighting, scattered
themselves, and took post behind trees, whence they could pick off the
lurking foe. In this way they, in some degree, protected the regulars.
Washington advised General Braddock to adopt the same plan with the
regulars; but he persisted in forming them into platoons; consequently
they were cut down from behind logs and trees as fast as they could
advance. Several attempted to take to the trees, without orders, but
the general stormed at them, called them cowards, and even struck them
with the flat of his sword. Several of the Virginians, who had taken
post and were doing good service in this manner, were slain by the
fire of the regulars, directed wherever a smoke appeared among the
trees.
The officers behaved with consummate bravery; and Washington beheld
with admiration those who, in camp or on the march, had appeared to
him to have an almost effeminate regard for personal ease and
convenience, now exposing themselves to imminent death, with a courage
that kindled with the thickening horrors. In the vain hope of
inspiriting the men to drive off the enemy from the flanks and regain
the cannon, they would dash forward singly or in groups. They were
invariably shot down; for the Indians aimed at every one who appeared
to have command. Some were killed by random shot of their own men,
who, crowded in masses, fired with affrighted rapidity, but without
aim. Soldiers in the front ranks were killed by those in the rear.
Between friend and foe, the slaughter of the officers was terrible.
Throughout this disastrous day, Washington distinguished himself by
his courage and presence of mind. His brother aids, Orme and Morris,
were wounded and disabled early in the action, and the whole duty of
carrying the orders of the general devolved on him. His danger was
imminent and incessant. He was in every part of the field, a
conspicuous mark for the murderous rifle. Two horses were shot under
him. Four bullets passed through his coat. His escape without a wound
was almost miraculous. At one time he was sent to the main body to
bring the artillery into action. All there was likewise in confusion;
for the Indians had extended themselves along the ravine so as to
flank the reserve and carry slaughter into the ranks. Sir Peter Halket
had been shot down at the head of his regiment. The men who should
have served the guns were paralyzed. Had they raked the ravines with
grapeshot the day might have been saved. In his ardor, Washington
sprang from his horse, wheeled and pointed a brass field-piece with
his own hand, and directed an effective discharge into the woods; but
neither his efforts nor example were of avail. The men could not be
kept to the guns.
Braddock still remained in the centre of the field, in the desperate
hope of retrieving the fortunes of the day. His secretary, Shirley,
had fallen by his side. Five horses had been killed under him; still
he kept his ground, vainly endeavoring to check the flight of his men,
or at least to effect their retreat in good order. At length a bullet
passed through his right arm, and lodged itself in his lungs. He fell
from his horse, but was caught by Captain Stewart, of the Virginia
guards, who, with the assistance of another American and a servant,
placed him in a tumbril. It was with much difficulty they got him out
of the field--in his despair he desired to be left there.
The rout now became complete. Baggage, stores, artillery, everything
was abandoned. The wagoners took each a horse out of his team and
fled. The officers were swept off with the men in this headlong
flight. It was rendered more precipitate by the shouts and yells of
the savages, numbers of whom rushed forth from their coverts and
pursued the fugitives to the river side. Fortunately for the latter,
the victors gave up the pursuit in their eagerness to collect the
spoil. The shattered army continued its flight after it had crossed
the Monongahela, a wretched wreck of the brilliant little force that
had recently gleamed along its banks, confident of victory. Out of
eighty-six officers, twenty-six had been killed, and thirty-six
wounded. The number of rank and file killed and wounded was upwards of
seven hundred.
About a hundred men were brought to a halt about a quarter of a mile
from the ford of the river. Here was Braddock, with his wounded
aides-de-camp and some of his officers. Braddock was still able to
give orders, and had a faint hope of being able to keep possession of
the ground until reinforced. Most of the men were stationed in a very
advantageous spot about two hundred yards from the road; and
Lieutenant-Colonel Burton posted out small parties and sentinels.
Before an hour had elapsed most of the men had stolen off. Being thus
deserted, Braddock and his officers continued their retreat; he would
have mounted his horse but was unable, and had to be carried by
soldiers. Orme and Morris were placed on litters borne by horses. They
were subsequently joined by Colonel Gage with eighty men whom he had
rallied.
Washington, in the meantime, notwithstanding his weak state, being
found most efficient in frontier service, was sent to Colonel Dunbar's
camp, forty miles distant, with orders for him to hurry forward
provisions, hospital stores, and wagons for the wounded, under the
escort of two grenadier companies. It was a hard and a melancholy ride
throughout the night and the following day. The tidings of the defeat
preceded him, borne by the wagoners who had mounted their horses, on
Braddock's fall, and fled from the field of battle.
Washington arrived at the camp in the evening. The orders which he
brought were executed during the night and he was in the saddle early
in the morning accompanying the convoy of supplies. At Gist's
plantation, about thirteen miles off, he met Gage and his scanty force
escorting Braddock and his wounded officers. Captain Stewart, and a
sad remnant of the Virginia light horse, still accompanied the general
as his guard. The Captain had been unremitting in his attentions to
him during the retreat. There was a halt of one day at Dunbar's camp
for the repose and relief of the wounded. On the 13th they resumed
their melancholy march, and that night reached the Great Meadows.
The proud spirit of Braddock was broken by his defeat. He remained
silent the first evening after the battle, only ejaculating at night,
"Who would have thought it!" He was equally silent the following day;
yet hope still seemed to linger in his breast, from another
ejaculation: "We shall better know how to deal with them another
time!" He was grateful for the attentions paid to him by Captain
Stewart and Washington, and more than once, it is said, expressed his
admiration of the gallantry displayed by the Virginians in the action.
He died on the night of the 13th, at the Great Meadows, the place of
Washington's discomfiture in the previous year. His obsequies were
performed before break of day. The chaplain having been wounded,
Washington read the funeral service.
Reproach spared him not, even when in his grave. The failure of the
expedition was attributed both in England and America to his
obstinacy, his technical pedantry, and his military conceit. He had
been continually warned to be on his guard against ambush and
surprise, but without avail. Had he taken the advice urged on him by
Washington and others, to employ scouting parties of Indians and
rangers, he would never have been so signally surprised and defeated.
Still his dauntless conduct on the field of battle shows him to have
been a man of fearless spirit; and he was universally allowed to be an
accomplished disciplinarian.
The obsequies of the unfortunate Braddock being finished, the escort
continued its retreat with the sick and wounded. On the 17th, the sad
cavalcade reached the fort, and were relieved from the incessant
apprehension of pursuit. Here, too, flying reports had preceded them,
brought by fugitives from the battle, who, with the disposition usual
in such cases to exaggerate, had represented the whole army as
massacred. Dunbar arrived shortly afterward with the remainder of the
army.
The true reason why the enemy did not pursue the retreating army was
not known until some time afterwards, and added to the disgrace of the
defeat. They were not the main force of the French, but a mere
detachment of 72 regulars, 146 Canadians, and 637 Indians--855 in all,
led by Captain de Beaujeu. De Contrecoeur, the commander of Fort
Duquesne, had received information, through his scouts, that the
English, three thousand strong, were within six leagues of his fort.
Despairing of making an effectual defence against such a superior
force, he was balancing in his mind whether to abandon his fort
without awaiting their arrival, or to capitulate on honorable terms.
In this dilemma, Beaujeu prevailed on him to let him sally forth with
a detachment to form an ambush and give check to the enemy. De Beaujeu
was to have taken post at the river, and disputed the passage at the
ford. For that purpose he was hurrying forward when discovered by the
pioneers of Gage's advance party. He was a gallant officer, and fell
at the beginning of the fight. The whole number of killed and wounded
of French and Indians did not exceed seventy.
The affair of Braddock remains a memorable event in American history,
and has been characterized as "the most extraordinary victory ever
obtained, and the farthest flight ever made." It struck a fatal blow
to the deference for British prowess, which once amounted almost to
bigotry, throughout the provinces.