OPERATIONS AGAINST THE FRENCH.--WASHINGTON'S MARRIAGE.
For several months Washington was afflicted by returns of his malady,
accompanied by symptoms indicative, as he thought, of a decline. A
gradual improvement in his health and a change in his prospects
encouraged him to continue in what really was his favorite career, and
at the beginning of April he was again in command at Fort Loudoun. Mr.
Francis Fauquier had been appointed successor to Dinwiddie, and, until
he should arrive, Mr. John Blair, president of the council, had, from
his office, charge of the government. In the latter Washington had a
friend who appreciated his character and services, and was disposed to
carry out his plans.
The general aspect of affairs, also, was more animating. Under the
able and intrepid administration of William Pitt, who had control of
the British cabinet, an effort was made to retrieve the disgraces of
the late American campaign, and to carry on the war with greater
vigor. The instructions for a common fund were discontinued; there was
no more talk of taxation by Parliament. Lord Loudoun, from whom so
much had been anticipated, had disappointed by his inactivity, and
been relieved from a command in which he had attempted much and done
so little.
On the return of his lordship to England, the general command in
America devolved on Major-general Abercrombie, and the forces were
divided into three detached bodies; one, under Major-general Amherst,
was to operate in the north with the fleet under Boscawen, for the
reduction of Louisburg and the island of Cape Breton; another, under
Abercrombie himself, was to proceed against Ticonderoga and Crown
Point on Lake Champlain; and the third, under Brigadier-general
Forbes, who had the charge of the middle and southern colonies, was to
undertake the reduction of Fort Duquesne. The colonial troops were to
be supplied, like the regulars, with arms, ammunition, tents and
provisions at the expense of the government, but clothed and paid by
the colonies; for which the king would recommend to Parliament a
proper compensation. The provincial officers appointed by the
governors, and of no higher rank than colonel, were to be equal in
command, when united in service with those who held direct from the
king, according to the date of their commissions. By these wise
provisions of Mr. Pitt a fertile cause of heartburnings and
dissensions was removed.
It was with the greatest satisfaction Washington saw his favorite
measure at last adopted, the reduction of Fort Duquesne; and he
resolved to continue in the service until that object was
accomplished. He had the satisfaction subsequently of enjoying the
fullest confidence of General Forbes (who was to command the
expedition), who knew too well the sound judgment and practical
ability evinced by him in the unfortunate campaign of Braddock not to
be desirous of availing himself of his counsels. Washington still was
commander-in-chief of the Virginia troops, now augmented, by an act of
the Assembly, to two regiments of one thousand men each; one led by
himself, the other by Colonel Byrd; the whole destined to make a part
of the army of General Forbes in the expedition against Fort Duquesne.
Before we proceed to narrate the expedition against Fort Duquesne,
however, we will briefly notice the conduct of the two other
expeditions, which formed important parts in the plan of military
operations for the year. And first, of that against Louisburg and the
Island of Cape Breton. [Major-general Amherst embarked in May with
nearly twelve thousand men from Halifax in the fleet of Admiral
Boscawen. With him went Brigadier-general Wolfe, who was destined to
gain an almost romantic celebrity. On the 2d of June, the fleet
arrived at the bay of Gabarus, seven miles from Louisburg. Boisterous
weather prevented the landing until the 8th of June. Three divisions,
under Brigadiers Wolfe, Whetmore and Laurens, attempted the landing
west of the harbor at a place feebly secured. The boats forced their
way through a high surf, and under a heavy fire from the batteries.
Wolfe sprang into the water when the boats grounded, dashed through
the surf with his men, stormed the enemy's breastworks and batteries,
and drove them from the shore. By the side of Wolfe was an Irish
youth, twenty-one years of age, whom, for his gallantry, Wolfe
promoted to a lieutenancy. His name was Richard Montgomery. The other
divisions effected a landing, and Louisburg was formally invested. The
weather continued boisterous, and the siege advanced slowly. Chevalier
Drucour, who commanded at Louisburg, made a brave defence. His ships
were at last all either fired or captured, his cannon dismounted, and
being threatened with a general assault he capitulated at the earnest
entreaty of the inhabitants.
The second expedition was against the French forts on Lakes George and
Champlain. Early in July, Abercrombie was on Lake George with seven
thousand regulars and nine thousand provincials. Major Israel Putnam,
who had served under Johnson, was present, and with a scouting party
reconnoitred the neighborhood. Upon his return, Abercrombie proceeded
against Ticonderoga. The force embarked on the 5th of July, in a vast
flotilla of whaleboats, rafts, bateaux, etc. With Abercrombie went
Lord Howe, a young nobleman who had greatly endeared himself to the
army and the people. They landed at the entrance of the strait leading
to Lake Champlain, formed into three columns and pushed forward. The
van of the centre column under Lord Howe encountered a detachment of
the foe; a severe conflict ensued; the enemy were routed, and Lord
Howe was killed. With him expired the master-spirit of the enterprise.
Abercrombie fell back to the landing-place; sent out detachments to
secure a saw-mill, within two miles of the fort: this done he advanced
with his whole force and took post at the mill. Montcalm was strongly
posted behind deep intrenchments, with an abatis of felled trees in
front of his lines. The strength of his position was underrated, and
an assault was ordered, which was repulsed with dreadful havoc. After
four hours of desperate and fruitless fighting, Abercrombie retreated
to the landing-place, and, dismayed at the failure of the rash
assault, which had been made against the advice of his most judicious
officers, he embarked his troops and returned across the lake. While
stationed here, planning fortifications, Colonel Bradstreet was
permitted to undertake an expedition against Fort Frontenac, on the
south side of Lake Ontario, which was entirely successful.]
Operations went on slowly in that part of the year's campaign in which
Washington was immediately engaged--the expedition against Fort
Duquesne. Brigadier-general Forbes, who was commander-in-chief, was
detained at Philadelphia by those delays and cross-purposes incident
to military affairs in a new country. Colonel Bouquet, who was to
command the advanced division, took his station, with a corps of
regulars, at Raystown, in the centre of Pennsylvania. There slowly
assembled troops from various parts. Three thousand Pennsylvanians,
twelve hundred and fifty South Carolinians, and a few hundred men from
elsewhere.
Washington, in the meantime, gathered together his scattered regiment
at Winchester, some from a distance of two hundred miles, and
diligently disciplined his recruits. He had two Virginia regiments
under him, amounting, when complete, to about nineteen hundred men.
Seven hundred Indian warriors, also, came lagging into his camp, lured
by the prospect of a successful campaign.
The force thus assembling was in want of arms, tents, field-equipage,
and almost every requisite. Washington had made repeated
representations, by letter, of the destitute state of the Virginia
troops, but without avail; he was now ordered by Sir John St. Clair,
the quartermaster-general of the forces under General Forbes, to
repair to Williamsburg and lay the state of the case before the
council. He set off promptly on horseback, attended by Bishop, the
well-trained military servant who had served the late General
Braddock. It proved an eventful journey, though not in a military
point of view. In crossing a ferry of the Pamunkey, a branch of York
River, he fell in company with a Mr. Chamberlayne, who lived in the
neighborhood, and who, in the spirit of Virginian hospitality, claimed
him as a guest. It was with difficulty Washington could be prevailed
on to halt for dinner, so impatient was he to arrive at Williamsburg
and accomplish his mission.
Among the guests at Mr. Chamberlayne's was a young and blooming widow,
Mrs. Martha Custis, daughter of Mr. John Dandridge, both patrician
names in the province. Her husband, John Parke Custis, had been dead
about three years, leaving her with two young children, and a large
fortune. She is represented as being rather below the middle size, but
extremely well shaped, with an agreeable countenance, dark hazel eyes
and hair, and those frank, engaging manners, so captivating in
Southern women. Washington's heart appears to have been taken by
surprise. The dinner, which in those days was an earlier meal than at
present, seemed all too short. The afternoon passed away like a dream.
Bishop was punctual to the orders he had received on halting; the
horses pawed at the door; but for once Washington loitered in the path
of duty. The horses were countermanded, and it was not until the next
morning that he was again in the saddle, spurring for Williamsburg.
Happily the White House, the residence of Mrs. Custis, was in New Kent
County, at no great distance from that city, so that he had
opportunities of visiting her in the intervals of business. His time
for courtship, however, was brief. Military duties called him back
almost immediately to Winchester; but he feared, should he leave the
matter in suspense, some more enterprising rival might supplant him
during his absence, as in the case of Miss Philipse, at New York. He
improved, therefore, his brief opportunity to the utmost. In a word,
before they separated, they had mutually plighted their faith, and the
marriage was to take place as soon as the campaign against Fort
Duquesne was at an end.
On arriving at Winchester, he found his troops restless and
discontented from prolonged inaction; the inhabitants impatient of the
burdens imposed on them, and of the disturbances of an idle camp;
while the Indians, as he apprehended, had deserted outright. It was a
great relief, therefore, when he received orders from the
commander-in-chief to repair to Fort Cumberland. He arrived there on
the 2d of July, and proceeded to open a road between that post and
head-quarters at Raystown, thirty miles distant, where Colonel Bouquet
was stationed. His troops were scantily supplied with regimental
clothing. The weather was oppressively warm. He now conceived the idea
of equipping them in the light Indian hunting garb, and even of
adopting it himself. Two companies were accordingly equipped in this
style, and sent under the command of Major Lewis to head-quarters. The
experiment was successful.
The array was now annoyed by scouting parties of Indians hovering
about the neighborhood. Expresses passing between the posts were fired
upon; a wagoner was shot down. Washington sent out counter-parties of
Cherokees. Colonel Bouquet required that each party should be
accompanied by an officer and a number of white men. Washington
complied with the order, though he considered them an encumbrance
rather than an advantage. On the other hand, he earnestly
discountenanced a proposition of Colonel Bouquet, to make an irruption
into the enemy's country with a strong party of regulars. Such a
detachment, he observed, could not be sent without a cumbersome train
of supplies, which would discover it to the enemy, who must at that
time be collecting his whole force at Fort Duquesne; the enterprise,
therefore, would be likely to terminate in a miscarriage, if not in
the destruction of the party. We shall see that his opinion was
oracular.
As Washington intended to retire from military life at the close of
this campaign, he had proposed himself to the electors of Frederick
County as their representative in the House of Burgesses. The election
was coming on at Winchester; his friends pressed him to attend it, and
Colonel Bouquet gave him leave of absence; but he declined to absent
himself from his post for the promotion of his political interests.
There were three competitors in the field, yet so high was the public
opinion of his merit, that, though Winchester had been his
head-quarters for two or three years past, and he had occasionally
enforced martial law with a rigorous hand, he was elected by a large
majority.
On the 21st of July arrived tidings of the brilliant success of that
part of the scheme of the year's campaign conducted by General Amherst
and Admiral Boscawen. This intelligence increased Washington's
impatience at the delays of the expedition with which he was
connected. He wished to rival these successes by a brilliant blow in
the south. Understanding that the commander-in-chief had some thoughts
of throwing a body of light troops in the advance, he wrote to Colonel
Bouquet, earnestly soliciting his influence to have himself and his
Virginia regiment included in the detachment.
He soon learnt to his surprise that the road to which his men were
accustomed, and which had been worked by Braddock's troops in his
campaign, was not to be taken in the present expedition, but a new one
opened through the heart of Pennsylvania, from Raystown to Fort
Duquesne, on the track generally taken by the northern traders. He
instantly commenced long and repeated remonstrances on the subject;
but the officers of the regular service had received a fearful idea of
Braddock's road from his own despatches, wherein he had described it
as lying "across mountains and rocks of an excessive height, vastly
steep, and divided by torrents and rivers," whereas the Pennsylvania
traders, who were anxious for the opening of the new road through
their province, described the country through which it would pass as
less difficult; above all, it was a direct line, and fifty miles
nearer. This route, therefore, to the great regret of Washington, was
definitely adopted, and sixteen hundred men were immediately thrown in
the advance from Raystown to work upon it.
The first of September found Washington still encamped at Fort
Cumberland, his troops sickly and dispirited, and the brilliant
expedition which he had anticipated, dwindling down into a tedious
operation of road-making. At length, in the month of September, he
received orders from General Forbes to join him with his troops at
Raystown, where he had just arrived, having been detained by severe
illness. He was received by the general with the highest marks of
respect. On all occasions, both in private and at councils of war,
that commander treated his opinions with the greatest deference. He,
moreover, adopted a plan drawn out by Washington for the march of the
army, and an order of battle which still exists, furnishing a proof of
his skill in frontier warfare.
It was now the middle of September; yet the great body of men engaged
in opening the new military road, after incredible toil, had not
advanced above forty-five miles, to a place called Loyal Hannan, a
little beyond Laurel Hill. Colonel Bouquet, who commanded the division
of nearly two thousand men sent forward to open this road, had halted
at Loyal Hannan to establish a military post and deposit. He was
upwards of fifty miles from Fort Duquesne, and was tempted to adopt
the measure, so strongly discountenanced by Washington, of sending a
party on a foray into the enemy's country. He accordingly detached
Major Grant with eight hundred picked men, some of them Highlanders,
others in Indian garb, the part of Washington's Virginian regiment
sent forward by him from Cumberland under command of Major Lewis. [The
enterprise proved a disastrous one. Major Grant conducted it with
foolhardy bravado; suffered himself to be led into an ambuscade; and a
scene ensued similar to that at the defeat of Braddock. The whole
detachment was put to rout with dreadful carnage. Captain Bullitt,
with fifty Virginians, who were in charge of the baggage, formed a
barricade with the wagons, rallied some of the fugitives, succeeded in
checking the enemy for a time, and, collecting the wounded, effected a
rapid retreat. Lewis, when surrounded by Indians, saved his life by
surrendering to a French officer. Grant surrendered himself in like
manner.]
Washington, who was at Raystown when the disastrous news arrived, was
publicly complimented by General Forbes on the gallant conduct of his
Virginian troops, and Bullitt's behavior was "a matter of great
admiration." The latter was soon after rewarded with a major's
commission. As a further mark of the high opinion now entertained of
provincial troops for frontier service, Washington was given the
command of a division, partly composed of his own men, to keep in the
advance of the main body, clear the roads, throw out scouting parties,
and repel Indian attacks.
It was the 5th of November before the whole army assembled at Loyal
Hannan. Winter was now at hand, and upwards of fifty miles of
wilderness were yet to be traversed, by a road not yet formed, before
they could reach Fort Duquesne. Again, Washington's predictions seemed
likely to be verified, and the expedition to be defeated by delay; for
in a council of war it was determined to be impracticable to advance
further with the army that season. Three prisoners, however, who were
brought in gave such an account of the weak state of the garrison at
Fort Duquesne, its want of provisions and the defection of the
Indians, that it was determined to push forward. The march was
accordingly resumed, but without tents or baggage, and with only a
light train of artillery.
Washington still kept the advance. After leaving Loyal Hannan, the
road presented traces of the late defeat of Grant; being strewed with
human bones. At length the army arrived in sight of Fort Duquesne,
advancing with great precaution, and expecting a vigorous defence; but
that formidable fortress, the terror and scourge of the frontier and
the object of such warlike enterprise, fell without a blow. The recent
successes of the English forces in Canada, particularly the capture
and destruction of Fort Frontenac, had left the garrison without hope
of reinforcements and supplies. The whole force, at the time, did not
exceed five hundred men, and the provisions were nearly exhausted. The
commander, therefore, waited only until the English army was within
one day's march, when he embarked his troops at night in bateaux, blew
up his magazines, set fire to the fort, and retreated down the Ohio by
the light of the flames. On the 25th of November, Washington, with the
advanced guard, marched in, and planted the British flag on the yet
smoking ruins.
The ruins of the fortress were now put in a defensible state, and
garrisoned by two hundred men from Washington's regiment; the name was
changed to that of Fort Pitt, in honor of the illustrious British
minister; it has since been modified into Pittsburg, and designates
one of the most busy and populous cities of the interior. The
reduction of Fort Duquesne terminated, as Washington had foreseen, the
troubles and dangers of the southern frontier. The French domination
of the Ohio was at an end; the Indians, as usual, paid homage to the
conquering power, and a treaty of peace was concluded with all the
tribes between the Ohio and the lakes.
With this campaign ended, for the present, the military career of
Washington. His great object was attained, the restoration of quiet
and security to his native province; and, having abandoned all hope of
attaining rank in the regular army, and his health being much
impaired, he gave up his commission at the close of the year, and
retired from the service, followed by the applause of his
fellow-soldiers and the gratitude and admiration of all his
countrymen.
His marriage with Mrs. Custis took place shortly after his return. It
was celebrated on the 6th of January, 1759, at the White House, the
residence of the bride, in the good old hospitable style of Virginia,
amid a joyous assemblage of relatives and friends.