THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR
[Illustration: SIR PETER HALKETT, Bart. In command of that part of
Braddock's Army that marched through the present Loudoun in 1755.]
We have come to the outbreak of that great world conflict between
England and Prussia on the one side against France and Austria, Russia,
Sweden, and Saxony on the other which Fiske, writing before the
devastation of 1914, called the most memorable war of modern times and
which, involving three continents, ultimately passed the vast French
territories in Canada and India to the British crown. In European
history the contest is known, somewhat inadequately, as the Seven Years
War and gave Frederick the Great of Prussia the fateful opportunity to
demonstrate his extraordinary military genius; but in America it is
known as the French and Indian War from the terrible alliance that the
English colonists were forced there to face.
The menace of the French control of Canada had never oppressed the
imagination of Virginia as it had that of New England and New York.
Distance and lack of colonial unity tended to build in the minds of the
Virginia Assembly the belief that it was a matter, to the Old Dominion
at least, of secondary interest; though her royal governors, and
especially Dinwiddie, recognized its true and pressing danger. Virginia
claimed jurisdiction over a vast and largely unknown western territory,
including much of what is now western Pennsylvania and that strategic
point marking the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers,
now covered by the city of Pittsburgh. The French in Canada were well
aware of the huge military importance of this "gateway of the west" and,
although at the time peace was supposed to exist between England and
France, in 1753 sent a small expedition south to take possession of it.
News of these Frenchmen in Virginia territory came to Governor Dinwiddie
who, in turn, sent the twenty-one year old Washington, already a major
in the militia of Virginia, to remonstrate and protest to their
commander. On his journey Washington travelled the road to Vestal's Gap
and crossed the Blue Ridge at that point. Though he faithfully delivered
his message, the English protest was ignored, the French commander
asserting that all that domain belonged to his King and that the
English had no territorial rights west of the mountains. Thereupon the
energetic Dinwiddie decided that war or no war the French should be
dislodged. A regiment of 300 Virginians was organized under Colonel
Joshua Fry, with Major Washington as second in command, to take
possession of the disputed "gateway" and fortify it.
This expedition, too, followed the road to Vestal's Gap and Washington,
as was his habit, kept a journal of his experience. By the mischance of
events this journal was to be captured later by the French at Fort
Necessity; but in 1756, to bolster their claim that this English
expedition was an unprovoked attack against a friendly power in time of
peace, they published in French so much of it as served their purpose.
Unfortunately the published portion did not include the march through
Piedmont; but in Washington's accounting with the Virginia government we
find these items:
"1754
"Apl. 6 To expences of the Regim^{t} at Edward
Thompson's in marching up 2''16.0
8 To Bacon for D^{o} of John Vestal at
Shenandoah & Ferriges over 1.9"[63]
[63] _Journal of Washington 1754._ Edited by J. M. Toner M. D.
Edward Thompson was a Quaker who lived near the present Hillsboro and
who was to leave numerous descendants in Loudoun.
From the Shenandoah the little force pressed on into Western Maryland
where at Will's Creek (the present Cumberland) then a trading station of
the Ohio Company, 140 miles west from their objective, Colonel Fry was
stricken with an illness which, a short time later, was to prove fatal.
Leaving their colonel behind, the Virginia militia, now under the
command of Major Washington, advanced very slowly cutting a narrow road
through the forest and sending a small force ahead to begin work on the
proposed fort at the confluence of the rivers. That work was hardly
begun, however, when a greatly superior force of French and Indians,
arriving suddenly on the scene from the north, drove the Virginians
away, took possession of the place and continued the fort's
construction naming it, on completion, Fort DuQuesne after Canada's
French Governor.
The retreating Virginians fell back through the woods until they joined
Washington's main force, encamped at Great Meadows, and it was not long
before Washington learned from his Indian scouts that a small party of
enemy skirmishers was cautiously advancing to deliver a surprise attack.
Washington promptly determined on a counter-surprise with such complete
success that the Virginians killed Jumonville, the French leader, and
nine of his followers and captured the remaining twenty-two. But
Washington knew that a much larger force of French would soon attack him
and that his position was precarious. With earthworks and logs he caused
his men to hastily fortify their camp, grimly called by him Fort
Necessity. They had not long to wait for the enemy. There soon emerged
from the surrounding forest a force of six hundred French and Indians
from Fort DuQuesne who, apparently not finding that the appearance of
the fort or the reputation of its defenders invited an attack, settled
down to a siege. Washington, though in the meanwhile reinforced, had not
more than three hundred Virginians and about one hundred and fifty
Indian auxiliaries; but more serious than his inequality of numbers were
his rapidly dwindling supplies of food and ammunition. This was the
situation which resulted in Washington's first and last surrender during
his long military career. The French so little relished an attack on the
fort or a longer siege that the English were allowed to march out and
begin their retreat (4th of July, 1754) under arms and with full honors
of war.
All of this began to look very much like a fresh outbreak of war between
England and France; but more and worse was to follow before a formal
declaration of war was made in 1756. The Duke of Cumberland, son of
George II, then Captain General of the British Armies, laid plans for a
great American campaign which, once for all, was to cripple the French
power in the west. Three expeditions were devised against French
strategic strongholds on the American continent: One was to proceed
against Crown Point on Lake George, a second against Fort Niagara and
the third to capture the newly erected Fort DuQuesne. Major-General
Edward Braddock, a veteran soldier thoroughly trained on Europe's
battlefields, of unquestioned personal courage but abysmally ignorant of
Indian warfare, was vested with the supreme command and with two British
regiments, the 44th and 48th, set sail for America. The expedition
landed at Alexandria where a general conference was immediately called
at which were present, in addition to Braddock, Governor Dinwiddie of
Virginia, Governor Delancey and Colonel William Johnson of New York,
Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, Governor Sharp of Maryland, Governor
Morris of Pennsylvania and other leaders. To these men Braddock revealed
his orders and plans and the governors received the King's instructions
as to the part they were to play in the campaign.
Alexandria was a poor starting point for Fort DuQuesne. Far better would
have been Philadelphia, offering as it did not only a shorter route but
more abundant and easily available supplies. Maryland interests, seeking
the advantage of the highway to the west which the army would make,
brought pressure to bear to have the force go through that Colony. It
was finally decided to send a part of the troops through Maryland and a
part through Virginia, the divided army to come together again at Will's
Creek where, in the meanwhile, a large and strongly palisaded fort had
been built by Colonel James Innes under the instructions of Governor
Dinwiddie. A force of 1,400 Virginians and Marylanders was raised and
added to the English troops and "on the 8th and 9th of April the
provincials and six companies of the 44th under command of Sir Peter
Halkett set out for Winchester, Lieutenant Colonel Gage and four
companies remaining to escort the artillery. On the 18th of April the
48th, under Colonel Dunbar, set out for Frederick."[64] Although General
Braddock, with Major Washington on his staff, crossed over into Maryland
at Rock Creek and went to Will's Creek through that Colony, never
entering or even seeing the embryo Loudoun, the local stories are still
repeated, and with the utmost confidence, of the route he followed
through that County and even where he spent the night. It was, as it
still is, "Braddock's Army" in popular parlance and, as time passed, the
commander's presence with the march through Virginia became a part of
its story.
[64] _History of an Expedition Against Fort DuQuesne in 1755_, by
Winthrop Sargent p. 193.
Had the supreme command of the expedition been vested in Halkett, rather
than Braddock, one may reasonably believe that there would have been a
very different outcome. A trained and able soldier, no less courageous
than his chief, he was more cautious, more susceptible to new ideas and
methods and far less arbitrary than lay in Braddock's nature to be. He
learned to respect the dearly bought and superior knowledge of Indian
fighting traits possessed by the provincials and wished to follow their
recommendations that to Braddock, with his unbounded confidence in iron
discipline, simply savoured of colonial ignorance and lack of military
courage. Loudoun should remember Halkett not only as the commander of
the march through her domain but as a brave and devoted soldier as well.
"Sir Peter Halkett of Pitferran, Fifeshire, a baronet of Nova Scotia,"
writes Sargent, "was the son of Sir Peter Wedderburne of Gosford, who,
marrying the heiress of the ancient family of Halkett, assumed her
name."[65] Our Sir Peter had married Lady Amelia Stewart, second
daughter of Francis, 8th Earl of Moray, by whom he had three sons. Of
these, James, the youngest, was a subaltern in his father's regiment and
accompanied him on the expedition.
[65] Idem, 294.
Of the Virginia troops serving in this campaign an effort has been made
to identify such as came from the incipient Loudoun. All the Virginians
were directly under the command of Captain Waggoner. As Loudoun was then
a part of Fairfax her men were, of course, listed as from the latter
county.
In March, 1756, the Virginia Legislature passed as its first act[66] an
emergency measure from which we learn the names of certain soldiers from
the then undivided Fairfax but from which side of Difficult Run each man
came does not appear, or as to whether they went on Braddock's
expedition or served nearer home, then or subsequently. The small amount
of compensation awarded to each indicates a period of active service too
short to have permitted them to be at the battle. Probably they were
used east of the Blue Ridge.
[66] 7 Hening, 9.
That not all of the Virginia soldiers of the expedition of 1755 were
enthusiastic volunteers is suggested by the passage of Chapter II of the
session of 1754 which states in its preamble that as the King had
instructed his lieutenant governor to raise soldiers for the expedition
against the French on the Ohio and that there were "in every county and
corporation within this Colony, able bodied persons, fit to serve his
majesty, and who follow no lawful calling or employment" the justices of
the peace, through the sheriffs, were ordered to forcibly enlist them,
provided they were not voters or indentured servants![67] To raise money
for the campaign an act was passed in May, 1755, instituting a public
lottery with a first prize of L2,000 "current money" and many other
prizes amounting altogether to L20,000 "current money."[68]
[67] 6 Hening, 438.
[68] 6 Hening, 453.
The route to be followed by Halkett's command is given in Braddock's
Orderly Book as follows:
"Alexandria 11th April 1755
.... March Rout of Sir Peter Halkett's Regiment from the
Camp at Alexandria to Winchester miles
To Y^{e} old Court House 18
To Mr. Colemans on Sugar Land Run
where there is Indian Corn &c 12
To Mr. Miner's 15
To Mr. Thompson ye Quaker wh is 3000 wt. corn 12
To Mr. They's ye Ferry at Shanh 17
From Mr. They's to Winchester 23
--
97"
Thus from the date of entry, only two days after the last of Halkett's
men had left the camp, we learn that the route given was the one ordered
followed, rather than a report of one that had been pursued; but as it
carefully describes the main northern road from Alexandria to Winchester
it is safe to assume that the troops held to the course laid down for
them.
The "Old Court House" was the first courthouse of Fairfax County built
about 1742 and in use about ten years until another was built in
Alexandria. Thus at the time of the march it was no longer used for the
purpose for which it had been built. It stood near the present Tyson's
Corner and in recent years its site has been marked by an appropriate
inscription.
The "Mr. Colemans on Sugar Land Run" was the house of Richard Coleman
who was thereafter in 1756 licensed by the Fairfax Court to keep an
Ordinary there. It stood where the road then crossed Sugarland Run at
the mouth of Colvin Run.
The "Mr. Miners" was the plantation of Nicholas Minor who served as a
captain in this war and who soon was to lay out the town of Leesburg on
part of his estate. It was known as Fruitland and the residence was
situated on a knoll on the south side of the road about a mile east of
the present Leesburg where a later building but bearing the same name
now stands. There Miner in connection with his other activities,
operated a distillery, probably for making brandy from peaches, apples
and persimmons; according to General John Mason, a son of the famous
George of Gunston Hall "the art of distilling from grain was not then
among us" and he spoke of the time of his boyhood--a period well after
1755. A later writer comments: "The choice of such camping places as
this perhaps explains in some measure the frequent court-martials in the
army and the liberal rewards of from 600 to 1,000 lashes to recreant
soldiers for drunkenness and for giving liquor to the Indians who
accompanied the march or whom they met on the way."[69] There is much
evidence that the British regulars, who had been recently recruited,
frequently were disciplined for infraction of military rules and the
disciplinary measures employed in British armies of that day were not
gentle.
[69] Newspaper clipping Balch Library, Leesburg, Vol. 1. Loudoun
County 70.
The "Mr. Thompson ye Quaker" we have already met in the preceding year
when Washington, in Fry's expedition against the French at the
"Gateway," noted his "expences." He lived, it will be recalled, in the
locality which is now Hillsboro.
The "Mr. They's ye Ferry at Shanh" was, it is believed, in error for
"Mr. Key's" and was at the Key's Gap Ferry.
All of this gives very little local detail. Fortunately that is more
freely supplied from another and fortuitous source. There was attached
to Braddock's expedition, when it left England, a certain commissary who
had a widowed sister, one Mrs. Browne. She accompanied her brother from
London to Fort Cumberland and, following the valuable eighteenth century
habit, kept a journal which in 1924 was owned by Mr. S. A. Courtauld of
the Howe, Halstead, Essex, and a photostatic copy of which has been
acquired by the Library of Congress.[70] This journal or diary runs from
the 17th November, 1754, to the 19th January, 1757. When Braddock and
his men departed from Alexandria in April he had a number of soldiers
too ill to travel. These he left there temporarily in charge of a force
of "1 officer and 40 men" and the commissary (Mrs. Browne's brother),
and Mrs. Browne stayed with them to help nurse the invalids. By June the
sick men had so far recovered that they moved to join the main force,
following the old Ridge (Alexandria-Winchester) Road over which Halkett
and his men had marched before them. Here follows a full copy of Mrs.
Browne's journal entries from her entrance into present Loudoun until
she reached the Shenandoah:
[70] _Virginia Magazine of History and Biography_, Vol. 38, p. 169.
1755. "June the 2. At Break of Day the Drum beat. I was extreemly sleepy
but got up, and as soon as our Officer had eat 6 Eggs and drank a dram
or two and some Punch we march'd; but, my Waggon being in the Rear the
Day before, my Coachman insisted that it was not right that Madam Browne
should be behind, and if they did not give way they should feel the soft
end of his Whip. He gain'd his Point and got in Front. The Roads are so
Bad that I am almost disjointed. At 12 we halted at Mr. Coleman's,
pitched our markeys and dined on Salt Gammon,[71] nothing better to be
had.
[71] i.e. Cured ham or even bacon.
"June the 3. At 3 in the Morning was awak'd by the Drum, but was so
stiff that I was at a loss to tell whether I had any Limbs. I
breakfasted in my waggon and then sent of in front; at which all the
rest were very much enrag'd, but to no Purpose for my Coachman told them
that he had but one Officer to Obey and she was in his Waggon, and it
was not right she should be blinded with Dust. My Brother the Day before
left his Cloak behind, so sent his Man back for it on his Horse, and
march'd on Foot. On the Road met with Mr. Adams a Parson[72] who left
his Horse & padded with them on Foot. We halted at Mr. Minors. We
order'd some Fowls for Dinner but not one to be had, so was obliged to
set down to our old Dish Gammon & Greens. The Officer and the Parson
replenish'd their Bowl so often that they began to be very joyous,
untill their Servant told them that their Horses were lost, at which the
Parson was much inrag'd and pop'd out an Oath but Mr. Falkner said
'Never mind your Horse, Doctor, but have you a Sermon ready for next
Sunday?' I being the Doctor's country woman he mad me many Compts. and
told me he should be very happy if he could be better acquainted with
me, but hop'd when I came that way again I would do him the Honour to
spend some Time at his House. I chatted til 11 and then took my leave
and left them a full Bowl before them.
[72] Fairfax Harrison suggests error; that Rev. John Andrews, then
Parson of Cameron Parish, was the man. No Parson named Adams then in
Virginia.
"June the 4. At break of Day my Coachman came and tap'd my Chamber Door
and said Madam all is ready and it is right early. I went to my Waggon
and we moved on. Left Mr. Falkner behind in Pursuit of his Horse.
March'd 14 Miles and halted at an old sage Quaker's with silver Locks.
His Wife on my coming in accosted me in the following manner: 'Welcome
Friend set down, thou seem's full Bulky to travel, but thou art young
and that will enable thee. We were once so ourselves but we have been
married 44 Years & may say we have lived to see the Days that we have
no Pleasure therein.' We had recourse to our old Dish Gammon, nothing
else to be had; but they said they had some Liquor they called Whiskey
which was made of Peaches. My Friend Thompson being a Preacher, when the
soldiers came in as the Spirit mov'd him, held forth to them and told
them the great Virtue of Temperance. They all stared at him like Pigs,
but had not a word to say in their justification.
"June the 5. My Lodgings not being very clean, I had so many close
Companions call'd Ticks that deprived me of my Night's Rest, but I
indulg'd till 7. We halted this Day all the Nurses Baking Bread and
Boiling Beef for the March to Morrow. A fine Regale 2 Chickens with Milk
and water to Drink, which my friend Thompson said was fine temperate
Liquor. Several things lost out of my Waggon, amongst the rest they took
2 of my Hams, which my Coachman said was an abomination to him, and if
he could find out who took them he would make them remember taking the
next.
"June the 6. Took my leave of my Friend Thompson, who bid me farewell. A
great Gust of Thunder and Lightning and Rain, so that we were almost
drown'd. Extreem bad Roads. We pass'd over the Blue Ridge which was one
continual mountain for 3 miles. Forg'd through 2 Rivers. At 7 we halted
at Mr. Key's, a fine Plantation. Had for Dinner 2 Chickens. The Soldiers
desired my Brother to advance them some Whisky for they told him he had
better kill them at once than to let them dye by Inches, for without
they could not live. He complied with their Request and it soon began to
operate; they all went to dancing and bid defiance to the French. My
Friend Gore" (the coachman) "began to shake a Leg. I ask'd him if it was
consistent as a member of his Society to dance; he told me that he was
not at all united with them, and that there were some of his People who
call'd themselves Quakers and stood up for their Church but had no more
religion in them than his Mare. I told him I should set him down as a
Ranter."
But to return to Halkett and the troops under his immediate command.
From Winchester they proceeded to the new fort at Will's Creek which
Braddock, upon his arrival, named Fort Cumberland in honour of his
captain general. Here the main detachments of the expedition came
together again in accordance with the plans made in Alexandria. The
troops were given a short rest after their long march, the final plans
were developed and on the 7th, 8th and 9th of June the army resumed its
march to the west, widening the path through the woods made by
Washington and his men the year before and hauling its artillery over
the mountains with the utmost difficulty. So slow was their progress
that Braddock decided to send on a large advance party, more lightly
equipped, leaving the others to bring on the greater part of the
supplies and baggage.
[Illustration: THE FALL OF BRADDOCK. (From a painting by C. Schuessele,
published in 1859.)]
In contrast to Braddock's unbounded assurance, Halkett seems to have had
a strong premonition of the impending disaster and his own tragic fate.
Lowdermilk, in his excellent _History of Cumberland_, describes his
dejection the night before the battle:
"Sir Peter Halkett was low spirited and depressed; he comprehended the
importance of meeting the wily red skins with their own tactics, and
while he urged the General to beat the bushes over every foot of ground
from the camp to the Fort, he had little hope of seeing his advice put
into effect; when he wrapped his mantle about him that night as he lay
upon his soldier's bed his soul was filled with the darkest forebodings
for the morrow, which he felt would close his own career as well as that
of many another gallant soldier, a presentiment which was sadly
realized."
Upon the following day, the 9th of July, the advance party of British,
now making better progress, pressed on to a point five or six miles from
Fort DuQuesne where they encountered the awaiting French and Indians.
Against such British strength of numbers and equipment the French had
one chance and well they knew it lay in meeting the attacking force in
the forest before it could bring its artillery to play on their
fortification. The mass of the scarlet-coated British troops were in
close formation in the open; the French and Indians hid themselves
behind the surrounding trees. As the first bullets poured into their
ranks the British could see no foe and Braddock, deaf to the entreaties
of the Virginians, insisted that his troops hold their ranks in the
unprotected and open clearing. The provincials scattered and fought the
foe in its own manner from behind every tree and mound they could find
to shelter them; but Braddock, wholly immune to fear or reason himself,
continued to hold his regulars together, in his anger beating back with
his sword into the ranks those seeking cover. Even so the situation,
impossible though it were rapidly becoming, might have been saved by the
desperate and determined efforts of the provincials who had found a
small ravine or ditch from which they were able to deliver an effective
flanking fire against the French; but as the latter began to waver and
the Americans left their protection to charge, the panic-stricken
regulars fired upon them, killing and wounding a great number. It was
the end. Braddock, who throughout the fighting had shewn the most
reckless and obstinate courage and had had his horses killed from under
him again and again, now received a mortal wound and the surviving
English broke into a wild and disorderly retreat. Had the French and
their allies pressed their advantage, hardly one of their foe would have
escaped death or capture; but the Indian allies of the French, when the
British fled, addressed themselves to killing the wounded and robbing
and scalping the dead, thus giving the English their chance of flight,
disorderly and panic-stricken, back over the road they had come.
Braddock, crushed with the completeness of his defeat, died on the
fourth day of the retreat and was buried in the roadway to protect his
body from the Indian savages. How overwhelming was the French victory is
shewn by the English record that of the 1,386 men who were under
Braddock in the fight, only 459 escaped. That the British regulars stood
their ground bravely in the face of most difficult conditions and stupid
leadership there seems no question. But the greater praise went to the
Americans who inflicted far more damage on the foe; and particularly to
their leader Washington who with cool courage was everywhere encouraging
his men in the fight and though his clothing was pierced repeatedly with
rifle balls, he escaped wholly unwounded.
During the battle Halkett was shot and killed and his son James, seeing
him fall and rushing to his aid, at once met the same fate. Both bodies
were scalped and robbed and then left where they fell. Three years later
Halkett's eldest son, the then Sir Peter Halkett, a major in the 42nd
Regiment, joined General Forbes' new and successful expedition against
Fort DuQuesne, especially to seek some trace of the fate of his father
and brother. With friendly Indian help the bodies were found and
identified and given a military burial nearby.
As the defeated English retreated to the east, the story of the calamity
spread terror and dismay among the more westerly settlers. In Virginia
the people in the valley were panic-stricken and in great numbers fled
over the Blue Ridge to the Piedmont counties, spreading their terror
among the people there. Washington wrote that he learned from Captain
Waggoner who, as we have seen, had had command of the Virginia troops
and had been wounded in the battle "that it was with difficulty he
passed the Ridge for crowds of people, who were flying as if every
moment was death." The fear and restlessness continued among the
colonists on both sides of the Blue Ridge until General Forbes, as
noted, in 1758 led his force to Fort DuQuesne and took possession of
what was left by the French who burned and abandoned it at his approach.
From then until after the Revolution this former outpost of France,
under its new name of Fort Pitt, remained in the hands of the English
government.
On the 1st day of September, 1758,[73] an act was passed in Virginia to
pay arrears to "forces in the pay of this colony" and to raise money
therefor. Section 5 recites:
"And whereas several companies of the militia were lately drawn out into
actual service, for the defense and protection of the frontiers of this
colony, whose names, and the time they respectively continued in the
said service, together with the charge of provisions found for the use
of the said militia are contained in the schedule to this act
annexed....
"Loudoun County
l s d
To captain Nicholas Minor 1 00 00
Aeneas Campbell, lieutenant, 7 6
Francis Wilks, 1 17
James Willock, 1 15
To John Owsley, and William Stephens,
15 s. each 1 10
Robert Thomas 10
John Moss, Jun. 4
John Thomas for provisions 5
John Moss, do 2 8
William Ross, do 2 "
[73] 7 Hening, 171 and 222.
On page 217 of the same act under the head of "Fairfax County" appear
the following items, the names suggesting that the list was prepared
prior to the time of the setting off of Loudoun from Fairfax and for
services prior to those above listed:
l s d
"To Nicholas Minor, Captain 15 12 0
Josias Clapham, lieutenant, 7 16
William Trammell, ensign 5 4
To Captain James Hamilton his pay and
guards subsistence carrying soldiers
to Winchester 10 4 1"
The names of many other soldiers are given with the compensation awarded
each. It is quite possible that among them were men who resided in that
part of Fairfax which, at the time of the passage of the act, had been
set off as Loudoun.