SPARKS AND ATKINSON ON BRADDOCK'S ROUTE[46]
Several months ago we received from that indefatigable delver in the
early annals of our country, Jared Sparks, Esq., of Salem,
Massachusetts, a letter containing some valuable information as to the
route of General Braddock after leaving Gist's farm, not far from where
Connelsville now stands. That letter we, for reasons which it is
unnecessary to mention, have withheld from publication; but those
reasons no longer existing, we now publish it--premising only a few
introductory remarks.
Mr. Sparks, as the biographer of Washington and as the collator of his
papers, and as a most indefatigable searcher after the whole truth in
our early history, enjoyed extraordinary advantages, so that his
statements in all such matters should always command the utmost
confidence. There is in the possession of the Pennsylvania Historical
Society a draught of "the Monongahela and Youghiogany rivers" taken by
Joseph Shippen, Jr., in 1759.[47] On this draught the route of General
Braddock is distinctly laid down from Cumberland to Stewart's Crossings,
now Connelsville, and thence to a point about twelve or fourteen miles,
nearly due north, and of course some four or five miles east of the
Youghiogany. From that point the line of march is not laid down until
within about six miles of the Monongahela river, at Braddock's first
ford, about one mile and a half below McKeesport; from that point it is
distinctly traced across the Monongahela twice to the field of battle.
As Mr. Shippen was Brigade Major in General Forbes' army, and in that
capacity visited this place within four years after Braddock's defeat,
we may well suppose that he had accurate information as to the route of
that unfortunate General.
Extract of a letter from Jared Sparks, Esq., to the editor of the _Olden
Time_.
"Salem, Mass., Feb. 18th, 1847.
"Dear Sir:--There is a copy of the 'Memorial' which you mentioned in the
Library of Harvard College which I believe is complete. I shall obtain
it soon, and will have the missing pages copied and forward to you the
manuscript. I suppose you wish it sent by mail. I once compared this
translation with the original[48] and found it clumsily executed, but
the substance is probably retained.
"Having heretofore examined with care the details of Braddock's
expedition, I am persuaded that the following, as far as it goes, is a
correct account of his march from Gist's plantation:
"On the 30th of June the army forded the Youghiogany at Stewart's
Crossings and then passed a rough road over a mountain. A few days
onward they came to a great swamp which detained them part of a day in
clearing a road. They next advanced to Salt Lick Creek, now called
Jacob's Creek, where a council of war was held on the 3d of July to
consider a suggestion of Sir John St. Clair that Colonel Dunbar's
detachment should be ordered to join the main body. This proposal was
rejected on the ground that Dunbar could not join them in less than
thirteen days; that this would cause such a consumption of provisions as
to render it necessary to bring forward another convoy from Fort
Cumberland; and that in the meantime the French might be strengthened by
a reinforcement, which was daily expected at Fort Duquesne--and
moreover; the two divisions could not move together after their
junction.
"On the 4th the army again marched and advanced to Turtle Creek, about
twelve miles from its mouth, where they arrived on the 7th inst. I
suppose this to have been the eastern branch or what is now called Rush
Creek, and that the place at which they encamped was a short distance
northerly from the present village of Stewartsville. It was General
Braddock's intention to cross Turtle Creek, and approach Fort Duquesne
on the other side; but the banks were so precipitous, and presented
such obstacles to crossing with his artillery and heavy baggage that he
hesitated, and Sir John St. Clair went out with a party to reconnoitre.
On his return, before night, he reported that he had found the ridge
which led to Fort Duquesne but that considerable work would be necessary
to prepare a road for crossing Turtle Creek. This route was finally
abandoned, and on the 8th the army marched eight miles and encamped not
far from the Monongahela, west of the Youghiogany and near what is
called in an old map 'Sugar Run.' When Braddock reached this place it
was his design to pass through the narrows, but he was informed by the
guides who had been out to explore that the passage was very difficult,
about two miles in length, with a river on the left and a high mountain
on the right, and that much work must be done to make it passable for
carriages. At the same time he was told that there were two good fords
across the Monongahela where the water was shallow and the banks not
steep. With these views of the case he determined to cross the fords the
next morning. The order of march was given out and all the arrangements
were made for an early movement.
"About eight o'clock on the morning of the 9th the advanced division
under Colonel Gage crossed the ford and pushed forward. After the whole
army had crossed and marched about a mile, Braddock received a note from
Colonel Gage, giving notice that he had passed the second ford without
difficulty. A little before two o'clock the whole army had crossed this
ford and was arranged in the order of march on the plain near Frazer's
house. Gage with the advanced party was then ordered to march, and while
the main body was yet standing on the plain the action began near the
river. Not a single man of the enemy had before been seen.
"The distance by the line of march from Stewart's Crossing to Turtle
Creek, or Brush Creek, was about thirty miles. At this point the route
was changed almost to a right angle in marching to the Monongahela. The
encampment was probably two or three miles from the bank of the river,
for Colonel Gage marched at the break of day and did not cross the ford
till eight o'clock. During the whole march from the Great Meadows the
pickets and sentinels were frequently assailed by scouting parties of
French and Indians and several men were killed. Mr. Gist acted as the
General's guide. On the 4th of July two Indians went out to reconnoitre
the country toward Fort Duquesne; and Mr. Gist also on the same day, in
a different direction. They were gone two days, and all came in sight of
the fort, but brought back no important intelligence. The Indians
contrived to kill and scalp a French officer whom they found shooting
within half a mile of the fort.
"The army seldom marched more than six miles a day and commonly not so
much. From Stewart's Crossing to Turtle Creek there were six
encampments. During one day the army halted.
"I shall be much pleased to see Mr. Atkinson's map. His knowledge of the
ground will enable him to delineate Braddock's route much more
accurately than it can be done from any sources now available.
I am, Sir, respectfully yours,
Jared Sparks.
Neville B. Craig, Esq., Pittsburgh."
[Illustration: MIDDLETON'S MAP OF BRADDOCK'S ROAD (1847)
[_Braddock's Road is shown as dotted line. The double line is the
present route from Cumberland to Ft. Necessity_]]
Since the foregoing letter was in type we have received from Mr. T. C.
Atkinson of Cumberland, Maryland, lately employed on the Pittsburgh and
Connelsville Rail Road, a very able and interesting article on the
subject of Braddock's route to the Monongahela, with a very beautiful
map of the country, by Mr. Middleton, one of Mr. Atkinson's assistants
on the survey for the railroad. The article of Mr. Atkinson, and the
map, furnish all the information as to the march of General Braddock's
army which can now be hoped for.
Mr. Atkinson had for years devoted much time to the examination of the
route of the army of Braddock eastward, and some distance westward of
Cumberland, and his late employ along the Youghiogany and Monongahela
afforded him an opportunity to complete his work.
As a striking evidence of the accuracy of his researches, we will
mention that in tracing the route he was much surprised and puzzled by
what seemed the strange divergence of the army from the Youghiogany
river after passing it at Stewart's Crossings. Yet the traditionary
evidence and marks on the ground seemed to establish beyond doubt the
fact that the army had passed far into the interior of our present
county of Westmoreland, and near to Mount Pleasant, crossing the line of
the Pittsburgh and Greensburg Turnpike road. This seemed so far from the
natural and direct route that even the strong traditionary and other
evidence, could not entirely remove the possibility of doubt. Mr.
Atkinson himself was entirely satisfied as to the correctness of his own
conclusions, but of course would be gratified to receive a confirmation,
in an authentic shape, of his own convictions.
Just at that crisis we received the letter from Mr. Sparks, which
precedes these remarks, thus settling most conclusively the verity of
many of the traditions current in the country as to the erratic course
of Braddock's army from Stewart's Crossings to the Monongahela river.
We are, deeply indeed, indebted to Mr. Atkinson, and also to his
assistant, Mr. Middleton, for their very valuable contribution in
illustration of the early history of this country.
The Pittsburgh and Connelsville Rail Road project cannot be regarded as
an entirely fruitless effort; it has, at least, produced this most
valuable historical essay.
All additional information in relation to those early scenes must
possess interest to every intelligent American; and we rejoice in the
opportunity of placing Mr. Atkinson's valuable communication and the
accompanying map before the readers of the _Olden Time_:
"The interest with which the routes of celebrated expeditions are
regarded, and the confusion which attends them after the lapse of years,
is well exemplified in the case of Hannibal, whose march toward Rome, in
order to divert their army from the siege of Capua, was totally lost in
the course of a few centuries. The constant blunders of Livy in copying
first from one writer, and then from another who made him take a
different path, justify a recent English historian who went to Italy to
see the ground for himself, in saying that the Punic War was almost as
hard in the writing as the fighting.
"As the time is coming when the road by which the unfortunate Braddock
marched to his disastrous field will be invested with antiquarian
interest akin to that attending Hannibal's route, or rather the _via
scelerata_, by which the Fabian family marched out of Rome, I have
thought it time not idly spent to attempt to pursue its scattered traces
as far as it is in my power, among more pressing occupations. In this
sketch I do not design to pursue it to its extent, but only to identify
it in those parts where it has been convenient for me to visit it and in
others to shadow out its general direction. Where it is obscure I hope
to have opportunities to examine it at a future day.
"Of the well conducted expedition of Colonel Bouquet and its precise
path, the publications of Mr. Hutchins, the geographer, who was one of
the engineers, leaves us very well informed. It is presumable that
similar details would be found of the march of 1755 if it had had a
successful termination. The three engineers who were in the field were
wounded; and it is probable their papers fell into the hands of the
enemy or were lost in the flight.
"General Braddock landed at Alexandria on the 20th of February, 1755.
The selection of this port for the debarcation of the troops, was
censured at the time, though it is probable it had the approval of
Washington. The two regiments he brought with him were very defective in
numbers, having but about five hundred men each, and it was expected
their ranks would be recruited in America. It is shown by the repeated
requests on this point made by the General at Cumberland that this
expectation was vain. After numerous delays, and a conference with the
Royal Governors, we find General Braddock _en route_ on the 24th of
April when he had reached Fredricktown in Maryland. Passing thence
through Winchester, Va., he reached Fort Cumberland about the 9th of
May. Sir John Sinclair, Deputy Quarter Master General, had preceded him
to this point about two weeks.[49]
"The army struck the Little Cacapehon (though pronounced Cacapon, I have
used for the occasion the spelling of Washington and various old
documents), about six miles above its mouth, and following the stream
encamped on the Virginia side of the Potomac preparatory to crossing
into Maryland. The water is supposed to have been high at the time, as
the spot is known as the Ferry-fields, from the army having been ferried
over. This was about the 4th or 5th of May.
"The army thence pursued the banks of the river, with a slight deviation
of route at the mouth of the South Branch, to the village of Old Town,
known at that time as the Shawnee Old Town, modern use having dropped
the most characteristic part of the name. This place, distant about
eight miles from the Ferry-fields, was known at that early day as the
residence of Col. Thomas Cresap, an English settler, and the father of
the hero of Logan's speech. The road proceeded thence parallel with the
river and at the foot of the hills, till it passes the narrows of Will's
Mountain, when it struck out a shorter line coincident with the present
county road, and lying between the railroad and the mountain, to Fort
Cumberland.
"From the Little Cacapehon to this point the ground was comparatively
easy, and the road had been generally judiciously chosen. Thenceforward
the character of the ground was altered, not so much in the general
aspect of the country as that the march was about to abandon the
valleys, and now the real difficulties of the expedition may be said to
commence.
"The fort had been commenced the previous year, after the surrender at
the Great Meadows, by Col. Innes, who had with him the two independent
companies of New York and South Carolina. It mounted ten four pounders,
besides swivels, and was favorably situated to keep the hostile Indians
in check.[50]
"The army now consisted of 1000 regulars, 30 sailors, and 1200
provincials, besides a train of artillery. The provincials were from New
York and Virginia; one company from the former colony was commanded by
Captain Gates, afterwards the hero of Saratoga. On the 8th of June,
Braddock having, through the interest and exertions of Dr. Franklin,
principally, got 150 wagons and 2000 horses from Pennsylvania, was ready
to march.
"_Scaroodaya_, successor to the Half-King of the Senecas, and
_Monacatootha_, whose acquaintance Washington has made on the Ohio, on
his mission to Le Boeuf, with about 150 Indians, Senecas, and Delawares,
accompanied him....
"The first brigade under Sir Peter Halket, led the way on the 8th, and
on the 9th the main body followed. Some idea of the difficulties they
encountered, may be had when we perceive they spent the third night only
five miles from the first. The place of encampment which is about one
third of a mile from the toll-gate on the National Road, is marked by a
copious spring bearing Braddock's name.
"For reasons not easy to divine, the route across Will's Mountain first
adopted for the national road was selected instead of the more favorable
one through the narrows of Will's Creek, to which the road has been
changed within a few years for the purpose of avoiding that formidable
ascent. The traces are very distinct on the east and west slopes, the
modern road crossing it frequently. From the western foot, the route
continued up Braddock's Run to the forks of the stream, where Clary's
tavern now stands, nine miles from Cumberland, when it turned to the
left, in order to reach a point on the ridge favorable to an easy
descent into the valley of George's Creek. It is surprising that having
reached this high ground, the favorable spur by which the National Road
accomplishes the ascent of the Great Savage Mountain, did not strike the
attention of the engineers, as the labor requisite to surmount the
barrier from the deep valley of George's Creek, must have contributed
greatly to those bitter complaints which Braddock made against the
Colonial Governments for their failure to assist him more effectively in
the transportation department.
"Passing then a mile to the south of Frostburg, the road approaches the
east foot of Savage Mountain, which it crosses about one mile south of
the National Road, and thence by very favorable ground through the dense
forests of white pine peculiar to this region, it got to the north of
the National Road, near the gloomy tract called the _Shades of Death_.
This was the 15th of June, when the dense gloom of the summer woods and
the favorable shelter which those enormous pines would give an Indian
enemy, must have made a most sensible impression on all minds, of the
insecurity of their mode of advance.
"This doubtless had a share in causing the council of war held at the
Little Meadows[51] the next day. To this place, distant only about
twenty miles from Cumberland, Sir John Sinclair and Major Chapman had
been dispatched on the 27th of May, to build a fort; the army having
been seven days in reaching it, it follows as the line of march was
upwards of three miles long, the rear was just getting under way when
the advance were lighting their evening fires.
"Here it may be well enough to clear up an obscurity which enters into
many narratives of these early events, from confusing the names of the
_Little Meadows_ and _Great Meadows_, _Little Crossings_ and _Great
Crossings_, which are all distinct localities.
"The _Little Meadows_ have been described as at the foot of Meadow
Mountain; it is well to note that the _Great Meadows_ are about
thirty-one miles further west, and near the east foot of Laurel Hill.
"By the _Little Crossings_ is meant the Ford of Casselman's River, a
tributary of the Youghiogheny; and by the _Great Crossings_, the passage
of the Youghiogheny itself. The Little Crossing is two miles west of the
Little Meadows, and the Great Crossing seventeen miles further west.
"The conclusion of the council was to push on with a picked force of
1200 men and 12 pieces of cannon; and the line of march, now more
compact was resumed on the 19th. Passing over ground to the south of the
Little Crossings, and of the village of Grantsville, which it skirted,
the army spent the night of the 21st at the Bear Camp, a locality I have
not been able to identify, but suppose it to be about midway to the
Great Crossings, which it reached on the 23d. The route thence to the
Great Meadows or Fort Necessity was well chosen, though over a
mountainous tract, conforming very nearly to the ground now occupied by
the National Road, and keeping on the dividing ridge between the waters
flowing into the Youghiogheny on the one hand and the Cheat River on the
other. Having crossed the Youghiogheny, we are now on the classic ground
of Washington's early career, where the skirmish with Jumonville, and
Fort Necessity, indicate the country laid open for them in the previous
year. About one mile west of the Great Meadows and near the spot now
marked as Braddock's Grave, the road struck off more to the north-west,
in order to reach a pass through Laurel Hill that would enable them to
strike the Youghiogheny, at a point afterwards known as Stewart's
Crossing and about half a mile below the present town of Connellsville.
This part of the route is marked by the farm known as Mount Braddock.
This second crossing of the Youghiogheny was effected on the 30th of
June. The high grounds intervening between the river and its next
tributary, Jacob's Creek, though trivial in comparison with what they
had already passed, it may be supposed, presented serious obstacles to
the troops, worn out with previous exertions. On the 3d of July a
council of war was held at Jacob's Creek, to consider the propriety of
bringing forward Col. Dunbar with the reserve, and although urged by Sir
John Sinclair with, as one may suppose, his characteristic vehemence,
the measure was rejected on sufficient grounds. From the crossing of
Jacob's Creek, which was at the point where Welchhanse's Mill now
stands, about 1-1/2 miles below Mount Pleasant, the route stretched off
to the north, crossing the Mount Pleasant turnpike near the village of
the same name, and thence by a more westerly course, passing the Great
Sewickley near Painter's Salt Works, thence south and west of the Post
Office of Madison and Jacksonville, it reached the Brush Fork of Turtle
Creek. It must strike those who examine the map that the route, for some
distance, in the rear and ahead of Mount Pleasant, is out of the proper
direction for Fort Duquesne, and accordingly we find on the 7th of July,
Gen. Braddock in doubt as to his proper way of proceeding. The crossing
of Brush Creek, which he had now reached, appeared to be attended with
so much hazard that parties were sent to reconnoitre, some of whom
advanced so far as to kill a French officer within half a mile of Fort
Duquesne.
"Their examinations induced a great divergence to the left, and availing
himself of the valley of Long Run, which he turned into, as is supposed,
at Stewartsville, passing by the place now known as Samson's Mill, the
army made one of the best marches of the campaign and halted for the
night at a favorable depression between that stream and Crooked Run and
about two miles from the Monongahela. At this spot, about four miles
from the battle ground, which is yet well known as Braddock's Spring, he
was rejoined by Washington on the morning of the 9th of July.
"The approach to the river was now down the valley of Crooked Run to its
mouth, where the point of fording is still manifest, from a deep notch
in the west bank, though rendered somewhat obscure by the improved
navigation of the river. The advance, under Col. Gage, crossed about 8
o'clock, and continued by the foot of the hill bordering the broad river
bottom to the second fording, which he had effected nearly as soon as
the rear had got through the first.
"The second and last fording at the mouth of Turtle Creek was in full
view of the enemy's position, and about one mile distant. By 1 o'clock
the whole army had gained the right bank, and was drawn up on the bottom
land, near Frazier's house (spoken of by Washington as his stopping
place on his mission to Le Boeuf), and about 3/4 of a mile distant from
the ambuscade."