USA > New Jersey > The history of New Jersey, from its discovery by Europeans, to the adoption of the federal Constitution > Part 20
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XVI. Major-general Braddock, Sir John St. Clair, adjutant-general, and the regiments of Dunbar and Halkett, which sailed from Cork on the 14th of January, 1755, arrived carly in March at Alexandria, in Virginia, whence they marched to Fredericktown, in Maryland. The place of debarkation was selected with that ignorance and want of judgment, which then distin- guished the British ministry. The country could furnish neither provisions nor carriages for the army, whilst Pennsylvania, rich in grain, and well stocked with wagons, could readily have supplied food and the means of transportation ; and from this source the general, with the aid of Mr. Benjamin Franklin, drew finally the means of making the expedition against the French in the West.
XVII. A convention of the Governors of New York, Massachusetts, Mary- land, and Virginia, convened at Annapolis, to settle with General Braddock, a plan of military operations. Three expeditions were resolved on. The first, against Fort Du Quesne, under the command of General Braddock, in person, with the British troops, and such aid as he could draw from Mary- land and Virginia,-the second, against Forts Niagara and Frontignac, under General Shirley, with his own and Pepperell's regiments-and the third, originally proposed by Massachusetts, against Crown Point, to be executed altogether with colonial troops from New England, New York, and New Jersey, under Major-general William Johnson.
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XVIII. Whilst these measures were in embryo, an attack conducted by Lieu- tenant-colonel Monckton, a British officer, and Lieutenant-colonel Winslow, a major-general of the Massachusetts militia, was made against the French who had possessed themselves of a portion of the country claimed by the English, for the province of Nova Scotia. In little more than a month, with the loss of three men, only, possession was obtained of the whole province according to the British definition of its boundaries. This easy conquest elated the colonies, and produced sanguine anticipations of the results of their
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future efforts. But their present success was disgraced by scenes of devasta- tion and misery, scarce paralleled in modern history.
The inhabitants of Nova Scotia were chiefly of French descent. By the treaty of Utrecht, (1713,) they were permitted to retain their lands, taking the oath of allegiance to their new sovereign, with the qualification, that they should not be compelled to bear arms against their Indian neighbours, or their countrymen; and this immunity was, at subsequent periods, assured to their children. Such was the notoriety of this compact, that, for half a cen- tury, they had borne the name, and with few exceptions, maintained the cha- racter of neutrals. But, now, excited by this ancient love of France, by their religious attachments, and their doubts of the English rights, some of these frugal, industrious, and pious people, were seduced to take up arms. Three hundred were found in the fortress of Beau Sejour, at its capture, but it was stipulated, that they should be left in the same situation, as when the army arrived, and should not be punished for any thing they had subsequently done. Yet, a council was convened by Lawrence, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, at which Admirals Boscawen and Moyston assisted, to determine the fate of these unfortunate people. Their elders were required to take the oath of allegiance to the British monarch, without the exemption, which, during fifty years, had been granted to them and their fathers. Upon their refusal, although, out of a population of seven thousand, three hundred only had borne arms, the council resolved to expel all from their country, to confiscate their property, money and household goods excepted, to lay waste their estates, and burn their dwellings. The public records and muniments of title, were seized, and the elders of the people treacherously made prisoners. Governor Lawrence, with great presumption, and total disregard of the rights of the neighbouring provinces, imposed a heavy and durable burden upon them, in the reception and maintenance of this devoted race. In transporting them to their several destinations, the charities of blood and affinity were wanton- ly torn asunder. Parents were separated from their children-and husbands from their wives. Among many instances of this barbarity, was that of René Le Blanc, who had been imprisoned four years, by the French, on account of his English attachments. The family of this venerable man, consisting of twenty children, and about one hundred and fifty grand-chil- dren, were scattered in different colonies; and himself, with his wife and two children only, were put on shore at New York.
XIX. The province of New Jersey, in a continental war, dreaded most, an attack from Canada, by the way of New York, and scarce felt any ap- prehension of danger, from the French and Indians on the Ohio. The Assem- bly cordially approved of the plan of operation adopted at Annapolis, and, particularly of the expedition against Crown Point; and resolved, immediately, to raise a battalion, of five hundred men, for the maintenance of which, they issued bills of credit, for £15,000, redeemable within five years. The governor nominated Mr. Peter Schuyler, with the rank of colonel, to the command of this force; and that gentleman's popularity was such, that the battalion was not only promptly filled, but a much larger number of men, presented themselves for enlistment, than were required. The arms for these troops, of which the colony was almost wholly unprovided, were pro- cured from Virginia, at the cost of the Assembly.
XX. General Braddock having removed his army to Fort Cumberland, on Wills's Creek, on his way to the west, received there, his wagons, and other necessary supplies; and being, at length, after many delays, amply furnished with all the munitions he required, and also reinforced by a con- siderable body of Americans and Indians, broke up his encampment on the 12th of June, and passed the Alleghany mountain, at the head of two
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thousand two hundred men. On reaching the Little Meadows, five days' march from Fort du Quesne, he convoked a council of war, to consult on future operations. Colonel Washington, who had entered his family, as a volunteer aid-de-camp, and who possessed a knowledge of the coun- try, and of the nature of the service, had urged the substitution of pack horses for wagons, in the transportation of the baggage, now renewed his advice; and earnestly and successfully recommended, that the heavy artil- lery and stores should remain with the rear division, and follow by easy marches, whilst a chosen body of troops, with a few pieces of light cannon and stores, of absolute necessity, should press forward to Fort du Quesne. Twelve hundred men, and twelve pieces of cannon, being selected, were commanded by General Braddock, in person. Sir Peter Halkett, acted as brigadier, having under him Lieutenant-colonels Gage and Burton, and Major Spark. Thirty wagons, only, including those with ammunition, fol- lowed the march. The residue of the army remained under the care of Colonel Dunbar and Major Chapman.
The benefit of these prudent measures was lost by the fastidiousness and presumption of the commander-in-chief. Instead of pushing on with vigour, regardless of a little rough road, he halted to level every molehill, and to throw bridges over every brook, employing four days to reach the great crossings of the Youghiogany, nineteen miles from the Little Meadows. On his march, he neglected the advantage his Indians afforded him, of recon- noitering the woods and passages on the front and flank, and even rejected the prudent suggestion of Sir Peter Halkett, on this subject, with a sneer at his caution .*
This overweening confidence and reckless temerity were destined to a speedy and fatal reproof.f Having crossed the Monongahela river, within seven miles of Fort du Quesne, wrapt in security, and joyously anticipating the coming victory, his progress was suddenly checked, by a destructive fire, on the front and left flank, from an invisible enemy. The van was thrown into confusion ; but the main body, forming three deep, instantly advanced. The commanding officer of the enemy having fallen, it was sup- posed from the suspension of the attack, that the assailants had dispersed. But the delusion was momentary. The fire was renewed with great spirit, and unerring.aim; and the English, beholding their comrades drop around them, unable to see the foe, or tell whence their death arrived, broke and fled in utter dismay. The general, astounded at this sudden and unexpected attack, lost his self-possession, and neither gave orders for a regular retreat, nor for his cannon to advance and scour the woods. He remained on the spot where he first halted, directing the troops to form in regular platoons against a foe dispersed through the forest, behind trees and bushes, whose every shot did execution. The officers behaved admirably ; but distinguish- ed by their dresses, and selected by the hidden marksmen, they suffered severely ; every one on horseback, except Washington, was killed or wound- ed; he had two horses killed under him, and four balls through his coat. Sir Peter Halkett was killed on the spot; and the general himself, having been five times dismounted, received a ball through the arm, and lungs, and was carried from the field of battle. He survived only four days. On the first, he was totally silent, and at night, only said, " Who would have thought it!" He was again silent until a few minutes before his death, when he observed, " We shall better know how to deal with them another time."
The defeat was total-the carnage unusually great. Sixty-four, out of
Marshall, Wash. Lett. # July 9, 1755.
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eighty-five officers, and one-half the privates, were killed or wounded. Many fell by the arms of their fellow soldiers. An absolute alienation of mind, seems to have fallen upon the regular troops. In despite of the orders of the officers, many gathered in squads of ten or twelve deep, and in their confusion, shot down the men before them; whilst the troops in line fired on the provincials wherever they saw a smoke, or heard a shot from behind trees. Captain Waggoner, of the Virginia forces, who had taken an advan- tageous position on the flank, with eighty men, was driven from it by the British fire with the loss of fifty.+ Fortunately, the Indians were held from pursuit by the desire of plunder. The artillery and military stores, even the private cabinet of the commander-in-chief, containing his instructions, fell into the hands of the enemy, whose whole force was computed at thirce hundred men.
The fugitives continuing their flight to Dunbar's division, so infected it with their terror, that, though the enemy did not advance, all the artillery and stores collected for the campaign, except those indispensable for immediate use, were destroyed, and the remnant of the army marched to Fort Cum- berland.' The loss in this engagement would have been still greater, but for the coolness and courage of the colonial troops. These, whoin Braddock had contemptuously placed in his rear, so far from yielding to the panic which disordered the regulars, offered to advance against the enemy, until the others could form and bring up the artillery; but the regulars could not again be brought to the charge, yet the provincials actually formed and covered their retreat. The conduct of the Virginia troops merits the great- est praise. Of three companies brought into the field, it is said, scarce thirty escaped uninjured. Captain Peyroney and all his officers, down to the cor- poral, were killed. Captain Polson's company shared almost as hard a fate; the captain himself being killed, and one officer only escaping. Of the com- pany of light-horse, commanded by Captain Stewart, twenty-five out of twenty-nine were slain.t
This misfortune is solely to be ascribed to the misconduct of the general. Presumptuous, arrogant, and ignorant, he had no quality save courage to insure success. Unacquainted with the country, and the Indian mode of warfare, he neglected the,suggestions of the Duke of Cumberland, whose in- structions seem predicated on a prescience of his conduct, and the advice of his American officers, to employ his Indians in guarding against ambush and surprise. He neglected and disobliged the Virginians, and behaved with in- supportable haughtiness to all around him. With a lethargy in all his senses, produced by self-sufficiency, he led his troops to be defeated and slaughtered by a handful of men, who intended only to molest their march.t
Dunbar proposed to return with his army, yet strong enough to meet the chemy, to Philadelphia; but consented, on the remonstrance of the Assembly of Pennsylvania, to keep the frontiers. He requested a conference with Governor Morris, at Shippensburg; but Governor Shirley having succeeded to the chief command of the forces in America, though at first he directed Dunbar to renew the enterprise on Fort Du Quesne, and to draw upon the neighbouring provinces for men and munitions, changed his mind, and deter- mined to employ his troops elsewhere, leaving to the populous provinces of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, the care of their own defence.
* Penn. Records.
t Penn. Gaz.
# Modern Univ. Hist. Marshall. Franklin Richard Peters' Report to Council.
W. Shirley's letter to Governor Morris. See note Z, Appendix.
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XXI. The defeat of General Braddock, wholly unexpected, produced great consternation throughout all the colonies. Upon receipt of intelli- gence of this extraordinary event, as Governor Belcher properly termed it, he summoned the Assembly of New Jersey, to meet him on the 1st of Au- gust; but it was not until the approach of winter, that they became fully aware of its disastrous consequences, and began to prepare against them. The enemy, long restrained, by fear of another attack, could scarce credit his senses, when he discovered the defenceless state of the frontiers; and now roamed, unmolested and fearlessly, along the western lines of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania; committing the most appalling outrages, and wanton cruelties, which the cupidity and ferocity of the savage could dictate. The first inroads were in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, whence, they were soon extended to the Susquehanna; and thence through Berks and Northampton Counties, across the Delaware, into New Jersey. New hor- rors were given to these scenes, by the defection of the Shawanese and Dela- ware Indians, who had hitherto continued faithful, and had repeatedly solicited employment against the French and their allies, with threats, that unless engaged with the English, they would take part against them. These threats had been humanely, if not wisely, withstood; and now, irritated by the love of blood, and of plunder, and the hopes fed by the French, of re- covering the lands they had sold, these savages openly joined the foc. To the perversion of these tribes, the Delaware chiefs, Shingas and Captain Jacobs, were highly instrumental. They had been loaded with presents and favours, by the provincial authorities of Pennsylvania, and the principal inhabitants of Philadelphia ; and their defection and perfidy, justly awakened the anger of the citizens of that province; who, with the approbation of the governor, proclaimed a reward of seven hundred dollars for their heads.
In the month of November, these barbarous wretches laid waste the set- tlements in Northampton county, not sparing even those of the Moravians, who had ever treated them and their brethren, with the greatest kindness. Gnadenhutten, on the Lehigh, was attacked, and several of its inhabitants slaughtered; and the other Moravian stations soon shared a like fate. A letter from the Union Iron Works, New Jersey, dated 20th December, 1755, says, "the barbarous and bloody scene, which is now open in the upper parts of Northampton County, is the most lamentable, that has perliaps ever appeared. There may be seen horror and desolation; populous settlements deserted-villages laid in ashes-men, women and children, cruelly man- gled and massacred-some found in the woods, very nauseous, for want of interment-some just reeking from the hands of their savage slaughterers- . and some hacked, and covered all over with wounds." To this letter was annexed, a list of seventy-eight persons killed, and more than forty settle- ments burned.
A letter from Easton, of the 25th of the same month, states, that " the country, all above this town, for fifty miles, is mostly evacuated and ruined. The people have. chiefly, fled into the Jerseys. Many of them have threshed out their corn, and carried it off. with their cattle, and best household goods; but a vast deal is left to the enemy. Many offered half their personal effects, to save the rest; but could not obtain assistance enough, in time to remove them. The enemy made but few prisoners; murdering almost all that fell into their hands, of all ages, and both sexes. All business is at an end; and the few remaining, starving inhabitants, in this town, are quite dejected and dispirited."
The panic, which foreran the savage monsters, seemed to deprive their prey, of the means of concerting defence and retaliation. And the farmers, intoxicated with hope, or stupefied by fear, suffered the invader to approach
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their solitary and undefended homesteads, without an effort to stop them on the way. This was the effect of a long period of peace, and the consequent total inexperience of warfare, as well as of the manner by which the assail- ants conducted their attacks. They wandered over the country, in small parties, concealing themselves, whilst danger was near, and pouncing, sud- denly, upon the unprepared, generally during the darkness of the night; they made undistinguished slaughter; and frequently consumed their vic- tims, upon the funeral piles formed of their dwellings. This senseless, and emasculating fear, seems to have spent itself, on the right bank of the De- laware. ..
The inhabitants of New Jersey, roused by the sufferings of their neigh- bours, prepared seasonably, not only to resist the foe, but to protect their friends. Among the energetic citizens of Sussex County, Colonel John Anderson was most conspicuous. With four hundred men, whom he col- lected, he scoured the country, marched to the defence of Easton, and pur- sued the dastard enemy, unhappily, in vain. The governor promptly des- patched troops from all parts of the province, to the defence of its western frontier; and the wealthy inhabitants advanced the funds requisite for their maintenance, until the Assembly, in the middle of December, took such troops, upon the provincial establishment, and recalled their battalion, under Colonel Schuyler, from the northern service, where it was then idle; and placed them, also, on the frontier. To meet the expenses thus incurred, the House, though greatly chagrined, at the rejection, by the King, of their bill, for a paper currency, voted £10,000, in such bills, redeemable at the usual period of five years .*
XXII. The troops destined for the northern expeditions, assembled at Albany, on the close of June, but were not equipped for the field, until the last of August. General Johnson proceeded to the southern shore of Lake George, on his way to Ticonderoga, where he received information of the approach of Baron Dieskau, at the head of twelve hundred regulars, and six hundred Canadians and Indians. He detached Colonel Williams, with one thousand men, to reconnoitre, and to skirmish with the enemy. Engaging with the foc, the detachment was overthrown, put to flight, and its com- mander killed. A second detachment, sent to the aid of the first, experienced a like fate: both.were pursued to the camp, where they found shelter, be- hind a breast-work of fallen trees, which the American army had thrown up, in its front. The artillery, which had lately arrived, was served with effect; and though the Baron advanced firmly to the charge, his militia and Indians deserted him, and he was compelled with his regulars to retreat. In the pursuit, which was close and ardent, Dieskau, mortally wounded and aban- doned, was made prisoner. A scouting party, under the command of Cap- tains Folsom and Maginnis, from Fort Edward, fell on the baggage of the enemy, routed the guard, and immediately after engaged with the retreating army; which, surprised by an enemy whose force it did not know, fled pre- cipitately towards the posts on the lake. This repulse of Dieskau, though not followed up by Johnson, was magnified into a splendid victory; served in some measure, to relieve the effect of Braddock's defeat, and procured the fortunate general, a present of five thousand pounds sterling, from the House of Commons, and the title of baronet, from the King. This army was soon after discharged, with the exception of six hundred men, retained to garrison Forts Edward and William Henry. The French seized and fortified Ticon- deroga.
General Shirley, at the head of the expedition against Niagara and Fron-
* Votes. 7
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tignac, did not reach Oswego, on Lake Ontario, until late in August. His force consisting of about thirteen hundred regulars, and one hundred and twenty militia and Indians, he divided; embarking between six and seven hundred men, for Niagara, and leaving the remainder at Oswego. But he had scarce embarked, before the rains set in with fury, and his Indians, dis- couraged, dispersed. It was apparent, that the season was now too far ad- vanced for the accomplishment of his design, which, by the advice of a council.of war, was abandoned. A garrison of seven hundred men was left at Oswego, to complete the works, and the general returned to Albany.
XXIII. The marauding parties of French and Indians hung on the western frontiers during the winter. To guard against their devastations, a chain of forts and block-houses, were erected by Pennsylvania, along the Kittatinny or Blue Mountain, from the river Delaware to the Maryland line, command- ing the principal passes of the mountains. In New Jersey, forts and block houses were also erected along the mountain, and at favorable points on the east bank of the Delaware river. Although the inroads of the savages across the river were infrequent, yet the fear which every one on the frontier felt, that his midnight slumbers might be broken by the warwhoop, or that his dwelling and out-houses might be consumed before the morning's dawn, was sufficient to disturb the repose of the most courageous. Many left their homes, and all called loudly upon the Assembly for additional means of de- fence. And in the spring, when the Jersey regiment was again to proceed to the north, the House authorized the enlistment of two hundred and fifty volunteers, to supply their place and that of the militia on the frontier. Two hundred of this force were also destined to unite with any troops that might be organized by other colonies, for pursuing the brutal enemy to his den, and making him, in the sufferings of his wives and his children, feel the horrors which he had delighted to inflict. The provincial force on the frontier was, subsequently, increased, and the whole was commanded by Colonel De Hart.
XXIV. Governor Shirley, having been appointed commander-in-chief, summoned, in the spring of the year 1756, the governors of the northern and middle colonies to settle the plan of the ensuing campaign. The council resolved on raising ten thousand two hundred and fifty men ; to attack Nia- gara, that the communication between Canada and Louisiana might be cut off; to reduce Ticonderoga and Crown Point, that the command of Lake Champlain might be obtained, and New York be freed from the apprehen- sion of invasion ; to besiege Fort Du Quesne; and to detach a body of forces, by the river Kennebeck, to alarm the capital of Canada. This plan was too extensive for the means which General Shirley possessed ; and served only to dissipate the strength, which more concentrated efforts might have ren- dered serviccable.
In enlisting troops for the approaching campaign, the recruiting parties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, gave great offence to the inhabitants, by the reception, if not, the seduction of their indented servants; and the Assembly of the latter province threatened to discontinue the regiment they had fur- nished, unless this grievance were redressed. Circumstances, however, did not admit the discharge of such recruits to any great extent; of which the House, becoming sensible, it appropriated £15,000, for the maintenance of that regiment for the ensuing campaign. Extraordinary inducements were offered at this time, for enlistment in the royal regiments. The recruits were exempted from service any where but in North America, and were promised a bounty of two hundred acres of land, free from quit-rents, for ten years, either in the province of New York, New Hampshire, or Nova Scotia, at their option; to be assured, in case they should be killed in the service, to
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