USA > Pennsylvania > Crawford County > Our country and its people. A historical and memorial record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. > Part 11
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On the 8th of July, Washington found himself sufficiently recovered to join the advance of the army, at its camp about two miles from the Monongahela, and fifteen from Fort Du Quesne. Though they were now on the same side of the river as the fort, yet not far in advance, a precipitous bluff extended down close in upon the river bank, leaving little room for the march, and where a column would be exposed for a distance of two miles to a sudden attack from the heights. Accordingly, it was deter- mined to cross to the left bank of the river by a ford, move down five miles, recross to the right bank, and then move on to the attack of the fort. According to orders, Gage, with two companies of Grenadiers, the company of Captain Gates, and two six-pounders, before daylight on the morning of the 9th, crossed and recrossed the river as planned, and took up a position favorable for covering the moving the remainder of the column. A party
of some fifty Indians rushed out upon them, but were soon put to flight. Knowing now the nature of the ground upon which they had come, and realizing the hazards from a covert attack to which they were exposed, having come in such close proximity to the enemy, and doubtless recalling the buzz of the bullets and buck-shot about his ears in his fight at Fort Necessity, Washington ventured to suggest that as the Virginia rangers were accustomed to Indian warfare, they be given the advance. But the proposition was received with a sharp rebuke by the General, believing, no doubt, that the young provincial aid was ignorant of the principles of high art in warfare, and indignant that any subordinate should pretend to advise him.
Braddock was now near enough to the fort to anticipate the battle at
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any moment. He accordingly prepared to make a fine show. At sunrise the main body, all under his immediate command, turned out in full uniform. Their arms had been brightened the night before, and at the beating of the general, were charged with fresh cartridges. At the crossings of the stream, where it was supposed that the enemy would be on the watch to observe them, in order that they might make the greatest show of power and strength, they moved with fixed bayonets, colors gayly given to the breeze, the trumpet sounding and the fife and drum marking the measured tread. "Washington," says Irving, "with his keen and youthful relish for military affairs, was delighted with their perfect order and equipment, so different from the rough bush-fighters to which he had been accustomed. Roused to new life, he forgot his recent ailments, and broke forth in expressions of enjoyment and admiration, as he rode in company with his fellow aids-de- camp, Orme and Morris. Often in after life he used to speak of the effect upon him of the first sight of a well-disciplined European army marching in high confidence and bright array on the eve of a battle."
Having now all crossed to the right bank, as was supposed within nine miles of the fort, the column was in battle order, Gage with his force pre- ceded by the engineers and guides, and six light horsemen leading; St. Clair, with the working party flanked with soldiers, and the wagons and two six-pounders following; then the General, with the main body, and the provincial troops bringing up the rear. Along the track they were to pursue was a plain for some distance, then rising ground flanked on either side by wooded ravines. At two o'clock the advance under Gage, having crossed this plain, was ascending the rise, the General himself having given the order to the main body to march, and being now under way, suddenly a heavy firing was heard at the head of the column, accompanied by un- earthly yells. Colonel Burton was immediately ordered forward to the support of Gage, who had been attacked by an unseen foe lurking in ambush, but drawn out in most advantageous order for extending their attack upon the flanks of the advancing English. They were commanded by a Frenchman, Beaujeu, attired in a "gayly-fringed hunting shirt," who led them on and directed the fight. The Indians observed no order, but, extending rapidly down the ravines on the flank of the column, poured in a murderous fire upon the regulars and pioneers, who stood out boldly, presenting themselves as targets for the concealed foe, who used their rifles
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with deadly effect. The firing on both sides was brisk. The Indian was accustomed to see his foe dodge behind trees and seek cover wherever he could. He had never seen such fine sport before, where the victim stood up boldly, giving a fair chance to shoot him down. The Indian war-whoop was something appalling, and the regulars seemed to dread it more than the bullets. Gage ordered his men to fix bayonets, and form for a charge up a hill whence was the heaviest fire; but all to no purpose. They were being surrounded by an unseen foe, which crept stealthily along the hills and ravines, keeping up a most deadly fire. A panic seized the pioneers, and many of the soldiers. Braddock and his officers behaved in the most gallant manner, exposing themselves to the fire of their dusky foes in their attempts to reform the shattered ranks and advance them to the attack. Washington suggested that the Indian mode of skulking be resorted to. But Braddock would listen to no advice, being reported to have said upon this occasion, "What! a Virginia colonel teach a British general how to fight!" But that young Virginian counseled wisely in this dire necessity. For three long hours Braddock saw the work of slaughter go on, while he attempted to form his troops in platoons, in the open ground, and advance them upon the concealed foe. The provincial troops, in spite of the General, shielded themselves behind trees and did greater execution upon the foe than all the firing of the regulars. The latter were thrown into great con- fusion by this savage style of warfare, where no foe could be seen, and where they were only guided in directing their fire by the flashes and smoke from the rifles of the skulking enemy. The English soldiers huddled to- gether and fired at random, sometimes shooting down their own friends. The carnage of the regulars was terrible. Nearly one-half of all those who had marched forth in faultless uniforms, and whose bright armor had re- flected the morning sunlight, before nightfall lay stark and stiff in death, or were suffering from ghastly wounds. The foe was largely made up of Indians, and only about half of the number of the English, who were utterly defeated. Finally, General Braddock himself was mortally wounded, and immediately gave orders for the troops to fall back. Fortunately, the Indians fell to plundering the dead, and neglected to pursue the retreating army.
General Braddock had five horses shot under him before receiving his death wound. It has been currently reported that he was shot by Thomas Faucett, one of the independent rangers. Braddock had given orders that 7
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none of his soldiers should take shelter behind trees or cover. Faucett's brother had sheltered himself, when Braddock, to enforce his order, struck the refractory soldier to the earth with his sword. Seeing his brother fall, Faucett shot the General in the back, and thereafter the provincials fought as they pleased, and did good execution. Sir Peter Halket was instantly killed, Shirley was shot through the head; Colonel Burton, Sir John St. Clair, Colonel Gage, Colonel Orme, Major Sparks and Major Halket were wounded. Five captains were killed, and five wounded; fifteen lieutenants were killed, and twenty-two wounded. The killed and wounded of the privates amounted to seven hundred and fifteen. Over four hundred were supposed to have been killed. The very large and unusual number killed outright can only be accounted for on the supposition that the badly wounded, who were unable to get away, were murdered by the Indians when they came upon the field, as all were stripped and scalped.
When the two aids, Orme and Sparks, were wounded, all orders upon the field had to be carried by Washington, who was conspicuous upon every part, behaving in the most gallant manner. He had two horses shot under him, and four bullet-holes through his coat. In a letter to his brother he wrote: "As I have heard, since my arrival at this place, a circumstantial account of my death and dying speech, I take this opportunity of contra- dicting the first, and of assuring you that I have not composed the latter. By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected be- yond all human probability or expectation, for I had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me, and escaped unhurt, though death was levelling my companions on every side of me." Many of the remarkable stories told of eminent men are of doubtful authenticity, but the following is unquestionably true. Dr. Craig, the intimate friend of Washington, who had attended him in his sickness on the march, and was present in this battle, relates that some fifteen years afterward, while traveling with Washington near the junction of the Great Kanawha and Ohio Rivers in exploring wild lands, they were met by a party of Indians with an interpreter, headed by a venerable chief. The old Sachem said he had come a long way to see Colonel Washington, for in the battle of the Monongahela he had singled him out as a conspicuous object, had fired his rifle at him fifteen times and directed his young warriors to do the same, but not one could hit him. A superstitious dread seized him, and he was satisfied that the Great Spirit
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protected the young hero, and ceased firing at him. It is a singular cir- cumstance that in all his campaignings Washington was never wounded.
Of the conduct of the regulars in this battle some diversity of opinion exists. Washington, in a letter to his mother, which he never suspected would be made public, and in which he would be expected to tell his real sentiments, writes: "In short, the dastardly behavior of those they call regulars exposed all others who were inclined to do their duty to almost certain death; and at last, in despite of all the efforts of the officers to the contrary, they ran as sheep pursued by dogs, and it was impossible to rally them."
Braddock, though mortally wounded, was still able to give orders. After having brought off the remnant of his force and recrossed the river, he posted his command in an advantageous position, and put out sentinels in the hope of still making a successful advance when his reinforcements, under Dunbar, should come up; but before an hour had elapsed most of his men had stolen away, and fled towards Fort Cumberland. Indeed, the teamsters had, from the beginning of the battle, taken out the best horses from their teams and rode away. Seeing that no stand could be made, the retreat was continued, and Colonel Gage coming up with eighty men, whom he had rallied, gave some show of order. Washington was directed to pro- ceed to Dunbar's camp, forty miles away, and order forward trains and sup- plies for bringing off the wounded. This was executed. At Gist's plan- tation he met Gage escorting Braddock and a portion of the wounded. At Dunbar's Camp a halt of one day was made, when the retreat was resumed, and at the Great Meadows, on the night of the 13th, Braddock breathed his last. He had been heard to mutter: "Who would have thought it?" and "We shall better know how to deal with them another time," as if he still hoped to rally and to fight. Lest the Indians should be watching and know of his death and burial place, the ceremony of his interment took place just before dawn in the morning. The chaplain had been wounded, and Wash- ington read the burial service over his grave. He was buried in the road- way, and the trains were driven over the grave, so that the savages should not discover his last resting place. The grave is a few yards north of the present National road, between the fifty-third and fifty-fourth mile stone from Cumberland, and about a mile west of Fort Necessity at the Great Meadows. "Whatever may have been his [Braddock's] faults and errors,"
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says Irving, "he in a manner expiated them by the hardest lot that can befall a brave soldier, ambitious of renown-an unhonored grave in a strange land."
Dunbar seems to have been completely cowed by the misfortunes of the day and the death of his general. He hastily burst all the cannon, burned the baggage and gun-carriages, destroyed the ammunition and stores, and made a hasty retreat to Fort Cumberland. When all were got together he found he had fifteen hundred troops, a sufficient number to have gone forward and taken the fort. But the war-whoop of the savage seemed to be still ringing in his ears, and the fear of losing his scalp over- shadowed all. He continued to fall back, and did not seem quite at ease till he had reached Philadelphia, where the population could afford him entire security. The result of the campaign was humiliating to British arms, and Franklin observed in his biography, "The whole transaction gave us the first suspicion that our exalted ideas of British regular troops had not been well founded." Had Braddock moved in light marching order, using pack horses for transportation, and taken only so much baggage as was neces- sary for a short campaign, or, had he, when attacked, taken shelter and raked the ravines with his artillery, the fort would have been his with scarcely a struggle.
It has since been disclosed with how slender a force Braddock was defeated. "The true reason," says Irving, "why the enemy did not pursue the retreating army, was not known until sometime afterwards, and added to tlie disgrace of the defeat. They were not the main force of the French, but a mere detachment, 72 regulars, 146 Canadians, and 637 Indians, 855 in all, led by Captain de Beaujeu. De Contrecœur, the commander of Fort Du Quesne, had received information through his scouts that the English, three thousand strong, were within six leagues of his fort. Despairing of making any effectual defense against such a superior force, he was balanc- ing in his mind whether to abandon his fort without awaiting their arrival or to capitulate on honorable terms. In this dilemma Beaujeu prevailed upon him to let him sally forth with a detachment to form an ambush and give check to the enemy. De Beaujeu was to have taken post at the river, and have disputed the passage at the ford. For that purpose he was hur- rying forward, when discovered by the pioneers of Gage's advance party. Gage was a gallant officer, and fell at the beginning of the fight. The whole
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number of killed and wounded of French and Indians did not exceed seventy. Such was the scanty force which the imagination of the panic- stricken armny had magnified into a great host. and from which they had fled in breathless terror, abandoning the whole frontier. No one could have been more surprised than the French commander himself, when the ambus- cading party returned in triumph with a long train of pack horses laden with booty, the savages uncouthly clad in the garments of the slain-grena- dier caps, officers' gold-laced coats and glittering epaulettes-flourishing swords and sabres, or firing off muskets and uttering fiend-like yells of vic- tory. But when De Contrecœur was informed of the utter rout and de- struction of the much dreaded British army, his joy was complete. He ordered the guns of the fort to be fired in triumph, and sent out troops in pursuit of the fugitives.
Braddock lost all of his papers, orders and correspondence, even to his own commission, his military chest containing £25,000 in money, and one hundred beeves. Washington lost his journal and the notes of his cam- paign to Fort Necessity of the year before. Indeed, with the exception of Orme's journal, and a seaman's diary, no papers were saved. In a letter to his brother, Augustine, Washington recounted his losses and privations in his several public services, in a repining strain: "I was employed to go a journey in the winter, when I believe few or none would have undertaken it, and what did I get by it? My expenses borne. I was then appointed with trifling pay to conduct a handful of men to the Ohio. What did I get by that? Why. after putting myself to a considerable expense in equip- ping and providing necessaries for the campaign, I went out, was soundly beaten, and lost all! Came in and had my commission taken from me; or, in other words, my command reduced, under pretense of an order from home (England). I then went out a volunteer with General Braddock, and lost all my horses and many other things. But this being a voluntary act. I ought not to mention it; nor should I have done it were it not to show that I have been on the losing order ever since I entered the service, which is now nearly two years."
Ah! George, this does look like a sad case to you now! You did lose a few horses and their trappings; you did suffer on a winter tramp through the forest, and were fired on by the savage, and hurled into the icy cur- rent of the deep flowing river. You did get entrapped at Fort Necessity.
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and on Braddock's field innumerable bullets were aimed at you, when, pale with sickness, you rode up and down that bloody ground. But, my young friend, did you ever cast up your gains in these campaignings? You did suffer some losses in horses and bridles and the like. But there was not a true breast in all America that did not swell with pride when it knew the fidelity and resolution you displayed in the trusts imposed upon you, and the gallant manner in which you acted on that fatal field, when all around were stricken with terror and dismay, and your General was bleeding with a mortal hurt. You did, indeed. lose some sleep. and disease preyed upon your system in consequence of exposure: but there was not an English- man in all the civilized world who was not touched with some share of your anguish when the story of your heroism was rehearsed; not a Chris- tian in all the land who could not join with the President of Princeton Col- lege, the Rev. Samuel Davis, who referred in a sermon preached not long after the event, to "that heroic youth. Colonel Washington, whom I cannot but hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a manner for soine important service to his country."
CHAPTER IX.
CRAWFORD COUNTY SHALL BE AN ENGLISH AND NOT A FRENCH SPEAKING PEOPLE.
T HE disaster to Braddock touched the pride of the British nation, and war was promptly declared against France on the 17th of May, 1756. Preparations were made to conduct a vigorous campaign. Ten thousand men were to attack Crown Point, six thousand to advance upon Niagara, three thousand to move against Fort Du Quesne, and two thousand were to descend from Kennebec upon the French upon the Chau- diere River. But before any movement could be made, the French, under Montcalmn, crossed Lake Ontario, captured Fort Ontario, killing the com- mander, Colonel Mercer, took fourteen hundred prisoners, a quantity of arms and stores, and several vessels, and having destroved the forts, re- turned to Canada without serious loss. This threw the whole frontier of New York and the Six Nations, who had remained loyal to the English, open to the French.
The English army, upon the death of Braddock, having completely retired from the field, the whole frontier of Pennsylvania was open to the savages, who, having had the taste of blood, like wild beasts, would not be satisfied till they were gorged. The chieftain, Shingiss, with his braves, in their war paint, crossed the summits of the Alleghany Mountains and de- scended upon the defenseless pioneers. Being now upon the warpath, with stealthy step, the savage came upon the unsuspecting settler. and his stony heart was untouched by the cries for pity. The tender infant and trembling aged were mercilessly tomahawked and scalped, and their cabins burned. Many women and children were borne away into savage captivity, and never returned to know home or friends again. The torch of savage warfare lighted up all the border, and even penetrated far into the settled portions of the country. An express to Governor Sharpe of Maryland says: "The
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Indians destroy all before them, firing houses, barns, stock yards, and everything that will burn." "The people," says Governor Morris of Penn- sylvania, in a communication to the Governor of Virginia, "are mostly with- out arms, and struck with such a panic that they flee as fast as they can from their habitations."
Pushing forward at every point, they finally compassed the whole fron- tier east of the mountains, stretching from the Delaware Water Gap to the Potomac waters, a distance of 150 miles, and a breadth of 20 to 30 miles. So deadly had the Indian incursions become, and so threatening to the peace and safety of the colony, that the Governor, on the 14th of April, issued his proclamation declaring war against the Delawares, and offering a reward for Indian scalps and prisoners. Troops were raised, through the influence of Franklin, and a line of forts was erected along the Kittatiny Hills, extending from the Delaware to the Potomac, at a cost of £85,000, those on the east bank of the Susquehanna being Depui, Lehigh, Allen, Everitt, Williams, Henry, Swatara, Hunter, Halifax and Augusta, and those on the west bank Louther, Morris, Franklin, Granville, Shirley Lyttleton and Loudoun. Much difficulty was experienced in overcoming the scruples of the Qua- kers: but Franklin issued and circulated a dialogue answering the objec- tions to a legalized militia, and at the earnest solicitation of the Governor he was put in command of the troops raised. Colonel John Armstrong, who was in command of the second regiment, stationed west of the Sus- quehanna, was ordered to proceed against King Shingiss, who had his home at Kittanning, on the banks of Allegheny River. Here he had quite a town, and here dwelt Captain Jacobs, chief of the Delawares. The French sup- plied them plentifully with arms and ammunition. The march was a toil- some one over mountains and unbridged streams. Armstrong's advance reached the Allegheny River "about one hundred perches below the main body of the town, a little before the setting of the moon, to which, rather than by pilots, we were guided by the beating of the drum, and the whoop- ing of the warriors at their dances. It then became us to make the best use of our moonlight; but we were aware that an Indian whistled in a very singular manner, about thirty perches from our front, in the foot of a corn- field, upon which we immediately sat down, and, after passing silence to the rear, I asked one Baker, a soldier, who was our best assistant, whether that was not a signal to their warriors of our approach. He answered, 'No;'
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and said it was the manner of a young fellow calling a squaw, after he had done his dance, who, accordingly, kindled a fire, cleaned his gun, and shot it off before he went to sleep." The night was warm, and the Indians pre- pared to sleep in different parts of the cornfield, building some light fires to drive away gnats. Sending a part of his force along the hills to the right to cut off retreat in that direction, Armstrong himself led the larger part below and opposite the cornfield, where he supposed the warriors lay. At the break of day the attack was made, advancing rapidly through the corn and sending a detachment to advance upon the houses. Captain Jacobs then gave the warwhoop, and, with other Indians, cried. "The white men have at last come; we will have scalps enough," but at the same time ordered the squaws and children to flee to the woods. The fire in the cornfield was brisk, and from the houses, which were built of logs and loopholed, the In- dians did some execution without exposing themselves. Accordingly, the order was given to fire the houses, and as the flames spread the Indians were summoned to surrender, but one of them made answer, "I am a man, and will not be a prisoner." He was told that he would be burned. To this he replied "that he did not care, for he would kill four or five before he died." As the fire began to approach, and the smoke grew thick, one of the Indian fellows, to show his manhood, began to sing. A squaw in the same house. and at the same time, was heard to cry and make a noise; but for so doing was severely rebuked by the men; but by and by, the fire being too hot for them, two Indian fellows and a squaw sprang out and made for the corn- field, who were immediately shot down; then, surrounding the houses, it was thought Captain Jacobs tumbled himself out at the garret or cockloft window, at which he was shot-our prisoners offering to be qualified to the powder-horn and pouch, there taken off him, which they say he had lately got from a French officer. "During the burning of the houses," says Colonel Armstrong, "which were nearly thirty in number, we were agreeably enter- tained with a quick succession of charged guns gradually firing off as they were reached by the fire; but more so with the vast explosion of sundry bags and large kegs of gun powder, wherewith almost every house abounded. The prisoners afterward informed us that the Indians had frequently said they had a sufficient stock of ammunition for ten years to war with the English."
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