June 10th: the last Division of His Majesty’s Forces March’d from Wills Creek with General Braddock, when the General Arrived at the little Meadows 22 Miles from the Creek, and having all his Forces wth. him, found that the Carriages, Pack horses &ca. he had with him, retardid his Marches greatly, insomuch that in all probability, the French would be renforced, before he could possibly get there, provided he kept the whole Army together—he therefore selected 1200 of the Choicest Men besides Artillery & Seamen with the most Necessary Stores that might be wanted, which compleated 51 Carriages, and left the heavy Baggage Provisions &ca. with Colo. Dunbar and the rest of the Forces wth. Orders to follow as fast as possible: then March’d & continued untill 8th. July without Interruption save 8 or 9 Scalps on the March a Number much inferior to the Expectations, he Encamp’d within 8 Miles of Fort Dec Quisne where he held a Councill of War, when it was unaimously agreed that they should pass the Monongohela River in the Morning twice and that the advanced Party should March at 2 o’Clock in the Morning to secure that pass (the River being very broad and easily defended as the Fort was very near they thought it advisable to take that oppertunity, that the Enemy might not have a View of them, Therefore the General order’d that the Army should March over with fixt Bayonets to make a show.
On the 9th. July the advanced party of 400 Men March’d about 7. o’Clock some Indians Rush’d out of the Bushes, but did no Execution, the Party went on & secured both passes of the River, and at 11 the Main Body began to cross with Colours flying, Drums beating, & Fifes playing the Granadier’s March, and soon formed, when they thought that the French would not Attack them, as they might have done it wth. such advantages in crossing the Monogohela, The advanced party was ¼ Mile before the Main Body, the Rear of which was just over the River, when the Front was attacked The 2. Granadier Compys. formed the Flank The Piquets with the rest of the Men were Sustaining the Carpenters while they were cutting the Roads. The first Fire the Enemy gave was in Front, & they likewise gaul’d the Piquets in Flank, so that in few Minutes the Granadiers were nearly cut to pieces and drove into the greatest Confusion as was Capt. Polsons Compy. of Carpentrs. As soon as the Main Body heard that the Front was Attack’d they instantly advanced to secure them but found them retreating Upon which, the General Orderd the Artillery to draw up, & the Battalion to form, by this time the Enemy had Attacked the Main Body, which faced to the Right & left and engaged them, but could not see whom they Fired at, it was in an open Road, that the Main Body were drawn up, but the Trees were excessive thick round them, And the Enemy had possession of a Hill to the Right, which consequently was a great advantage to them, Many Officers declare, that they never saw above 5 of the Enemy at one time during the whole Action Our Soldiers were Encouraged to make many Attempts by the Officers (who behaved Gloriously) to take the Hill, but they had been so intimidated before by seeing their Comrades Scalp’d in their sight and such Numbers falling, that as they advanced up towards the Hill and there Officer’s being pict off which was generally the Case; they turn’d to their Rt. About & retired down the Hill. When the General perceived & was convinced that the Soldiers would not fight in a regular Manner without Officers, he devided them into small parties, and endeavour’d to surround the Enemy, but by this time the Major part of the Officers were either Kill’d or Wounded, and in short the Soldiers were totally deaf to the Commands & persuasions of the few Officers that were left unhurt. The General had 4 Horses shot under him before he was wounded, which was towards the latter part of the Action, when he was put into a Waggon with great dificulty as he was very Sollicitious for being left in the Field. The Retreat now became general, and it was the opinion of many people that had we greater Numbers, it would have been just the same thing, as our advanc’d party never regained the Ground they were first Attacked upon, it was extreamly lucky they pursued no farther than the first Crossing the River but they kill’d & Scalp’d every one they met with, The Army March’d all Night & Join’d Colonel Dunbar the next Day, 50 Miles distance from the Field of Battle, when the General order’d Colo. Dunbar to prepare for a Retreat in Order for which, they were Obliged to destroy great quantities of Stores and Provisions, to furnish the Wounded Officers & Soldiers with Waggons The Generals Pains encreased hourly, and on the 12th of July he Died greatly lamented by the whole Army, was decently though privately buried the next Morning.
The Numbers kill’d; Wounded & left in the Field as appeared by the Returns of the different Companies were 896 besides Officers The 2 Companies of the Grenadiers and Carpenters sufferd most Colo. Dunbars Grenadiers were 79 Compleat out of which 9 Returned untouch’d. Sr P. Halkets, were 69 & only 13 came out of ye Field Every Grenadier Officer was either kill’d or Wounded The Seamen had 11 Kill’d & wounded out of 33 it was impossible to tell the exact Nunbers of the Enemy but it was premised by the continual smart Fire the kept during the whole Action, that they must have at least Man for Man Mr. Engineer Gordon[38] was the first Man that saw the Enemy, being in the Front of the Carpenters, making & Picketing the Roads for them, and he declared where he first descover’d them, that they were on the Run, which plainly shews they were just come from Fort Dec Quesne and that their principal Intention was to secure the pass of Monnongohela River but the Officer who was their leader, dressed like an Indian, wth. a Gorgeton, waved his Hatt, by way of Signal to disperse to ye Right and left forming a half Moon Colo. Dunbar continued his Retreat and Arrived with the Remains of the Army at Fort Cumberland the 20th. July, and the 21st. the Wounded Officers & Soldiers were brought in.... 30th. July Orders were given for the Army to March the 2nd. August 1st. August Colo. Dunbar received a Letter from Commodore Kepple to send the Seamen to Hampton and accordingly the 2d. they March’d with the Army & on the 3d. August left them August 5th. Arrived at Winchester August 11th. March’d into Fredericksburgh and hired a Vessel to carry the Seamen to Hampton where they embarked on board his Majesty’s Ship Guarland the 18th. August 1755.
4:6 pounders. 2. 12 pounders, 3 Howitzers, 8 Cohorns, 51 Carriages of Provisions Ammunition Hospital Stores, The Generals private Chest which had about 1000£ in it with 200 Horses loaded with Officers Baggage.[39]
CHAPTER V
THE BATTLE OF THE MONONGAHELA
Sir Peter Halket moved out from Fort Cumberland on June 7 with a brigade comprising the 44th Regiment, two Independent Companies of New York, two companies of Virginia Rangers, one of Maryland Rangers, a total of nine hundred and eighty-four men, six hundred woodchoppers under Sir John St. Clair having been sent forward to widen and improve Washington’s road. The next day but one Colonel Thomas Dunbar marched away with another brigade comprising the 48th Regiment, a company of carpenters, three companies of Virginia Rangers, and one from South and North Carolina each, a total of nine hundred and ninety-three men. On the tenth, Braddock and his aides and the rest of the army which was approximately two thousand two hundred strong—a force powerful enough to have razed Duquesne, Venango, La Bœuf, Presque Isle, and Niagara to the ground—if it could have reached them.
This Franklin who secured Braddock horses and wagons was a prophet. And once he predicted that this “slender line” of an army would be greatly in danger of Indian ambuscade “and be cut, like a thread, into several pieces, which, from their distance, cannot come up in time to support each other.” Braddock laughed at the prophecy, but his army had not been swallowed up in the gloom of the forests two days before its line was thinner and longer than Braddock could ever have believed. When encamped at night, the line of wagons compactly drawn together was half a mile long; in marching order by day the army was often spread out to a length of four miles. And even in this fashion it could only creep along. Halket with the first division made only five miles in three days. In ten days Braddock had only covered the twenty-four miles to Little Crossings. The road makers followed implicitly the Indian path where it was possible; when on the high ground the road was so rugged that many wagons were entirely demolished and more temporarily disabled; when off this track in the ravines they were buried axle deep in the bogs.