"He was borne off the field by some soldiers whom his aid-de-camp had bribed to that service by a guinea and a bottle of rum to each."—Lord Mahon's Hist. of England, vol. iv., p. 70.
[34] "Among the rest, the general's cabinet, with all his letters and instructions, which the French court afterward made great use of in their printed manifestoes."—Smollett's Hist. of England, vol. iii., p. 448; Belsham, vol. ii., p. 369.
[35] "Major Washington acquired on this occasion, in the midst of defeat, the honors and laurels of victory."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 369.
"They had seen a chosen army from that country, which, reverencing as a mother, they had fondly believed invincible; an army led by a chief who had been selected from a crowd of trained warriors for his rare military endowments, disgracefully routed by a handful of French and Indians, and only saved from annihilation by the spirit and coolness of a Virginian boy, whose riper fame has since diffused itself with the steady influence of moral truth to the uttermost confines of Christendom."—Last of the Mohicans.
[36] "Though the enemy did not so much as attempt to pursue, nor even appeared in sight, either in the battle or after defeat. On the whole, this was, perhaps, the most extraordinary victory that ever was obtained, and the farthest flight that ever was made."—Smollett's Hist. of England, vol. iii., p. 440.
[37] "I have already given you some account of Braddock; I may complete the poor man's history in a few more words. He once had a duel with Colonel Gumly, Lady Bath's brother, who had been his great friend. As they were going to engage, Gumly, who had good-humor and wit (Braddock had the latter), said, 'Braddock, you are a poor dog! here, take my purse; if you kill me, you will be forced to run away, and then you will not have a shilling to support you.' Braddock refused the purse, insisted on the duel, was disarmed, and would not even ask his life. However, with all his brutality, he has lately been governor of Gibraltar, where he made himself adored, and where never any governor was endured before. Adieu! Pray don't let any detachment from Pannoni's[60] be sent against us: we should run away."—Walpole's Letters to Sir H. Mann, August 28, 1755.
[38] "The European troops, whose cowardice has thus injured their country, are the same that ran away at Preston Pans. To prevent, however, any unjust national reflections, it must be remarked, that, though they are called Irish regiments, they are not regiments of Irishmen, but regiments on the Irish establishment, consisting of English, Irish, and Scotch, as other regiments do. It is, however, said, that the slaughter among our officers was not made by the enemy; but as they ran several fugitives through the body to intimidate the rest, when they were attempting in vain to rally them, some others, who expected the same fate, discharged their pistols at them, which, though loaded, they could not be brought to level at the French. On the other hand, it is alleged that the defeat is owing more to presumption and want of conduct in the officers than to cowardice in the private men; that a retreat ought to have been resolved upon the moment they found themselves surprised by an ambuscade; and that they were told by the men, when they refused to return to the charge, that if they could see their enemy they would fight him, but that they would not waste their ammunition against trees and bushes, nor stand exposed to invisible assailants, the French and Indian rangers, who are excellent marksmen, and in such a situation would inevitably destroy any number of the best troops in the world."—Gentleman's Magazine, August, 1755.
[39] "The American regulars, consisting of Shirley's and Pepperel's regiments, constituted the principal force relied on for the reduction of Niagara."—Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i., p. 308.
[40] "The fort of Niagara had been repaired by the French in 1741, in consequence of the apprehension they felt that the trading-house at Oswego, just established by the English at the mouth of the Onondaga River, would deprive them of a profitable trade, and of the command of the Lake Ontario."—Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i., p. 286.
"This fort was in other respects a very important post, for the lakes are so disposed that, without a somewhat hazardous voyage, one can not, any otherwise than by Niagara Fort, pass from the northeast to the southwest of North America for many hundred miles."—New Military Dictionary, London, 1760.