The number of killed, wounded, and missing, out of this small army, amounted to 896 men, and sixty-four officers, as appeared by the returns of the different companies after the battle. Some few, indeed, of these ultimately reappeared, but most of the wounded and missing met with a fate far more terrible from their savage enemies than a soldier's death upon the field. Of fifty-four women who had accompanied the troops, only four escaped alive from the dangers and hardships of the campaign. The French, on the other hand, only report the loss of their commander, De Beaujeu, and sixty men in this astonishing victory.
On Braddock's death, Colonel Dunbar fell back with disgraceful haste upon Fort Cumberland; nor did he even there consider himself safe. Despite the entreaties of the governors of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, that he would remain to protect the frontier, he continued his march to Philadelphia, leaving only a small garrison of two Provincial companies at the fort. From Philadelphia the remains of the army, 1600 strong, was shipped for Albany by the order of General Shirley, who had succeeded to the command of the British American forces.
In consequence of this lamentable defeat and the injudicious withdrawal of the remaining British troops, the western borders of Pennsylvania and Virginia were exposed during the ensuing winter to the ruthless cruelties of the victorious savages, and the scarcely less ferocious hostilities of their European allies. The French not only incited the Indians to these aggressions, but rewarded them by purchasing their hapless captives at a high price, and in turn exacted large ransoms for the prisoners' release. Their pretense was to rescue the English from the torture, their real motive gain, and the rendering it more profitable for the savages to hunt their enemies than the wild animals of the forest.
From the presumptuous rashness of Braddock and the misconduct of the 44th and 48th regiments,[38] followed results of a far deeper importance than the loss of a battle and the injury of a remote province. The conviction formerly held by the colonists of the superior prowess of English regulars was seriously shaken, if not destroyed, and the licentious and violent conduct of Dunbar's army to the inhabitants during the retreat excited a wide-spread feeling of hostility. "They are more terrible, to us than to the enemy," said the discontented: "they slighted our officers and scorned our counsel, and yet to our Virginians they owe their escape from utter destruction." Some far-sighted and ambitious men there were, who, through this cloud upon the British arms, with hope espied the first faint rays of young America's ascending star.
The second expedition, set on foot by the council at Alexandria, was that under General Shirley: two Provincial regiments[39] and a detachment of the royal artillery were assembled by his order at Albany, to march against Niagara.[40] All the young men who had been, during more peaceful times, occupied by the fur trade in the neighboring country, were engaged to man the numerous bateaux for the transport of the troops and stores to Oswego. Part of the force commenced their westward journey in the beginning of July, and the remainder were preparing to follow, when the disastrous news of Braddock's ruin reached the camp. This struck a damp upon the undisciplined Provincial troops, and numbers deserted their colors, while the indispensable bateaux-men[41] nearly all fled to their homes, and resisted alike threats and entreaties for their return. The general, however, still vigorously pushed on, with all the force he could keep together. Great hopes had been formed of the assistance likely to be rendered to the expedition by the powerful confederacy of the Five Nations, but these politic savages showed no inclination to trust to the then doubtful fortunes of the British colonies, and even remonstrated against the transit of their territories by the army, alleging that the Oswego fort was established and tolerated by them as a trading-post,[42] but not as a place of arms for hostile purposes. After having undergone considerable hardships and overcome great difficulties, Shirley reached Oswego by the 18th of August:[43] his whole force, however, had not arrived till the end of the month. Want of supplies and the lateness of the season defeated his intention of attacking Niagara that year. On the 24th of October he withdrew from the shores of Lake Ontario, without having accomplished any thing of the slightest importance. Leaving 700 men under Colonel Mercer to complete and occupy the defenses of Oswego, and those of a new fort to be called Fort Ontario, he retraced the difficult route to his old quarters at Albany.[44]
The expedition against Crown Point was the last in commencement of those planned by the council at Albany, but the first in success. By the advice of Shirley, the command was intrusted to William Johnson,[45] an Irishman by birth. This remarkable man had emigrated to New York at an early age, and by uncommon gifts of mind and body, united to ardent ambition, had risen from the condition of a private soldier, to wealth, consideration, and a seat at the council-board of his adopted country. For some years he had been settled on the fertile banks of the Mohawk River, where he had built two handsome residences and acquired a large estate. He associated himself intimately with the Indians of the Five Nations, learned their language, habits, and feelings, and gained their affection and respect. In war, he was their chief and leader; in peace, the persevering advocate of their rights and interests. Accordingly, when called to the command of the army, Hendrick, a Mohawk sachem, and 300 warriors of that tribe, followed him to the camp.
General Johnson had never seen a campaign, his troops had never seen an enemy, with the exception of a few companies that had shared the glories of Louisburg, but his ability and courage, and their zeal and spirit, served instead of experience. To this force was intrusted the most difficult undertaking in the checkered campaign, and it alone gained a share of honor and success.
By the end of June, 6000 men, the hardy militia of the Northern States,[46] had mustered at Albany under Johnson's command. He soon after sent them forward, with Major-general Lyman, to the carrying-place between Lake George and the Hudson River, sixty miles in advance. Here they established a post called Fort Edward, in a strong position, while the artillery, provisions, and boats for the campaign were being prepared under the general's eye. Toward the end of August, Johnson joined his army at the carrying-place, and proceeded to the southern extremity of Lake George, leaving Colonel Blanchard with 300 men to garrison the newly-erected fort.
Here all the Indian scouts brought the news that the French had intrenched themselves at Ticonderoga, on the promontory between the Lakes George and Champlain, but that the works were still incomplete. Johnson promptly prepared for the offensive; soon, however, his plans were changed by the news of Baron Dieskau's arrival on the lake with a considerable force of regular troops from Old France. The well-known ability and courage of the enemy, together with his formidable force, alarmed Johnson for the safety of the British settlements; he therefore immediately dispatched an earnest entreaty for re-enforcements to the provincial governments, who loyally responded to the appeal, but the danger had passed before their aid reached the scene of action.
Baron Dieskau had been ordered to reduce the Fort of Oswego, on Lake Ontario, as the primary object of his campaign; but, on hearing that a British force was in motion upon Lake George, he determined first to check or destroy them, and pressed on rapidly against Johnson with 2000 men, chiefly Canadians and Indians. The English chief was apprized of this movement, but could form no estimate of the enemy's strength, his savage informants being altogether ignorant of the science of numbers: he nevertheless made every possible preparation for defense, and warned Colonel Blanchard to concentrate all his little force within the fort: that officer was, however, slain in the mean time by an advance party of the French.