All of this began to look very much like a fresh outbreak of war between England and France; but more and worse was to follow before a formal declaration of war was made in 1756. The Duke of Cumberland, son of George II, then Captain General of the British Armies, laid plans for a great American campaign which, once for all, was to cripple the French power in the west. Three expeditions were devised against French strategic strongholds on the American continent: One was to proceed against Crown Point on Lake George, a second against Fort Niagara and the third to capture the newly erected Fort DuQuesne. Major-General Edward Braddock, a veteran soldier thoroughly trained on Europe's battlefields, of unquestioned personal courage but abysmally ignorant of Indian warfare, was vested with the supreme command and with two British regiments, the 44th and 48th, set sail for America. The expedition landed at Alexandria where a general conference was immediately called at which were present, in addition to Braddock, Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia, Governor Delancey and Colonel William Johnson of New York, Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, Governor Sharp of Maryland, Governor Morris of Pennsylvania and other leaders. To these men Braddock revealed his orders and plans and the governors received the King's instructions as to the part they were to play in the campaign.

Alexandria was a poor starting point for Fort DuQuesne. Far better would have been Philadelphia, offering as it did not only a shorter route but more abundant and easily available supplies. Maryland interests, seeking the advantage of the highway to the west which the army would make, brought pressure to bear to have the force go through that Colony. It was finally decided to send a part of the troops through Maryland and a part through Virginia, the divided army to come together again at Will's Creek where, in the meanwhile, a large and strongly palisaded fort had been built by Colonel James Innes under the instructions of Governor Dinwiddie. A force of 1,400 Virginians and Marylanders was raised and added to the English troops and "on the 8th and 9th of April the provincials and six companies of the 44th under command of Sir Peter Halkett set out for Winchester, Lieutenant Colonel Gage and four companies remaining to escort the artillery. On the 18th of April the 48th, under Colonel Dunbar, set out for Frederick."[64] Although General Braddock, with Major Washington on his staff, crossed over into Maryland at Rock Creek and went to Will's Creek through that Colony, never entering or even seeing the embryo Loudoun, the local stories are still repeated, and with the utmost confidence, of the route he followed through that County and even where he spent the night. It was, as it still is, "Braddock's Army" in popular parlance and, as time passed, the commander's presence with the march through Virginia became a part of its story.

Had the supreme command of the expedition been vested in Halkett, rather than Braddock, one may reasonably believe that there would have been a very different outcome. A trained and able soldier, no less courageous than his chief, he was more cautious, more susceptible to new ideas and methods and far less arbitrary than lay in Braddock's nature to be. He learned to respect the dearly bought and superior knowledge of Indian fighting traits possessed by the provincials and wished to follow their recommendations that to Braddock, with his unbounded confidence in iron discipline, simply savoured of colonial ignorance and lack of military courage. Loudoun should remember Halkett not only as the commander of the march through her domain but as a brave and devoted soldier as well.

"Sir Peter Halkett of Pitferran, Fifeshire, a baronet of Nova Scotia," writes Sargent, "was the son of Sir Peter Wedderburne of Gosford, who, marrying the heiress of the ancient family of Halkett, assumed her name."[65] Our Sir Peter had married Lady Amelia Stewart, second daughter of Francis, 8th Earl of Moray, by whom he had three sons. Of these, James, the youngest, was a subaltern in his father's regiment and accompanied him on the expedition.

Of the Virginia troops serving in this campaign an effort has been made to identify such as came from the incipient Loudoun. All the Virginians were directly under the command of Captain Waggoner. As Loudoun was then a part of Fairfax her men were, of course, listed as from the latter county.

In March, 1756, the Virginia Legislature passed as its first act[66] an emergency measure from which we learn the names of certain soldiers from the then undivided Fairfax but from which side of Difficult Run each man came does not appear, or as to whether they went on Braddock's expedition or served nearer home, then or subsequently. The small amount of compensation awarded to each indicates a period of active service too short to have permitted them to be at the battle. Probably they were used east of the Blue Ridge.

That not all of the Virginia soldiers of the expedition of 1755 were enthusiastic volunteers is suggested by the passage of Chapter II of the session of 1754 which states in its preamble that as the King had instructed his lieutenant governor to raise soldiers for the expedition against the French on the Ohio and that there were "in every county and corporation within this Colony, able bodied persons, fit to serve his majesty, and who follow no lawful calling or employment" the justices of the peace, through the sheriffs, were ordered to forcibly enlist them, provided they were not voters or indentured servants![67] To raise money for the campaign an act was passed in May, 1755, instituting a public lottery with a first prize of £2,000 "current money" and many other prizes amounting altogether to £20,000 "current money."[68]

The route to be followed by Halkett's command is given in Braddock's Orderly Book as follows:

"Alexandria 11th April 1755
.... March Rout of Sir Peter Halkett's Regiment from the
Camp at Alexandria to Winchester miles
To Ye old Court House18
To Mr. Colemans on Sugar Land Run
where there is Indian Corn12
To Mr. Miner's15
To Mr. Thompson ye Quaker wh is 3000 wt. corn12
To Mr. They's ye Ferry at Shanh17
From Mr. They's to Winchester23
—
97"

Thus from the date of entry, only two days after the last of Halkett's men had left the camp, we learn that the route given was the one ordered followed, rather than a report of one that had been pursued; but as it carefully describes the main northern road from Alexandria to Winchester it is safe to assume that the troops held to the course laid down for them.