[46] Orme very accurately and tersely describes this day’s march over Keyser Ridge: “We could not reach our ground till about 7 of the clock, which was three hours later than common, as there was no water, nor even earth enough to fix a tent, between the great Mountain and this place” (Orme Journal, 338).
[47] At this camp, Washington, prostrated by a violent attack of fever, was left under a guard to await the arrival of Dunbar with the rest of the army. That it was really here, and not, as is usually asserted, at Little Meadows or Little Crossings that Washington was left, is clear from his own words. “We set out [from Little Meadows],” he wrote to his brother on June 28, “with less than thirty carriages including those that transported the ammunition for the howitzers, twelve-pounders, and six-pounders, and all of them strongly horsed; which was a prospect that conveyed infinite delight to my mind, though I was exceedingly ill at the time. But this prospect was soon clouded, and my hope brought very low indeed, when I found that, instead of pushing on with vigor, without regarding a little rough road, they were halting to level every mole-hill, and to erect bridges over every brook, by which means we were four days in getting twelve miles. At this camp I was left by the Doctor’s advice, and the General’s positive orders” (Washington, Writings, Sparks ed., II. 82-83).
What Washington says about the length of time spent in marching from Little Meadows helps to fix the location of the camp; for it agrees with Orme’s assertion that they left Little Meadows on June 19 and marched from the camp on June 23 (Orme Journal, 336-340). Even in the matter of distance there is a difference of only a mile between the two accounts, and this difference may be accounted for by the fact that Orme always uses the phrase “we marched about” so many miles. See also Pennsylvania Gazette, July 3, 1755.
[48] See Shippen’s manuscript draft of 1759, in the library of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
[49] Orme Journal, 340. This camping-ground was reached June 23, 1755. Shippen’s draft would seem to confirm the foregoing statements as to the course of the road from Addison to the Youghiogheny. On file, however, in the land office of the Interior Department at Harrisburg, under date of Oct. 8, 1788 is the survey of a tract (also marked Braddock’s Old Road) situated near the headwaters of the south branch of Braddock’s Run, about one mile south of Addison. This discovery, recently made, necessitates a further examination of the ground in order, if possible, to determine the exact location of the road between the state line and the Youghiogheny.
[50] According to Orme, the Youghiogheny is at this point “about one hundred yards wide, about three feet deep, with a very strong current” (Orme Journal, 340).
[51] The writer secured from Mr. Thomas an old axe that was found near Braddock Road. There is every reason to believe that it was used by one of Braddock’s wood-choppers.
[52] Orme Journal, 341. This camp was about four miles east of Great Meadows, on land now occupied by Albert Landman. Formerly one Job Clark kept a hotel at Twelve Springs on Braddock Road, one mile south of the National turnpike.
[53] Orme Journal, 341. Although the day was fast waning when the cortege passed Fort Necessity,—the place where Washington had the previous year capitulated with the honors of war to Coulon de Villiers,—no stop was made there. This fort, of which some of the outlines still remain, is situated on Meadow Run in Great Meadows, a few hundred yards south of the National turnpike. In 1767 Washington acquired, under the name of Mt. Washington, a tract of 334 acres embracing Fort Necessity. That portion of Great Meadows which includes the old fort is now owned by Lewis Fazenbaker. On July 4, 1908, a very suitable marker was erected to commemorate the battle there.
[54] The grave is enclosed by a board fence, within which are a number of beautiful pine trees. A marker was erected at this point on July 4, 1908. In 1909 a number of spirited citizens of Uniontown, Pa., organized an association known as “The General Edward Braddock Memorial Park Association.” They have purchased twenty-four acres of land, including Braddock’s grave, and, in order to preserve to posterity this historic spot, they propose to erect a suitable monument to his memory and otherwise embellish the grounds.