On the 3rd of July a courier from Fort Bedford rode into Carlisle, and as he stopped to water his horse he was immediately surrounded by an anxious crowd, to whom he told his tale of woe, adding, as he mounted his horse to ride on to Bouquet's tent, "The Indians will soon be here." Terror and excitement spread everywhere, messengers were dispatched in every direction to give the alarm, and the reports, harrowing as they had been, were fully confirmed by the fugitives who were met on every road and by-path hurrying to Carlisle for refuge. A party armed themselves and went out to warn the living and bury the dead. They found death and desolation everywhere, and sickened with horror at seeing groups of hogs tearing and devouring the bodies of the dead.
After a delay of eighteen days, having secured enough wagons, horses and oxen, Bouquet began his perilous march, with a force much smaller than Braddock's, to encounter a foe far more formidable. But Bouquet, the man of iron will and iron hand, had served seven years in America, and understood his work.
On July 25th he reached Fort Bedford, when he was fortunate in securing thirty backwoodsmen to go with him. This little army toiled on through the blazing heat of July over the Alleghanies, and reached Fort Ligonier, August 2nd, the Indians, who had besieged the fort for two months, disappearing at the approach of the troops. Here Bouquet left his oxen and wagons and resumed his march on the 4th. On the 5th, about noon, he encountered the enemy at Bushy Run. The battle raged for two days, and ended in a total route of the savages. The loss of the British was one hundred and fifteen and eight officers. The distance to Fort Pitt was twenty-five miles, which place was reached on the 10th. The enemy had abandoned the siege and marched to unite their forces with those which attacked Col. Bouquet at Bushy Run. The savages continued their hasty retreat, but Col. Bouquet's force was not sufficient to enable him to pursue the enemy beyond the Ohio, and he was obliged to content himself with supplying Fort Pitt and other forts with provisions, ammunition and stores.
It was at this time that Col. Bouquet built the little Redoubt which is now not only all that remains of Fort Pitt, but the only existing monument of British occupancy in this region.
The Indians abandoned all their former settlements, and retreated to the Muskingum; here they formed new settlements, and in the spring of 1764 again began to ravage the frontier. To put an end to these depredations, Gen. Gage planned a campaign into this western wilderness from two points—Gen. Bradstreet was to advance by way of the lakes, and Col. Bouquet from Fort Pitt. After the usual delays and disappointments in securing troops from Pennsylvania and Virginia to aid in this expedition, the march from Carlisle was begun, and Col. Bouquet arrived at Fort Pitt September 17th, and was detained there until October 3rd. He followed the north bank of the Ohio until he reached the Beaver, when he turned towards Central Ohio. Holding on his course, he refused to listen to either threats or promises from the Indians, declining to treat with them at all until they should deliver up the prisoners. Although not a blow was struck, the Indians were vanquished. Bouquet continued his march down the valley of the Muskingum until he reached a spot where some broad meadows offered a suitable place for encampment. Here he received a deputation of chiefs, listened to their offers of peace, and demanded the delivery of the prisoners. Soon band after band of captives arrived, until the number exceeded three hundred.
The scenes which followed the restoring of the prisoners to their friends beggar all description; wives recovering their husbands, parents seeking for children whom they could scarcely recognize, brothers and sisters meeting after a long separation, and sometimes scarcely able to speak the same language. The story is told of a woman whose daughter had been carried off nine years before. The mother recognized her child, but the girl, who had almost forgotten her mother tongue, showed no sign of recognition. The mother complained to Col. Bouquet that the daughter she had so often sung to sleep on her knee had forgotten her. "Sing the song to her that you used to sing when she was a child," said Col. Bouquet. She did so, and with a passionate flood of tears the long-lost daughter flung herself into her mother's arms.
Everything being settled, the army broke camp November 18th, and arrived at Fort Pitt on the 28th. Early in January Col. Bouquet returned to Philadelphia, receiving wherever he went every possible mark of gratitude and esteem from the people. The Assembly of Pennsylvania and the House of Burgesses of Virginia each unanimously voted him addresses of thanks, and on the arrival of the first account of this expedition the King promoted him to the rank of Brigadier General to command the Southern District of North America.
Conflict Between Pennsylvania and Virginia.
We have seen two of the most powerful nations of Europe contending for the possession of the "Forks of the Ohio." We have seen the efforts of the Indians to destroy the Fort and regain possession of their hunting grounds.
In October, 1770, Washington again visited the "Forks of the Ohio," this time on a peaceful errand. He reached Fort Pitt October 17, 1770, and he says in his Journal: "Lodged in what is called the town; distant about three hundred yards from the fort, at one Semple's, who keeps a very good house of entertainment." He describes both the town and the fort, where the garrison at this time consisted of two companies of Royal Irish, commanded by Capt. Edmonstone. In this journal we find the following entry on October 18th: "Dined in the fort with Col. Croghan and the officers of the garrison; supped there also, meeting with great civility from the gentlemen, and engaged to dine with Col. Croghan next day, at his seat about four miles up the Allegheny."