1749.
One important military measure, meanwhile, the Government did take. The number of men disbanded from fleet and army was so large that it was deemed prudent23, in the interests alike of humanity and of public security, to make some provision for them. Accordingly fifty acres of freehold land, with an additional ten acres for every child, were offered to all veterans who would emigrate as settlers to Nova Scotia; their passage outward being likewise paid, and immunity24 from taxation25 guaranteed to them for ten years. The system was copied from the model given by the French in Canada, and by them doubtless borrowed from ancient Rome;[263] but it was successful. Four thousand persons, with their families, took advantage of the offer, embarked26 under the command of Colonel Cornwallis and landed at the harbour of Chebucto, from thenceforward called, in honour of the President of the Board of Trade and Plantations27, by the name of Halifax. Three companies of rangers28 were formed for the defence of the settlement, in addition to which two battalions29 of regular troops were detailed30 for the garrisons of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. For it was intended that Halifax should be not only a refuge for disbanded soldiers, but a fortified31 station in counterpoise to the French fortress32 at Louisburg.
The French in Canada instantly took the alarm, and after their unscrupulous manner incited33 the Indians to murder the settlers, sparing no pains meanwhile to alienate34 the hearts of the Acadians from the British. The priests were their instruments in this treacherous35 policy, and their proceedings36 were fully37 approved at Versailles. What was called an Indian war was, in the plain words of Governor Hopson of Nova Scotia, no other than a pretence38 for the French to commit hostilities39 on British subjects. Yet through the trying years that followed, the British officials behaved always with exemplary patience and forbearance, though, owing to the incessant40 intrigues41 of the French, occasional skirmishes between French and English were unavoidable. But British settlers had touched French America elsewhere on a more tender point even than in Acadia. British traders had found their way across the Alleghanies to the Ohio, and had stolen the hearts of the Indians on the river from their French rivals. To Canada this was a serious matter, for the chain of French posts that was designed to shut off the British from the interior ran from the Gulf42 of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, and if the British should sever3 this chain at the Ohio French America would be parted in twain. In 1749 a French emissary was despatched from Montreal to vindicate44 French rights on the river and to bid the[264] English traders depart from it. His reception by the Indians was not encouraging, and even while he was on the spot a company was formed by some capitalists in Virginia to settle the country about the Ohio. The Governors of Pennsylvania and Virginia quickly perceived the importance of the position on the fork of the river where Pittsburg now stands, and were anxious to secure it by a fortified station; but unfortunately the public spirit of the colonies was less intelligent than the private enterprise. The Provincial45 Assemblies quarrelled with their governors and with each other, and refused to vote a farthing either for building a fort or for presents to conciliate the Indians in the valley of the Ohio.
1752-1753.
Then, as usual, while the colonies debated and postponed46 the French took prompt and decisive action. In the summer of 1752 a new Governor, Duquêsne, had arrived in Canada, who, as soon as the spring of 1753 was come, sent an expedition of fifteen hundred men through Lake Ontario to Lake Erie, where they landed on the eastern shore and built a fort of logs at Presquile, the site of the present Erie. Thence cutting a road for several leagues southward to French Creek47 (then called Rivière aux B?ufs), they constructed there a second fort named Fort le B?uf, from which, when the water was high, they could launch their canoes on the creek and follow the stream downward to the Alleghany and the Ohio. The expedition was to have built a third fort at the junction48 of French Creek and the Alleghany, and descended49 the Ohio in order to intimidate50 the Indians, but the project was defeated by the sickliness of the troops. Garrisons were therefore left at Fort le B?uf and Presquile, and the remainder of the force returned to Montreal, having thus secured communications between the St. Lawrence and the Ohio.
1753.
Dec. 11.
Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia no sooner heard of this movement on the part of the French than he sent a summons to the commanders of the forts to withdraw forthwith from the King of England's territory. The bearer of the message was the Adjutant-General of the[265] Virginian militia51, a young man of twenty-one with a great destiny before him, George Washington. There were two British trading stations on the Ohio, Venango, at the junction of French Creek and the Alleghany, and Logstown, some miles below the site of Pittsburg. On arriving at Venango, Washington found it converted into a French military station, the officers of which received him hospitably52, but told him that they had orders to take possession of the Ohio, and that "by God they would do it." Making his way from thence to Fort le B?uf, Washington delivered Dinwiddie's letter, and returned with the reply that it should be forwarded to Montreal, but that the garrisons had no intention of moving until orders should arrive from thence. Dinwiddie meanwhile had again appealed to the Virginian Assembly to vote money to build forts on the Ohio. He could show a letter from the Board of Ordnance54 in England approving of the project and offering arms and ammunition55, as well as a letter from the King authorising the execution of the work at the colony's expense and the repelling56 of force by force; but the Assembly, though alive to the danger, would not vote a sixpence.
1754.
February.
Such obstinacy57 was enough to drive a Governor to despair, but Dinwiddie was blessed with considerable tenacity58 of purpose. A renewal59 of his appeal in the ensuing session was more successful, and the Assembly grudgingly60 voted a small and insufficient61 sum, with which the Governor was forced to be content. Urgent applications to the neighbouring colonies for aid met with little response. The remoter provinces thought themselves in no way concerned; those nearer at hand refused help chiefly because their governors asked for it. It was in fact a principle with the Provincial Assemblies to thwart62 their governor, whether he were right or wrong, on every possible occasion; they being, as is so common in representative bodies, more anxious to assert their power and independence than their utility and good sense. North Carolina alone granted money[266] enough for three or four hundred men. However, the British Government had sanctioned the employment of the regular companies at New York and in Carolina, and Dinwiddie having raised three hundred men in Virginia, ordered them to the Ohio Company's station at Will's Creek, which was to be the base of operations. Meanwhile he despatched a party of backwoodsmen forthwith to the forks of the Ohio, there to build, on a site selected by Washington, the fort for which he had pleaded so long. Forty men were actually at work upon it when, on the 17th of April, a flotilla of small craft came pouring down on the Alleghany with a party of five hundred French on board. The troops landed, trained cannon63 on the unfinished stockade64, and summoned the British to surrender. Resistance was hopeless. The backwoodsmen perforce yielded; and the French having demolished65 their works erected66 a much larger and better fort on the same site, and called it Fort Duquêsne. The name before long was to be altered to Pittsburg, but the change was as yet hidden behind the veil of years. For the present the French had stolen a march on the British, and Dinwiddie was chagrined67 to the heart. "If the Assembly had voted the money in November which they did in February," he wrote, "the fort would have been built and garrisoned68 before the French approached."
The Governor, however, was by no means disposed meekly69 to accept this defeat. The French had expelled a British party from British territory by force of arms, and both he and Washington treated the incident as equivalent to a declaration of war. Washington, though but half of his troops had yet joined him, presently advanced over the Alleghanies to the Youghiogany, a tributary70 of the Monongahela; and there on the 27th of May he came upon a small party of French and fired the shots which began the war. A few weeks later he with his little force, something less than four hundred men, was surrounded by twice that number of Frenchmen, and after a fight of nine[267] hours and the loss of a fourth of his men, was compelled to capitulate.
Dinwiddie was vexed71 beyond measure by this second reverse, and by the delay in the arrival of the reinforcements which had caused it. The two companies of regular troops from New York came crawling up to the scene of action in a disgraceful state. Their ranks were thin, for their muster-rolls had been falsified by means of "faggots"; they were undisciplined; they had neither tents, blankets, knapsacks, nor ammunition with them, nothing, in fact, but their arms and thirty women and children.[251] The troops from North Carolina were still worse than these in the matter of discipline, so much so that they mutinied and dispersed72 to their homes while yet on the march to the rendezvous73. The peril74 was great; yet the colonies remained supine. The Assembly of Virginia only after a bitter struggle granted Dinwiddie a competent sum; that of Pennsylvania, being composed chiefly of Quakers and of German settlers, who were anxious only to live in peace and to cultivate their farms, refused practically to contribute a farthing. New York was unable to understand, until Washington had been actually defeated, that there had been any French encroachment75 on British territory; Maryland produced a contribution only after long delay; and New Jersey76, safely ensconced behind the shelter of her neighbours, flatly declined to give any aid whatever. New England alone, led as usual by Massachusetts, showed not only willingness but alacrity77 to drive back the detested78 French. United action was as yet inconceivable by the colonists79 or, as the English more correctly called them, the Provincials80. It was only in deference81 to representations from the British Government that New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the four colonies of New England met in congress to concert for joint82 action in securing the unstable83 affections of the Indians. A project for colonial union[268] broached84 by Benjamin Franklin at this same congress was wrecked85 by the jealousy87 of Crown and Colonies as to mutual88 concession89 of power.
September.
In such circumstances the only hope lay in assistance from the mother country; and Dinwiddie accordingly sent repeated entreaties90 to England for stores, ammunition, and two regiments of regular infantry. The Ministry91 at home was not of a kind to cope with a great crisis. Henry Pelham was dead; and the ridiculous Newcastle as Prime Minister had succeeded in finding a fool still greater than himself, Sir T. Robinson, to be Secretary of State in charge of the colonies. Nevertheless, in July ten thousand pounds in specie and two thousand stand of arms were shipped for the service of the colonies,[252] and on the 30th of September orders were issued for the Forty-fourth and Forty-eighth regiments, both of them on the Irish Establishment, to be embarked at Cork92. Each of these regiments was appointed to consist of three hundred and forty men only, and to take with it seven hundred stand of arms, so as to make up its numbers with American recruits.[253] But the nucleus93 of British soldiers was presently increased to five hundred men, the augmentation being effected, as usual, by drafts from other regiments; not, however, without difficulty, for the service was unpopular, and there was consequently much desertion. The next step was to appoint a commander; and the choice fell upon General Edward Braddock, sometime of the Coldstream Guards. He was a man of the same stamp as Hawley, and therefore after the Duke of Cumberland's own heart,—an officer of forty-five years' service, rough, brutal,[254] and insolent94, [269]a martinet95 of the narrowest type, but wanting neither spirit nor ability, and brave as a lion. His instructions were sufficiently96 wide, comprehending operations against the French in four different quarters. The French were to be driven from the Ohio, and a garrison8 was to be left to hold the country when captured; the like was to be done at Niagara, at Crown Point, and at Fort Beauséjour, a work erected by the French on the isthmus97 that joins Nova Scotia to the Continent. This plan had been suggested by Governor Shirley of Massachusetts; and in furtherance thereof the British Government had ordered two regiments, each one thousand strong, to be raised in America under the colonelcy of the veterans Shirley and Pepperrell, and to be taken into the pay of Great Britain.[255] There might well be doubt whether the means provided would suffice for the execution of the scheme.
1755.
April.
It was January 1755 before the Forty-fourth and Forty-eighth were embarked at Cork, and past the middle of March before the whole of the transports arrived in Hampton Roads. Good care seems to have been taken of the troops on the voyage, for Braddock was able to report that there was not a sick man among them.[256] The transports were ordered to ascend98 the Potomac to Alexandria, where a camp was to be formed; and there on the 14th of April several of the governors met Braddock in council to decide as to the distribution of the work that lay before them. All was soon settled. Braddock with the two newly arrived regiments was to advance on Fort Duquêsne; Shirley with his own and Pepperrell's regiments was to attack Niagara; William Johnson, on account of his influence [270]with the Indians, was chosen to lead a body of Provincial troops from New England, New Jersey, and New York against Crown Point; and to Lieutenant-Colonel Monckton, an officer of whom we shall hear more, was entrusted99 the task of overpowering Fort Beauséjour. The first and second of these operations were designed to cut the chain of French posts between the St. Lawrence and the Ohio, and may be described as purely100 offensive. Why, however, it should have been thought necessary to sever this chain at two points when one point would have sufficed, and why therefore the whole strength of the blow was not aimed at Niagara, are questions not easily to be answered. The capture of Crown Point would serve alike to bar a French advance southward at Lake Champlain and to further a British advance on Montreal, and hence combined objects both offensive and defensive101. The reduction of Fort Beauséjour having no other purpose than the security of Acadia, was a measure wholly defensive.
The Council broke up; the commanders repaired to their several charges, and Braddock was left to cope with his task. A great initial blunder had been made by the military authorities in England in sending the troops to Virginia and ordering them to advance on the Ohio by the circuitous102 route from Wills' Creek. This was, it is true, the line that had been taken by Washington; but Washington, like Shirley, was but an amateur, and a sounder military judgment104 would have shown that the suggestions of both were faulty. Disembarkation at Philadelphia, and a march directly westward105 from thence, would have saved not only distance and time but much trouble and expense; for Pennsylvania, unlike Maryland and Virginia, was a country rich in forage106 and in the means of transport. It was the collection of transport that was Braddock's first great difficulty. The Pennsylvanians showed an apathy107 and unwillingness108 which provoked even Washington to the remark that they ought to be chastised109. It was only by the mediation110 of Benjamin Franklin, of all persons,[271] that Braddock at last obtained waggons111 and horses sufficient for his needs. The General's trials were doubtless great, but his domineering temper, and the insolent superiority which he affected112 as an Englishman over Americans and as a regular officer over colonial militiamen, could not tend to ease the general friction113 between British and Provincials. His example was doubtless followed by his officers, the more so since it had been ordained114 that the King's commission should confer superiority in all grades, and that Provincial field-officers and generals were to enjoy no rank with Imperial officers of the same standing115. Nevertheless Braddock was too capable a man to blind himself to the merit of the ablest of his coadjutors; and it was in terms honourable116 to himself that he invited and obtained the services of Colonel George Washington upon his staff.
May.
On the 10th of May Braddock reached his base at the junction of Wills' Creek with the Potomac, where the former trading station had been supplanted117 by a fort built of logs and called, in honour of the Commander-in-Chief, by the name of Fort Cumberland. It was a mere118 clearing in a vast forest, an oasis119, as it has happily been termed, in a wilderness120 of leaves.[257] Here the troops had already been assembled, the Forty-fourth and Forty-eighth, each now raised by recruits from Virginia to a strength of seven hundred men, a detachment of one hundred of the Royal Artillery121, thirty sailors lent by Commodore Keppel, helpful men as are all of their kind, and four hundred and fifty Virginian militia, excellently fitted for the work before them but much despised by the regular troops. The whole force amounted to about twenty-two hundred men. Fifty Indian warriors122, a source of unfailing interest to the bucolic123 British soldiers, were also seen in the camp in all their barbaric finery of paint and feathers; for Braddock, whatever his bigotry124 in favour of pipe-clay, was far too wise to underrate the value of Indian scouts125.
[272]
May 3.
June 7.
A long month of delay followed, for the cannon did not arrive until a week later than Braddock, and the arrangements were still backward and confused. The General, doubtless with good reason, railed furiously at the roguery and ill-faith of the contractors126; but it is sufficiently evident that what was lacking at headquarters was a talent for organisation127. And meanwhile, though Braddock knew it not, events of incalculable moment were going forward elsewhere during those very weeks. The French had not failed to take note of the reinforcements sent by England to America, and had replied by equipping a fleet of eighteen ships and embarking129 three thousand troops to sail under their convoy130 to Canada. The departure of this fleet was long delayed, and the dilatory131 British Government had time to despatch43 two squadrons to intercept132 it; but the French, putting to sea at last in May, contrived133 to elude134 the British cruisers and arrived safely at Louisburg and Quebec. Three only of their ships, having lagged behind the rest, found themselves off Cape Race in the presence of Admiral Boscawen's squadron. The two nations were nominally135 at peace, but the fleets opened fire, and the engagement ended in the capture of two of the French ships. Whether Newcastle desired it or not, England by this act was irrevocably committed to war.
June 10.
June 16.
It was just three days after this action that Braddock's force moved out of Fort Cumberland for its tedious march through the forest. Three hundred axemen led the way to cut and clear the road, which being but twelve feet wide was filled with waggons, pack-horses and artillery, so that the troops were obliged to march in the forest on either hand. Scouts scoured137 the ground in advance and flanking parties were thrown out against surprise, for Braddock was no mere soldier of the parade-ground. The march was insufferably slow, the horses being weak from want of forage, and the column dragged its length wearily along, "moving always in dampness and shade,"[258] through[273] the gloomy interminable forest. Who can reckon the moral effect wrought138 on the ignorant and superstitious139 minds of simple English lads by that dreary140 trail through the heart of the wilderness? Day after day they toiled141 on without sight of the sun, and night after night over the camp-fire the Provincials filled them with hideous142 tales of Indian ferocity and assured them, in heavy jest, that they would be beaten.[259] The Forty-eighth had stood firm at Falkirk; but the Forty-fourth had suffered heavily at Prestonpans, and such preparation could be wholesome143 for no regiment1. Eight days' march saw the column advanced but thirty miles on its way, many of the men sick and most of the horses worn out, with no prospect144 ahead but that of a worse road than ever. Then came a report that five hundred French were on their way to reinforce Fort Duquêsne; and by Washington's advice Braddock decided145 to leave the heavy baggage, together with a guard under Colonel Dunbar, to follow as best it could, and himself to push on with a body of chosen troops. Twelve hundred men were accordingly selected, and with these and a convoy reduced to ten guns, thirty waggons, and several pack-horses, the advance was resumed. Still progress continued to be wonderfully slow. The traditions of Flanders were strong in Braddock, and by dint146 of halting, as Washington said, to level every molehill and to throw a bridge over every brook148, he occupied four whole days in traversing the next twelve miles.
July.
At length, on the 7th of July, the column reached the mouth of Turtle Creek, a stream which enters the Monongahela about eight miles from its junction with the Alleghany, or in other words from Fort Duquêsne. The direct way, though the shorter, lay through a difficult country and a dangerous defile149, so Braddock resolved to ford150 the Monongahela, fetch a compass, and ford it once more, in order to reach his destination. The French meanwhile had received intelligence of his[274] advance on the 5th, and were not a little alarmed. The force at the disposal of M. Contrecoeur, the commandant of Fort Duquêsne, consisted only of a few companies of regular troops, with a considerable body of Canadians and nearly nine hundred Indians. He resolved, however, to send off a detachment under Captain Beaujeu to meet the British on the march, and told off to that officer a force of about seventy regulars, twice as many Canadians, and six hundred and fifty Indians, or about nine hundred men in all. Early in the morning of the 8th this detachment marched away from Fort Duquêsne, intending to wait in ambush151 for the British at some favourable152 spot, and by preference at the second ford of the Monongahela.
July 8.
Braddock also had moved off early in the same morning, but it was nearly one o'clock when he forded the Monongahela for the second time. He himself fully expected to be attacked at this point, and had sent forward a strong advanced party under Lieutenant-Colonel Gage136, to clear the opposite bank. No enemy however was encountered, for Beaujeu had been delayed by some trouble with his Indians, and had been unable to reach the ford in time. The main body of the British therefore crossed the river with perfect regularity153 and order, for Braddock wished to impress the minds of any Frenchmen that might be watching him with a sense of his superiority. The sky was cloudless, and the men, full of confidence and spirit, took pride in a movement nearer akin53 than any other during their weary march to the displays of the parade-ground in which they had been trained. On reaching the farther bank the column made a short halt for rest, and then resumed the march along a narrow track parallel to the river and at the base of a steep ridge147 of hills. Around it on all sides the forest frowned thick and impenetrable; and Braddock took every possible precaution against surprise. Several guides, with six Virginian light horsemen, led the way; a musket-shot behind them came an advanced party of Gage's vanguard[275] followed by the vanguard itself, and then in succession a party of axemen to clear the road, two guns with their ammunition-waggons, and a rear-guard. Then without any interval154 came the convoy, headed by a few light horsemen, a working party, and three guns; the waggons following as heretofore on the track, and the troops making their way through the forest to right and left, with abundance of parties pushed well out on either flank.
At a little distance from the ford the track passed over a wide and bushy ravine. Gage crossed this ravine with his advanced guard, and the main body was just descending155 to it when Gage's guides and horsemen suddenly fell back, and a man dressed like an Indian, but with an officer's gorget, was seen hurrying along the path. At sight of the British, Beaujeu (for the figure so strangely arrayed seems to have been no other) turned suddenly and waved his hat. The signal was followed by a wild war-whoop from his Indians and by a sharp fire upon the advancing British from the trees in their front. Gage's men at once deployed156 with great steadiness and returned the fire in a succession of deliberate volleys. They could not see a man of the enemy, so that they shot of necessity at haphazard157, but the mere sound of the musketry was sufficient to scare Beaujeu's Canadians, who fled away shamefully158 to Fort Duquêsne. The third volley laid Beaujeu dead on the ground, and Gage's two field-pieces coming into action speedily drove the Indians away from the British front.
Meanwhile the red-coats steadily159 advanced, the men cheering lustily and shouting "God save the King"; and Captain Dumas, who had succeeded Beaujeu in the command of the French, almost gave up the day for lost. His handful of regular troops, however, stood firm, and he and his brother officers by desperate exertions160 succeeded in rallying the Indians. The regulars and such few of the Canadians as stood by them held their ground staunchly, and opened a fire of[276] platoons which checked the ardour of Gage's men; while the Indians, yelling like demons161 but always invisible, streamed away through the forest along both flanks of the British, and there, from every coign of vantage that skilful162 bushmen could find, poured a deadly fire upon the hapless red-coats. The cheering was silenced, for the men began to fall fast. For a time they kept their ranks and swept the unheeding forest with volley after volley, which touched no enemy through the trees. They could see no foe163, and yet the bullets rained continually and pitilessly upon them from front, flank, and rear, like a shower from a cloudless sky. The trial at last was greater than they could bear. They abandoned their guns, they broke their ranks, and huddling164 themselves together like a herd165 of fallow-deer they fell back in disorder166, a mere helpless mass of terrified men.
Just at this moment Braddock came up to the front. On hearing the fire he had left four hundred men under Colonel Sir Peter Halket of the Forty-fourth to guard the baggage, and had advanced with the remainder to Gage's assistance. As the fresh troops came up, Gage's routed infantry plunged167 blindly in among them, seeking shelter from the eternal hail of bullets, and threw them likewise into confusion. In a short time the whole of Braddock's force, excepting the Virginians and Halket's baggage-guard, was broken up into a succession of heaving groups, without order and without cohesion168, some facing this way, some facing that way, conscious only of the hideous whooping169 of the Indians, of bullets falling thickly among them from they knew not whence, and that they could neither charge nor return the fire. The Virginians alone, who were accustomed to such work, kept their presence of mind, and taking shelter behind the trees began to answer the Indian fire in the Indian fashion. A few of the British strove to imitate them as well as their inexperience would permit; but Braddock would have none of such things. Such fighting was not prescribed in[277] the drill-book nor familiar in the battlefields of Flanders,[260] and he would tolerate no such disregard of order and discipline. Raging and cursing furiously he drove British and Virginians alike back to their fellows with his sword; and then noting that the fire was hottest from a hill on the right flank of his advance, he ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Burton to attack it with the Forty-eighth. The panic had already spread far, and it was only with infinite difficulty that Burton could persuade a hundred men to follow him. He was presently shot down, and at his fall the whole of his men turned back. The scene now became appalling170. The gunners stood for a time to their guns and sent round after round crashing uselessly into the forest; but the infantry stood packed together in abject171 terror, still loading and firing, now into the air, now into their comrades, or fighting furiously with the officers who strove to make them form. Braddock galloped172 to and fro through the fire, mounting fresh horses as fast as they were killed under him, and storming as though at a field-day. Washington, by miracle unwounded though his clothes were tattered173 with bullets, seconded him with as noble an example of courage and devotion; but it was too clear that the day was lost. Sixty out of eighty-six officers had fallen, and Braddock, after the slaughter174 had continued for three hours, ordered the wreck86 of his force to retreat.
He was still struggling to bring the men off in some kind of order when he fell from his horse, the fifth that the Indians' fire had compelled him to mount on that day, pierced by a bullet through arm and lungs. The unwounded remnant of his troops instantly broke loose and fled away. In vain Washington and others strove to rally them at the ford; they might as well have tried to stop the wild bears of the mountains.[261] They splashed [278]through the river exhausted175 though they were, and ran on with the whoops176 of the Indians still ringing in their ears. Gage succeeded in rallying about eighty at the second ford; but the rest were not to be stayed. Braddock, stricken to the death, begged to be left on the battlefield, but some officers lifted him and carried him away, for not a man of the soldiers would put a hand to him. Weak as he was, and racked with the pain of his wound and the anguish177 of his defeat, the gallant178 man still kept command and still gave his orders. On passing the Monongahela he bade his bearers halt, and sending Washington away to Dunbar for provisions and transport he passed the night among the handful of men that had been rallied by Gage.
July 9.
July 10.
On the next morning some order was restored, and the retreat was continued. Meanwhile stragglers had already reached Dunbar's camp with wild tidings of disaster and defeat, and many of the teamsters had already taken to their heels. After one more day of torture Braddock himself was carried into the camp. On the march he had issued directions for the collection and relief of stragglers, and now he gave, or is said to have given, his last order, for the destruction of all waggons and stores that could not be carried back to Fort Cumberland. Accordingly scores of waggons were burned, the provisions were destroyed, and guns and ammunition, not easily to be replaced in the colonies, were blown up or spoiled. Then the relics179 of the army set out in shame and confusion for the return march of sixty miles to Fort Cumberland. Braddock travelled but a little distance with it. His faithful aide-de-camp, Captain Orme, though himself badly wounded, remained with him to the end and has recorded his last words; but there was little speech now left in the rough, bullying180 martinet, whose mouth had once been so full of oaths, and whose voice had been the terror of every soldier. It was not only that his lungs were shot through and through, but that his heart was broken. Throughout the first day's march he lay white and silent,[279] with his life's blood bubbling up through his lips, nor was it till evening that his misery181 found vent128 in the almost feminine ejaculation, "Who would have thought it"? Again through the following day he remained silent, until towards sunset, as if to sum up repentance182 for past failure and good hope for the future, he murmured gently, "Another time we shall know better how to deal with them." And so having learned his lesson he lay still, and a few minutes later he was dead.
With all his faults this rude indomitable spirit appeals irresistibly183 to our sympathy. He had been chosen by the Duke of Cumberland, whose notions of an officer, in Horace Walpole's words, were drawn184 from the purest German classics, the classics initiated185 by Frederick William and consecrated186 by Frederick the Great. It was the passion of the Hohenzollerns, great soldiers though they were, to dress their men like dolls and to manipulate them like puppets; but, dearly though they loved the mechanical exercise of the parade-ground, they knew that the minuteness of training and the severity of discipline thereby187 entailed188 were but means to an end. In the eyes of Cumberland, though he was very far from a blind or a stupid man, powder, pipe-clay, and precision loomed189 so large as to appear an end in themselves. He could point too to the initial success of his attack at Fontenoy, which was simply an elaborate parade-movement; but he forgot that the battlefields of a Prussian army and the adversaries190 of a Prussian general were to be found on the familiar lands of Silesia, Brandenburg, and Saxony, whereas the fighting-grounds of the British were dispersed far and wide among distant and untrodden countries, and their enemies such as were not to be encountered according to the precepts191 of Montecuculi and Turenne. It was as a favourite exponent192 of Cumberland's military creed193 that Braddock was sent to North America. He was born and trained for such actions as Fontenoy; and it was his fate to be confronted with a difficult problem in savage194 warfare195. His task was that which since his day[280] has been repeatedly set to British officers, namely to improvise196 a new system of fighting wherewith to meet the peculiar197 tactics of a strange enemy in a strange country. Too narrow, too rigid198, and too proud to apprehend199 the position, he applied200 the time-honoured methods of Flanders, and he failed. Other officers have since fallen into the like error, owing not a little to a false system of training, and have failed likewise; and vast as is our experience in savage warfare, it may be that the tale of such officers is not yet fully told. Nevertheless, though Braddock's ideal of a British officer may have been mistaken, it cannot be called low. In rout103 and ruin and disgrace, with the hand of death gripping tightly at his throat, his stubborn resolution never wavered and his untameable spirit was never broken. He kept his head and did his work to the last, and thought of his duty while thought was left in him. His body was buried under the road, that the passage of the troops over it might obliterate201 his grave and save it from desecration202 from the Indians. But the lesson which he had learned too late was not lost on his successors, and it may truly be said that it was over the bones of Braddock that the British advanced again to the conquest of Canada.
The losses in this disastrous203 action were very heavy; the devotion of the officers, whose conduct was beyond all praise, leading them almost to annihilation. Among the wounded were two men who were to become conspicuous204 at a later day, Gage the leader of the advanced guard and Captain Horatio Gates of the garrison of New York. Of thirteen hundred and seventy-three non-commissioned officers and men, but four hundred and fifty-nine came off unharmed; and the wounded that were left on the field were tortured and murdered by the Indians after their barbarous manner. The loss of the French was trifling205. Three officers were killed and four wounded, all of them at the critical moment while their men were wavering; nine white men also were killed and wounded, and a larger but inconsiderable[281] number of Indians. It was in fact a total and crushing defeat. Yet Count Dieskau, an officer high in the French service in Canada, expressed no surprise when he heard of it, for it was the French rule, founded on bitter experience, never to expose regular troops in the forest without a sufficient force of Indians and irregulars to cover them. The Virginians, whose admirable behaviour had been the one creditable feature in the action, had shown that abundance of good irregular troops were to be found in America; and it was evident that the British needed only to learn from their enemies in order to defeat them.
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1
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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sever
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| v.切开，割开；断绝，中断 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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garrisons
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| 守备部队，卫戍部队( garrison的名词复数 ) | |
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antiquated
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| adj.陈旧的，过时的 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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faction
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| n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争 | |
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divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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retention
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| n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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incompetence
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| n.不胜任，不称职 | |
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abiding
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| adj.永久的，持久的，不变的 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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immunity
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| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
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taxation
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| n.征税，税收，税金 | |
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embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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rangers
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| 护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员 | |
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battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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incited
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| 刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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alienate
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| vt.使疏远，离间；转让(财产等) | |
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treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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42
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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43
despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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44
vindicate
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| v.为…辩护或辩解，辩明；证明…正确 | |
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45
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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46
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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47
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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48
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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49
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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50
intimidate
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| vt.恐吓，威胁 | |
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51
militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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52
hospitably
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| 亲切地，招待周到地，善于款待地 | |
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53
akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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54
ordnance
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| n.大炮，军械 | |
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55
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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56
repelling
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| v.击退( repel的现在分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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57
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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58
tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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59
renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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60
grudgingly
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61
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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62
thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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63
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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64
stockade
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| n.栅栏，围栏；v.用栅栏防护 | |
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65
demolished
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| v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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66
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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67
chagrined
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| adj.懊恼的，苦恼的v.使懊恼，使懊丧，使悔恨( chagrin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68
garrisoned
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| 卫戍部队守备( garrison的过去式和过去分词 )； 派部队驻防 | |
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meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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70
tributary
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| n.支流；纳贡国；adj.附庸的；辅助的；支流的 | |
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71
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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72
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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73
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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74
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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75
encroachment
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| n.侵入，蚕食 | |
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76
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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77
alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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78
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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79
colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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80
provincials
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| n.首都以外的人，地区居民( provincial的名词复数 ) | |
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81
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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82
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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83
unstable
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| adj.不稳定的，易变的 | |
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84
broached
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| v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 )；打开并开始用；用凿子扩大（或修光）；（在桶上）钻孔取液体 | |
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85
wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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86
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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87
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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88
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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89
concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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90
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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91
ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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92
cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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nucleus
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| n.核，核心，原子核 | |
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insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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martinet
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| n.要求严格服从纪律的人 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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isthmus
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| n.地峡 | |
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98
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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99
entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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100
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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101
defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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102
circuitous
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| adj.迂回的路的，迂曲的，绕行的 | |
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103
rout
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| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
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104
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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105
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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106
forage
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| n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻 | |
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107
apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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108
unwillingness
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| n. 不愿意，不情愿 | |
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109
chastised
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| v.严惩（某人）（尤指责打）( chastise的过去式 ) | |
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110
mediation
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| n.调解 | |
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111
waggons
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| 四轮的运货马车( waggon的名词复数 )； 铁路货车； 小手推车 | |
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112
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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113
friction
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| n.摩擦，摩擦力 | |
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114
ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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115
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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116
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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117
supplanted
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| 把…排挤掉，取代( supplant的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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118
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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119
oasis
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| n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方 | |
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120
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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121
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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122
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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123
bucolic
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| adj.乡村的；牧羊的 | |
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124
bigotry
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| n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等 | |
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125
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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126
contractors
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| n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 ) | |
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127
organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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128
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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129
embarking
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| 乘船( embark的现在分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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130
convoy
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| vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队 | |
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131
dilatory
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| adj.迟缓的，不慌不忙的 | |
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132
intercept
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| vt.拦截，截住，截击 | |
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133
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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134
elude
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| v.躲避，困惑 | |
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135
nominally
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| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
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136
gage
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| n.标准尺寸，规格；量规，量表 [=gauge] | |
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137
scoured
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| 走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的过去式和过去分词 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮 | |
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138
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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139
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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140
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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141
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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142
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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143
wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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144
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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145
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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146
dint
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| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
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147
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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148
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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149
defile
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| v.弄污，弄脏；n.(山间)小道 | |
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150
Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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151
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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152
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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153
regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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154
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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155
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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156
deployed
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| （尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用 | |
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157
haphazard
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| adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的 | |
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158
shamefully
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| 可耻地； 丢脸地； 不体面地； 羞耻地 | |
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159
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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160
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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161
demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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162
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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163
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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164
huddling
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| n. 杂乱一团, 混乱, 拥挤 v. 推挤, 乱堆, 草率了事 | |
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165
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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166
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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167
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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168
cohesion
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| n.团结，凝结力 | |
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169
whooping
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| 发嗬嗬声的，发咳声的 | |
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170
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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171
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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172
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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173
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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174
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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175
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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176
whoops
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| int.呼喊声 | |
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177
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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178
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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179
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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180
bullying
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| v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈 | |
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181
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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182
repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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183
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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184
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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185
initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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186
consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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187
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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188
entailed
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| 使…成为必要( entail的过去式和过去分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需 | |
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189
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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190
adversaries
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| n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
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191
precepts
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| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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192
exponent
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| n.倡导者，拥护者；代表人物；指数，幂 | |
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193
creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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194
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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195
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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196
improvise
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| v.即兴创作；临时准备，临时凑成 | |
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197
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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198
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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199
apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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200
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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201
obliterate
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| v.擦去，涂抹，去掉...痕迹，消失，除去 | |
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202
desecration
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| n. 亵渎神圣, 污辱 | |
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203
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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204
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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205
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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