A Prequel
This is a rare Yankee Doodle Spies "prequel" post. In many ways, the seeds of the American fight for independence were planted with the bloodshed of the French and Indian War. Coincidentally, George Washington's activities on the western frontier (in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio) played a role in its start.
A young Washington had explored the frontier for the then-Governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie. During one mission, an encounter with a group of French and Indians triggered both nations (and much of Europe) into a long, costly war. As one of the few Americans who had traveled through the wilderness, Washington was appointed as a special aide to the commander in chief of British forces in North America, Edward Braddock. However, Washington did not hold a Royal commission and was considered a colonial officer. This was a major factor in Washington's later shift from being English to becoming American.
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| Washington became a special assistant due to his experience in the West |
The Campaign
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| Gen Braddock |
Because the war started over a dispute about the western boundaries of British North America, Britain's main goal was to secure the French forts near the Ohio River. In summer 1755, General Edward Braddock, the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the British Army in America, decided to personally lead the main effort against the Ohio Country with about 2,100 men. He had two regular line regiments, the 44th and 48th (around 1,350 men), along with about 500 colonial troops and militiamen.
To take the forts, he brought some artillery and other support personnel, including engineers and artificers. Braddock, a confident if somewhat arrogant Scotsman, believed he could take Fort Duquesne (today's Pittsburgh) easily. He planned to then move north to take the other French forts, eventually reaching Fort Niagara. Two additional campaigns were planned to push directly north into French Quebec, but this was to be the main effort.
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| The Western Theater of Operations |
The Road to Victory
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| Sketch of Braddock's Route |
There is some controversy about which direction the British should take. There were two main routes to the west: one through Virginia (present-day West Virginia) and another through western Pennsylvania. Washington was connected to the commercial interests supporting the southern route. Both sides believed that British military improvements to the chosen road would make it the main artery for westward expansion.
In either case, Braddock selected the southern route, which passed through much more rugged and heavily wooded terrain. The march to Fort Duquesne relied on a road built by Braddock and his men, who used an old Indian path called Nemacolin’s Path to traverse the Allegheny Mountains. Braddock's troops moved from Alexandria to Winchester to Cumberland (MD), where the wilderness road began. It took just over a month to construct this 12-foot-wide, 110-mile-long road. Fifty years later, Congress funded it as the first National Road. However, it never led directly to Fort Duquesne.
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| The thickly forested Allegheny Mountains would prove a formidable obstacle for Braddock's column |
The Road to Destruction
On July 9, 1755, Braddock's force crossed the Monongahela River west of a place called Turtle Creek. Braddock's advance guard of 300 grenadiers and colonials, along with two cannons under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gage (later infamous in Boston), began to move ahead. Washington tried to warn him about the flaws in his plan, but Gage ignored him.
Confident that there was no enemy nearby, they advanced in a column along a narrow path under the heavy wooded canopy. Suddenly, Gage's advance guard encountered French and Indian warriors, who were rushing to stop the British at the river. However, behind schedule and too late to set an ambush, they collided directly with Gage's men. The enemy forces were led by French Captain Beaujeu, who was mortally wounded early in the fight.
The first clash of the two forces caught both sides off guard. Yet, the French and Indians quickly regrouped and fired a deadly volley into the British column. After exchanging gunfire, Gage's men fell back. In the narrow road, they crashed into Braddock's main force, which had moved quickly after hearing the shots.
Chaos erupted as Canadian militia and Indian fighters surrounded them and continued sniping at the British from the woods along the road. Musket balls zinged through the trees, cracking limbs and rustling leaves. But it was the silent rounds that hit man after man. War cries and death from behind the thick undergrowth also took a toll, as did the heat. Soon, French regulars started advancing along the road and pushed the British back. The British organized defense crumbled.
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| Indians ambush the British column |
Despite deadly bullets coming from seemingly all directions, the British officers tried to rally their men. The British also attempted to use some of their cannons, but the narrow confines prevented effective firing once again. The colonial militias and troops rallied and fired at the Indians, but some received "friendly fire" from panicked British regulars who were still trying to keep their formations.
The fighting lasted several hours, with Washington moving around trying to take charge wherever he could. He regrouped small units, and when Braddock was shot from his horse, he set up a rearguard to make sure the wounded commander reached safety. Many other officers died trying to rally and lead their men. The Indians did a remarkable job of picking off officers, who suffered a very high casualty rate. Washington himself had two horses shot out from under him, and bullets went through his clothes, yet he emerged unscathed. By sunset, the remaining British and colonial forces were retreating back down the road they had built.
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| Gen Braddock falls wounded |
The Aftermath
The French won this battle, commonly called the Battle of the Monongahela, and suffered 40 casualties, which was less than 10 percent. The British, on the other hand, suffered nearly 900 casualties, making up more than 60 percent of their forces. Braddock himself died from his wounds on July 13.
The next day, Washington buried him under the road near the front of the column. The spot for his burial was chosen to prevent the French and Indians from desecrating his grave. Despite being outnumbered, the French did not pursue the British, while the Indians started looting and scalping.
These two factors helped save the column from more destruction. Hopes for a quick British push toward the Ohio were decisively crushed on this path of destruction. Those hopes would not be revived until three years later, ironically, through the northern route known as Forbes Road.
