THE BATTLE. 239 regiments to separate and form in ranks-but in vain. No CHAP. orders were obeyed. XXI. In a few minutes after the battle commenced the Vir- 1755. ginia Rangers were behind trees, and rapidly picking off the Indians; but unfortunately many of these brave men fell victims to the random shots of the regulars. Washington entreated Braddock to permit his soldiers to protect themselves, as the Virginians had done; but he refused, and still persisted in striving to form them into platoons, and when any sheltered themselves behind trees, he called them cowards and struck them with the flat of his sword. Thus, through his obstinacy, these unfortunate men became targets for the enemy. The officers, exhibited the greatest bravery, and many of them fell, as they were the special objects of the sharpshooters. Two of the aids, Morris and Orme, were severely wounded, and their duties devolved upon Washington. His exposure was great, as he passed often from one part of the field to another; yet he gave his orders with calmness and judgment. When sent to bring up the artillery, he found the Indians surrounding it, Sir Peter Halket, the commander, killed, and the men paralyzed with fear. He encouraged them, leaped from his horse, pointed a fieldpiece and discharged it. It was useless; the men deserted the guns. For three hours the desperate fight lasted. During this time Braddock was in the centre of the conflict, trying, in his way, to regain the field. His officers had nearly all fallen, and his slain soldiers covered the ground; still he would not permit the remainder to adopt the Indian mode of fighting. Five horses were shot under him, and finally he himself was mortally wounded. As he was falling from his horse Captain Stewart, of the Virginia Guards, caught him in his arms. As they bore him out of danger, he begged to be left to die upon the field of his misfortune. All was now abandoned. The fall of the general saved XXI. CHAP. the army from entire destruction. The soldiers were now at liberty to save themselves as best they could. "The 1755. regulars filed like sheep before hounds." The Virginia Rangers threw themselves in the rear, and for some time held the enemy in check. The wagoners mounted their team-horses and fled; all hurried to the ford, fiercely pursued by the Indians. The love of plunder restrained the pursuers, and after the fugitives had recrossed the river they were not molested. Washington rode all that night and the next day to Dunbar's camp to obtain wagons to transport the wounded, and soldiers to guard them. When he had obtained these he hastened back to meet the fugitives. Braddock was still able to issue orders, and seems to have had a faint hope that he might hold out till he could receive reinforcements. He was carried by the soldiers, being unable to mount a horse ;-at length, the fugitives arrived at Fort Necessity. The wounded general appeared to be heart-broken. He scarcely spoke; as if reflecting on his past confidence in his troops, he would occasionally ejaculate, "Who would have thought it ?" Tradition tells of his softened feelings toward those whom he had treated harshly; of his gratitude to Captain Stewart for his care and kindness; of his apology to Washington for the manner in which he had received his advice. On the night of the thirteenth of July he died. The next morning, before the break of day, he was buried as secretly as possible, lest the Indians, who were hovering around, should find his grave and violate it. The chaplain was among the wounded, and Washington read the funeral service. Near the national road, a mile west of Fort Necessity, may be seen a rude pile of stones-the work of some friendly hand,-it marks the grave of Braddock. "His dauntless conduct on the field of battle shows him to have been a man of spirit. His melancholy end, too, disarms censure of its asperity. Whatever may have been THE FRONTIERS LEFT EXPOSED. 241 XXI. his faults and errors, he, in a manner expiated them by CHAP the hardest lot that can befall a brave soldier ambitious of renown,--an unhonored grave in a strange land, a 1755. memory clouded by misfortune, and a name ever coupled with defeat." The frightened Dunbar, though he had under his command fifteen hundred effective men,-enough, if properly led, to have regained the field,-broke up his camp, destroyed his stores, and retreated with all speed; only when he had arrived safely in Philadelphia did he breathe freely. His failure of duty left the frontiers exposed to the inroads of the savages. Of eighty-six officers, twenty-six had perished, and thirty-six were wounded. Among the latter was CaptainHoratio Gates, who, twenty-five years later, was conspicuous as a major-general in the struggle for independence. Of the soldiers, more than seven hundred were either killed or wounded. The gallant Virginia Rangers had perished in great numbers, for upon them had fallen the brunt of the battle. When it became known that there were only two hundred and twenty-five French, and about six hundred and fifty Indians in the battle, the disgrace was deeply felt, that this handful of men, sent merely to hold the English in check, should have defeated a wellequipped and disciplined army of nearly twice their own number. The religious sentiments of the colonists were greatly shocked at the profanity, Sabbath-breaking, and almost every form of vice and wickedness common in this boastful army. So certain were the expectations of victory, that preparations were made to celebrate it. It is proper to notice the effect of these events upon the minds of the colonists. With them the name of the British regulars had lost its prestige-they were not invincible. 'Washington Irving. XXI. CHAP. In addition, the haughtiness of the British officers had inflicted wounds destined never to be healed. The atten1755. tion of the people was directed especially to Washington. In a letter to his brother Augustine he says: "By the all-powerful dispensation of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, though death was levelling my companions on every side around me." The wonderful manner in which he had been preserved in that day of peril, excited universal attention. No doubt the Rev. Samuel Davies, one of the most celebrated clergymen of the day, expressed the common sentiment, when, in a sermon preached soon after Braddock's defeat, he referred to him as "that heroic youth, Colonel Washington, whom I cannot but hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a manner for some important service to his country." Washington was never wounded in battle; he was shielded by the same protecting hand. CHAPTER XXII. FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR-CONTINUED. The French Acadiens; their simple Manners, Industry, and good Morals.- XXII. In the mean time other expeditions were undertaken CHAP against the French. For this purpose Massachusetts alone raised eight thousand soldiers, almost one-fifth part 1755. of her able-bodied men. A portion of Acadie or Nova Scotia was still in the hands of the French. It consisted of the isthmus on the northern part, which was defended by two insignificant forts. For forty years, since the peace of Utrecht, the peninsula had been under British rule, and now the whole territory was completely subdued. These forts, with scarcely any resistance, fell into the June hands of the English. Sixteen years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth this French colony was established on the Peninsula of Acadie. It was the oldest permanent French settlement in North America. For one hundred and fifty years the Acadiens had been gradually clearing and improving their lands, and enjoying the comforts of rural life. At first their chief sources of wealth had been the fisheries and the fur-trade; but these had 16. |