did not number a hundred for each reported thousand of the advancing British. Much hesitation ensued, what should be done. Their little force would, of course, seem to them altogether inadequate to contend with so formidable an army. The commander, Contrecœur, expressed the necessity of either a retreat or surrender. But, for the honor of the French arms, it was contended by a young officer in the fort, M. de Beajeau, that some resistance ought to be made. By accident, there were encamped, at the time, about the fort, some four or five hundred Indians. It was proposed, by the officer to the commander, that if a detachment from the fort were granted him, and he could secure the aid of the Indians, he would meet the English and give them battle. It seems his proposal did not meet the approbation of the commander, further than he agreed not to prohibit any soldiers that would volunteer, to accompany him to a certain distance. The consent of the Indians was now to be obtained. The young officer, in the flush of hope for the success of his enterprise, flew to the camps of the savages and opened to them his scheme. But his spirits were soon damped, at unexpectedly receiving a refusal from them. They told him the English were too many; they could not fight them. He urged them to hold a council with their chief warriors, and he would call upon them for an answer the ensuing morning. This they agreed to do. The morning came. Beajeau hastened to them, to learn the result of their deliberations. Their answer, to his great dejection, was as before. Being a man much beloved by the Indians, he gave them a spirited harangue-told them he was determined to go out and meet the enemy. "What! will you suffer your father to go alone? I am sure we shall conquer." Pleased

STRENGTH OF THE FORCE AGAINST BRADDOCK. 89

with the sanguine eloquence of the young Frenchmen, they were won upon, and soon agreed to accompany him.

This was two days before the battle. The meantime was spent in making preparations. James Smith, who had been taken captive by the Indians a short time before, while assisting in cutting the road, already spoken of, to the forks of the Youghiogheny, being at this time a prisoner in the fort, says in his narrative: "On the 9th of July, 1755, I heard a great stir in the fort. As I then could walk with a staff, I went out of the door, which was just by the wall of the fort, and stood upon the wall, and viewed the Indians in a huddle before the gate, where were barrels of powder, bullets, flints, &c., and every one taking what suited. I saw the Indians also march off in rank entire, likewise the French Canadians and some regulars. After viewing the French and Indians in different positions, I computed them to be about four hundred, and wondered that they attempted to go out with so small a party against Braddock.”

The youthful commander of the almost hopeless expedition, was accompanied, it appears, by two captains, four lieutenants, six ensigns, and two cadets. But by what number of privates is unknown. It has been stated, on the authority of General Washington, that the French volunteers were but thirty in all, and the Indians that accompanied about four hundred.

It seems they had intended to make the attack upon the English as they crossed the river, and if repulsed, to retreat to the grounds which they afterwards occupied. But the march of the army had been speedier during the day than had been expected, and was already crossing the river, when they arrived in sight.

The fate of the day has already been related. The

battle lasted but three hours, when the little detachment from the fort had stemmed the prowess of Braddock's thousands, and driven the survivors in despair on a homeward march.

Near eight hundred of their men were left on the field, weltering in the gore of their wounds-the plunder of the savages, and afterwards the food of howling beasts of prey, while but few French or Indians were killed or wounded. The battle-ground, for years afterwards, lay whitened with the bones of the slain. In 1758, when the English took possession of the fort, a party was sent out, who collected and buried upwards of four hundred and fifty skulls.* Many remained, ungathered, long afterwards, as monuments of the memorable scene.

Loaded with the spoils of victory, and reeking scalps torn from the heads of the dead and dying, the Indians returned towards evening, startling the echoes of the woods with hideous yells of their joy. So soon as the news of victory reached the fort, the transports of the commander knew no bounds. The great guns were fired, and the voice of joy went throughout the fort. At the onset of the battle, before the English ranks were broken to any extent, victory was doubtful, which had been reported to the commander by Indian runners. And now that the honor and reward of victory was theirs, the evening was given to revelry and joy.

At sunset a small party of Indians arrived with about a dozen of prisoners under escort, who were stripped naked, their hands tied behind their backs, with their faces and part of their bodies painted black, in token of the dreadful death that now awaited them.

* Judge Yeates.

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They were marched to the bank of the Allegheny, opposite the fort, and burnt, amidst the fiendish yells and rejoicings of the savages.

Monsieur de Contrecœur, who had received the young hero of the day in open arms from the "victorious fight,” and loaded him with the most extravagant honors, sent him in a few days to report the success of their arms to the governor-general of Canada. "But, behold, when the despatches were opened, they consisted of criminal charges of peculation in his office of paymaster, and other charges equally criminal;" on account of which the gallant officer was sent home under arrest, tried, and broken of his commission. Sorrowing over his misfortunes, "he secluded himself in Switzerland, where he remained in obscurity till after our Revolution. He was re-called after Lafayette's return to France, who, while in America, had heard the true history of Braddock's defeat."

CHAPTER VIII.

Evil consequences of the defeat of Braddock-Sanguine anticipations of the French-Block-houses erected along the Pennsylvania frontierKing Shingiss-Kittanning villages-Armstrong's expedition against them—Their destruction-Mercers' hardships returning from the expedition-Armstrong presented with a silver medal by the corporation of Philadelphia.

The disastrous consequences of the defeat of Braddock were long and severely experienced on the frontiers of the neighboring provinces. The French, emboldened with their success, instigated the Indians to murderous incursions against the inhabitants, by offering a bounty for scalps, and proposing to re-instate them in the possession of their lands which they had sold to the English.*

The Indians ever ready to join the stronger party, and now that the English had been successfully driven from the Ohio, almost all the tribes near around immediately became the allies of the French. With the aid of so many savages, it was projected to take possession of all the country west of the Susquehanna, by building several forts among the mountains, and further eastward. One especially it was proposed should be built at the mouth of the Juniata, and thereby check the progress of the English settlements towards the country of the Six Nations, and by cutting off communication, keep those tribes aloof from their influence.

But before the French had time to put into execution * Hazard, vol. v.