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Show Braddock Defeat By REV. THOMAS B. GREGORY TT was one hundred and fifty-seven years agro that Braddock met his melancholy fute In the dark forests of the Monongahela. The Ave objective points of the Franco-English struggle known a? tho French and Indian war were Fort Duqucsne (Plttsburc), L,ouls-buraTi L,ouls-buraTi Crown Point and nconderojfa, Niagara and Quebec Fort Dnqueane was the key tn the region west of the Alleif hunles; Louls-burg Louls-burg threatened New England; Crown Point and Tlconderoga controlled con-trolled the way to and from Canada via Lake George and Iwke Cliamplaln. Niagara lay In t lie line of the great fur trade of the upper lake region, and Quebec commanded thc St. fell to Braddock to open the ball with an attempt upon Fort Duqucsne. and by Ju)y ft. 1755, he was within five or six miles of the post he was expected to capture having with him two regiments of British regulars and a few companies of Virginia militia. In all about 2C00 men. Hearing of the English approach. Beaujeu, with a force of 600 French and 800 Indians, mippea out into toe thick woods and pounced upon the advancing redcoats It has been proved that there was no "ambush," In the ordinary sense of that word. It was simply a fight in the tangled wilderness wil-derness between British soldiers, trained for lighting In the open, and the French and Indians, who were perfectly at home in all kinds of forest tactics. The result, as might have been expected, ex-pected, was a massacre, so far as the English were concerned. Scarcely an Indian was seen during the whole battle. Wedged in among their dead and dying comrades, the English soldiers sol-diers simply "fought against puffs of smoke, whiuh seemed to come from all points of the compass." Of thc British regulars all but 459 were killed or wounded. Out Of eighty "tlx officers only twenty-three escaped, Braddock himself was killed after havlnar had four horses shot under un-der him The Virginians, who scattered scat-tered and fought In Indian fnsnion, suffered but little. Braddock's defeat 16 one of tho most powerful sermons in the world upon the folly and danger of over-confldence. over-confldence. To the wise Franklin, who cautioned him against the wiles of the Indian in battle. Braddock replied: re-plied: "These savages may be a formidable enemy to your raw American Amer-ican militia, but upon the king's troops, sir. it 1b Impossible that they should make any Impression." Tho friendly Chief Fcarroyaddy kindly of-ford of-ford to slvc the British treneral a few potntl on Indian fighting, but he was turned nwny with contempt. The chief Interest In this crushing disaster, so far as Americans are concerned, lies In tlm fact that the .retreat from the bloody field was large! conducted by one Ocorge Wpuhlnton. wTiose advice. Ue that of Franklin and old Senrrovarldv. had hten Tirieeremonlmisly turned down hv Praddoek WaSrllnsrton was In Ihe thick of th fttrht. but eeaped without a wound. Tt Is said that m.mv 3-ers after the battle on old Indian chief came a lonr wnv to se Washington "the rreat white cblef at whom he hud flred fifteen times without helnc able to hit htm." |