Show by ELMO SCOTT NE hundred and seventy two sears ago july U 1755 kiere occurred wah in the present city limits of pittsburgh a battle TA which was one of the W w greatest defeats ever in upon an army of white men by their red enemies an army of 1500 british regulars and provincials commanded by gen ld ward braddock to the cap ture of the french fort duquesne was met on the banks of the monon cahela river by a force of less than french and indians and utterly routed with a loss of nearly killed and wounded thus braddock s de feat became a high spot in american school history eight years later another army of british regulars and colonials number ing men and commanded by col henry bouquet was marching through the forest only a few miles away from the spot where the un burled bones of braddicks braddocks Brad docks men still littered the ground they too were on their way to this same tort at the forks of the ohio only it was now in the hands of the british and was called fort pitt instead of fort duquesne but it was closely beleaguered ed by the enemy the warriors of the great and diffort patt fell a veritable red wave of destruction would sweep over the border settlements of the quaker colony if it held out until bouquet that danger would be greatly lessened twenty five miles from their goal on the banks of a little creek called bushy run the soldiers were attacked by indians there on august 5 and 8 occurred one of the most arll llant victories ever registered by an army of white men over their gindlin foes and one of the most decisive defeats that the red man ever suffered it was due solely to the skill of col henry bouquet a swiss soldier of for tune Brad docte s defeat Is a familiar word to everyone you will search the school books in vain for mention of bouquets victory such Is the incon of history I 1 the story of gen edward braddock Is also an example of the injustice of history especially the so called lar history for more than a hun dred and fifty years popular history has done him a grave injustice has painted him as a strong willed probes soldier scorning advice a stub born fool rushing to a well merited de for ills fame modern historians have revised that estimate and one of them no less an authority than archer butler has even that braddock s de feat should really be braddock s vie tory because it was the of the british as demonstrated by this un fortunate general to make a road across the country from the potomac to the ohio and to make a second three years later that really won the ohio country it has remained tor other historians to correct many of the other utterly distorted ideas about this bloody business of braddock by digging up contemporary docu long hidden away in musty ar chives they hadj proved that cou arary to all the statements of popular hestor hl stor braddock did not fall into an ambuscade that he did not scorn the advice of washington and other colonials that he did not throw away the only chance to win a victory after hh army was attacked by driving his so adlers back into line instead of letting them fight from behind trees as they tried to do A study of the map ot this engagement which appears in parkman s montcalm and wolfe will dispel at once that ambush theory recent biographies of washington show that braddock did take this young virginia colonels advice and that he profited by it As tor the charge that it would have been better to have let men fight from behind trees military experts have declared that braddock did the only possible thing to do when he attempted to accept his losses form a column and push his way forward out of the vise in which his army was caught apparently the earlier generation ot historians thought it necessary to build up the reputation of washington and his other colonials by running down those of braddock and his brit ish subordinates certainly this was not necessary in the case of wash ington for a simple recital of the fact Is enough to show of his achievement in this affair it Js now generally admitted that one of the contributing factors to the disaster was the jealousy and lack of co opera alon shown by the various colonial governments and that under the circumstances cum stances his expedition was doomed from the start if americana can take pride n the part placed by any of their fellow americans washington and franklin are about the only ones entitled to their admiration modern historical scholarship has reveal edEd ward braddock in the light of a man who for all of his faults was a real military leader as the victim of clr cum stances and as a man who de serves better from history than the odium which so long has been at cached to ills name hen we see how unjust history has been to braddock the defeated it Is little to be wondered at that it has not done better by bouquet the victorious in considering his achievement in relation to the circumstances under which he fought his gallant ight and the forces which he had at hand to wrest victory from what seemed to be certain defeat it Is not saving too much to rank him among the great captains of american history picture if you can the situation in which this leader found himself on that hot au gust night away out on the western frontier of pennsylvania encamped upon a low barren hill to which they and been driven after the attack that morning his little force of men were posted on the slopes in a large circle in the center of the circle lay 35 desperately wounded officers and men in the blackness of the forest which surrounded bouquets army on every side were hidden three or four times as many as the whites flushed with their recent successes in the capture of a number of british army posts and remembering the great victory which they had won over brad dock who had more than three times as many men as did bouquet the sav ages were confident of another victory outside of the circle lav the bodies of some 25 soldiers killed in the fight ing during the day on the hill there was suffering from heat and thirst and undressed wounds for there was not a drop of water to be biad this was the situation which boa faced at the dawn of 8 there was no hope tor rescue elthea from the tiny force garrisoned fort patt and which was praying loi his arrival nor from any of the coati which lay behind him he must fish it out by himself defeat meant UK annihilation of every nan in that altu army and a horde of blood mad sav ages sweeping eastward with toma hawks and scalping knives against thi women and children crowded into th unprotected towns behind him the coming of daylight the indians re fumed their attack and slowly but surely the plunging fire of the kindlam cut down the number of defenders OB the hill at last bouquet seeing thai destruction was inevitable if this cyp of fighting continued resolved to at tempt one risky maneuver and wadei everything on one desperate chance if he could get the enemy out into the open long enough to give his high landers an opportunity for a bayonet charge he believed that one such decisive stroke might end the affair er pla ining clearly to his men what he wanted them to do so there would be no mistake the colonel ordered tin two companies of highlanders High landers to with draw suddenly from the line retreat rapidly across the hill until they reached the little ravine which ran along one side of it advance down this ravine and be ready to attack from it when necessary As the alth landera did this the indian seeing the maneuver and believing it to be the beginning of a retreat which would give them a chance to fall upon the rear of the retiring column abandoned their cover and the whooping mob of savages came charging out into the open and like a thunderbolt struck the weakened line which had been ex tended across the hill to replace the highlanders High landers under the terrific onset athla line gave way but just in the nick of time the highlanders High landers came charging out of the ravine and fell upon the rear of the indians As they bore down apon the howling red men with their flashing steel the indian realized that they had been trapped then bouquet put the final touch upon his magnificent tactics once more taking a desperate chance he again broke his line nd threw two companies of light infantry out of the circle on the other fit the flying indians retreating before the highlanders High landers ran squarely ant the infantry and withered away before the volleys which swept their line A few mo mits later the savages D fled leaving bouquet in full possession of the field it bad been a dearly bought victory for the gallant colonel nearly a fourth of his force had beai killed and wounded but he had sated his army and with it he saved peon sylvania syl vanla As he advanced toward fort patt he met but little opposite from the indians end when he relic that fort he sounded the knell high hopes of the great pontiac Pont lac wl in a sear Pont lacs conspiracy nao collapsed entirely and the last thaw to english occupation of the ron american continent was ended |