OCR Text |
Show vj TVITIIE STORY or THE FIRST VdFJSmBtliZA 't& BY THE PRESIDENT 2W-C Just then n things went either by favor or by accident, had made a orry blunder In the cbolce of a commander. Major General Edwsrd Ilrsddock. whom tlit y had commissioned to take the two regiments out and act as com-mandarin com-mandarin chief In America, w as a brave man, a t'ltrsn soldier, bred In a thorough school of action, a man quick m it h energy and Indomitable lu resolution; but every quality he had unfitted him to Inarn. Helfconfi-dent, Helfconfi-dent, brutul. heudstrong, "a very Iroquois Iro-quois In disposition," he would tski neither check nor suggestion, llut energy, en-ergy, resolution, good soldiers and a proper equipment might of themselves them-selves suffice to do much In the crisis that had come, whether wisdom held the reins or not; and It gave the Old Itomlalon a thrill of quickened hope and purpose to see Kep pel's transports trans-ports In the I'otomac and Braddock'a redcoats ashore at Alexandria. Troops Movs Up the Potomse. The transports, as they made their way slowly up the river, passed beneath be-neath the very windows of Mount Vernon, Ver-non, to put the troops ashore only eight miles beyond. Washington had left off being soldier for Dinwiddle, but he had resigned only to avoid an Intolerable indignity, not to shun service, and he made no pretense of indifference when he saw the redcoats red-coats come to camp 'at Alexandria. Agnlr and again was be early In the saddle to see the stir and order of the troops, make the acquaintance of the officers, and learn, if he might, what it was tbst 'fitted his majesty's regulars regu-lars for their stern business. The self-confident gentlemen who wore his majesty's uniform and carried car-ried his majesty's commissions in their pockets had scant regard, most of them, for the raw folk of the colony, col-ony, who had never been In London or seen the st array of battle. They were not a little impatient that they must recruit among such a people. The transports hsd brought but a thousand men two halfreglmcnta of five hundred each, whose colonels had Instructions to add two hundred men Installment 4 Upon the morning of that day Waeh-Ington, Waeh-Ington, with 40 men, guided by friendly friend-ly Indians, had come upon a party of some 30 Frenchmen where they lurked lurk-ed deep within the thickets of the dripping forest, and with thrust of bayonet when the wet guns failed, had brought them to a surrender within IS minutes of the first surprise. No one in the Virginia camp doubted doubt-ed that there was war already, or dreamed of awaiting the action of diplomats and cablneta over the sea. The French bad driven an English garrison from the forka of the Ohio with threats of force, which would certainly have been executed bad there been need. These men hidden In the thickets at Great Meadows would have Jt, when the fight was over, that they had come as messengers merely to bear a peaceful summons; but did it need 80 odd armed men to bear a message? Why had they lurked for five days so stealthily in tbo forest; and why bad they sent runners back post baste to Fort Duquesne to obtain support for their diplomacy? Washington might regret that young M. Jumon-ville, Jumon-ville, tbelr commander, bad lost bis Ufa In the. encounter, but be had no doubt ha bad done right to order bla men to fire when lie saw the French spring for their arms at the first surprise. Now, at any rate, war was unquestionably unques-tionably begun. That sudden volley fired In the wet woods at the heart of the lonely Alleghanlea had set the final struggle ablaze. It was now either eith-er French or English in America; it eould no longer be both. Jumonville, with his 30 Frenchmen, was followed ere many weeks were out by Coulon de Vllllers with 700 some of them came all the way from Montreal at oews of what bad happened to France's lurking ambassadors in the tar-away mountains of Virginia. On the 3d of July they closed to j in encounter at "Fort Necessity," i Washington's rude intrenchments un- ' r - v J J f- I I I nil General Brsddock. any moment be Increased. Capitulation Capitula-tion was inevitable, and Washington did not hesitate. A Sorry Return Home. The next morning saw his wretched force making tbnlr way back again along the rude road they bad cut through the forests. They had neither neith-er horses nor wagons to carry their baggage. What they rould they burned; burn-ed; and then sft out. sore stricken in heart and body, their wounded comrades com-rades and their scant store of food slung upon tbelr backn. and. dragged themselves very wearily all the fifty miles to the settlements at home. Two of the king's Independent companies com-panies from New York ought to Ijave joined them long ago, but had gotten no further than Alexandria when the fatal day came at the (5 real Meadowa. North Carolina had dispatched three hundred and fifty of ber militiamen, under an experienced officer, to aid them, but they also came too late. It had been expected that Maryland would raise two hundred and fifty men, and Pennsylvania bad at last voted money, to be spent Instead of blood, for she would levy no men; but no succor had come from any quarter when it should. The English were driven In, and all their plans were worse than undone. Bitter Medicine for Washington. It was a bitter trial for the young Virginian commander to have bis first campaign end so disastrously to be worsted in a petty fight, and driven back hopelessly outdone. No one he cared for In Virginia blamed him. His ragged troops bad borne themselves like men In the tight; his own gallantry no man could doubt. The house ef burgesses thanked thank-ed him and votod money to bis men. llut it had been a rough apprenticeship, apprentice-ship, and Washington felt to the quirk the lessons It had taught him. The discouraging work of recruiting recruit-ing at Alexandria, the ragged Idlers to be governed there, the fruitless drilling of listless and Insolent men, the two months' work with axe and spade cutting a way through the for ests. the whole disheartening work of making ready for tbo fight, of seeking the enemy, and of choosing a field of encounter, be had borne as a stalwart young man can nblle bis d!c holds good. lit had at least himself done everything every-thing that was possible, and It bad boen no small relief to blm to write plain-spoken letters to the men who were supposed to be helping him in Williamsburg, telling them exactly how things were going and who waa to blame letters which showed both bow efficient and how proud he was. Enjoyed the Bullets. He bad even shown a aort of boyish boy-ish test In the affair when it came to actual fighting with Jumonville and his scouts hidden In the forest, lie had pressed to the thick of that hot and sudden skirmish, and had taken the French volleys with a lad's relish of the danger. "I heard the bullets whistle," he wrote his brother, "and believe me there is something charming charm-ing in the sound." Out after be had stood a day in the flooded trenches of bis wretched "fort" at Great Meadows, and fought till evening in the open with an enemy en-emy he could not see, be knew that he had been tsught a lesson; that he was very young at this terrible business busi-ness of fighting; and that something more must be learned than could be read In the books at Mount Vernon. He kept a cheerful front In the dreary retreat, heartening his men bravely by word and example of steadfsst-neas; steadfsst-neas; but It was a sore blow to his pride and his hopes, and he must only have winced without proteat could he : have heard how Horace Wslpole csll- 1 ed him a "brave bragkart" for his 1 rodomontade about the music of deadly dead-ly missiles. He bad no thought, however, of quitting his duty because bis first campaign had miscarried. When he had made his report at ' Williamsburg he rejoined his demoralized demor-alized regiment at Alexandria, where it lay but an hour's ride from Mount Vernon, and set about executing bis orders to recruit once more, as if the business were only Juit begun. Build Fort Cumberland. Captain Innes. who bad brought : three hundred and fifty men from North Carolina too late to be of as- i slstanre at the Meadows, and who had , bad the chagrin of seeing them take , themselves off home sssln because ; there was no money forthcoming to pay them what had been promised, remained at Wili s Creek, amidst the i bark settlements, to command the i, king's provincials from Booth Carolina Caro-lina who bad been with Washington i st the Meadows, and the two Independent Indepen-dent companies from New York, wbo had Hngared so long on the way; and to build there a rough fortification, , to be named Fort Cumberland. In i honor of the faraway Duke who was commander-in-chief In England. Dinwiddle, having such hot Scots blood la blm as could brook bo de- ! lays, and having been bred bo soldier I or frontiersman, but a merchant and ' a man of business, would have bad i Washington's recruiting despatched t once, like a bill of goods, and a new force sent hot foot to the Ohio gain to catch the French while they were at easeover their victory and slackly upon tbelr guard at Duquesne. Dinwiddle Blundsrs Agsln. When he was flatly told It waa Impossible, Im-possible, he turned to other plans, equally III considered, though no doubt equally well meant. Ily October Octo-ber he had obtained of the assembly twenty thousand pounds, and from the government at home ten thousand more In good specie, such as was scarce In the colony for the sharp stir of actual fighting had had Its effect ef-fect alike upon king and burgesses and had ordered the formation and equipment of ten full companies for the frontier. Hut the new orders contained a ssd civilian blunder. The ten companies should all be independent companies; there should be no officer higher than a captain amongst them. This, the good Scotsman thought, would accommodate accom-modate all disputes about rank and precedence, such as had come near to making trouble between Washington Washing-ton and Captain Mackay, of the Independent Inde-pendent company from South Carolina, Caro-lina, while they waited for the French at Great Meadows. Washington at once resigned, Indignant In-dignant to be so dpalt with. Not only would he bo reduced to a captaincy under such an arrangement, but every petty olTlcer would outrank him who could show the king's commission. com-mission. It wss no tradition of his class to submit to degradation of rank thus by Indirection and without fault committed, com-mitted, and bis pride and sense of personal per-sonal dignity, for all he was so young, were as blrb-strung as any man's In Virginia. , He had shown his quality In such matters already, six months ago, while he lay in camp In the wilderness wilder-ness on his way towards the Ohio.. The burgesses had appointed a committee com-mittee of their own to spend the money they had voted to put bis expedition ex-pedition afoot in the spring, lest Dinwiddle Din-widdle should think, were they to give h!m the spending oflt, that they had relented in the matter of the fees; and these gentlemen, in their careful parsimony, had cut tho officers of the already straitened llttlo force down to such pay and food as Washington deemed unworthy of a gentleman's acceptance. ac-ceptance. A Volunteer Without Pay. He would not resign bis commission commis-sion there at the bead of his men upon the march, but he asked to be considered a volunteer without pay, that he might be quit of the humiliation humilia-tion of being stinted like a beggar. Now that It was autumq. however, and wars stood still, he could resign without reprosch, and be did so very promptly, in spite of protests and earnest solicitations from many quarters. quar-ters. "I am concerned to find Colonel Washington's conduct so Imprudent," wrote Tbomaa Fenn. I!ut the high-spirited high-spirited young officer deemed It no Imprudence to Insist upon a Just consideration con-sideration of his rank and services, and quietly withdrew to Mount Vernon, Ver-non, to go thence to bis mother at tho "ferry farm" upon the Kappahan-nock. Kappahan-nock. and see again all the fields and friends he loved so well. , A Brief Respite. It was a very brief respite. He bad been scarcely five months out of harness when he found himself again in camp, his plans and hopes once more turned towards the far wilderness where the French lay. He had set a great war ablate that day ha led his forty men Into the thicket aud bade them 6 re upon M. Jumonville and his scouts lurking there; and he rould not, loving the deep b'jlnens KB he did, keep himself alool from It when he saw how It was to be finished. fin-ished. Horace Walpnle might laugh lightly at the affair, but French and English statesmen alike even Newcastle, England's prime minister, as busy about nothing as an old woman, and as thoroughly Ignorant of affairs as a young man knew that something must be done, politics banging at so doubtful a balance between them, now that Frederick of Prussia hsd driven France, Austria and Kussta Into league against blm. The French minister min-ister to London and the Ilrltlsh minister minis-ter In Paris vowed their governments till loved and trusted one another, and there was no declaration of war. Rut In the spring of 115 eighteen French ships of wnr pot to sea from Brest and Roche fort, carrying six battalions bat-talions and a new governor to Canada, ind as many ships got away under press of ssll from Engilsh ports to Intercept In-tercept and destroy th.rn. The English Prepare. Transports carrying two English regiments had sailed for Virginia ia January, and by the twentieth of February Feb-ruary bad reached the Chesapeake Tbo French ships got safely In at the BL Lawrence despite pursuit, losing hut two of their 8et, which bad the 111 luck to ba found by tho English befogged and bewildered off UteVoasL rba colonies were to se fighting oa I new scale. The English ministers, wltb whom apiece to their force In the colony. Six companies of "rangers," too, the colonists were to furnish, and one company of light horse, besides carpenters car-penters and teamsters. Ily all these General Hraddock'a officers set small store, deeming it likely they must depend, not upon the provlnclsls, but upon themselves for success. They were at small psins to conceal their hearty contempt for the people they had come to help. Washington a 6oclsl Fsvorits. llut with Washington It was a different dif-ferent matter. There was that In his proud eyes and gentleman's bearing that marked him a man to be made friends with and respected. A good comrade he proved, without pretense or bravado, but an 111 man to scorn, as be went his wsy among them, lithe and alert, full six feet In his boots, with that strong gait as of a backwoodsman, and that haughty carriage as of a man born to have his will. He won thfir liking, and even their admiration, admira-tion, as a fellow of their own pride and purpose. General Hraddock, knowing he desired de-sired to make the campaign If he might do so without sacrifice of self-respect, self-respect, promptly Invited blm to gos a member of bts staff, where there could be no question of rank, asking hlni. besides, to name any young gentlemen gen-tlemen of his acquaintance he chose for several vacant enslgncles In the two regiments. ITO BE CONTINUm Brought Them to Surrender. Aer the Great Meadows. There were three hundred and fifty Englishmen English-men with him able to fight, spite of sickness and short rations; and is the enemy began ' to show themselves at tbo edges of the neighboring woods through the damp mists of that dreary morning, Washington Wash-ington drew bis little force up outside their works upon the open meadow. He "thought tho French would soma up to blm In open field." laugb-id laugb-id a wily Indian, who gave htm counsel coun-sel freely, but no aid In the fight; but Vllllers had no mind to meet the gal-tant gal-tant young Virginian In that manly fashion. Once, Indeed, they rushed to his trenches, but, finding hot reception recep-tion there, kept their distance afterwards. after-wards. Vllllers brought them after that only "as near as possible without oseleasly exposing the lives of the king's subjects," and poured his fire in from the cover of the woods. For nine hours the unequal fight Sragge,d on, the French and their In-Dans In-Dans hsrdly showing themselves outside out-side the shelter of tbo forest, the English crouching knee-deep in water wa-ter in tbelr rude trenches, while the rain poured Incessantly, reducing tbelr breastworks to a mass of slimy mud. and filling all the air with a chili and pallid mist The French Ask a Psrley. Day Insensibly darkened Into night In such an air, and It wss eight o'clock when ne firing ressed snd the French asked a parley. Tbelr men were tired of the dreary fight, their Indian allies threatened to leave them when morning should come, and they were willing the English should withdraw. with-draw. If they would, without further bort or molestation. The terms thy offered seemed very i acreptsbl to Wsshlngton 's officers as the Interpreter read them out. standing stand-ing there In tbe drenching downpour and the black night "It rained so bard e could hardly keep the candle ' lighted to rad them by." said an of fleer; but there wta really bo choice what to do More than fifty men lay dead or wounded In tbo flooded camp; ' tho ammunition waa all but spent; the French strength bad hardly ba i touched la the fight, and might at |