troops gave way in all directions. Every effort to rally them was ineffectual, until they had crossed the Monongahela, when, being no longer pursued by the enemy who had been stopped by the plunder, they halted, and were again formed. The general was brought off in a small tumbril by colonel Washington, captain Stewart of his guards, and his servant. With the utmost pre

cipitation the defeated detachment rejoined the rear division of the army, soon after which Braddock expired of the wounds he received in the battle. In the first moments of alarm all the stores were destroyed except those necessary for immediate use; not long after which colonel Dunbar marched the remaining European troops to Philadelphia, in order to place them in what he termed winter quarters.

Colonel Washington was greatly disappointed and disgusted with the conduct of the regular troops on this occasion. In his letter to lieutenant governor Dinwiddie, giving an account of the action, he said, "they were struck with such an inconceivable panic, that nothing but confusion and disobedience of orders prevailed among them. The officers in general behaved with incomparable bravery, for which they greatly suffered, therė being upwards of sixty killed and wounded, à large proportion out of what we had.

"The Virginia companies behaved like men, and died like soldiers; for I believe, out of three companies on the ground that day, scarce thirty men were left alive. Captain Peronny and all his

officers, down to a corporal, were killed. Captain Poulson had almost as hard a fate, for only one of his escaped. In short, the dastardly behaviour of the regular troops, (so called) exposed those who were inclined to do their duty, to almost certain death; and at length, in spite of every effort to the contrary, they broke, and ran as sheep before hounds, leaving the artillery, ammunition, provisions, baggage, and in short every thing a prey to the enemy; and when we endeavoured to rally them, in hopes of regaining the ground, and what we had left upon it, it was with as little success as if we had attempted to have stopped the wild bears of the mountains, or the rivulets with our feet; for they would break by in spite of every effort to prevent it."*

In the military department colonel Washington had for some time been considered as the pride and ornament of Virginia, and his reputation grew with every occasion for exertion which presented itself. His conduct in this battle was universally extolled, and the common opinion of his countrymen was, that, had his advice been pursued,

In another letter he says we have been beaten, shamefully beaten....shamefully beaten by a handful of men, who only intended to molest and disturb our march! Victory was their smallest expectation! But see the wonderous works of Providence, the uncertainty of human things! We, but a few moments before, believed our numbers almost equal to the force of Canada; they, only expected to annoy us. Yet contrary to all expectation, and human probability, and even to the common course of things, we were totally defeated, and have sustained the loss of every thing."

the destruction of the day had been avoided. The assembly was in session when intelligence was received of this defeat, and of the abandonment of the colony by colonel Dunbar. Perceiving the necessity of levying troops for their defence, they immediately determined to raise a regiment to consist of sixteen companies. The command of this regiment was offered to colonel Washington, who was also designated in his commission, as the commander in chief of all the forces raised and to be raised in the colony of Virginia. To this honourable manifestation of the public confidence was added the uncommon privilege of naming his own field officers.

Retaining still his prepossessions in favour of a military life, and believing that he might now reenter the service without disgrace, he cheerfully accepted the appointment offered him by his

country.

Having made all the necessary arrangements for the recruiting service, he proceeded in person to visit the posts, and organize the remaining troops of Virginia, who were dispersed in small parties over an extensive frontier. Having put these posts in the best state of defence of which they would admit, particularly by cutting down and removing the trees which might cover an enemy attacking them, he set out for Williamsburg, where objects of the first importance required his attention. He was not only desirous of arranging with the lieutenant governor, the future plan of operations; but he also wished to impress, as well

on him, as on the leading men of the colony, the vast importance of devising proper means to retain the few Indians not already detached from the interest of the English by the French; the necessity of a more effectual militia law; and of an act to establish a complete system of martial law among the troops in the regular service. While on the way, he was overtaken below Fredericksburg by an express carrying the intelligence, that a large number of French and Indians, divided as was their custom, into several parties, had broken up the back settlements; were murdering and capturing men, women, and children; burning their houses, and destroying their crops. The troops stationed among them for their protection, were unequal to that duty; and, instead of being able to afford the aid expected from them, were themselves blocked up in their forts.

Colonel Washington hastened back to Winchester, where he found the utmost confusion and alarm prevailing. His utmost efforts to raise the militia, and to lead them immediately against the enemy, were unavailing. More attentive to their particular situation, than to the general danger, they could not be prevailed on to leave their families. Instead of assembling in arms, and obtaining safety by meeting their invaders, the back inhabitants fled into the lower country, and increased the general terror. In this state of things, he endeavoured to collect and arm the men who had abandoned their houses, and to remove their wives and children to a distance from the scene of

desolation and carnage exhibited on the frontiers. The most pressing orders were at the same time dispatched to the new appointed officers, of whose inattention to duty he greatly complained, to hasten their recruits; and the county lieutenants below the Blue Ridge, were directed to order their militia immediately to Winchester; but before these orders could be executed, the party which had done so much mischief, and excited such alarm, had recrossed the Alleghany moun, tains.

The commander in chief, who was under the necessity of attending personally to every de, partment, was for some time incessantly employed in making the most judicious disposition of the recruits for the protection of the country, in obtaining for them the necessary supplies, and in establishing the general principles of discipline, especially the necessity of an exact obedience to orders.

Early in the ensuing spring, (1756) the enemy, invited by the success of the preceding year, made another irruption into the inhabited country, and did great mischief. The number of troops on the regular establishment was totally insufficient for the protection of the frontier, and it was found impracticable to obtain effective service from the militia. The Indians who were divided into small parties, concealed themselves with so much dexterity, as seldom to be perceived until the blow was struck. Their murders were frequently committed in the very neighbourhood of the forts; and the detachments from the garrisons, which