William Braddock

“ His criticism of the Colonial [Pg 211] troops was sharp, but his praise of them when they had been tried in fire was unbounded. He does not directly criticise St. Clair—though his successful rival for honors on the Ohio, Forbes, accused St. Clair in 1758 not only of ignorance but of actual treachery. “This Behavior in the people” is Braddock’s charge, and no one will say the accusation was unjust.
With something more than ordinary good judgment Braddock singled out good friends. What men in America, at the time, were more influential in their spheres than Franklin, Washington, and Morris? ”

“ No portrait of Braddock is known to exist, but he is described as rather short and stout in person in his later years. To failings common among military men of his day he added the unpopular defects of a hasty temper and a coarse, self-assertive manner, but his fidelity and honour as a public servant have never been questioned, even by those who have portrayed his character in darkest colours. ”

“ Look here, Grand, I don't know just what your plan is, but I'll tell you this: I'll blow on you as sure as I'm alive if you try to carry it out. Tom Braddock is an honest man these days. He's not a whiskey-soaked bum any longer. ”

“ No road led through the woods; so the troops were forced to cut one as they slowly went westward. Braddock was brave and honest, but harsh and brutal in manners. He could not understand the nature of a war in the woods. Like other English officers of the time, he despised American militia and their half-Indian way of fighting. Washington and the other American officers advised him to send scouts ahead to look for the enemy; but Braddock would have none of this. He marched his army through the forest in perfect alignment, with the band playing and banners flying. ”

“ The two armies were to enter the great valleys, one of the St. Lawrence, the other of the Ohio, but not in direct opposition. Dieskau was hurled back at Lake George; Braddock on the Monongahela. We must follow their fortunes.
In February, 1755, Braddock landed at Hampton, Virginia, and presently he and Dinwiddie were living “in great harmony.” A son of Shirley of Massachusetts was serving Braddock as secretary, and he was telling a correspondent how “disqualified his general was for the service he was employed in, in almost every respect.” ”

“ I would, my dear children, have you dwell on these glimpses of a more manly and generous nature that brightened the closing hours of Braddock's life; because it is but Christian and just that we should be willing to honor virtue in whomsoever it may be found. With all his self-conceit and obstinacy, he had a kindly heart, and was a brave man; and had it been his lot to deal with a civilized enemy, instead of a savage one, he would, no doubt, have proved himself a skilful general. ”

“ Of Braddock, the least said the better. A gambler, full of arrogant contempt towards all people and things that were not British, hail-fellow-well-met to his boon companions, heartless towards all outside the pale of his own pride, a blustering bully yet dogged, and withal a gentleman after the standard of the age, he was neither better nor worse than the times in which he lived. ”

“ A writer, disputing the legend, yet affirms that the public has reason “to require that the destructive hand of man be stayed, and that the remnants of the ancient and historic rock should be rescued from oblivion.” The rock may well bear the name of Braddock, as the legend has it. Nothing could be more typical of the man—grim, firm, unreasoning, unyielding.
[Pg 79]
CHAPTER IV A SEAMAN’S JOURNAL
One of the most interesting documents relative to Braddock’s expedition is a Journal kept by one of the thirty seamen sent with Braddock by Commodore Keppel. ”

“ Even the suspicion of such treachery as sending Braddock to Virginia to indulge the purse of a favorite is the more revolting because of the suggestion in the letter from the Duke of Cumberland that Braddock, personally, favored an attack on Fort Niagara—which, it has been universally agreed, was the thing he should have done. ”

“ As the first bullets poured into their ranks the British could see no foe and Braddock, deaf to the entreaties of the Virginians, insisted that his troops [94] hold their ranks in the unprotected and open clearing. The provincials scattered and fought the foe in its own manner from behind every tree and mound they could find to shelter them; but Braddock, wholly immune to fear or reason himself, continued to hold his regulars together, in his anger beating back with his sword into the ranks those seeking cover. ”

“ Braddock would accomplish his end, of that he was as sure as he was certain that the sun would rise in the morning. It was in the cards. He knew. He was a true-born gambler, with all the instincts, all the wiles, all the insight of one who courts Chance and fights it at the same time. Such men as Robert Grand go on defying Fate to the bitter end, but they know that there will be an end, and in the end they are bound to lose. ”

“ He has you in his power. He is not here to attack you. That must be plain, even to you. Mr. Braddock has come to see his wife before leaving the city."
He caught the cunning gleam in Tom Braddock's eyes. His heart gave a great bound of relief. The man was not so mad as to court certain death by attacking his enemy under the present conditions. Christine's father was perfectly cool; he was absolute master of himself. Nothing could be farther from the mind of Thomas Braddock than the desire to be shot by Robert Grand. It was his one purpose in life to kill, not to be killed. ”

“ I fear General Braddock despised them too much, which probably was of Disservice to him, and I really think without some of them any engagement in the Woods would prove fatal, and if strongly attached to our Interest they are able in their way to do more than three Times their Number. They are naturally inclined to Drink. ”

“ Enos turned away. He was fumbling a cigarette that had evidently been given him at the other camp. Now he lit it, puffed it importantly, and scrambled down to his boat, and went aboard.
"Why be such a dunce, Rex?" demanded Red, tartly. "Haven't you strung the man along far enough? Show him your letter from the Manatee Company."
"Yes," Midkiff echoed. "Why keep up a poor joke?"
"What are you trying to do, King?" demanded Cloudman.
"He'll only come back and bother us again," said Peewee Hicks apprehensively. "What's the idea?" ”

“ But I can't go back until I've found the man that knows."
"There is a man who—knows?" murmured Mrs. Braddock.
"Yes. I must find him. He—he doesn't want to be found. That's why it is going to be so hard. But I will find him!" His eyes were flashing, his teeth were set.
"So much the better," said Braddock. "You can throw 'em off the track for awhile, then take your money and go to New York. You'll find him there, all right. They all go there."
"He is a nigger," said David.
"Umph!" grunted Braddock. "That's bad. You mustn't expect any jury in Virginia to believe a nigger in these days." ”

“ Yet Cumberland’s orders were distinct to go to Niagara by way of Virginia and Fort Duquesne.
Horace Walpole’s characterization of Braddock is particularly graphic and undoubtedly just—“desperate in his fortune, brutal in his behavior, obstinate in his sentiments, intrepid and capable.” [9] The troops given him for the American expedition were well suited to bring out every defect in his character; these were the fragments of the 44th and 48th regiments, then stationed in Ireland. Being deficient (even in time of peace) , both had to be recruited up to five hundred men each. ”

“ This Franklin who secured Braddock horses and wagons was a prophet. And once he predicted that this “slender line” of an army would be greatly in danger of Indian ambuscade “and be cut, like a thread, into several pieces, which, from their distance, cannot come up in time to support each other.” Braddock laughed at the prophecy, but his army had not been swallowed up in the gloom of the forests two days before its line was thinner and longer than Braddock could ever have believed. ”

“ Gist and Croghan, the two best known men on the frontier, held important offices in the army. It is as easy as common to lay at the door of a defeated and dead commander all the misfortunes of a campaign; whatever Braddock’s errors, the fact remains that the colonies failed absolutely to make the least move to provide an Indian army for Braddock’s use. Nothing could have more surely promised defeat and disgrace. ”

“ Tit for tat. Should we cry baby? Where's your sporting instincts?"
"Sporting instincts!" repeated Midkiff with disgust.
"Great snakes alive!" grumbled Red. "Listen to him rave."
"Needn't put me on the same plane as those fellows over yonder," objected Hicks, with a comic show of virtuous importance.
"Reckon you're too easy on 'em, Kingdon," said the Western lad. "That affair of the canoes wasn't serious. Stealing our permit and posing as the rightful owners of it is sure different."
"If your morals are as weak as your reasoning," laughed Kingdon, "I'm sorry for you chaps. ”

“ The commander then gave the sign to retreat, and was endeavouring to restore order when a ball struck him from his horse. The British Army had become bewildered fugitives, and a guard could hardly be kept for the wounded General, as he was borne along on a horse as a litter.
The sinking Braddock at last died and was buried in the road, that the tramp of the surging mass of men might obliterate his grave. His remains are said to have been discovered in 1823 by some workmen engaged in constructing the National road, at a spot pointed out by an old man who had been in the ranks in 1755. ”

“ The summer before he had two thousand defenders, but Duquesne, blindly trusting to the ephemeral league he had made with the Alleghenies, had not been liberal again. In vain Contrecœur sent messages northward to Venango and Presque Isle. Riviere aux Bœufs was as dry as the Youghiogheny. Inevitable surrender or capitulation stared the French commander in the face. Even the crowds of Indians within hail were not to be reckoned on; they were terrified at the proportions of Braddock’s army. ”

“ I'm with you."
"Same here!" cried several of the others.
"What's the use?" demanded Ben Comas. "We won't have a show."
"Of course we can't get the best of those fellows, for they're professionals," Pudge groaned.
"Do you really mean to try it again, Horrors?" murmured Kirby.
The black-eyed fellow had waited impatiently for them to subside. Now he stopped Kirby's further speech with a gesture, exclaiming: "That's enough! I don't want to be jollied. I know I'm the failure, not you fellows."
"My jinks!" squawked Hicks. "You pull the best oar in the boat—bar Kingdon." ”

“ They were now side by side, gaunt, slouching figures, both of them.
"I thought I'd given you the slip."
"Umph," was the expressive comment.
"What did you follow me over here to-night for?" demanded Braddock fiercely, after thirty steps.
"You know why, Brad. Don't ask."
"This is my affair," went on the big man. "I was doing no harm, sitting across there. Can't a man sneak off for a single look at his own child—in the dark, at that—without being hounded by—Say, you must stop dogging me, d' you hear? I'm not a rat. I'm a human being. I've got feelings. ”

“ CHAPTER XVI. THE MANUSCRIPT AGAIN
But the Professor was not going to let Captain Hervey escape without giving him full information. Before the Yankee skipper could reach the front door, Braddock was at his heels, gasping and blowing like a grampus.
“Come back, come back. Tell me all.”
“I reckon not,” rejoined the mariner, removing Braddock's grip. “You ain't the one to give the money. I'll go to the Don, or to Inspector Date of Pierside.”
“But Sir Frank must be innocent,” insisted Braddock. ”

“ Red made a long, graceful dive; the Colorado youth went in like a frog.
It was a fact that some seconds passed and Peewee Hicks did not come up. Midkiff stared over the rail, with his shirt half on, growling:
"What's the matter with those microbes? Can't they have a little fun without drowning the child? Red Phillips is as gentle as a wild dog, and Cloudman's no better——"
Phillips' hectic thatch shot to the surface. He rose breast high, dashed the water from his eyes, and squawked:
"Where is he?"
"Hasn't come up!" roared Midkiff. "He's tangled up in that nightshirt somewhere down there." ”

“ Cumberland, who had lost every battle but the one-sided affray of Culloden, was the brain to devise. Braddock, a brutal soldier of parade experience, whose only warfare had been in Hyde Park or Hounslow, was the hand to execute. Braddock took his troops through the American bush as if they were marching fromJuly 9, 1755. London to Windsor, and was annihilated ten miles from the French stronghold, Fort Duquesne, where now smokes toiling Pittsburg. British troops then first faced the most formidable of adversaries, an invisible foe. ”

“ We'll show 'em!"
"They know there are only two of us, I guess," said Midkiff. "But don't you hate to show the white feather?"
"Too dark right now for anybody to see whether our plumage is white or some other color," chuckled Rex. "The race is not always to the swift or the battle to the strong."
"Huh!" grunted his friend. "Where's that fellow who downed you?"
"I downed him. But he's coming back to life again," Rex said, having gone back for another look at the dazed Indian boy to make sure. "Whew! He's strong, that chap. But he don't know much about using his fists. Here they come! Scoot!" ”