the ensuing campaign. Three expeditions were resolv ed upon; one against Du Quesne, to be commanded by General Braddock; one against forts Niagara and Frontinac; to be commanded by Governor Shirley; and one against Crown Point, by General Johnson. This last expedition was to be executed by troops raised in New England and New York.

In the spring of 1755, Washington, while busied in the highest military operations, was summoned to attend Gen. Braddock, who in the month of February, arrived at Alexandria with two thousand British troops. The assembly of Virginia appointed eight hundred provincials to join him. The object of this army was to march through the country by the way of Will's Creek to fort Du Quesne (now Pittsburgh, or Fort Pitt.) As no person was so well acquainted with the frontier country as Washington, and none stood so high in military fame, it was thought he would be infinitely serviceable to general Braddock. At the request of the Governor and Council he cheerfully quitted his own command, to act as volunteer aid de camp to that very imprudent and unfortunate general. The army, nearly three thousand strong, marched from Alexandria and proceeded unmolested within a few miles of Fort Pitt. On the morning of the day in which they expected to arrive, the provincial scouts discovered a large party of French and Indians lying in ambush. Washington, with his usual modesty, observed to Gen. Braddock what sort of enemy he had now to deal with. An enemy who would not, like the Europeans, come forward to a fair contest in the field, but, concealed behind rocks and trees carry on a deadly warfare with their rifles. He concluded with begging that Gen. Braddock would grant him the honor to let him place himself at the head of the Virginia riflemen, and fight them in their own way. And it was generally thought that our young hero and his eight hundred hearts of hickory, would very easily have beaten them too, for they were not superior to the force, which, (with only three hundred) he had handled so roughly a twelve month before. But Gen. Braddock, who had all along treated the American officers and soldiers with infinite

contempt, instead of following this truly salutary advice,. swelled and reddened with most unmanly rage.--" High times, by G-d," he exclaimed, strutting to and fro, with arms a-kimbo, High times! when a young buckskin can teach a British general how to fight!" Washington withdrew, biting his lips with grief and indignation, to think what numbers of brave fellows would draw short breath that day, through the pride and obstinacy of one epauletted fool. The troops were ordered to form and advance in columns through the woods !!--In a little time the ruin which Washington had predicted ensued. This poor devoted army, pushed on by their mad-cap general, fell into the fatal snare which was laid for them. All at once a thousand rifles began the work of death. The ground was instantly covered with the dying and the dead. The British troops, thus slaughtered by hundreds. and by an enemy whom they could not see, were thrown irrecoverably into panic and confusion, and in a few minutes their haughty general, with 1200 of his brave but unfortunate countrymen, bit the ground. Poor

Braddock closed the tragedy with great decency. He was mortally wounded in the beginning of the action, and Washington had him placed in a cart ready for retreat. Close on the left, where the weight of the French and Indian fire principally fell, Washington and his Virginia riflemen, dressed in blue, sustained the shock. At every

discharge of their rifles, the wounded general cried out, "O my brave Virginia blues! Would to God I could live to reward you for such gallantry." But he died. Washington buried him in the road, and to save him from discovery and the scalping knife, ordered the waggons on their retreat to drive over his grave!--O God! what is man? Even a thing of nought!

Amidst all this fearful consternation and carnage, amidst all the uproars and horrors of a rout, rendered still more dreadful by the groans of the dying, the screams of the wounded, the piercing shrieks of the women, and the yells of the furious assaulting savages, Washington, calm and self-collected, rallied his faithful riflemen, led them on to the charge, killed numbers of the enemy who were rushing on with tomahawks, check

ed their pursuit, and brought off the shattered remains of the British army.

With respect to our beloved Washington, we cannot but mention here two very extraordinary speeches that were uttered about him at this time, and which, as things have turned out, look a good deal like prophecies. A famous Indian warrior who assisted in the defeat of Braddock, was often heard to swear, that Washington was not born to be killed by a bullet, "for," continued he, “I had seventeen fair fires at him with my rifle, and, after all, I could not bring him to the ground." And, indeed, whoever considers that a good rifle, levelled by a proper marksman, hardly ever misses its aim, will readily enough conclude with this unlettered savage, that some invisible hand must have turned aside his bullets.

The Rev. Mr. Davies, in a sermon occasioned by Gen. Braddock's defeat, has these remarkable words--“ I beg leave to point the attention of the public to that heroic youth, Colonel George Washington, whom I cannot but hope providence has preserved for some great service to this country."

Governor Shirley proceeded to Oswego, on lake Ontario. His army was poorly supplied with provisions, and the rainy season approaching, he abandoned the expedi tion, and returned to Albany. The army under Gen. Johnson arrived at the south end of lake George, the latter part of August, when he received information that two thousand of the enemy commanded by Baron Dieskau, were marching against Fort Edward. Accordingly, Colonel Williams was detached to intercept him.

Colonel Williams' party, which left the camp between eight and nine o'clock in the morning of Sept. 8th, 1755, very unexpectedly fell with the army of Baron Dieskau ; the two armies met in the road, front to front; the Indians of Dieskau's army were in ambuscade, upon both declivities of the mountains, and thus it was a complete surprise, for Col. Williams had unhappily neglected to place any scouts upon his wings. A bloody battle ensued, and a deadly fire was poured in upon both flanks. Col. Williams, endeavouring to lead his men against the unseen nemy, was instantly shot through the head, and he and

hundreds of his party, including old Hendrick, the chief of the Mohawks, and forty Indians were slain. The remainder of the party under the command of Col. Whiting, retreated into the camp. They came running in, in the utmost confusion and consternation, and perhaps owed their safety, in a great measure, to another party, which, when the firing was heard, and perceived to be growing louder and nearer, was sent out to succour them.

Nor did this battle terminate the fighting of this bloody day. The remains of Dieskau's army retreated about four miles, to the ground where Col. Williams had been defeated in the morning,--the rear of the army were there sitting upon the ground, had opened their knapsacks, and were refreshing themselves, when Capt. McGinnies, who with two hundred men, had been despatched from fort Edward to succor the main body, came up with this portion of the French army, thus sitting in security, and attacked and totally defeated them, although he was himself mortally wounded. Thus were three battles fought in one day, and almost upon the same ground. This ground I went over. The neighbouring mountain, in which the French so suddenly made their appearance, is to this day, called French mountain; and this name, with the tradition of the fact, will be sent down to the latest posterity. I was shown a rock by the road, which a considerable slaughter took place. It was on the east side of the road, near where Col. Williams fell, and I am informed is, to this day, called Williams' Rock.

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Just by the present road, and in the midst of these battle grounds, is a circular pond, shaped exactly like a bowl; it may be two hundred feet in diameter, and was, when I saw it, full of water, and covered with the pond lily. Alas! this pond, now so peaceful, was the common sepulchre of the brave; the dead bodies of most of those who were slain on this eventful day, were thrown, in undistinguished confusion into this pond; from that time tɔ the present, it has been called the Bloody Pond; and there is not a child in this region but will point you to the French Mountain and the Bloody Pond. I stood with dread upon its brink, ann threw a stone into the unconscious waters. After these events, a regular fort

was constructed at the head of the lake, and called fort William Henry.

Early in the 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. The Indians, divided into small parties, concealed themselves with so much dexterity, as seldom to be perceived until the blow was struck. These murders were frequently committed in the very neighbourhood of the forts, and the detachments which were employed in scouring the country were generally eluded, or attacked to advantage, In one of these skirmishes in the neighbourhood of a stockade, the Americans were totally routed, and captain Mercer killed.

The smaller forts were frequently asaaulted and attacked. The people either abandoned the country, or attempted to secure themselves in small stockades, where they were in great distress for provisions, arms, and ammunition. Lord Loudon arrived in America, in July, 1756, as commander in chief. He was clothed with the highest civil authority, having been appointed governor of the colony. A complimentary address from the regiment, stating their pleasure at his arrival and appointment, and the readiness with which they would execute his commands, was presented to him; also a statement of the distress of the colony, and a particular description of the situation of the military points.

An army was raised of about twelve thousand men, which was better prepared for the field than any army that had been assembled in America. But the change of commanders delayed the operations of the English army. The French were active, and on the 12th of July, general Abercrombie received intelligence that they meditated an attack upon Oswego, a post of the utmost importance. Gen. Webb was ordered to prepare to march with a regiment to support the defence of that place, but was detained until the 12th of August. Before he had proceeded far, he learned it was too late.