Μαρ Shewing route followed by the force under Brigadier Forbes from Bedford, Pennsylvania,to Fort Duquesne, [Pittsburg] Duquesne Alleghany River Turtle Creek Loyal Hannan Meadows CANY Edmond's MOUNTAIN MOUNTAIN Stoney Creek Fort Cumberland WILLS MOUNTAIN Reastown. AEAK 1758] WASHINGTON. 197 shewn to Pennsylvania by Forbes, and of the injustice which the province was experiencing, that when the assembly met on the 14th of September, it passed an act to withdraw, on the 1st of December, the 1st Virginian regiment and station it on the frontier, as a protection to the province. This vote was subsequently rescinded. After assisting in cutting the road to Raestown, Washington sent out a party to open Braddock's road. He reported that few repairs were required, and earnestly recommended that it should be followed, representing that it would not be possible to obtain a direct road from Raestown. A meeting took place at the end of July between Washington and Bouquet, at which the latter stated that it had been definitely determined to follow the new line. Washington predicted that by so doing all would be lost, and, in accordance with the desire of Bouquet, gave in writing the reasons for this opinion. He considered that Raestown should be left on one side, and that the troops should march by fort Frederick to fort Cumberland. The distance from Carlisle to both places was practically the same, being 93 miles to Raestown and 97 miles to fort Cumberland. He did not, however, correctly state the further distance to fort Duquesne; by the Braddock military road it. was 122 miles, by the Raestown road less than 90, making the difference 32 miles shorter, whereas Washington estimated it as only being ten miles. Washington, although feeling strongly on the point that the choice was both a mistaken policy and unjust to Virginia, and believing that it had been determined by the influence of Pennsylvania intrigue on the general's mind, nevertheless stated his views with great moderation and ability.* Washington sustained his view by the statement that when trade had been commenced with the tribes on the Ohio, in order to obtain the best line of communication, a reward had been offered to the Indians to discover the most favourable location. After much pains, they declared that the road leading to Wills' Creek was to be preferred. . As such, it had been the route followed by the Pennsylvanian traders. The Ohio company in 1753 opened out the road. In 1754 it was improved by Washington himself, and in 1755 Braddock widened and completed it. It was now, he argued, in good condition, and could be at once The success of Forbes' generalship is established by de Lévis, who records the surprise of the commandant, de Ligneris, at Grant's attack.* He had looked for the arrival of the force by Braddock's route, and had not conceived it possible that a second line would be opened out. It was on gone over, whereas the Reastown route would exact time and labour for its completion, and time so taken would prevent the blow being made during the season. Washington further argued that the statements of want of forage on the Braddock road were exaggerated, and that the danger threatened by the overflow of the rivers which the road crossed was not worth mentioning. Moreover, that the shortness of distance of the new line did not do away with the disadvantage of cutting a new road. While admitting that there were defiles in the Braddock line, not unattended with danger, Washington contended that there were none which could not be safely travelled. He therefore expressed the opinion, that the old road was infinitely preferable, and he recommended that “Great meadows" should be made a first point of deposit, and "Salt lick," thirty miles further, a second depot. The argument of Forbes was to the effect that fort Cumberland was at too great a distance as a base of operation, Reastown being the place of deposit. The distance to fort Cumberland was thirty miles, and the fort was 122 miles from fort Duquesne, whereas the distance from Reastown to Loyal Hannan was forty miles, which was itself fifty miles only from fort Duquesne. The line of road to Loyal Hannan required only ordinary labour, which, with the numbers at command, was not a matter of consideration. Further examination had established that the road across Laurel Hill was unattended with extraordinary difficulty, and accordingly no great time would be necessary in the construction of the new route, and it offered the advantage of furnishing forage throughout. The objections to the old road were, the want of forage which would be experienced, the defiles to be passed exposing the column to attack, the condition of the streams, which after the rains would overflow. In the sixty-four miles from Cumberland to Gist's there were not three localities where forage could be found; by the end of October the frost would have destroyed the grass, and when the rivers became overflowed, communication would be cut off from the rear. Bouquet wrote to Forbes that Washington could not satisfactorily answer these objections. The letter is in French: "Je n'y ay rien apris de satisfaisant. La plupart de ces Messrs. ne connoissent pas la différence d'une party et d'une armée et trouve facile tout ce que flatte leurs idées, sautant par dessus toutes les difficultés." [sic]. [Can. Arch., Bouquet collection, A., 10, p. 165]. By the end of August the station at Loyal Hannan was completed and established, Grant being placed in command there. The impediments which happened to the expedition arose from his ill-judged and ill-directed attack which took place on the 17th of September. Laurel Hill had been then passed. The advance of Forbes to fort Duquesne from Loyal Hannan, made in the short time of at the most six days, establishes that no difficulty was met between that point and fort Duquesne. Journal de Lévis, pp. 162-163. 1758] THE ROAD FORMED. 199 that occasion he learned that 6,000 men were on the march, and within forty-five miles of his post. The Indians were troublesome allies to Forbes, for they were unreliable and uncertain. Early in the season the Cherokees and Catawbas joined the expedition in some numbers, and were difficult to control. Forbes soon discovered that their friendship could be maintained only by presents, and that their equipment was a matter of cost. At the same time he sympathized with their fears of the future, and the many trying circumstances in which they were placed. He expressed his views to Pitt on the subject, and contended that they should be treated with honesty and prudence. The policy he advocated has been the invariable rule with the imperial government, and was the cause of much of the desire to be free from home control in this matter, which played so great a part in the American revolution. It is now the governing principle in the dominion.* Strong parties were now engaged on the road through Pennsylvania from Raestown, and redoubts were built for the working parties at proper distances. It was not anticipated that insuperable difficulty would be experienced, although it would prove a work of great labour to form a road for the passage of artillery and wheel vehicles, especially in crossing Laurel hill. One deficiency constantly claiming attention was the want of waggons and the inferiority of the horses. The Forbes' view on this point is worthy of preservation: "And this leads me to think that had those Indians, who were our friends, been managed with common prudence and honesty, that they must have continued so, as we could more easily and at a cheaper rate, have supplied them with provisions and their other necessarys. But by allowing them to be most grossly cheated and abused by the saddest of mortals, called Indian traders, in place of having a fair, open Markett, under the eye and direction of the government, and by allowing of a rage and madness in stretching out our settlement into their hunting countries, the only resource they had for sustenance, and that without any previous contract or agreement with them. They have thereby been driven into the arms of the French, who, with their usual chicane, make them believe they do not come to drive them out, but to build Forts among them to protect them against us. But I beg pardon for this digression to you, sir, who knows (sic) all those sad truths from better authority than I can pretend to you." Can. Arch., Series A. & W. I., 87.2, p. 462. |