nded by a line of sentinels who were not to permit any horses to
pass them.

By June 16, when the first brigade reached Little Meadows, Braddock
realized that the advance of his column was being retarded and his
troops weakened by the number of wagons in his train.[36] Washington,
who had profited from his 1754 experiences in Pennsylvania, previously
had recommended that Braddock use more pack horses and fewer wagons.[37]
It became obvious that wagons, while ordinarily superior to pack
animals, lost this advantage if the roads were not sufficiently opened
to admit their easy passage. In view of this, Braddock decided to
advance from Little Meadows with a picked detachment of 1,300 men and a
minimum of wagons, about 30 in number, and to leave the heavier baggage
with 84 wagons in charge of Colonel Dunbar and his 850 men.[38] Prior to
this re-organization at Little Meadows, four horse teams had been used
in accordance with the terms of Franklin's advertisements. Now, however,
the advance unit of the army marched with six horses to a wagon,[39] a
change necessitated equally by the rugged terrain and the hastily
constructed roads with which they were forced to contend, and by the
poor condition of the horses.[40]

While this lightened column moved forward more rapidly, the mountainous
and rocky roads continued to impede the progress of the army. On the
morning of June 25 so steep a grade was encountered that the men were
obliged to ease the carriages down with tackles. Throughout the
remainder of June and the early part of July the column was so retarded
by the road conditions that only a few miles could be covered each
day.[41] By July 4 the country had become less difficult and the army
was able to add a few more miles to the daily march. At one o'clock on
the afternoon of July 9 this small train of wagons moved over the second
ford of the Monongahela between the troops of the 44th and 48th
regiments. A short time later the unfortunate expedition met defeat for
all its efforts. As the battle drew to a close, many of the surviving
troops began to gather around the wagons. This drew heavier fire on the
wagons and at this point, said Franklin, "the waggoners took each a
horse out of his team and scamper'd."[42]

As evening drew on, the wounded Braddock sent Washington back to
Dunbar's Camp, nearly 45 miles behind, to order wagons forward with
provisions and hospital stores and to transport the wounded back to
Wills Creek.