was at Raystown when the attack was made upon the advance.
Why and for what he was there, except by order of the commander, General
Forbes, we know not. But he joined the beaten and demoralized army at
Fort Loyal Harman.

"Braddock's folly repeated must end in Braddock's defeat and shame," he
remarked, on hearing of the disaster. "The result is no worse than I
feared."

"Your Virginians fought bravely," remarked General Forbes to Washington,
evidently thinking that he had underrated their valor and efficiency.

"I am not surprised to hear it," replied Washington. "I knew that they
would prove themselves equal to the occasion."

"Braver fellows never met a foe on the battlefield," continued General
Forbes. "Our defeat would have been more bloody and shameful but for
them."

"And if they had formed the advance, they would not have been caught in
an Indian ambuscade," remarked Washington suggestively.

In this unfortunate battle the British lost twenty-one officers and two
hundred and seventy-three privates in killed and wounded, more than
one-third of the advance under Grant.

"Well," continued General Forbes, "this snow and freezing weather will
compel us to go into winter quarters here. After this defeat we are not
in a condition to attack the fort immediately."

"Our prospects are not very flattering, it must be confessed," remarked
Washington, without expressing his opinion of the unnecessary and
foolish blunder that had brought them into this plight. Had he led his
Virginia rangers in advance, such a disgraceful record would not have
been made.

Washington prophesied that, between building a new road and sending
regulars in advance, defeat was inevitable, and now General Forbes
proposed to fulfil his prophecy.

"What is your advice, Colonel Washington, under the circumstances?"
inquired General Forbes, evidently designing to atone somewhat for his
previous shabby treatment of the young Virginia hero. "Is it wise to
march against the fort at this late season and in this rough weather?"

Washington was not at all disposed to give advice after all his previous
counsels had been treated with contempt; therefore he prolonged the
conversation without gratifying the commanding general with an explicit
statement of his opinions. In the midst of their interview two or three
prisoners were brought in, and they gave such an account of the
weakness and destitution of the French garrison that Washington advised
an i