a force composed of French soldiers and
Indian allies to answer the Briton with the powerful argument of force
of arms.

As Braddock reached the ford over the river which was to put him on the
same side as the fort, Colonel Thomas Gage crossed in advance, without
opposition. Beaujeu had intended to contest the passage, but his Indians
being refractory, his march was delayed. Gage with the advance was
pushing on when his engineer saw a man, apparently an officer, wave his
cap to his followers, who were unseen in the woods. From every vantage
ground of knoll and bole, and on three sides of the column, the
concealed muskets were levelled upon the English, who returned the fire.
As Beaujeu fell, Dumas, who succeeded him, thought that the steady front
of the red-skins was going to carry the day, until he saw his Canadians
fly, followed by the Indians, after Gage had wheeled his cannon on the
woods. A little time, however, changed all this. The Indians rallied and
poured their bullets into the massed and very soon confused British
troops. Braddock, when he spurred forward, found everybody demoralized
except the Virginians, who were firing from the tree trunks, as the
enemy did. The British General was shocked at such an unmilitary habit,
and ordered them back into line. No one under such orders could find
cover, and every puff from a concealed Indian was followed by a
soldier's fall. No exertion of Braddock, nor of Washington, nor of
anyone prevailed. The General had four horses shot under him and
Washington had two. Still the hillsides and the depths of the wood were
spotted by puffs of smoke, and the slaughter-pen was in a
turmoil--scarce one Englishman in three escaped bullets. 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. He claimed to have seen Braddock buried,
and to have fired the bullet that killed him. It was impossible to
identify the remains almost seventy years after their int