st man in America for this
particular task. After seven years' experience in border
warfare he was as skilled in woodcraft as the Indians
themselves. He had now to lead a force over the road,
two hundred odd miles long, which connected Fort Pitt
with Carlisle, his point of departure in Pennsylvania;
but every foot of the road was known to him. In 1758,
when serving under General Forbes, he had directed the
construction of this road, and knew the strength of every
fort and block-house on the way; even the rivers and
creeks and morasses and defiles were familiar to him.
Best of all, he had a courage and a military knowledge
that inspired confidence in his men and officers. Cool,
calculating, foreseeing, dauntlessly brave--there was
not in the New World at this time a better soldier than
this heroic Swiss.

Amherst was in a bad way for troops. The only available
forces for the relief of Fort Pitt were 242 men of the
42nd Highlanders--the famous Black Watch--with 133 of
the 77th (Montgomery's) Highlanders, and some Royal
Americans. These, with a few volunteers, made up a
contingent 550 strong. It was a force all too small for
the task before it, and the majority of the soldiers had
but recently arrived from the West Indies and were in
wretched health.

Bouquet had sent instructions to Carlisle to have supplies
ready for him and sufficient wagons assembled there for
the expedition, but when he reached the place at the end
of June he found that nothing had been done. The frontier
was in a state of paralysis from panic. Over the entire
stretch of country from Fort Pitt the Indians were on
the war-path. Every day brought tragic stories of the
murder of settlers and the destruction of their homes.
There was no safety outside the precincts of the feeble
forts that dotted the Indian territory. Bouquet had hoped
for help from the settlers and government of Pennsylvania;
but the settlers thought only of immediate safety, and
the government was criminally negligent in leaving the
frontier of the state unprotected, and would vote neither
men nor money for defence. But they must be saved in
spite of themselves. By energetic efforts, in eighteen
days after his arrival at Carlisle, Bouquet was ready
for the march. He began his campaign with a wise precaution.
The last important fort on the road to Pitt was Ligonier,
about one hundred and fifty miles from Carlisle. It would
be necessary to use this post as a base; but it was bes