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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. }y errata ed to mt ine pelure, apon d ;: ,1 2 3 32X I 1 ■: ■ 2 3 4 5 6 971.03211 'Z^' MfSSI ■ lU-*i.-*- *>. y ,^ * \.jh/^ THE CAPTURE OF FORT DUQUESNE /• An Historical Discourse ■h. before The Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Delivered in Christ Church, Philadelrlna, on the One Hundred and Fortieth Anniversary of the Capture of the Fort, Sunday, November Twenty-seventh, 1898, upon the occasion of the Unveiling of a Memorial Tablet of Brigadier-General John Forbes, Commander of His Majesty's troops in the Southern Provindcs^. bf. .'North' AnaeriQaj.', '.'"'.; ■ •" * • • • • > I 1 1 • • • t •• • • •• • ••. • •• ••« • • • •* • • • • • • .•.•.. • • • • • By the Right Reverend Cortlandt Whitehead, S. T. D. Bishop of Pittsburgh m P97I.032 W 587 G I PiblioUjf nuei^ationalf bu (Quebec «•• •* • •••• •• •• » - Authorities Consulted Magazine of American History. Pennsylvania Magazine. Olden Time. (Craik.) Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania. Fort Pitt and Letters from the Frontier. (Darlington.) History of Braddock's Expedition. (Sargent.) Pennsylvania, Colony and Commonwealth. (Fisher.) Our Western Border. (McKnight.) History of the Backwoods. (Patterson. ) Montcalm and Wolfe. (Parkman.) Pennsylvania Colonial Records. Pennsylvania Archives. History of Pittsburg. (Craig.) Gist's Journals. Captain Jack the Scout. (McKnight.) Braddock. (J. R. Meesick.) Manuscripts. Pennsylvania Historical Society. 62350 I^'t iiii now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us. The Lord hath wrought great glory by them through His great power at the begin- ning. "' '" All these were honored in their generations, and were the glory of their times. There be of them that have left a name behind them that their praises might be reported. "' "' '' Their bodies are buried in peace, but their names Hveth forevermore. The people will tell of their wisdom, and the con- gregation will show forth their praise. Ecclesiasticus xliv, i, 2, 7, 8, 14, i 5. THE proposition was not long ago advanced and enlarged upon in a monthly journal of this city, that the people of Pennsylvania do not deal gratefully with their public men in life, and have not done their duty towards their memories in death. Doubtless many of you have read the argument. It is asserted that there is lack of unity and homogeneity among this people, a natural result of its early history. Different nationalities, with different religions, and with diverse interests at the beginning and all along the way, rendered this portion of the United States far different from such a Commonwealth, for instance, as Massachusetts, where the settlers were of one blood and tradition, professing in the main one creed. The Quakers, the Welsh and Church of England people, in and about Philadelphia ; Connecticut people, who later on setded at the north ; the Germans at the south, who formed historically an influential and in some localities an overwhelming element ; the Scotch- Irish beyond the Alleghenies — these have made up this Commonwealth, a composite whole, with divisive rather than unifying interests. The results are various, but especially (as one of your own fellow-citizens has sought to prove) does this diversity appear in the neglect of our public men. He avers that there is a disposition not to be proud for the State's sake, when one of her sons has achieved success or renown, and that "woe to the man of distinct opinion," is an excla- mation which the conduct of Pennsylvania has for many generations made familiar. The words of Horace Binney are cited, "That Pennsylvania is more indifferent to her own sons than to strangers " ; and tbo assertion of Judge Porter, "A disposition has prevailed in Pennsylvania to overthrow rather than to sustain men of distinguished ability." Every citizen of this great State may well be filled with amazement when he learns that no Pennsylvanian has ever written the biography of William Penn. A Virginian, a Frenchman, a Massachusetts man, and three English writers have thought his life and memory worth recounting. Pennsylvanians have been content with pamphlets, essays and speeches. Moreover, no Pennsylvanian, it is asserted, until within a very recent period, has ever written a biography of Benjamin Franklin. The best editions of his works are from Massachusetts and New York ; his best biographers heretofore, New Yorkers. The names of Robert Morris and John Dick- enson and General Wayne appear in a list given by our author, of those who for a century were neglected by their fellow-ciiizens ; and the further names of Mifflin, Armstrong, Clymer, Thompson, Gallatin and others, who still await biographers, men conspicuous before the whole continent in their day, who now stand a chance of being well-nigh forgotten.* It may be that in common with all our fellow- cifizens in these United States we are too busily occu- pied in making history to be careful in recording it.f All this we should recall to memory, because as citizens of this Keystone State, we cannot resent rebuke from friendly lips, but dispose ourselves the rather to repeat the Psalmist's words, " Let the right- * Vide Lippincote' s Magazine for July, 1896, •♦ Pennsylvania and her Public Men," by Sidney G. Fisher. t Vide The American Historical Revidv for October, 189S, " The Historical Opportunity in America," by Prof. A. B. Hart. 8 eous smite me friendly and reprove me, but let not their precious balms break my head." How shall we amend, if there be not brought distinctly before our eyes, those common faults which, because they are shared by many, are not easily recognized as calling for individual amendment and action ? How shall we repent, unless the full measure of our sins of omis- sion, as of commission, be brought evidently to our consciousness ? It is quite manifest that this Honor- able Society to which it is our privilege to belong, and in whose behalf we assemble on this occasion, is designed to guard against this forgetfulness and to over- come the indifference of which we have been speaking. This Society was organized because ** it was desirable that there should be adequate commemorations of events of Colonial History." It has been " instituted to perpetuate the memory of those events, and of the men, who in military, naval and civil positions of high trust and responsibility, assisted in the establishment, defence and preservation of the American Colonies, and were in truth the founders of this nation. With this end in view, it seeks to collect and preserve manuscripts, rolls, relics and records ; to provide suit- able commemorations or memorials relating to the American Colonial Period, and to inspire in its mem- bers, the fraternal and patriotic spirit of their fore- fathers, and in the community respect and reverence for those whose public services made our freedom and unity possible." Therefore, just in proportion as we of this Honor- able Society carry on towards perfection, and with true patriotic spirit, the purposes for which this organization was made, shall we remove more and more whatever of censure may be justly imputed to the citizens of this Commonwealth, for ingratitude toward the heroes of the past, or the truly great and noble of the present. Strictly in line with this purpose is our com- memoration to-day. General Forbes, of whom I am to speak, was not one whose deeds are recorded in tomes and folios ; nor was the event with which his name is most prominently connected of such a char- acter as to catch the eye of the seeker for startling and exciting historical occurrences. General Braddock is well known to all, because of his direful defeat. General Forbes is not widely, or at least popularly known, because his, although a great, was nevertheless a bloodless and combatless achievement. But we whose duty it is to rescue the memories of the Colonial Heroes from the obscurity of time, and set their lives and characters, and their very faces, if possible, before the eyes of their fellow-citizens, are well agreed that there are not wanting many qualities in General Forbes's character, and many grand results of his fidelity and courage, which entitle him to high place on the list of those whom Pennsylvania delights to honor. In telling the story familiar no doubt to many present, I can set down nothing of my own, but simply collate what others have written, items of information, which after all are not very numerous. The year 1757 was the beginning of a new era, as we all know, in the history of England ; for that year saw the reins of power fall into the hands of "The Great Commoner," whose biography, it is usual to say, is the history of England, so thoroughly was he identified with the grand events which made this period one of the most glorious in the annals of his country, "It is scarcely too much to say that in the general opinion of his contemporaries, the whole glory of this year was due to his signal genius ; his alone 10 was the mind that planned and his the spirit that ani- mated the brilHant achievements of the British arms in all the four quarters of the globe," (Parkman, Montcalm & Wolfe, Vol. 2, p. 24.) Posterity, however, has not failed to recognize the independent genius and sterling worth of those who were his subordinates or allies in carrying out his purposes. His discernment selected IVol/c, but Wolfe would have been a hero anywhere when called to make sacrifices for his country. Pitt by his generous praise in Parliament stimulated Oivc to his success in India, nevertheless the genius of Clive would have made itself manifest wherever duty gave opportunity. Pitt's subsidy to Frederick certainly brought the Seven Years' War to a speedier conclusion, but doubtless Frederick even without this aid would have still been Frederick the Great. Nevertheless William Pitt is not unjustly de- scribed as the " Creator of Modern England." He had a genius for organization, and when he rose to power he told the Duke of Devonshire, "I am sure that I can save this country, and that nobody else can." "England hailed with one acclaim the undaunted leader who asked for no reward but the honor of serving her. The hour had found the man. For the next four years this imposing figure towered supreme in British history." He had, indeed, we are told, glaring faults. He was vain, theatrical, domineer- ing and haughty, nevertheless he had undoubted talent for action and great vigor of mind ; he was filled with a burning enthusiasm, possessed of an over- whelming force of passion and intensity of will, hurling in debate fiery shafts of eloquence ; and was, more- over, too great for faction and partisanship, and pre- eminently and incorruptibly patriotic. The people II trusted him, and he loved the people. He waked England from her lethargy, and made the power and glory of England one with his own. He started out not to curb France in America, but to annihilate her ; to crush her navy, cripple her foreign trade, ruin her in India, in Africa, and wherever else east or west she had found a foothold, to gain for England the mastery of the seas, to open to her the highways of the globe, and to make her supreme in commerce and coloniza- tion. Said Frederick of Prussia, " England has long been in labor, and at last she has brought forth a man." "Nobody ever entered his closet," said Col. Barre, ** who did not come out of it a braver man." That inspiration was felt wherever the British flag waved. England sprang to new life under the kindly influence of this one great man, universally considered as on the whole the most powerful minister that ever guided the foreign policy of England. The contentions between England and France had been as follows : i. King William's War, between 1689 and 1697 ; 2. Queen Anne's War, between 1700 and 1713 ; and 3. King George's War, 1744 to 1748. In these the colonists in New England and New York had been engaged. But with 1755 began what is called 4. the "Seven Years' War," in which southern colonists also were to be engaged, and which was to put at rest forever the question of who should own the North American Continent. (Fisher's " Pennsyl- vania, Colony and Commonwealth," p. 146.) Disaster had attended the British Arms, and in 1757 the cam- paign had closed, leaving the affairs of Great Britain in a more gloomy condition than at any former period of the unfortunate and disgraceful war. The Marquis de Montcalm had captured Fort William Henry on 13 Lake George, and thus the French had complete con- trol of that lake and Lake Champlain and the main passage to Canada. By the destruction of Oswego, they had obtained control of the Great Lakes, and by the possession of Fort Duquesne they maintained their ascendency over the western Indians, and held control of all the country west of the Allegheny Mountains. Lord Chesterfield is quoted as saying :* "Whoever is in or whoever is out, I am sure we are undone, both at home and abroad ; at home by our increasing debt and expense, and abroad by our ill- luck and incapacity. * ^^ * The French are masters in America to do what they please. We are no longer a nation, I never yet saw so dreadful a prospect." At this juncture William Pitt put his firm hand on the helm, and set himself to the task of settling, as we have said, the question of sovereignty in* North America. In his dealings with the colonists, he reversed the former policy, and instead of making demands and exactions upon them, he announced that he would send troops from the Mother Country to act with the Provincials. Earl Londoun, commander-in- chief in America,-|- is described by historians as ineffi- cient ; devoid of genius, civil or military ; mutable, indecisive, impotent against the enemy ; " like S. George on a sign," wrote Franklin, " always on horse- back but never advancing." Pitt is reported to have given as a reason for superseding him early in 1758, that he could never learn what Earl Londoun was doing. General Abercrombie was appointed in his place. - Immediately three expeditions were planned against the enemy. The first against Louisbourg, in Cape Breton Island, where the French were debating * Olden Time, Vol. I, p. 98. I Graham's History N. America: Braddock, by J. R. Meesick, pp. 382, 383. 13 \ boundaries with the English. This expedition was commanded by General Amherst, and was eminently successful. The second expedition was directed against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, commanded by Gen- eral Abercrombie himself, who was, however, routed after a bloody conflict, the disgrace of which was somewhat relieved by the destruction of Fort Front- ignac shortly after. The third expedition is tliat in which we are par- ticularly interested to-day, that which had for its purpose the capture of Fort Duquesne. The conduct of this expedition was entrusted to General John Forbes. He left Philadelphia about the middle of September, 1758, to join Colonel Bouquet, who was in command of the regulars awaiting his coming since July at Raystown, now Bedford. Bouquet, who was a French Swiss, is said to have been the equal of General Forbes in much that constitutes a good commander, a most accomplished and attractive person. To his shrewdness and wariness in dealing with savages, much of the success of the expedition is to be attributed. Dumas (in his account of Bouquet's expedition against the French, published in Amsterdam, 1769), says of Bouquet that " he made no claim to the good opinion of others, neither did he solicit it. All were compelled to esteem him." And although Washing- ton wrote on September first : " All is dwindled into ease, sloth and inactivity. Nothing but a miracle can bring this campaign to a happy result," at that very time Bouquet was exercising his troops every day in the woods and bushes in a way which made them, later on, more able to meet the Indians and others to great advantage.* * i'ennsylvania Magazine, Vol. Ill, No. 2. See also appendix A. 14 .{ ? . 4 There were many delays in the preparations necessary to be made, principally in obtaining wagons and horses, as Colonel Bouquet's letters show. In August or September, Colonel George Washington, who had been engaged in collecting troops from Vir- ginia, North Carolina and Maryland, proceeded to the rendezvous, followed shordy by General Forbes. Being all assembled, heated dispute arose amongst these leaders with regard to the route to be followed in the campaign against Fort Duquesne. Colonel Washington, who had traversed the country twice before, (1753 and 1754), favored the road which had been used in the ill-starred expedition of General Braddock three years earlier ; a road at least familiar, and ready for their wagons, but leading through Mary- land and Virginia at times, and rather circuitous, as it seemed. Washington's reasons for his opinion are given at length in a letter written at Fort Cumberland, August 2, 1758. General Bouquet, on the contrary, favored a new route, laid entirely in Pennsylvania, and had already, on August 23rd, sent Colonel James Burd forward with some troops and wagons, to cut a road through the forest to Loyal Hanna. After much dis- cussion, General Forbes adopted this latter route, although it required the opening of more than one hundred miles of new road through the wilderness between Bedford and Fort Duquesne. A lion heart and courage unparalleled must have been his, who in physical weakness and distress, and in the face of this great undertaking, through the wilderness, and more- over, with the enervating memory of former disasters in this same region, proceeded to carry out his plans.* No * Olden Time, Vol. I, pp. 177-282. " Captain Jack the Scout," by Chai. McKnight, pp. 463-465. 15 i . li wonder that " Old Forbes," as he was familiarly called, was credited with obstinacy, and was also entitled among the soldiers, "The Head of Iron." The army under General Forbes was composed of twelve hundred Highlanders, three hundred and fifty Regulars, twenty- seven hundred Pennsylvanians, sixteen hundred Vir- ginians, and others from Maryland and North Caro- lina, and a body of Cherokee Indians ; making an army of about six thousand men. Slow and tedious was the journey, described, although without much detail, in letters of the time. On October 14th the main army advanced from Raystown towards Loyal Hanna, arriving about November ist. On November 1 8th further advance was made, covering fifty miles from Loyal Hanna in five days, stopping at New Camp, twenty-two miles west of Loyal Hanna, on November i8th, and arriving on November 24th, much discouraged and fatigued, at a point on Turtle Creek, about twelve miles from Fort Duquesne, with the intention, as it seems, of entering into winter quarters, and awaiting supplies from the North or from the East. At least, warned by Braddock's fate, Forbes would not recklessly advance. But news came from Indian scouts that the French were evi- dently making preparations to depart, and heavy smoke in the direction of the fort, and a dull heavy explosion told of extensive conflagration and destruc- tion. So, on the morning of November 25, 1758, General Forbes declaring that he would sleep in the fort that night, the army hastily advanced from their encampment, the Provincials in front followed by the Highlanders, and marched with all speed to the point where the junction of the Monongahela and Allegheny had furnished for so long a time an unquestionable vantage in the control of the Ohio. During this day. 16 • >>♦ » I' • • which was chilly and disagreeable, and, indeed, during much of the march, General Forbes's disease had increased so rapidly that he had to be carried on a litter. This the Indians had remarked and derided. And it is written that •' to counteract unfavorable impression^ it was given out by the English that the iiritish chief had a temper so impetuous and irascible and combative, that it was not thought safe to trust him at large even among his own people, but that the practice was to lei him out on the eve of battle J» As the army approached the fort at about six in the evening, they came to a number of stakes on either side of the Indian pathway, on each of which hung the head and kilt of a Highlander, killed or taken prisoner at Major Grant's defeat on September 14th, a few weeks before. We cannot be surprised that this aroused to fury the "petticoat warriors," as they were sneeringly dubbed by their antagonists ; and with loud and bitter cries and with swords drawn, they rushed, like mad boars engaged in battle, past the Provincials, who led the column, eager to wreak their vengeance upon the French. Imagine their dis- appointment, when coming within full view of Fort Duquesne, they found it desolate, ruined and aban- doned — everything burned or blown up, fortifications, ovens, houses, magazines, goods of every sort. The French troops had escaped on rafts and boats down the Ohio River. There was no blow struck ; there were no lives lost in mortal combat ; and yet the capture of Fort Duquesne was a most notable event in the history of our country, worthy of commemo'*ation through all the future years. Of this event Mr. Bancroft says, " Armstrong's own hand raised the British flag on the ruined bastions 17 of the fortress, as the banner of England Hoatcd over the waters, the place at the sugj^^estion of Forbes, was with one voice called Pittsburgh. America raised to Pitt's name statues that have been wrongfully broken,* and granite piles of which not one stone remains upon another ; but long as the Monongahela and the Allegheny shall How to form the Ohio, long as the English tongue shall be the language of freedom in the boundless valley which their waters traverse, his name shall stand inscribed on the gateway of the West." That very night as it would seem, November 25th, Colonel Bouquet, who, as Parkman says, "managed his pen as well as he wielded his arms," wrote to a tair correspondent in Philadelphia, (Miss Anne Willing) as follows : " I have the satisfaction to give you the agreeable news of the conquest of this terrible Fort. The Fre.ich, seized with a panic at our approach, have destroyed themselves that nest of Pirates which has so long harbored the murderers and destructors of our poor people. They have burned and destroyed to the ground their fortifications, houses, magazines, and left us no other cover than the heavens, a very cold one for an army without tents and equipages. We bear all this hardship with alacrity by the consideration of the immense advantage of this important acquisition. The glory of our success must after God be allowed to our General who from the beginning took those wise measures, which deprived the French of their chief strength, and by the treaty of Easton kept such a number of Indians idle during the whole campaign, and procured a peace with those inveterate enemies, more necessary' and beneficial to the safety and welfare *See appendix C. ».) 18 ».) of the I'rovinces than the driving the French from the Ohio. His prudence in all his measures in the num- berless tlifticulties he had to surmount, deserves the highest praise. I h<)i>c that •,doriousa(.lvanta<;e will be improved and this conquest ptt ^x'rly supported by speedy and vigorous meajjure?* of the Provinces con- cerned. I wish sincerely that for rheir interest and hapfjiness they may agree on that i)oint."'- i'he twenty-sixth was observed as a day of public thanksgiving for success, and Mr. Bealty, the Chap- lain, was a[)pointed to preach a thanksgiving sermon. f The connection between the seaside and the land beyond the mountains was established forever. A vast territory was secured. The civilization of liberty, commerce and religion was henceforth to maintain undis|Hited possession of the Ohio. ** The reasons for the evacuation of Fort Duquesnc, as given in a letter of George Washington, are three : the weakness of the French in the failure to receive reinforcements ; the want of provisions, which had likewise failed to reach them ; and the defection of the Indians, who had been treated well by Forbes and others earlier in the year, and who had begun to per- ceive a sort of intuition where victory would eventu- ally lie. And he sums up some of the results by saying : " This fortunate and indeed unexpected suc- cess of our arms will be attended with happy effects ; the Delawares are suing for peace, and I doubt not that other tribes on the Ohio will follow their example. A trade free, open and on equitable terms, is what they seem much to desire, and I do not know so effectual a way of rivetting them to our interests as by sending out goods immediately to this place for * Pennsylvania Magazine. Vol. III. No. 2, p. 135. t Haslet. Olden Time. Vol. I, p. 185. T9 this purpose. It would, at the same time, be a means cf supplying the garrison with such necessaries as may be wanted. And I think that other colonies, which are as greatly interested in the support of this place as Virginia, should neglect no means in their power to establish and maintain a strong garrison here. Our business without this precaution, will be but half finished, while on the other hand, we shall attain a firm and lasting peace with the Indians, if this end is once accomplished. General Forbes is very assiduous in getting these matters settled upon a solid basis, and has great merit for the happy issue to which he has brought our affairs, infirm and worn as he is."-^' Colonel Bouquet wrote : *' After God, the success of this expedition is entirely due to the General, who by bringing about the treaty with the Indians at Easton, has struck the blow which has knocked the French on the head. In temporizing wisely to expect the effects of that treaty, in securing all his posts and giving nothing to chance, and not yielding to the urgent instances for taking Braddock's Road, which would have been our destruction — in all of these measures, I say, he has shown the greatest prudence, firmness and ability. Nobody is better informed of the numberless difficulties he had to surmount than I am, who had an opportunity to see every step that was taken from the beginning, and every obstruction that was thrown in the way. I wish the nation may be as sensible of his services as he really deserves, and give him the only reward that can flatter him, the pleasure of seeing them pleased and satisfied. "f To go even furtlier back than General Forbes * Olden Time. Vol. I, p. 282. t Olden Time. Vol. i, pp. 182-4. k': 20 c.. himself, we may well, in this city and presence, give praise where praise is due, and quote from Sargent's "Braddock's Expedition" [p. 93, note], these appre- ciative words : ** It must not be forgotten that it was to the presence and kind words of the Quakers who first set on foot these negotiations, that the merit of prevailing upon the Indians to leave unopposed General Forbes's route to Fort Duquesne, and the consequent fall of that important post, are justly due." Concerning General Forbes, Parkman writes: ''If his achievement was not brilliant, its solid value was above price. It opened the great West to English enterprise ; took from France half her savage allies, and relieved the western borders from the scourge of Indian war. From southern New York to North Carolina the frontier population had cause to bless the memory of this steadfast and all-enduring soldier. So ended the campaign of 1758. The centre of the French had held its own triumphantly at Ticon- derosra, but their left had been forced back by the capture ofLouisbourg, and their right by that of Fort Duquesne, while their entire right wing had been well- nigh cut off by the destruction of Fort Frontignac. The outlook was dark ; their own Indians were turning against them."* William Pitt himself wrote under date of January 23, 1759, as follows: "I am now to acquaint you that the King has been pleased immediately upon receiving the news of the success of his arms on the River Ohio, to direct the Commander-in-Chief of his Majesty's forces in North Carolina, and General Forbes, to lose no time in concerting the properest and speediest means for completely restoring, if possible, the ruined Fort * Montcalm and Wolfe, Vol. II., p. 371- 21 Duquesne to a respectable and defensible state, or for erecting another in the room of it, of sufficient strength and every way adequate to the great impor- tance of the several objects of maintaining his Majesty's subjects in the undisputed possession of the Ohio, of effectually cutting off all trade and communi- cation this way between Canada and the West and Southwest Indians, of protecting the British Colonists from the incursions to which they have been exposed since the French built the above Fort, and thereby made them.selves masters of the navigation of the Ohio."=== Thus did General Forbes end forever the attempt of the French to press downward from Canada into the Mississippi Valley ; and the possession of the great West by the Anglo-Saxon race was forever assured. To return to our narrative, so small was the stock of provisions remaining for the maintenance of the soldiers that they could not think of pursuing the French. A few days were spent in treating with the Indians, and then the return journey began. General Forbes, emaciated and worn, was carried on his litter to Philadelphia, where he arrived January 17, 1759. Guns were fired and bells were rung in token of the people's admiration of a brave and victorious soldier. But sorely afflicted by a complication of disorders, he did not long survive to enjoy the gratitude of his country- men. On the 15th of March, 1759, the Philadelphia Gazette has notice of his death as follows : " On Sunday last, the eleventh, died of tedious illness, John Forbes, Esq., in the forty-ninth year of his age, son to Forbes, Esq., of Pittencrief, in the Shire of Fife in Scotland ; Brigadier General, Colonel of 1 7th. Regiment of Foot, Commander of H. M. troops in the * Olden Time, Vol. I., p. 184. 33 t-y. Southern Provinces of America ; a gentleman well known and esteemed and most sincerely and universally regretted. In his younger days he was bred to the profession of Physics, but early ambitious of the military character, he purchased into the Regiment of Scot's Grey Dragoons, where by repeated purchases and faithful services he arrived to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His superior abilities soon recommended him to the protection of General Campbell, the Earl of Stair, the Duke of Bedford, Lord Ligonier, and other distinguished characters in the army, with some of them as an Aid, with the rest in the familiarity of a family man. During the last war he had the honor to be employed in the post of Quarter-master General in the Army, under his Royal Highness, the Duke, which he discharged with accuracy, dignity and dispatch. His services in America are well-known. By a steady pursuit of well-concerted measures, in defiance of disease and numberless obstructions he brought to a happy issue a most extraordinary campaign, and made a willing sacrifice of his own life to what he valued more, the interests of his King and his Country. As a man he was just and without prejudice ; brave without ostentation ; uncommonly warm in his friend- ships and incapable of flattery, acquainted with the world and mankind, he was well-bred, but absolutely impatient of formality and affectation. As an officer he was quick to discern useful men and useful measures ; generally seeing both at first view accord- ing to their real qualities ; steady in his measures and open to information and counsel ; in common he had dignity without superciliousness, and though perfectly master of the forms never hesitated to drop them when the spirit and more essential part of the service required it." 23 A few hours before his death, he avouched with emphasis, that he died contented, as he had got pos- session of Fort Duquesne, and made the accursed French rascals run away. Bishop White is quoted as saying that he remem- bered as a boy going to gaze at the body of General Forbes as it lay in solemn state in the city of Phila- delphia. On the 14th of March, 1759, attended by military honors, as befitted his rank and distinguished services, he was laid to rest in the chancel of Clirist Church, where we are assembled to-day. We have come this morning, on this one hundred and fortieth anniversary of the fall of Fort Duquesne, to continue those honors, with perhaps even better appreciation of the man and his worth and services than could have been possible by his contemporaries. We hail him as the leader by whom God established for this country and for our Anglo-Saxon race so very much of good which only later years have made manifest. We revere his name as forever associated by God's providence with the onward march of liberty and civi- lization in this western land. We honor him for his loyalty to his flag, for his endurance of pain and hard- ship, for his bravery in the face of obstacles natural, barbarous and inimical, all of which qualities we are the better able to understand and commend because of what our own eyes have seen and all the American people have learned anew to value, in the conduct of our own soldiers and sailors during the exciting months of our recent war with Spain. All honor to those who, whether in the days gone by, or in our own present experience have shown us how true are the familiar words, " Dulce et decofum est pro patria morir 24 Well may we sing in the words of that fine hymn written by your honored Chaplain for this occasion : ^" When the souls of men were tried In old time or latest day, They who for our land have died— Count them not of common clay. God of battles, in Thy keeping Guard the weary soldier sleeping. " God of battles, whom we trust, Keep our nation from its night ; And may voices from the dust Make us staunch to toil for right, God of battles, in Thy keeping Guard the weary soldier sleeping." I do not know why we should not, in our repeated thanksgivings for the "many mercies vouchsafed this nation and people," have in memory the deliverances and conquests of the olden time. I do not know why we should not, in our grateful acknowledgments of victories recently gained, include also those of the Civil War, and of the Revolutionary War, and of all the struggles in the history of our country, back to the perilous days at the beginning on which such wondrous issues hung. Nor is it too late to pray, that we of this later day " may have such a sense of these great mercies as may engage us to a true thank- fulness, such as may appear in our lives (as citizens and as men), by an humble, holy and obedient walking before God all our days." It is not too late to pray that we " May improve these great mercies to God's great glory, the advancement of His Gospel, the honor of our country, and, as much as in us lieth, to the good of all mankind," and this surely we can do by exemplifying the grace and truth which ought to come in that civilization which acknowledges as its center and source Jesus Christ our Lord. 25 "Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us. The Lord hath wrought glory by them through His great power at the beginning. . . . All these were honored in their generations, and were the glory of their times. There be of them that have left a name behind them that that their praises might be reported. . . . Their bodies are buried in peace, but their name liveth forever more. The people will tell of their wisdom, and the congregation will show forth their praise." APPENDIX A. Colonel Bouquet. Dumas says : Respected by the soldiers, in credit with all those who had a share in the internal government of the Provinces, universally esteemed and loved, he had but to ask and he obtained all that it was possible to grant, because it was believed that he asked nothing but what was necessary and proper, and that all would be faithfully employed for the services of the King and Provinces. ••' This gentleman had served his Majesty all the last war with great distinction. He was promoted from merit, not only unenvied but with the approba- tion of all who knew him. His superior judgment and knowledge of military matters, his experience and abilities, known humanity and remarkable politeness, and constant attention to the civil rights of His Majesty's subjects, rendered him an honor to his country and a loss to mankind. Bouquet remained in Pennsylvania until 1763. * Pennsylvania Journal, October 24, 1765, obituary notice. ^ , 26 Fouolit the Indians at Bushy Run, twenty miles from Fort Pitt. In 1764 he advanced through Ohio to forks of River Muskingum, one hundred and fifty miles west of Pittsburgh, and made peace with the Indians. . On March 3. 1765, he vvas naturalized by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Promoted Brigadier General P^'ebruary, 1765. Bouquet expected to be called to England, but he was ordered to Pensacola to take command of the King's forces in Southern Department of America. He arrived at this most unhealthy post on August 23, 1765, the deadliest season of the year. He took the fever and on Sep- tember 2d was dead. APPENDIX B. Braddock's road is supposed to have been origin- ally what is Nemacolin's trail, the Indian Chief The Ohio Company opened the road in 1753 as far as Will's Creek, near Fort Cumberland. George Wash- ington repaired it as far as Gist's, in the direction of Connellsville ; and in 1755, it was widened and com- pleted to within six miles of Fort Duquesne, by General Braddock. Washington had made a trip by direction of Governor Dinwiddle, of Virginia, start- ing on October t^o, 1753, through the western wilds to the junction of the Monongahela and Alleghen3^ and down the Ohio to Loofstown, the exact location of which no one seems to be able to determine. Thence he had journeyed to Fort Le Boeuf, now Waterford, and thence back again to Philadelphia, arriving in January, 1754. Another trip he made reaching Con- nellsville, April 20, 1754, and Great Meadows, May 28th, meeting the French in an engagement June i ith, 27 in which Jumonville was killed, seeking refuge after- wards at Fort Necessity, whence he retired July 4th. Braddock's expedition in the spring of 1755 met with disaster in the engagements of July 5th and 9th, and General Braddock died on July 13. The arguments for opening a new road were that the safety of the settlers in the western part of Penn- sylvania required means of prompt communication with the colonists at the east, a spacious military road to communicate with the quarter whence were to be had supplies and succor, a road also straight and com- paratively easy for emigrants. Moreover, Braddock's road had led to defeat, and it seemed as if a new road unconnected with unfortunate memories, would be better for the soldiers/'' What is called " Nemacolin's Path" was a great Indian trail, which led east from the " P'orks of the Ohio," through southern Pennsylvania. At the instance of the Ohio Company, Nemacolin, well-known Delaware, who resided at the mouth of Dunlap's Creek Fayette County, "blazed " the forest path from Wills' Creek to the Ohio, which was the original tracing of that great highway now known as the National or Cumberland road. In 1753 it was well-marked and cleared of bushes and fallen timber, so as to make it a good pack-horse road. " Gist's plantation " was located on this road, which afterwards became Braddock's road ; but as Judge Veech forcibly contends, that was a misnomer ; it should have been called Washington's road, for he made it to Gist's ; from Gist's to Turtle Creek, it was Braddock' s.f '•Olden Time. Vol. I, 263-5. t Captain Jack the Scout, p. 482. 28 APPENDIX C. The New York Herald of December ii, 1898, has the following concerning these statues : Over the shattered and decapitated statue of William Pitt, now in a New York museum, Professor Dicey, of Oxford University, proposes that the ties between this country and England be more closely bound. The eminent professor of English law, in the course of a lecture delivered before the students of Columbia University, paid a tribute to William Pitt, afterward Earl of Chatham. He eulogized him as England's greatest Prime Minister, and then reminded his audience of the debt which the United States owed to the great Premier. William Pitt vigorously championed the cause of the colonists in their conten- tion that taxation without representation was unjust, and practically caused the repeal of the Stamp Act, which was especially obnoxious to our forebears. History tells that upon this action, in 1766, bells were rung and there was great rejoicing. In the colonies of New York and South Carolina it was pro- posed to erect statues to the great Premier. Large popular subscriptions were made, and the order for the statues was given to one Whilton, a British sculptor. The two statues, one a replica of the other, were brought to this country in 1769. The New York statue was erected at the northeast corner of William and Wall Streets in 1770. Then, six years later, came the American Revolu- tion. The leaden statue of George III., in Bowling Green, was converted into hostile pellets. The British took charge of affairs here in 1776 and remained until 1 783, when they provided New York with a day for . . . . • ♦ • • .11 »9: • . • • • • . . .... . • • • • • • t I feastin^i^ and celebration, which has always been relig- iously observed. While they were here soldiers removed the head of the statue of William Pitt. Professor Dicey says he is certain that Messians did it. The head was seen several years afterward in the Blue Bell Tavern, up Kingsbridge way, where it looked down serenely upon rosy faced persons who drank ale from pewter mugs and smoked long clay pipes. Members of the New York Historical Society have been hunting for that head in the last quarter of a cen- tury, for it disappeared from the Blue Bell Tavern. Professor Dicey proposes that the American people get another head for their statue of W^illiam Pitt, and also eive him arms for his sides. The old statue is of marble and of heroic size. The head and neck are entirely missing. The figure is draped, leaning against part of a tree trunk. It is in the possession of the New York Historical Society. To effect the restoration it would be necessary to send the artist to Charleston, S. C, where the duplicate is intact, with the exception of the left arm. The English besieged Charleston in 1780, and William Pitt's statue had a narrow escape. The head of the old statue in the South is perfect. There are old prints in existence which would show the trend of that missing arm. Charleston removed her Pitt statue to one of her parks a few years ago. o'r t I '11)1 } A. la f ^ ll /Ka^e ^^^ Ccorje lb ffiucbatian an» CMtipan^ at tbe Stiiii of tbc TIvv Ucat (n lifratc «trcct ipbllaJclp^ia