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The Battle of the Monongahela (also known as the Battle of Braddock's Field and the Battle of the Wilderness) took place on 9 July 1755, at the beginning of the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...
, at
Braddock's Field Braddock's Field is a historic battlefield on the banks of the Monongahela River, at Braddock, Pennsylvania, near the junction of Turtle Creek, about nine miles southeast of the "Forks of the Ohio" in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Here, in 1755, wa ...
in what is now Braddock, Pennsylvania, east of
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. A British force under General
Edward Braddock Major-General Edward Braddock (January 1695 – 13 July 1755) was a British officer and commander-in-chief for the Thirteen Colonies during the start of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American front of what is known in Europ ...
, moving to take
Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne (, ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed a ...
, was defeated by a force of
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
troops under Captain
Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu Daniel Hyacinthe Liénard de Beaujeu (9 or 19 August 1711 – 9 July 1755) was a French officer during King George's War and the French and Indian War. He participated in the Battle of Grand Pre (1747). He also organized the force that attacked G ...
with its American Indian allies. The defeat marked the end of the Braddock Expedition, by which the British had hoped to capture Fort Duquesne and gain control of the strategic Ohio Country. Both Braddock and Beaujeu were killed in action during the battle, with Braddock being mortally wounded in the fight and dying during the retreat near present-day
Uniontown, Pennsylvania Uniontown is a city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, southeast of Pittsburgh and part of the Greater Pittsburgh Region. The population was 10,372 at the 2010 census, down from 12,422 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat and ...
. He specifically asked for
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
, who accompanied him on the march, to oversee his burial. The remainder of the column retreated south-eastwards and the fort, and region, remained in French hands until its capture in 1758. The Native Americans allied to the French were stealthy and used the terrain to their advantage in order to cause a large number of British casualties. The French ambushed the British as they were more prepared for the combat, which was the cause of their success in this battle.


Background

Braddock had been dispatched to
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
in the new position of Commander-in-Chief, bringing with him two regiments (the 44th and 48th) of troops from
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
. He added to this by recruiting local troops in
British America British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas fro ...
, swelling his forces to roughly 2,200 by the time he set out from
Fort Cumberland A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere' ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
on 29 May.Anderson p.96 He was accompanied by Virginia Colonel
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
, who had led the previous year's expedition to the area. Braddock's expedition was part of a four-pronged attack on the French in North America. Braddock's orders were to launch an attack into the Ohio Country, disputed by Britain and France. Control of the area was dominated by
Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne (, ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed a ...
on the forks of the
Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...
. Once it was in his possession, he was to proceed on to
Fort Niagara Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built by New France to protect its interests in North America, specifically control of access between the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the Great Lakes. The fort is on the river's e ...
, establishing British control over the Ohio territory. He soon encountered a number of difficulties. He was scornful of the need to recruit local Native Americans as scouts, and left with only eight
Mingo The Mingo people are an Iroquoian group of Native Americans, primarily Seneca and Cayuga, who migrated west from New York to the Ohio Country in the mid-18th century, and their descendants. Some Susquehannock survivors also joined them, and ...
guides. He found that the road he was trying to use was slow, and needed constant widening to move artillery and supply wagons along it. Frustrated, he split his force in two, leading a
flying column A flying column is a small, independent, military land unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms. It is often an ''ad hoc'' unit, formed during the course of operations. The term is usually, though not necessarily, appli ...
ahead, with a slower force following with the cannon and wagons. The flying column of 1,300 crossed the
Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-c ...
on 9 July, within of their target, Fort Duquesne. Despite being very tired after weeks of crossing extremely hard terrain, many of the British and Americans anticipated a relatively easy victory—or even for the French to abandon the fort upon their approach. Fort Duquesne had been very lightly defended, but had recently received significant reinforcements. Claude-Pierre Pecaudy de Contrecœur, the Canadian commander of the fort, had around 1,600 French troupes de la Marine, Canadian militiamen and Native American allies. Concerned by the approach of the British, he dispatched Captain
Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu Daniel Hyacinthe Liénard de Beaujeu (9 or 19 August 1711 – 9 July 1755) was a French officer during King George's War and the French and Indian War. He participated in the Battle of Grand Pre (1747). He also organized the force that attacked G ...
with around 800 troops (108 Troupes de la Marine, 146 Canadian militia, and 600 Indians), to check their advance.


Battle

The French and Indians arrived too late to set an ambush, as they had been delayed, and the British had made surprisingly speedy progress. They ran into the British advance guard, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
Thomas Gage General Thomas Gage (10 March 1718/192 April 1787) was a British Army general officer and colonial official best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as British commander-in-chief in the early days of t ...
. Seeing the enemy in the trees, Gage ordered his men to open fire. Despite firing at very long range for a smooth-bored musket, their opening volleys succeeded in killing Captain Beaujeu. Unconcerned by the death of Beaujeu, the Indian warriors took up positions to attack. They were fighting on an Indian hunting ground which favored their tactics, with numerous trees and shrubbery separated by wide open spaces. The rolling platoon fire of the British initially caused roughly one hundred of the French to flee back to the fort. Captain Dumas rallied the rest of the French troops. The Indian tribes allied with the French, the
Ottawas The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They h ...
,
Ojibwa The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
and Potawatomis, used
psychological warfare Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), have been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations (MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and M ...
against the British. After the Indians killed British soldiers, they would nail their scalps to surrounding trees. During the battle, Indians made a terrifying "whoop" sound that caused fear and panic to spread in the British infantry. As they came under heavy fire, Gage's advance guard began taking casualties and withdrew. In the narrow confines of the road, they collided with the main body of Braddock's force, which had advanced rapidly when the shots were heard. Despite comfortably outnumbering their attackers, the British were immediately on the defensive. Most of the regulars were not accustomed to fighting in forest terrain, and were terrified by the deadly musket fire. Confusion reigned, and several British platoons fired at each other.Anderson p.102 The entire column dissolved in disorder as the Canadian militiamen and Indians enveloped them and continued to snipe at the British flanks from the woods on the sides of the road. At this time, the French regulars began advancing along the road and began to push the British back. General Braddock rode forward to try to rally his men, who had lost all sense of unit cohesion. Following Braddock's lead, the officers tried to reform units into regular order within the confines of the road. This effort was mostly in vain, and simply provided targets for their concealed enemy. Cannons were used, but due to the confines of the forest road, they were ineffective. Braddock had several horses shot under him, yet retained his composure, providing the only sign of order to the frightened British soldiers. Many of the Americans, lacking the training of British regulars to stand their ground, fled and sheltered behind trees, where they were mistaken for enemy fighters by the redcoats, who fired upon them. The rearguard, made up of Virginians, managed to fight effectively from the trees—something they had learned in previous years of fighting Indians. Despite the unfavorable conditions, the British began to stand firm and blast volleys at the enemy. Braddock believed that the enemy would eventually give way in the face of the discipline displayed by the English-led troops. Despite lacking officers to command them, the often makeshift platoons continued to hold their crude ranks. Finally, after three hours of intense combat, Braddock was shot in the lung, possibly by one of his own men, and effective resistance collapsed. He fell from his horse, badly wounded, and was carried back to safety by his men. As a result of Braddock's wounding, and without an order being given, the British began to withdraw. They did so largely with order, until they reached the Monongahela River, when they were set upon by the Indian warriors. The Indians attacked with hatchets and scalping knives, after which panic spread among the British troops, and they began to break ranks and run, believing they were about to be massacred. Colonel Washington, although he had no official position in the chain of command, was able to impose and maintain some order, and formed a rear guard, which allowed the remnants of the force to disengage. By sunset, the surviving British forces were fleeing back down the road they had built, carrying their wounded. Behind them on the road, bodies were piled high. The Indians did not pursue the fleeing redcoats, but instead set about scalping and looting the corpses of the wounded and dead, and drinking two hundred gallons of captured rum. A number of British soldiers and women were captured in the battle. Some of the soldiers were spared, as were most of the women, but around a dozen soldiers were tortured and burned to death by the Indians that night, witnessed by British prisoner James Smith.
Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...
, a famous American pioneer, explorer, woodsman, and frontiersman — and one of the first folk heroes of the United States — was among the soldiers involved in the battle. Boone served under Captain Hugh Waddell of North Carolina, whose militia unit was assigned in 1755 to serve under Braddock. Boone acted as a wagoner, along with his cousin
Daniel Morgan Daniel Morgan (1735–1736July 6, 1802) was an American pioneer, soldier, and politician from Virginia. One of the most respected battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783, he later commanded troops during the sup ...
, who would later be a key general in the American Revolution. In the Battle of the Monongahela, Boone narrowly escaped death when the baggage wagons were assaulted by Indian troops - Boone escaped, it is said, by cutting his wagons and fleeing. Boone remained critical of Braddock's blunders for the rest of his life. While on the campaign, Boone met John Finley, a packer who worked for
George Croghan George Croghan (c. 1718 – August 31, 1782) was an Irish-born fur trader in the Ohio Country of North America (current United States) who became a key early figure in the region. In 1746 he was appointed to the Onondaga Council, the governin ...
in the trans-Appalachian fur trade. Finley first interested Boone in the abundance of game and other natural wonders of the Ohio Valley. Finley took Boone on his first hunting trip to Kentucky 12 years later.


Order of battle


Aftermath

Of the approximately 1,300 men Braddock led into battle, 456 were killed outright and 422 were wounded. Commissioned officers were prime targets and suffered greatly: out of 86 officers, 26 were killed and 37 wounded. Of the 50 or so women that accompanied the British column as
maid A maid, or housemaid or maidservant, is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids ...
s and cooks, only 4 returned with the British; about half were taken as captives. The French and Canadians reported only 23 killed, including the French commander, and 20 wounded.''PAPIERS CONTRECOEUR Le Conflit Angelo - Francias Sur L' Ohio De 1745 a 1756.'' English translation of documents in the Quebec Seminary by Donald Kent, 1952
/ref> Braddock died of his wounds on July 13, four days after the battle, and was buried on the road near Fort Necessity. Colonel Thomas Dunbar, with the reserves and rear supply units, took command when the survivors reached his position. Realizing there was no further likelihood of his force proceeding to capture Fort Duquesne, he decided to retreat. He ordered the destruction of supplies and cannon before withdrawing, burning about 150 wagons on the spot. His forces retreated back toward
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
. The French did not pursue, realizing that they did not have sufficient resources for an organized pursuit. Captain Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu, commander of the French forces, was buried on July 12 at Fort Duquesne. The battle was a devastating defeat, and has been characterized as one of the most disastrous in British colonial history.McLynn p.35 It marked the end of the Braddock expedition, which many had believed contained overwhelming force, to seize the Ohio Country. It awakened many in London to the sheer scale of forces that would be needed to defeat the French and their Indian allies in
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
. The inability of the redcoats to use skirmishers, and the vulnerability this caused for the main force, had a profound effect on British military thinking. Although Braddock had posted a company of flankers on each side, these troops were untrained to do anything but stand in line and fire platoon volleys, which were unsuited to such conditions. Learning from their mistakes the British made much better use of skirmishers, often equipped with
rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...
s, who could protect the main body of troops from such devastating fire, both later in the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...
and in the
American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. Because of the speed with which the French and Indians launched their attack and enveloped the British column, the battle is often erroneously reported as an ambush by many who took part. In fact, the French had been unprepared for their contact with the British, whom they had blundered into. The speed of their response allowed them to quickly gain the upper hand, and brought about their victory. The French remained dominant in the Ohio Country for the next three years, and persuaded many previously neutral Indian tribes to enter the war on their side. The French were eventually forced to abandon Fort Duquesne in 1758 by the approach of the
Forbes Expedition The Forbes Expedition was a British military expedition to capture Fort Duquesne, led by Brigadier-General John Forbes in 1758, during the French and Indian War. While advancing to the fort, the expedition built the now historic trail, the Forbes ...
.


Debate

The debate on how Braddock, with professional soldiers, superior numbers, and artillery, could fail so miserably began soon after the battle and continues to this day. Some blamed Braddock, some blamed his officers, and some blamed the British regulars or the provincial troops. Washington, for his part, supported Braddock and found fault with the British regulars.George Washington, July 18, 1755, letter to his mother. Similarly, Washington's report to Governor Dinwiddie. Charles H. Ambler, ''George Washington and the West'', University of North Carolina Press,1936, pp. 107–109. Braddock's tactics are still debated. One school of thought holds that Braddock's reliance on time-honoured European methods, with men standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the open and firing mass volleys in unison, were not appropriate for frontier fighting and cost Braddock the battle. Skirmish tactics ("Indian style"), which American colonials had learned from frontier fighting, with men taking cover and firing individually, were superior in the American environment. However, in some studies, the interpretation of "Indian-style" superiority has been argued to be a myth by several military historians. European regular armies already employed irregular forces of their own and had extensive theories of how to use and counter-guerilla warfare.
Stephen Brumwell Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...
argues just the opposite by stating that contemporaries of Braddock, like John Forbes and
Henry Bouquet Henry Bouquet (born Henri Louis Bouquet; 1719 – 2 September 1765) was a Swiss mercenary who rose to prominence in British service during the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War. He is best known for his victory over a Native American ...
, recognized that "war in the forests of America was a very different business from war in Europe." Peter Russell argues it was Braddock's failure to rely on the time-honoured European methods that cost him the battle. The British had already waged war on the irregular forces in the Jacobite uprisings. And East-European irregulars, such as Pandours and
Hussars A hussar ( , ; hu, huszár, pl, husarz, sh, husar / ) was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely a ...
, had already made an impact on European warfare and theory by the 1740s. Braddock's failure, according to proponents of this theory, was caused by not adequately applying traditional military doctrine (particularly by not using distance), not his lack of use of frontier tactics.This argument is most recently presented in Guy Chet's ''Conquering the American Wilderness: The Triumph of European Warfare in the Colonial Northwest'' (University of Massachusetts Press, 2003). Russell, in his study, shows that on several occasions before the battle, Braddock had successfully adhered to standard European tactics to counter ambushes and so had become nearly immune to earlier French and Canadian attacks.


Legacy

In 1930, on the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Braddock's Field, a statue of Colonel Washington was unveiled, and a
commemorative A commemorative is an object made to memorialize something. Commemorative may refer to: * Commemorative coin, coins that issued to commemorate something * Commemorative medal, a medal to commemorate something * Commemorative plaque, a plate typic ...
postage stamp, modeled after that statue, was released for usage the same day.


See also

*
Braddock's Battlefield History Center Braddock's Battlefield History Center is a small American museum and visitors center on the site of the Battle of the Monongahela of 9 July 1755. It features a collection of art, documents, and artifacts about the Braddock Expedition and the Frenc ...


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Monongahela, Battle of Conflicts in 1755 Battles in Pennsylvania Battles involving France Battles involving Great Britain Battles of the French and Indian War Pre-statehood history of Pennsylvania Pre-statehood history of Ohio 1755 in North America