From Farm House to the White House - 912 Freedom Library

Farm House to the White House, by William M. Thayer 101
supplies. Hence the authority of Washington for the time being.
When the retreating army recrossed the river and reached Colonel Dunbar, and he learned the extent of the
disaster, the wildest confusion followed. Colonel Dunbar proved himself unfit for his position, by losing his
self-control, ordering the heavy baggage and supplies to be burned, and hastening the retreat to Fort
Necessity.
General Braddock died soon after the shattered army reached Fort Necessity. Tradition says that he died in the
arms of Washington, to whom he gave his favorite servant, Bishop, expressing regrets again and again that he
had not treated his youthful aid-de-camp with more consideration.
Washington conducted the funeral services over the remains of the British general, and made it a very
impressive ceremony. His voice trembled with emotion when he read the Episcopal service, and tears stood in
his eyes as he thought of the victory that might have been, instead of the terrible defeat that was.
Subsequent information received by Washington proved that the French at Fort Duquesne celebrated their
victory by a drunken carousal, and that they treated their prisoners with great barbarity. Colonel Smith, who
was a prisoner there, and an eye-witness, subsequently bore the following testimony, after speaking of the
victorious savages returning with the spoils of war, such as grenadiers' caps, canteens, muskets, swords,
bayonets, rich uniforms, and dripping scalps:
"Those that were coming in and those who had arrived kept up a constant firing of small arms, and also of the
great guns in the fort, which was accompanied by the most hideous shouts and yells from all quarters, so that
it appeared to me as if the infernal regions had broken loose. About sundown I beheld a small party coming in
with about a dozen of prisoners, stripped naked, with their hands tied behind their backs. Their faces and parts
of their bodies were blackened. These prisoners they burned to death on the banks of the Alleghany River,
opposite to the fort. I stood on the walls of the fort until I beheld them begin to burn one of these men. They
tied him to a stake and kept touching him with fire-brands, red-hot irons, etc., and he screamed in the most
doleful manner. The Indians, in the mean time, were yelling like infernal spirits. As this scene was too
shocking for me, I returned to my lodgings both sorry and sore.
"From the best information I could receive, there were only seven Indians and four French killed in this battle.
Five hundred British lay dead in the field, besides what were killed in the river, after their retreat. The
morning after the battle I saw Braddock's artillery brought into the fort. The same day, also, I saw several
Indians in the dress of British officers, with the sashes, half-moons, laced hats, etc., which the British wore."
Washington said: "The French are responsible for these atrocious cruelties, for the Indians are their allies,
instigated to war by their influence, fighting under their banner, and paid by their money. The burning of our
men under the very walls of their fort must have been done by their approval."
He embraced the first opportunity after the battle, to write to his mother, that she might know of his safety,
and be relieved of any anxiety which exaggerated reports might create. His letter to her was dated Fort
Cumberland, July 18, 1755, and the first paragraph was:
"As I doubt not but you have heard of our defeat, and, perhaps, had it represented in a worse light, if possible,
than it deserves, I have taken this opportunity to give you some account of the engagement as it happened
within ten miles of the French fort, on Wednesday, the 9th inst."
He wrote to his brother:
"The Virginia troops showed a good deal of bravery, and were nearly all killed. The dastardly behavior of
those they called regulars exposed all others that were ordered to do their duty to almost certain death. At last,