Background
Edward Braddock was born in 1695, in Perthshire, Scotland.
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work. While some publishers have opted to apply OCR (optical character recognition) technology to the process, we believe this leads to sub-optimal results (frequent typographical errors, strange characters and confusing formatting) and does not adequately preserve the historical character of the original artifact. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as blurred or missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the quality of the original work or the scanning process itself. Despite these occasional imperfections, we have brought it back into print as part of our ongoing global book preservation commitment, providing customers with access to the best possible historical reprints. We appreciate your understanding of these occasional imperfections, and sincerely hope you enjoy seeing the book in a format as close as possible to that intended by the original publisher.
https://www.amazon.com/Major-General-Edward-Braddocks-orderly/dp/B009UVB7Y8?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B009UVB7Y8
Edward Braddock was born in 1695, in Perthshire, Scotland.
Braddock entered the army in 1710 as ensign in the Coldstream Guards, the regiment of his father, Major-General Edward Braddock. In that regiment, he rose rapidly, becoming lieutenant of the grenadier company in 1716, captain-lieutenant with the army rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1734, a captain in 1736, second major with the army rank of colonel in 1743, first major in 1745, and lieutenant-colonel of the regiment in 1745.
He was probably not present either at Dettingen or Fontenoy, but accompanied the second battalion of the Coldstream to Ostend in July 1745. Later in the year, he served under Cumberland in the suppression of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745-46. In 1747, he commanded the second battalion in Lestock's and St. Clair's abortive attempt on Port l'Orient, was subsequently employed under the Prince of Orange at Bergen-op-Zoom, and was later quartered in Bois-le-Duc.
Appointed colonel of the 14th Regiment in 1753, he joined his men at Gibraltar, where he won their confidence and adoration.
Major-general in 1754, he was selected by Cumberland to proceed to North America as commander-in-chief of all His Majesty's forces raised or to be raised there. He sailed in December with two regiments of British foot and landed at Hampton, Virginia, in February 1755.
By the words of his instructions, Braddock theoretically wielded greater military power than any man had ever enjoyed before in America, and his meeting in April with five colonial governors at Alexandria marked the nearest approach to the colonial unity which the Board of Trade had advocated for more than fifty years. But the British ministry had under-estimated the difficulties of campaigning in the wilderness of the new world.
Braddock's own disdain of provincial troops complicated his task, and he found himself hampered by lack of money, provisions, transportation, and laborers. Dinwiddie, Washington, and Franklin contributed materially, and Braddock gratefully acknowledged their aid, but the inadequacy of preparations in England, and the prevailing jealousy of the colonies toward one another constituted a problem not to be solved by a man of his training.
In accordance with his orders to attack Fort Duquesne, he began the task of cutting a road westward from Fort Cumberland, with 1, 400 British regulars, some 700 provincials from Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and a detachment of sailors from the fleet.
The first road across the Alleghanies, it became later a highway of western expansion and the foundation of the National Road. Its slow building through the thick and mysterious forests sapped the strength and spirits of the men.
At Little Meadows, for want of transportation the army divided, and Braddock, with 1, 400 men, pushed on toward the fords of the Monongahela, throwing out flankers and advance pickets. But the absence of Indian allies, with whom he could not deal sympathetically, prevented adequate dispositions against surprise, and on July 9, eight miles from Fort Duquesne, the advanced guard received a withering fire from some 900 French, Canadians, and Indians, stationed on either side of a heavily-wooded ravine.
It fell back in confusion upon the van, under Lieutenant-Colonel Gage, marching too closely upon its heels, and out of the ensuing disorder it proved impossible to form the troops. Ten minutes later Braddock came up with the main body, but either because the order to form line-of-battle was not given or because the men were too confused to obey, the army preserved its column formation and was thus flanked on both sides by the enemy.
Without knowledge of open fighting, Braddock refused to order his men to the shelter of the trees, as the provincials urged him to do. For three hours the redcoats presented the best of targets to their invisible foes. Sixty-three of the eighty-nine officers, and over half the army, were killed and wounded, and when Braddock, who had had four horses shot under him, was wounded in the arm and lungs, the remainder retreated in headlong rout to the camp of the second detachment.
Braddock was borne back in a litter and died four days later near Great Meadows.
Edward Braddock successfully lead a military expedition of British and colonial volunteers against the French in the Ohio Country of Colonial America, which ended in disaster. He was appointed a commander of the British forces of North America shortly after the beginning of the French and Indian War in 1754. A monument was erected in 1913 over the grave site by the Coldstream Guards. Forty-three years' continuous service in one of the haughtiest regiments in the British army produced a man who was the sternest of disciplinarians, often brutal in dealing with civilians, and poor in purse, the butt of Fielding's satire and Walpole's wit.
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
Quotations: "We shall better know how to deal with them another time. "
