M E 312 .23 .T66 Copy 1 I toa '''^*,.. y= Ser'. G". Washington. Another precious document among the Wasliington papers in. the Department of State has recently been brouglit to the 187 4 Becords of the Columh^i Historical Society author's attention. It is in the nature of an orderly Ijook, kept by Colonel Washington in the Forbes expedition. It opens at Raes Town, now Bedford, Pa., September 21, 1758. Into this book A\^ashington copied all the orders of the general commanding, giving the camps pitched at variable distances, Avith tlie daily assignments of officers and men to duty at Bedford, in the march from Bedford to Ligonier, and from the latter place to Pittsburg. The camps were selected fi-om convenience as to distance, water, grass for cattle, a good out- look, to avoid surprises, etc. The record was presumaldy made from the daily orderly book of the general command- ing, whether Bouc}uet or Forbes. Whether General Forbes's orderly book of the expedition is still extant, and, if so, where it is, is unknown to the writer. Washington during the French and Indian hostilities was not only an active partici- pant, but also a diligent student of the art of war, and felici- tated himself upon the opportunity of serving under an officer of General Forbes's ability. This doubtless led him to per- form the labor of copying these orders in the Forbes expedi- tion, so as thoroughl}' to familiarize himself with all the de- tails of management l;)v a commanding general of recognized ability. An excerpt will Ije made from the orderly book fur- ther on, as it is believed an account of the Forbes ex])edition, which drove the French from the forks of the Ohio and from the possession of the IMississippi valley, will prove of interest. Colonel Washington had taken the pains, while acting as aid to General Braddock in his ill-fated expedition, to copy into a book all of that general's orders on the march from Alexandria j)rior to the defeat of his army on the banks of the Monongahela on the 9th of July, 1755. This kind of study was characteristic of Washington. (3n his trip to Bar- badoes, 1751, he copied the ship's log book and familiarized himself with taking observations at sea. He aimed to be thoroughly well informed upon every subject which engaged his attention or in whatever enterprise he was employed ; hence the copies of those orderly books. The last is preserved in the Library of Congress, the former in the Department of 188 J. M. Toner — Wa.'<]iington in Forbes Expedition of 1758 5 State. It is dittieult for people of this day, accustomed to travel in a few liours across the Alleghany mountains by rail in palace cars, to conceive what a l)arrier to tlie passage of an army these mountains presented in IToo and 1758, cov- ered, as they then were, with forests and before wagon roads had been made across them. Up to the time when " the Ohio Company," in wdiich two of George Washington's brothers were partners, improved the butfalo trail and Indian path in 1751-'52 to enable pack-horses to pass with their loads, no attempt had been anywhere made to open a road from the East over the Appalachian range of mountains to the head- waters of the Ohio. In the spring of 1754 the pack-horse road of the Ohio Company was further improved to permit the passage of light artillery or swivel guns. These were drawn by hand and were used by the armed military expe- dition under the actual command of Colonel George Wash- ington. The troops had been ordered out by Governor Din- widdle to build forts at the forks of the Ohio, now Pittsl)urg, to prevent the French from occupying that locality. Colonel Joshua Fry, Avho had Ijeen appointed to command the expe- dition, died at Fort Cumberland en route and before he had assumed direction in the field. After his death the command fell u})on Lieutenant Colonel George Washington, who was at once promoted to the rank of colonel. He was then in the field with 300 men and had opened a road nearly to the Monongahela, when he was apprised by his Indian scouts that a vastly superior force of French and Indians had left Fort Du Quesne and were marching against him. After a council of war with his officers, it was judged prudent to re- treat to Will's Creek, in hopes that he might meet reinforce- ments and supplies and be able to make a stand against even the superior force of the enemy. Although Colonel Wash- ington had been reinforced a few days before by an inde- pendent company of 100 men under Captain James Mackaye from South Carolina, he was still in expectation of the ar- rival of two other independent companies from New York that two weeks before had landed at Alexandria; but they 189 6 Records of the ColuDib^, Historical Society did not anivo even at Will's Creek until after Colonel Wash- ington was com})elled to make a stand at Fort Necessity. Here he was attacked l)y a force of French and Indians four times that of his own. The engagement began (uu'ly in the day and lasted for eight hours, when a call was made by the French for a parley, which he deemed it i)rudent to grant, and a capitulation was entered into. The terms agreed upon enabled him to return with his men to the settled parts of Virginia. One of the great needs in the early days in all the proyinces was that of good wagon roads. The lack of these was a hin- drance which retarded the growth of eyery new settlement. General Braddock was confronted with this necessity when he attempted to march his army to the head of the Ohio. He had no alternatiye but to make a road, and after great labor and expense the General's engineers and soldiers im})royed the old pack-horse road at some places and at others o]iened a new one from Will's Creek, now Cumberland, to Braddock's Fields, on the Monongahela. CJeneral Braddock, by urgent representations, induced the goyernor and Assembly of Penn- sylvania to order the oi)ening of another road for sup})lies and for retreat, if necessary, to pass from Carlisle and Ship- pensburg through Raes Town to Turkey Foot, on the Youghio- gheny, and from thence to Fort Du Quesne, and to haye it in a good state of forwardness before he could consider it prudent to advance his army from F'ort Cumberland. Work had progressed upon this nearly parallel road, under the supervision of Colonel James Burd, as far as the top of the Alleghany mountains, and the remainder of the road was marked out to follow in the main a branch of the Youghio- gheny river when l>radd()ck's defeat occurred ; but the work on the road was there and then al)andoned. There were at this time no settlements about the head of the Ohio in which either of the provinces of A'irginia, Maryland, or reiuisyl- vania were especially interested or which re(|uii'ed the use of a wagon road to the seaboard. In 1758, when General Forbes began the organization of 190 .7. J/. Toner — Wo-'iJiiiif/fo}} in Forbes Expedition oj 1758 7 his expedition against Fort Du Qiiesne, with liis hea(l(]uaiiers at Phihuleli)hia, the ^piestioii of roads and tlie line hy wljieh he slioiihl niareli his army presented itself as a mus! ini- })()rtaiit one. The road oi)ened l)y Colonel James Bnrd, in 1755, as far as Kaes To^vn, and indeed the top of the Alle- ghany mountains, was serviceahle. General Forl)es's quarter- master general, Sir John St. Clair, on whom he liad to rely for supplies and who had served in the same capacity with General Braddock, was personally acquainted with the dif- ficulties to he encountered upon any road crossing the mountains. He, with Colonel Bouquet, was General Forhes's adviser. Unaccountahle delay attended the heginning of the ad- vance of the Forl)es army. By great assiduity, on Friday, oOth of June, tlie General got the last division of liis forces out of Philadelphia. Forbes himself set out the same day for Carlisle, where he arrived July 4th.* Estimates of tlie strength of General Forhes's army vary. A summary of the forces in the expedition is given as fol- lows in Mante's " History of the late war in North America," page 155 : Royal Americans 3.i0 Montgomery's Highlanders 200 Virginia Provincials 1,600 Pennsylvania Provincials and Lower Connties 2,700 Maryland 350 Wagoners, &c 1,000 Total 7,200 A part of General Forhes's troops, under the command of Colonel Henry Bouquet,t had already been advanced to Car- * See letter to Colonel Bouquet, July 0, 175S, and American Magazine of History, June, 1758, page 4(i0. t Colonel Henry Bouquet, the first in command under General Forhes in the ex[)edition against the French at the head of the Ohio m 1758, was horn in RoUe, Switzerland, in 1710, and died in Pensacola, Florida, in February, 1706. His taste led him into a military life. He first entered the Dutch service and afterward that of Sardinia, and in 1748 was again 191 8 Tiecords of the Columl^a Historical Society lisle, as may be seen by a letter, bearing date Lancaster, May 28, 1758, from Edward Shippen to his son, Major Joseph Shippen, at Philadelphia, in whicli he mentions that he was " engaged to send off at six o'clock a. m. of Tnesday morning 60 waggons to Col. Bonqnet at Carlisle, which he shall be a little puzzled to do, as drivers are very scarce and saucy since the late enlistment" (Provincial History of Pennsyl- vania, page 123). Colonel Bouquet, with his Royal Ameri- cans, was at Raes Town June 30 ; the Highlanders, early in July, as was the First and Second battalions of Pennsylva- nians. General Forbes, it is to be remembered, was taken seriously ill with camp dysentery at Carlisle early in July and was rarely or never after able to ride on horseback. His move- ment with the army was upon a litter fastened to poles sus- pended at the sides of horses, one walking behind the other, as in shafts, the General's litter being placed upon the poles in the service of Holland as lieutenant colonel of Swiss guards. He en- tered the EngHsh army with the same rank in 1756, and became colonel of the Sixtieth foot 19th Febinary, 1762, and brigadier general in 1765. Secretary William Pitt, in planning the campaign of 1758 against the French in North America, assigned Bouquet's troops, the Royal Ameri- cans, then in South Carolina, as was also Colonel Montgomery's High- landers, to place themselves under General Forbes at Philadelphia. These were the regulars upon whom General Forbes relied. They arrived at Philadelphia early in June, 1758. Bouquet was a man of courage and a soldier of ability, with the large amount of self-conceit and dogmatism so common to British officers. His devotion to duty minimized these lim- itations in his character as a soldier. It was chiefly through his influ- ence that the new road from Raes Town was opened and the Braddock road ignored, though recommended by Washington, the delay in the making of which came so near defeating the purposes of the expedition under Forbes. (See the Washington- Bouquet letters.) On October 12, 1758, his forces were attacked l)y the Frem-h and Indians at Loyal Han- non, but the latter were repulsed. In 1763 he, with a force of 500 men, Highlanders and Provincials, made a brave and successful defense in an attempt by Indians to surprise him at Bushy run, a tributary of Turtle creek. In this engagement he lost 8 officers and 115 men. He also led an expedition against the Ohio Indians in 1764. An admirable account of this expedition was published by the Rev. William Smith, of Phila- delphia, in 1765. 192 J. M. Toner — Wasldngton in Forbes Ei-pcdition of 1758 9 between the horses. A detail of soldiers marched by his side to steady the General's couch. General Forbes was himself a trained and experienced soldier, of a reserved and suspi- cious temperament, with a strong bent toward diplomacy. He had capable officers under him, who gave their attention to all the details of equipment and to drilling the provincial forces of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina as tliey arrived in camp and were assigned to duty. Henry Boucpiet, the second officer in command, held a British connnission of colonel and had command of the Royal Americans. Colonel Archibald Montgomery, also a British officer, was in command of the regiment of High- landers, reported 1,200 strong; but with all their zeal and ability it is probable they were at first deficient in a knowl- edge of the best methods of Indian fighting. Colonel Bou- quet later acquired fame in this line. It is doubtless true that the General's illness limited the attention he was able to give to details and to the measures essential to the speedy and efficient equipment of the expedition. He was never able to examine personally either the Brad dock road or the line proposed for the new one across the mountains, which was opened on the recommendation of Bouquet, by his order, from Raes Town to Fort Du (^uesne. Any knowledge tliat either General Forbes or Colonel Bouquet had of the time it would require and the labor and expense of opening this road was based upon reports of limited, if not partial and hasty, examinations. The question of the merits of the two routes was much discussed in the larger towns of the prov- inces, in the army, by Indian traders, and l)y commercial men. Naturally, General Forbes had to defer much to Colonel Bouquet on the road question and the minutiae of the details of supplies and outfits. It is inferred that Sir John St. Clair recanted his early opinions, and that Colonel Bouquet's hasty reconnoitering of the ground forced the opening of the new road. General Forbes in a letter to Colonel Bouquet, June 10, 1758, on being informed of the opening of a road from Fort Frederick, Maryland, to Fort 2G-UEC. Coi.. Hist. Sue. 193 10 Records of tlie Columbia Historical Society Cumberland, says he " regrets the change of route." He meant from the one by Raes Town and Loyal Hannon. Colonel Bouquet, with a part of his Royal Americans, a part of the Pennsylvania and Maryland troops, and six compa- nies of the Virginians, reached Raes Town on the 24tli of June from Fort Littleton (see Kouquet's Orderly Book). He was then upon the ground to consider the question of roads. Smallpox appeared among the troops at Fort Loudoun in the early part of June (see Bouquet's letter to Forbes, 14 June, 1758). General Forbes in his letter to Bouquet of June 19, 1758, says, " I am glad you have proceeded to Raes Town, where you will be al)le to judge of the roads and act accordingly," and in another paragraph of the same letter he says, " I sup- pose you will reconnoiter the road across the Alleghany mountains from Raes Town, and if found impracticable that the Fort Cumberland garrison should oj3en the old road for- ward towards the crossing of the Yohagani." A very con- siderable and able correspondence in relation to the merits of the routes by which the army could most advantageously and expeditiously march to the head of the Ohio was carried on between Colonel Bouquet and Colonel Washington. The latter rested his arguments in favor of the Braddock road chiefly upon the fact that the Braddock road was already made and its use would expedite the march from two to three months, and that it was but thirty miles or two days march from Raes Town. To open a new road would cost the labor of two thousand men for nearly three months, be a disagreeable employment and exhausting to the soldiers ; but neither the labor nor the delay seems to have had much consideration from either General Forbes or Colonel Bouquet. A convincing reason for the opening of the new road is nowhere expressed by either. This correspondence between Bouquet and Washington may be seen in the " Writings of Washington " by Sparks. A new road was determined upon from Bedford and work upon it authorized by General Forbes (see letter to Bouquet, 194 /. 71/. Toner — WasJihigton in Forbes Expedition of 1758 11 July 23, 1758), and a commencement made a few days after. On the 23d of August, 1758, Colonel James Burd, of the Pennsylvania troops, who had been in charge of the w^ork on the road l)egun by the governor of Pennsylvania in 1755, was assigned to duty in supervising the opening of the Forbes road under orders from Colonel Bouquet. Numerous ftivor- able reports were made to Colonel Bouquet by Indian traders, scouting parties, and special agents, whom he sent out, as to the character of the country to be traversed, the easy grades through openings in the mountains, and the abundance of grass and pasturage for the cattle and horses along the route. Colonel John Armstrong, who was quite familiar with the mountain regions of Pennsylvania and who was an ardent ad- vocate for opening a new road, was, with a portion of his regi- ment, sent forward, pack-horses carrying their provisions, to Edmunds's swamp and Stony creek to build breastworks and to work to the east in opening the road to meet other parties working toward the west. Colonel Adam Stephen, of the Virginia troops, was also sent forward on the same duty, to work toward parties working to the w^est. This was done to hasten the work of opening the road. The following map is found among the Bouquet papers preserved in the British Museum, a copy of which is deposited in the Canadian ar- chives. (See William Kingsford's History of Canada, vol. iv, page 197.) This map was evidently made with an im})erfect knowl- edge of the country it claims to represent. The openings in the Alleghany mountains which it shows are purely imagi- nary, and the great de})ression in the Laurel Hill mountain is largely fancy. Still it is a record of the time and the kind of information the General was supplied with and obliged to act upon. The map also shows the line of Braddock's road, the road from Fort Cumberland to Bedford, and the pro- posed cross-road in a northeasterly direction from the Brad- dock road at the crossing of Salt Lick creek, now known as Sewickly creek, to the Forbes road at a point some miles east of Greensburg, in the vicinity of Latrobe. At the crossing of 195 12 Records of the Columbia Historical Society Salt Lick creek a camp and fort were projected, but the needs of the expedition never required them and the road was not opened for military purposes. The map is an interesting one and but little known. Another map of the same section TOUQU£SNE(Pittsbut^ \(BeclforclJ rORT CUMBEBLflN. MflPSMCWlN© ROUTE FOI.LOWED BYTHE FORCE UNDER BpiG, Forbes from Bedford^ Pa. toFortDu<9uesne, Ohio, 1758 ]96 J. M. Toner — Washington in Forbes Expedition of 1758 13 of country and embracing the same militar}^ operations, but drawn with greater care and a better knowledge of the country, may be seen in Sparks's " Life and Writings of Washington," vol. 11, page 38. Just before General Forbes arrived at Raes Town a con- siderable reconnoitering party was fitted out from Loyal Hannon by Colonel Bouquet to gain intelligence of the con- dition of the French fort and their strength at that post. A force consisting of 850 men, drawn from the different regi- ments then at Loyal Hannon, was placed under the com- mand of Major Grant,* of the Highlanders, for this special * Major Grant, afterward known as General Grant, of the British arinj', was born in iScotland in 1719. Reentered the arm}' as ensign in 1741, and became captain of the First Royal Scots October 24, 1744. In 1747 he was appointed by General James St. Clair ambassador to the conrts of Vienna and Turin. He subsequently served in the war of the Nether- lands. In January, 1757, he was commissioned major in the new Seventy- seventh regiment, first battalion, generally known as the Archibald- Montgomery's Highlanders. These troops were ordered to America in 1757. They first landed at Halifax in August, and were then ordered, with a portion of the Royal Americans under Colonel Henry Bouquet, to South Carolina, where they arrived 29th September. It was apprehended at the time that the French were about to make an attack upon that coast. When General Forbes was given the command of the southern depait- ment and organized the expedition against Fort Du Quesne these troops were placed under his command, and they arrived at Philadeli^hia in the early j)art of June, 1758, and encam})ing near the new barracks, were there reviewed by General Forbes. Major Grant's forces were actively engaged under Bouquet in opening the new road from Raes Town, now Bedford, to Ligonier. He was indulged at his own request by Bouquet to be promoted to lead a strong force to reconnoiter tlie French fort. He became po.ssessed with the idea that he could lead the French and Indians into an ambuscade ; but he was himself surprised and defeated with the loss of more than a third of his party killed, wounded, and missing. ]\Iajor Grant, Major Lewis, and eighteen other officers were taken prisoner- During the remainder of the expedition he seems to have kept very quiet. In 17(J0 he was made lieutenant colonel in the Fortieth foot, and shortly after was made governor of East Florida. The following year he was sent by General Amherst, with a force of 1,300 regulars, against the Cherokee Indians in South Carolina. In 1773 he was sent to Parliament. In 1775 he was appointed colonel of the Fifty-fifth foot, and in 1776 was ordered to America to reinforce General Howe. He commanded two 197 14 Records of the Colnmhia Historical Society service. In his zeal and hoping to capture the fort with his party, Major Grant exceeded his instructions and attacked the French on the 14th of September, but was defeated with the loss of one-third of his forces, and was himself taken prisoner, as was also Captain Lewis and about 40 men. General Forbes said of this affair that " Major Grant had lost his wits." It was chiefly through the courage and good conduct of Captain Bullet, of Virginia, that Grant's defeat was pre- vented from being as disastrous as that of General Brad- dock's in 1755. General Forbes reached Raes Town on the loth of Sep- tember, and was promptly w^aited upon by all the officers apprised of his coming, among whom was Colonel Wash- ington, wdio returned to Fort Cumberland for his regiment the next day, and immediately marched them to Raes Town- Colonel Washington had been stationed with the First Vir- ginia troops awaiting orders at Fort Cumberland, where he arrived from Winchester on the 2d of July. Colonel Burd, with the Second Virginia regiment, arrived at Fort Cum- berland on the 8th of July. Quite half the men of both regiments had, however, been sent forward in June and were assisting in the building of the new road ; but the remainder of the Virginia troops were all brought up to Raes Town directly after General Forbes arrived there. At Fort Cum- berland the Virginia officers contiiuied the training of their men and gave attention, under orders from Colonel Bouquet, to making a road l)etween Fort Cumljcrland and Fort Fred- erick, in Maryland, and between Fort Cuml)erland and Raes Town, and also to repairing the eastern end of the Braddock road. Indeed, it was understood in army circles that Colonel brigades at the battle of Long Island, and a similar force at (Jermantown and at Brandywine. In May, 1778, he was sent to cut off Lafayette, but was unsuccessful, and in December of this year he was sent from New York to the West Indies and assisted in capturing St. Lucia. He was made a major general in 1777, lieutenant general in 1784, and general in 179(5. He came into the possession of a large landed estate in Scotland, and died, without children, April 13, 1806. 198 /. 31. Toner — WasJnngton in Forbes Expedition of 1758 15 "Washington was to march an independent division l)y the l>raddock road coincident with tlie movement of F()r])es's army by the main roa(i This phin was advised against by Colonel Washington as unwise, to divide their forces in a country infested by the enemy. Indeed, this may never have been seriously entertained by General Forbes, or, if so, the plan was changed. Washington's Orderly Book, already referred to, opens at Raes Town September 21st. General Forbes was then there and in command and remained at this camp for some weeks, perfecting his arrangements for the march of the rear division of his army to Loyal Hannon. These troops were moved in detachments. The General began his march on the 2(3th of October, making his first encampment at Shawnee Cabins, eight miles from PxMlford, and his second cam}) was at Fort Dward. Reading between the lines, it is not difficult to see that General Forbes, after a short personal acquaintance with Colonel Washington as an officer in the same camp, conceived a higher regard for his intelligence, manly deportment, soldierly qualities, and ability to manage and encourage soldiers in the discharge of their duty than he had formerly entertained. At an early period in the expedition, and particularly during the discus- sion of the road question, when the A'^irginia Colonel's opin- ions reached General Forl)es only through others, he wrote some sharp criticisms upon Washington's views ; but General Forbes, it appears, neither consulted him in person nor by letter, and only became acquainted with Washington's views through Bouquet and St. Clair. After they met, however, there was never a word other than of confidence and admiration. The Virginia troops in their proficiency of drill were next to the regulars, and as woodsmen had no equals in the expedition. Washington was known and everywhere spoken of as the foremost mili- tary man of his time in the colonies. There is some ground for believing that both General Forbes and Colonel Bouquet, from hearing such universal praise of Colonel AVashington and his genius in military 199 16 Records of the Columbia Historical Society affairs, were not only a little envions but somewhat jealous of the man, and wished to minimize his influence in the plan- ning of the expedition to the Ohio ; but all this was changed and forgotten as time went on, and each officer's opinions were better canvassed and their conduct and efficiency con- trasted as the campaign came to a fortunate conclusion, which more emphatically demonstrated the weakness of the French than the genius of Forbes and Bouquet. Colonel Washington was known to neglect no detail of outfit, supply, or executive supervision of his regiment, no requirements for the safety and efficiency of the service. General Forbes, in selecting him to command one of the three brigades, had to pass over Colonel John Armstrong, of Penn- sylvania, who had won renown in that province as an Indian fighter by his capture of Kittanning in 175(). He had had the ear of the General for several months, was ])opular also with the people, and the legislature had voted him a medal and a service of silver. This preferment for Colonel Wash- ington caused less friction with the Pennsylvania troops than might have been expected. They, too, on a better acquaint- ance with Colonel Washington, soon came to admire him and his methods more than any other commander in the field. Colonel Washington, with- that portion of his regiment under his immediate command, remained in camp at Raes Town, where he was in daily intercourse with General Forbes for a month before he was ordered to Loyal Hannon, so that he did not arrive at that place until after the attack by N. de Vetri was made upon the camp and the fort with an esti- mated force of 1,200 French and 200 Indians. Colonel Bou- quet was absent at the time at Fort Dudgeon, on Laurel Hill, viewing and opening a new road, so that Colonel James Burd was in command. He and his men acquitted themselves nobly, repelling all assaults. The enemy's forces were quite as large as that under Colonel Burd. The attack was re- newed at night, but a few discharges of the cohorns silenced them. The loss to the English was reported as 62 men and 5 officers killed and missing. The French were busy all 200 J. M. Toner — Wasliingfon in. Forbes E.rpedifion of 1758 17 night in carrying off their dead and wounded. This with the loss of some cattle and horses was all the injury inflicted. The engagement was an expiring effort on the })art of the French, for they could no longer provision their forces or keep the Indians at Fort Du (^uesne. The repulse was there- fore more disheartening to the French and more important in its results to the Forhes expedition than has generally been recognized. General Forbes arrived at Loyal Hannon on the 2d of November (see Orderly Book). Colonel A\"ash- ington finally received orders to march, left Raes Town on the 14th of October and arrived at Loyal Ilannon on the 23d of the same month. On the 25th of Octol)er he sat as presi- dent of a, court-martial at Fort Loyal Hannon for the trial of Lieutenant Laughry, of the First Battalion of Pennsylvania. This was probably the first English court, civil or military, that ever sat in western Pennsylvania or in the valley of the Ohio and Mississippi. The court consisted of Colonel Wash- ington, president ; Colonel Armstrong, Colonel Burd, Lieu- tenant Dagworthy, Lieutenant Colonel Llo3^d, Major Wad- dall. Major Jameson ; deputy judge advocate. Lieutenant Thompson. When the court sat the season was so far advanced that the leaves were falling and the mountain tops capped wdth snow. When the General reached Loyal Hannon he saw for himself the character of roads across the mountains and the difficulty of bringing up supplies for men and horses, and began to despair of being able to reach Fort Du Quesne, owing to the lateness of the season and the difficulties with which he had to contend. A good stockade fort, storehouses, and a hospital had already been erected for the security of the stores and the comfort of the men. On the 11th of Novem- ber General Forbes held a council of war, at which all the officers down to and including colonels were present, and the question put to each was whether it was pro})er and safe for the army to march farther this season. Each officer's opinion was reduced to writing. The final judgment was that it was 27— Rue. Coi,. Hist. Soc. 201 18 Records of the Columbia Historical Society inexpedient, owing to the lateness and inclemency of the sea- son, to attempt to proceed farther under the then existing conditions of the army. Two days after this determination was reached Washington was out on scouting duty, and dis- covering a party of the enemy, innned lately attacked them, killing some and taking three prisoners, an Indian man and woman and an Englishman. The latter had heen taken prisoner from Lancaster county more than a year before. The taking of these prisoners proved the turning point which won success to the Forbes expedition, for when they were taken to camp and there carefully questioned it was learned to the satisfaction of the General and all the officers that Fort du Quesne was very weak in numbers and in an inde- fensible condition ; so that the determination of the council of war held on the 11th was by unanimous consent reversed, and General Forbes determined to proceed at once and with- out tents, with light baggage, and with but little artillery. This resolve greatly inspirited the army. Washington had, early in the campaign, requested to have his regiment placed among those in front, urging that he himself was familiar with the woods and his regiment was well trained to Indian fighting. General Forbes, having determined upon an ad- vance, selected about two thousand live hundred (2,500) of the most capable men. These he formed into three divis- ions, placing each under a brigadier general, assigning the center to Brigadier General Montgomery, the right to Brig- adier General Washington, and the left to Brigadier General Bouquet. From this time forward Washington was recog- nized as the commander of a brigade and was reported to as such. On the 15th of November Brigadier General Wash- ington's command, as the advance division, set out from Fort Ligonier. His labors were great in opening roads, estab- lishing camps, sending out scouting parties, and reporting frequently during the day and night to General Forbes. The troops, however, encountered no enemy in force after leaving Loyal Hannon. 202 J. M. Toner — Wasliingfon in Forhea Exj)cdition of 1758 19 The following is a tran,scTi})t from Washington's Orderly Book : Camp at Loyal Hannon, Notriuher 12, 1758. After Orders — 1 Col., 1 Lieut., 1 IMujor, 5 Captains, 16 Sabs., 20 Sergeants, 2 Corp., and 450 Privates. IMen to march tomorrow morninsj; at reveille beating to tlie ground where the skirmish was this evening and to carry a propor- tion of spades in order to inter tlie Dead bodies. This has reference to the burial of those killed in the skirmish on the evening of the 12th. Colonel Washington's plan for marching an army through a wooded country was, as we see, adopted in the main as the order of march from Loyal Hannon, where the forces were brigaded by the following order: Camp at Loyai> Hannon, xVoc'"- 14th 1758 Pai'ole Bai-badoes Field Officer for tomorrow Maj^ Jameson Whereas the circumstances of the times require that a Disposition be immediately made of the troops under Brigadier Gen'l Forbes Command"', the army is to be divided into tliree Bodys and to be Commanded by Col. Bouquet, Montgomery and Washington who is to act as Brigadiers re- ceiving all Reports & giving orders &c Regarding their respective divis- ions or Brigades tlie Right Wing to be Commanded by Col. Washington to Consist of the 1st Virginia Regim'. two Companies of Artificers, N. Carolineans, Maryland" and Lower County The ISenter to be commanded by Col". Montgomerie and to Consist of tiie Highlanders and 2d Virginia Regiment. The left wing to be commanded by Col. Bouquet Consisting of the three Battallions of Pennsylvanians and Royall Americans the Reserve to be commanded by to Consist of 200 nigh]an