CHAPTER V.

On the 28th of July Bouquet left Bedford, and reached fort Ligonier on the 2nd of August. The first twenty-five miles of his march were not interfered with; no enemy was visible, and he could hear of none. There were no tidings of the presence of the Indians; all that was known was, that the communications with fort Pitt were beset, for the messengers sent out had been killed, or had returned being unable to proceed. With this information, Bouquet determined on meeting the emergency by leaving the waggons, with the powder and stores, at fort Ligonier, and, with three hundred and forty pack-horses, laden with flour, to go forward. The road was well known to him, for he had determined the selection of the route and had carried the point against the opposition of Virginia. Washington had himself protested against its adoption, and it had been persevered in under much comment. Four years previously he had started from fort Ligonier, in command of a division of the small force of twenty-four hundred, who went forward against the French fort Duquesne, to find it burning and in ruins.* Every rod of the road was known to him; he was acquainted with every dangerous defile and with each spot where he might look for surprise. He was fully impressed with the desperation of the service on which he was engaged; he had to march fifty-five miles to reach the fort, exercising unceasing prudence and and caution. He might be attacked at any hour. On the first day he marched twelve miles without interruption, when he bivouaced for the night. His plan of campaign was to start early on the following morning and to get to Bushy creek, as it was called on the maps, but by Bouquet named * Ante, vol. IV., p, 211.

1763]

FIGHT AT EDGE HILL.

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Bushy run, nineteen miles distant. His intention was to halt at this spot, refresh his men, and at night start and pass over to French creek, the succeeding ten or twelve miles consisting of dangerous ground commanded by high and craggy hills, and presenting defiles where the attack would be more disadvantageously met. It was the 5th of August, a period of the year when the heat is intense; when the bush swarms with that pest of the northern part of America the mosquito; when the springs are frequently dry and water difficult to be obtained; when men with arms and accoutrements suffer severely from the heat; nevertheless the march was even rapidly made. The mettle of the troops is shewn by the fact, that at one o'clock, the column, encumbered with the duties of a convoy, had marched seventeen miles. Bouquet had arrived at a place to which he gave the name of Edge Hill, within two miles of his objective point, twenty-six miles from fort Pitt. Suddenly the advance guard was briskly assailed. Two light companies of the 42nd were sent forward in support, and the Indians rapidly abandoned their ambuscade. The attack was now directed against the flanks, and further advance was disputed by a large body in front. It was soon apparent that the enemy was present in great force. The Shawanees and Delawares, who had been busy in the attack at fort Pitt, had abandoned their ground to oppose Bouquet's march. All the hostile tribes of the Ohio were present, excited by their successes in the destruction of forts Presqu'île, Le Boeuf and Venango. The action became general; the Indians knew the ground, and as they were defeated in one direction appeared at another spot with increased determination. The fire continued unintermitting in the front and flanks. A charge was made in force upon a large body occupying some heights. It succeeded in dislodging the assailants, but without any permanent advantage being gained, for they returned to the attack in another direction. The Indians continued to receive reinforcements, so the column was surrounded and the convoy to the rear became exposed to danger; accordingly, the whole force was gathered around it for its protection. Effort suc

ceeded effort to break through the British phalanx, but every attempt was defeated and foiled; nevertheless each repulse only led to renewed attack. The Indians behaved with great resolution, and, although always repulsed with loss, returned to the assault. Only when night came on they ceased to assail the column, and they retired evidently with the determination of renewing the contest on the following day. The British losses in the day were sixty killed and wounded, including two officers of the 42nd killed and four officers wounded. Bouquet encamped on the ground; that night he wrote to Amherst an account of the engagement; he spoke of the steady behaviour of the troops, who did not fire a shot without orders, but often drove the enemy back with the bayonet. The conduct of the officers he described as above all praise.*

Bouquet established himself on the hill where the convoy had been left, encircling the whole with what protection he could obtain. He especially cared for the wounded, whose suffering was great, by surrounding them with flour bags to protect them from danger in the attack of the morrow, which he foresaw would be inevitable. With daylight the firing commenced. The Indians surrounded the enclosure, yelping and shouting with the belief that this display of an imposing force would cow the defenders. They remained within 500 yards of the camp and under cover of an incessant fire made successive attempts to penetrate the defences. As they gave way in one place on a well-directed attack, they appeared at another spot. The British force was greatly fatigued; they were wearied out by the long march and the fight of the preceding day, in which they had been engaged until dark. When the attack was temporarily abandoned, they had to

*

Bouquet did not conceal his anxieties for the future. "Whatever our Fate may be," he wrote, "I thought it necessary to give your Excellency this Early Information that you may at all events take such measures as you may think proper with the Provinces for their own safety and the Effectual relief of Fort Pitt, as in the case of another Engagement I fear Insurmountable difficulties in protecting and Transporting our Provisions, being already so much weakened by the losses of this day in men and horses besides the additional necessity of carrying the wounded, whose situation is truly Deplorable." Can. Arch., A., 4, p. 344.

1763] THE SECOND DAY, THE 6TH OF AUGUST.

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secure themselves for the morrow. A guard had been on duty the whole night, their hours of sleep had been few; moreover, as Bouquet describes the situation, they were distressed from want of water, "much more intolerable than the enemy's fire." They were forced to remain by the convoy, which, if the troops left it, would have become a prey to the savage, and the wounded would have been killed and scalped. There was no possibility of moving forward; many horses had been lost, and most of the drivers, under the impulse of fear or folly, hid themselves in the bushes and would obey no orders. Bouquet had no alternative but to fight where he was. Seldom has a body of troops been placed in more embarrassing circumstances; worn out with fatigue and want of sleep, without water, surrounded by a mass of infuriated savages, in the heart of the woods where only the tactics of savage life would prevail. It was a battle with the Indian on his own ground, under the very conditions he would have

selected.

The attack of the savages grew bolder; nevertheless they remained at some distance, and if overpowered abandoned their position. Bouquet's movement was accordingly made to increase their confidence, and by the semblance of a retreat to lead them to shew themselves in a more exposed position. It was forming for them one of those traps, into which they continuously striving to entice their enemies. Two companies in advance were withdrawn within the circle, and their place supplied by extended files brought nearer to the enclosure. The two companies thus removed were greatly strengthened to act as a reserve; their retirement led to the belief that a retreat was about to be made.

The Indians

hurried forward to enjoy the fruits of the victory they looked upon as in their hands, and to glut the desire for vengeance by the slaughter of those who had destroyed so many of their tribe. They rushed onward with the greatest daring, delivering a heavy fire as they advanced. But at the moment when they held the triumph to be theirs, and they had to reap all its advantages, they were assaulted on the flank by the two

companies, that sallied out from a hill, and which the Indians had failed to observe. They attempted resolutely to make a stand, but Bouquet's attack was irresistible. The charge broke them, many were killed; for when the contest assumed this character, there was no longer any cohesion among the savages, and they were at the mercy of their powerful assailants. Scattered by the charge, the Indians had to pass before two other companies rapidly brought up in support, and received their full fire totally unprotected by the bush. The four companies gave the retreating foe no time to re-form; the latter could neither reload nor make any stand of any kind they were pursued, attacked by the bayonet and dispersed. The Indians who had taken ground to the left, unable to aid their defeated brethren, being held back by some companies posted on a height, seeing the remaining portion of their force broken and destroyed, turned and fled. No British soldier took a scalp. Some of the rangers and pack-horse drivers were not so delicate.* After pursuit of the enemy to the extent which prudence would warrant, the troops returned to their camp, where they, for the first time, could remain without danger. So soon as it was possible, the wounded were carried away on litters to Bushy run, where water was plentiful; the camp was to be formed, and a few hours of greatly needed rest could be obtained. Owing to the loss of many horses, there was much provision which could not be carried forward, principally flour, and all that could not be moved was destroyed. The column reached Bushy run without molestation. The troops had scarcely established themselves when they were again feebly attacked, but the Indians were at once driven away. The losses in the two actions were 50 killed, 60 wounded, five missing, total 115. Three officers were killed and five wounded. Of this total number 64 belonged to the 42nd Highlanders. While the troops for a few hours sought rest, quietness, and renewed

"Our brave men disdained so much as to touch the dead body of a vanquished Enemy, that scarce a scalp was taken except by the Rangers and Pack-Horse Drivers." Bouquet to Amherst, 6th August. Can. Arch., A., 4, p. 341.