The Mt. Sterling advocate., 1892-07-12

forcements to enable him to make a
safe retreat, he was authorized to i'm
press horses as he might deem neces-
sary TO make the trip in the shortest
possible time. Capt. Ashby under
stood the business; as soon as his
dispatches were delivered to him and |
although the distance was about 300
miles, he delivered them to the
Governor in less than twenty
hours after he received them. He
performed the trip on horseback, using
eleven horses. He neither ale nor slept
until the end was reached, nor was
horse seriously injured. 1t does not
appear that the venture was neces-
sary, as it does not appear in any
authentic account that / have seen
that the enemy pursued the retreating
forces, or that any disaster befell them
on their retreat. The English officers
and Virginians remained with poor
Braddock, giving him all the atten-
tion they could and contributing
every comfort to him in their power.
In these last days he saw his er-
rors and told them he had done them
great injustice. To Col. Washington
he apologized feelingly for all his i'll
humor and as an evidence of his re-
gard presented him with his favorite
riding horse and his own servant,
Bishop. AS he went through the
shades of death. he kept groaning and
muttering: "Who would have
thought it? Who would have
thought it? We will know better how
to deal with them next time.' But
he had made his last deal with friend
or foe.
The enemy having failed to follow
the retreating army, Washington had
no further difficulty than to procure
supplies for his men and horses, but
by his prudence and skill he easily
surmounted all difficulties, and met
with no serious mishaps or accidents
after the death of Gen. Braddock.
4 For more than three years after
/ Braddock's defeat, the French and the
Indians continued to murder, scalp,
burn the houses and rob the people
west of the Blue Ridge. Though Col.
Washington was in command, and
used all the means in his power to
protect and save his people from the
savage warfare waged against them,
and not until November, 1853, was it
checked. He could not impress the
officials with the necessity of supply
ing a sufficient force for the work, nor
was it done at last by the Virginians
alone. In the vicinity of Fort Du-
quesne, fortunately some prisoners
were taken, who informedthe Ameri--
cans of the extreme distress of the fort,
deriving no support from Canada, the
garrison weak, in great need of sup
plies, and deserted by the Indians.
These encouraging circumstances de-
! termined General Forbes to prosecute
the expedition.
, Col. Washington was advanced in
, front, and with great labor opened a
way for the main body of the army.
, The troops moved forward with slow
, steps till they reached Fort Duquesne,
November 25, 1853, and took peaceable
possession. The garrison having on
the preceding night after evaceating
; and setting the fort on fire, proceeded
down the Ohio river.
To other causes than the vigor OF
t the officers who conducted this enter
, prise, the capture of this important
, place is to be ascribed. The naval
5 armaments had intercepted the re-
} Inducements designed by France fol
5 her colonies and the pressure on Can
ada was such as to disable the Gov.
/, ernment of that Province from detach-
I ing troops for Fort DuQuesne. The
, works were repaired and the new
fort received the name of the great
minister, VIM. Pitt, who, with un.
: paralleled vigor and talents, governed
the Nation. And that pretty nearly
ended the contention about Fort Dr
Quesne, or Fort Pitt.-MarshalPi
> Life of Washington, PIP. 1921.
CONTINUED next week.)
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To Walk at Lancaster.