The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1928-10-26

AEW1W myers
Copyright by Hugh Pendexter.
~ WNU Service
CHAPTER IX-Continued
Pr
"They are charging usr' cried the
{ Onondaga. And sounding his war
1whoop he fred at the figures now
swiftly bounding forward.
also fred and stopped savage.
ABut I did not believe the affair would
EmOunt to anything more than an, ex-
change OF shots between the scouts
until recognized Captain Beaujeu at
the head Of q mixed force Of French
and Indians. On the breast of his
fringed hunting shirt was "a silver
gorget, pleasing target had | NOT
emptied my rifle at the savage.
A moment after fired, Beaujeu
halted and waved his hat above his
head, and the Indians scattered to left
and right. would have believed the
enemy was retreating had not the
Canadians and regulars remained to
hold the road against us.
While was reloading, MIR. Gordon
OF the engineers came up and was the
! first of the regulars to behold the enc
my. It seemed to be most foohardy
thing for two hundred Frenchman to
dispute the Duquesne road against our
proud army. j began to realize we
were in for something more than a
skirmish when heavy fire opened on
us from ahead and from both sides.
Round Paw and | both Rugged the
ground and retired to the right.
A terrific bowling and yelling was
started by the savages. sinister
chorus that encompassed the road for
some distance. Cages troops seemed
to be confused by the fiendish clamor
and the invisibility of the foe. The
men staggered under the cruel fire,
then rallied and began emptying their
muskets in volIeys. But there was
nothing to shoot at except the slim
French force ahead. Before they could
fall back from the jaws of the trap.
st. Glars working force came up on
the run to pile confusion on confusion.
Gage felt the reinforcements behind
him and ordered his men to charge
straight ahead and eliminate the
Frenchmen. The head of his column
was speedily wiped out, and the rest
were sadly staggered by the fierce
fire.
A gun was rushed up to support the
pioneers, and at the third discharge
OF the piece, Beaujeu fell dead, dying
CALAMITY as became Chevalier of
st. Louis. Captain Dumas took his
place, and for a while the fighting was
stubbornly maintained by both sides,
with neither, apparently, securing any
distinct advantage, but with the Eng.
iish sustaining heavy punishment.
General Braddock persisted in sending
heavy masses of men up the road,
asKhereas he should have fallen hack
lef he could have cleared the woods
both sides of the road.
During this portion of the fight, the
Onondaga and | shifted about and
took turns firing, and taking care that
one of our rifles should be loaded al
all times. On three different occa.
sions we were charged by small bands
OF savages. but the second unexpected
shot from behind the same tree al
ways spoiled the attack and sent the
red man back to where the killing was
easier.
Then Bradd0ck's mechanical dis
cipiine began to give ground before
the craftsmanship of the enemy. We
sealed our fate by remaining astrad-
die the ravine. Braddock, furious al
most to the point of inc0herency,
pushed Burton forward with the van.
guard, thus making the congestion
worse; for the road was but twelve
feet wide.
Burton formed his troops under a
most CALLING fire and had just finished
the difficult maneuver when Cages
forces fell back rapidly to form be-
hind him.
Then occurred the definite shift In
our faring. We had been sustaining
terrible punishment, the penalty Of
being caught In column, but we had
the superiority of numbers to permit
heavy losses. But now the two regi-
ments became badly mixed and stun
bled about in the smoke-filled road
like sheep. There was smoke every
where. The woods were choked with
z 1t, the road was blotted out at times
by it. Sheets of fire rippled along the
very edges of the narrow way. The
two regimental colors were advanced
In opposite directions. The officers
were being picked off at an alarming
rate. and the regulars had not been
taught self-dependence.
Some OF the enemys guns were
thrust from the foliage into the very
faces of the victims. There were
many soldiers In that battle who did
not see an Indian. Down the line
they were delivering their fire at two
hundred yards, thereby throwing 1t
away. With the ancient forest closely
hemminp in the road. with no foe Wis