page_title: Battle of the Monongahela
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of the Monongahela / Battle
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: ourgreatercountr00nort (find matches) Title: Our greater country; being a standard history of the United States from the discovery of the American continent to the present time .. Year: 1901 (1900s) Authors: Northrop, Henry Davenport, 1836-1909 Subjects: Publisher: Philadelphia, National pub co. Contributing Library: The Library of Congress Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: hrubs, im-mediately below the eminence held by theFrench. The regulars were quickly thrown intoconfusion by the heavy fire and the fierceyells of the Indians, who could nowhere b«&#160;894 THE FRENCFI AND INDIAN WAR. seen, and their losses were so severe andsudden that they became panic-stricken.They were ordered to charge up the hill anddrive the French from their cover, but re-fused to move, and in their terror fired atrandom into the woods. In the meantimethe Indians were rapidly spreading along thesides of the ravine and continuing their firefrom their cover among the trees with fear-ful accuracy. that not one of his commands was obeyed,and his defeat was complete. The only semblance of resistance main-tained by the English was by the VirginiaRangers, whom Braddock had insulted atthe beginning of the days march. Immedi-ately upon the commencement of the battlethey had adopted the tactics of the Indian.,and had thrown themselves behind trees,from which shelter they were rapidly picking Text Appearing After Image: DISASTROUS DEFEAT OF GENERAL BRADDOCK. The advance of the English was drivenback, and it crowded upon the second divi-sion in utter disorder. A reinforcement ofeight hundred men, under Colonel Burton,arrived at this moment, but only to add tothe confusion. The French pushed theirlines forward now and increased the disorderof the English, who had by this time lostnearly all their officers. Braddock now cameup and gallantly exerted himself to restoreorder, but the kings regulars and discip-lined troops were so utterly demoralized off the Indians. Washington entreatedBraddock to allow the regulars to follow theexample of the Virginians, but he refused,and stubbornly endeavored to form them inplatoons under the fatal fire that was being^,poured upon them by their hidden assailants.:Thus through his obstinacy many usefullives were needlessly thrown away before hewould admit his defeat.&#160;; The officers did not share the panic of themen, but behaved with the greatest gallantry.They were the e Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: The Battle of the Monongahela took place on 9 July 1755, at the beginning of the French and Indian War, at Braddock's Field in what is now Braddock, Pennsylvania, 10 miles east of Pittsburgh. A British force under General Edward Braddock, moving to take Fort Duquesne, was defeated by a force of French and Canadian troops under Captain Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu with its American Indian allies.
  The defeat marked the end of the Braddock Expedition, by which the British had hoped to capture Fort Duquesne and gain control of the strategic Ohio Country. Both Braddock and Beaujeu were killed in action during the battle, with Braddock being mortally wounded in the fight and dying during the retreat near present-day Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He specifically asked for George Washington, who accompanied him on the march, to oversee his burial. The remainder of the column retreated south-eastwards and the fort, and region, remained in French hands until its capture in 1758.
context_section_description: The French and Indians arrived too late to set an ambush, as they had been delayed, and the British had made surprisingly speedy progress. They ran into the British advance guard, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gage. Seeing the enemy in the trees, Gage ordered his men to open fire. Despite firing at very long range for a smooth-bored musket, their opening volleys succeeded in killing Captain Beaujeu.
   
  Unconcerned by the death of Beaujeu, the Indian warriors took up positions to attack. They were fighting on an Indian hunting ground which favored their tactics, with numerous trees and shrubbery separated by wide open spaces. Although roughly a hundred of the Canadians fled back to the fort, Captain Dumas rallied the rest of the French troops.  The Indian tribes allied with the French, the Ottawas, Ojibwa and Potawatomis, used psychological warfare against the British forces.  After the Indians killed British soldiers, they would nail their scalps to surrounding trees.  During the battle, Indians made a terrifying "whoop" sound that caused fear and panic to spread in the British infantry.
  As they came under heavy fire, Gage's advance guard began taking casualties and withdrew. In the narrow confines of the road, they collided with the main body of Braddock's force, which had advanced rapidly when the shots were heard. Despite comfortably outnumbering their attackers, the British were immediately on the defensive. Most of the regulars were not accustomed to fighting in forest terrain, and were terrified by the deadly musket fire. Confusion reigned, and several British platoons fired at each other. The entire column dissolved in disorder as the Canadian militiamen and Indians enveloped them and continued to snipe at the British flanks from the woods on the sides of the road. At this time, the French regulars began advancing along the road and began to push the British back. General Braddock rode forward to try to rally his men, who had lost all sense of unit cohesion.
  Following Braddock's lead, the officers tried to reform units into regular order within the confines of the road.  This effort was mostly in vain, and simply provided targets for their concealed enemy. Cannon were used, but due to the confines of the forest road, they were ineffective. Braddock had several horses shot under him, yet retained his composure, providing the only sign of order to the frightened British soldiers. Many of the Americans, lacking the training of British regulars to stand their ground, fled and sheltered behind trees, where they were mistaken for enemy fighters by the redcoats, who fired upon them. The rearguard, made up of Virginians, managed to fight effectively from the trees—something they had learned in previous years of fighting Indians.
  Despite the unfavorable conditions, the British began to stand firm and blast volleys at the enemy. Braddock believed that the enemy would eventually give way in the face of the discipline displayed by the English-led troops. Despite lacking officers to command them, the often makeshift platoons continued to hold their crude ranks.
  Finally, after three hours of intense combat, Braddock was shot in the lung, possibly by one of his own men, and effective resistance collapsed. He fell from his horse, badly wounded, and was carried back to safety by his men. As a result of Braddock's wounding, and without an order being given, the British began to withdraw. They did so largely with order, until they reached the Monongahela River, when they were set upon by the Indian warriors.  The Indians attacked with hatchets and scalping knives, after which panic spread among the British troops, and they began to break ranks and run, believing they were about to be massacred.
  Colonel Washington, although he had no official position in the chain of command, was able to impose and maintain some order, and formed a rear guard, which allowed the remnants of the force to disengage. By sunset, the surviving British forces were fleeing back down the road they had built, carrying their wounded. Behind them on the 
caption: British forces are attacked by Native American, French, and Canadian forces positioned along the tree line.
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