dressed in full uniform; the soldiers were arranged in columns, and marched in exact order; the sun gleamed from their burnished arms; the river flowed tranquilly on their right; and the deep forest overshadowed them in solemn grandeur on their left. What a contrast with the scene of carnage and horror that ensued!

The army crossed the Monongahela a little after noon, on the ninth day of July, within ten miles of Fort Duquesne, and the road lay among hills and ravines, which Washington soon perceived was a fit place for an Indian ambuscade; and he therefore urged that the Virginia riflemen, who were accustomed to the woods, might be sent in advance to scour the ground over which they were to pass. But Braddock was too confident to take precautions, and, it is said, gave him a sharp reproof for his arrogance. High times!" said he, "high times! when a young buckskin can teach a British general how to fight!" This neglect proved the ruin of the enterprise; and of that proud array which marched forth on that bright morn with exultation and confidence, the greater part slept on the battle field, to awake no more till the trump of the archangel shall call them from their dust.

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'The advance party had scarcely entered the hills, when a tremendous yell, followed by a deadly discharge of fire arms, burst upon them from an invisible foe. The general led on the main body to the support of those already engaged, and a short cessation of the firing, occa

sioned by the death of the French commander, induced him to suppose that the danger was over. But it was like the calm which precedes the earthquake. Another terrible yell ensued, and that green spot was, in a few brief moments, the charnel house of death. The advance party gave way, and communicated their consternation to the main body of the troops, which fell into the most extreme confusion, and every effort of the officers to preserve order proved utterly without avail. In this state they continued nearly three hours, huddling together in groups, firing irregularly, often shooting down. their own officers and men, but doing no perceptible injury to the enemy, who, concealed in the ravines, and behind the trees and rocks, singled out their objects with the most deadly aim, and produced a carnage almost unparalleled in the annals of history.

In all this consternation and death, Braddock, brave as he was rash, thought not of retreat, but bent all his efforts to restore order. Five horses were shot under him, and at last he himself fell, mortally wounded, and the whole army, yielding to the general panic, fled. Out of eighty-six officers, sixty-three were either killed or wounded. The Virginia troops who had been placed in the rear, on account of their supposed inferiority, were the only part of the army that seemed to deserve the name of soldiers. They behaved with a bravery worthy of a better fate, so that out of three companies, only thirty persons survived. Led on by Wash

ington, when the general had fallen, they covered the retreat, meeting the Indian in his own mode of warfare, and fighting each for himself, behind a rock or tree.

In this most disastrous battle the killed and wounded amounted to about eight hundred, a number which was greater than the whole force of the French and Indians combined. A little timely caution would have saved these brave men from ruin, and turned their defeat into a glorious triumph; but it was not so ordered. Braddock lived until four days after this terrible defeat, and was buried at Fort Necessity. The troops, seized with a universal panic, fled unpursued like madmen, communicating their terrors to the rear division, in which the artillery was destroyed; the baggage and stores burned; and where the utmost confusion prevailed, until, in straggling parties, they reached Fort Cumberland, one hundred and twenty miles from the place of the action. Washington, being merely a volunteer, retired immediately to Mount Vernon.

During the whole action Colonel Washington behaved with the greatest coolness and courage. Every other mounted officer had been disabled, and the duty of distributing the general's orders, therefore, devolved entirely on himself. He rode in every direction, and was a conspicuous mark for the enemy, but yet an overruling Providence preserved him for a higher and more noble struggle. This Providence he acknowledges in a letter to his brother. He

says, "By the all powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me; yet I escaped unhurt, although death was levelling my companions on every side of me."

That he should have thus escaped is, indeed, scarcely less than a miracle. He was, perhaps, more exposed than any other officer of the army: all of whom were singled out by the sharp shooters of the enemy. There is a tradition too, resting on the authority of Dr. Craik, the intimate friend of Washington, which, if true, will make this preservation appear still more remarkable. This gentleman was with Washington at the battle of the Monongahela, and fifteen years afterward, while they were travelling together on the Ohio river, a company of Indians came to them with an interpreter, at the head of whom was an aged and venerable chief. This personage made known to them by the interpreter that, hearing Colonel Washington was in that region, he had come a long way to visit him, adding, that during the battle. of the Monongahela, he had singled him out as * a conspicuous object, fired his rifle at him many times, and directed his young warriors to do the same. But to his utter astonishment none of their balls took effect. He was then persuaded that the youthful hero was under the special guardianship of the Great Spirit, and ceased to fire at him any longer. He was now,

he said, come to pay homage to the man who was the particular favourite of Heaven, and who could never die in battle.

The Rev. Mr. Davies, in a sermon preached soon after Braddock's defeat, took occasion to allude to its terrible disasters-to the gallant conduct of Washington, and his extraordinary escape; and has probably explained the true reason why he was shielded amid the missiles of death which were thus showered upon him on every side. "I cannot but hope," said he, "that Providence has preserved this youth to be the SAVIOUR OF HIS COUNTRY." Could any words be more prophetic of the great destinies which Washington was spared to fulfil?

serves,

Such, then, was the event of this memorable battle, unparalleled alike for its disasters, and the great disappointment which it occasioned. "Notwithstanding its total and even disgraceful failure," Mr. Sparks, his biographer, well ob"the bitter invectives everywhere poured out against its principal conductors, and the reproaches heaped upon the memory of its illfated commander, yet the fame and character of Washington were greatly enhanced by it. His intrepidity and good conduct were lauded by his companions in arms, and proclaimed from province to province. Contrary to his will, and in spite of his efforts, he had gathered laurels from the defeat and ruin of others. Had the expedition been successful, these laurels would have adorned the brow of his superiors. It might have been said of him that he had done