Skull Reunion
November 28, 1758 was about another yesterday - July 9, 1755.
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November 28, 1758 was the day
Colonel George Washington's men
of the Forbes Expedition
marched to the site of Braddock's Defeat
to find their comrades never buried,
sitting above ground
for the last 3 years.
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But what was left?
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Skulls.
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Sketch of woods by Jim Moyer.
Photo inserted, is the Virginia Regiment George Mercer Company when it marched on Fort Loudoun Day of May 19, 2018.
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1864 photo
The black and white photo shown below is of the May 1864 Wilderness Campaign, showing what was left afterward.
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Skulls.
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Douglas Southall Freeman mentions them.
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published by Charles Scribner and Sons, 1948,
pages 366-367,
Douglas Southall Freeman writes:
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“…a service of thanksgiving
on the 26th
with a sermon,
a day of celebration
on the 27th,
and then a solemn march
to Braddock’s field,
where the skulls
of more than
450 men were buried.
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Their bones long before had been scattered by wolves.”
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Partial Prey Consumption
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"When a wolf or bear (or both, as often happens) has finished with a sheep carcass there usually is not much left. Sometimes there may be only a few patches of hair or some broken pieces of long bones. But usually the entire skull or parts of it are present in the vicinity. ... "
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Often the bones are carried to a knoll or hill nearby so the scavenger can continue in safety and solitude.
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WHY DON’T WOLVES EAT ALL THE FOOD THEY CAPTURE?
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"This phenomenon of not eating all that you capture is so important and so wide-spread in the animal kingdom that scientists refer to it by a special phrase:
partial-prey consumption."
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"Wolves typically eat most of the edible remains of a moose, and tend to utilize a carcass more fully during years when kill rates are lower..."
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See source:
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And then there were TWO particularly special Skulls.
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There were 2 Regiments under Braddock, the 44th and 48th. The 48th under Thomas Dunbar was miles away from the battle. The 44th was swallowed in battle.
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Sir Peter Halkett, Colonel of the 44th Regiment of Foot, and his son James Halkett were both killed July 9, 1755 in Braddock's Defeat, and left behind.
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Francis Halkett the other son came back 3 years later to find them.
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“Among the most distinguished of the dead was Sir Peter Halkett of Pitferran, Colonel of the 44th, and a gallant and sagacious soldier; whose two sons were fighting by his side when he fell.
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One of these, Lieutenant James Halkett of his own regiment, hastened at the moment to his aid, and with open arms bent to raise the dying form.
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But pierced by an Indian bullet his body dropped heavily across his leader’s corpse, and father and son lay in death together."
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Source:
Page 244 of – The history of an expedition against Fort Du Quesne, in 1755; under Major-General Edward Braddock, Author Sargent, Winthrop, 1825-1870
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This story was re-created in 1/30th scale by a toy soldier manufacturer, John Jenkins of John Jenkins Designs,
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Francis Halkett, who survived the battle of Braddock’s Defeat, – Did he return to this site 3 years later ? And … did he identify his dead brother and dead father ?
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A Robert Griffing Painting
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“It depicts the emotional moment
identified the bones
of his father and brother,
both killed
under what a witness called
over three years before,”
Erica Nuckles said.
She spoke of the Benjamin West sketch they have of this moment. .
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But that same description applies to the Robert Griffing painting shown here.
The picture here is called
an historical painting
of the same scene
by modern artist
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George Washington anticipates this moment.
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Before these 2 special remains are found, George Washington is at Fort Loudoun Winchester VA when he writes his first letter to Francis Halkett 12 April 1758:
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"Are we to have you once more among us? and shall we revisit, together, a hapless spot, that proved so fatal to so many of our (former) brave companions?
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Yes! and I rejoice at it; hoping it will now be in our power to testify a just abhorrence of the cruel Butcheries exercised on our friends, in the unfortunate Day of Genl Braddock’s Defeat;
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and moreover to shew our Enemies, that we can practise all that lenity and compassion of which they only boast, without affording any adequate proofs at all."
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The Benjamin West Sketch
Fort Ligonier museum (which was called Loyalhannon or some similar spelling by the contemporaries in the Forbes Expedition and was only called Fort Ligonier after Fort Duquesne was abandoned on 25 November 1758) has a sketch by Benjamin West.
“It depicts the emotional moment
identified the bones
of his father and brother,
both killed
under what a witness called
over three years before,”
Erica Nuckles said.
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Source:
Found picture at Christie's Auction.
Compiled and authored by Jim Moyer, updated 3/20/2022
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Another Story:
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During November 28 to 30 of 1758, news reports of Washington's Friendly Fire incident of November 12, 1758 gets reported in correspondence and in the newspapers.
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