Longest Battle Fought with Nobody
Next time you drive down Braddock Street in Winchester VA and you drive past the Braddock Cannon on Cork and Braddock, you will think of this story.
There is a lot going on in July 1757 but instead we are going to a scene where nothing is going on.
It's quiet there right now.
Just wolves and other animals maybe carrying off another bone.
We can talk about Braddock's Defeat July 9, 1755. We can talk about July 13 when the General himself finally dies from his wounds. We can talk about unpaid aid de camp George Washington's hike through the dark night of dying men crying on July 9 in the woods towards Dunbar's Camp. We can talk about the Grenadiers Song sung by a jubilant British Army crossing the Monongahela in the beautiful sunlight after so long in the dark woods. We can talk about the panic, so great that men were shooting blindly, killing their fellow men.
We can talk about Horace Walpole's comment that this was the "longest battle that ever was fought with nobody. "
We could talk about that 2nd part of the army under Dunbar camped further away from the disaster. We could talk about how they were so spooked by the reports of disaster they chose to get out as fast as possible.
But instead we look at the mess left moldering away 2 years later.
It will be another year (27 Nov 1758) when the remains are looked at and some are buried.
But what's going on now July 1757 at this place?
We are thinking by now there are no bones. Just Skulls.
In Volume 2, Young George Washington, published by Charles Scribner and Sons, 1948, pages 366-367, Douglas Southall Freeman writes about those skulls:
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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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See wolf behavior.
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Bottom of graph shows number of kills. Left side of graph shows percentage of consuming the corpse. Conclusion: Less Kills, higher Consumption.
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More Kills, Less Consumption.
So, what does that mean?
Maybe the Wolves and others ate more and grabbed more bones because other food was scarce?
And they left the skulls behind because skulls are hard to crack open or gnaw?
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Source for graph:
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21 years after 1755 in 1776
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There are a lot of conclusions in this visit to the battle site during the heart of the Rev War.
Later historians have come to different conclusions.
But this little visit to the battle site in the heart of the Revolutionary War is an interesting read:
Source:
Stay tuned for later edits. Click on link above too to read the same thing printed below:
JUDGE YEATES VISIT TO BRADDOCK’S FIELD.
“Pittsburgh, August 21th, 1776.
Dear Sir.—We yesterday made a party to visit Braddock’s Field. We went in a large canoe with six oars, fourteen persons in number.
A platform was raised on each end for a place to sleep and then hoop poles
bent over about four feet in height on which blankets were stretched to keep off sun or rain. We were well supplied with provisions and refreshments.
One of our companions played delightfully on a German flute, our time therefore did not pass heavily while we ascended the Monongahela. We arrived at the Field in about 4 hours;
we made a hearty dinner not far from the battle ground, near a fine spring—it was wise in eating before we visited the field, for I would have had but little appetite if we had pursued a different course.
When we commenced our ramble our hearts sickened; the sculls and bones of our unburied countrymen met our eyes, and we contemplated in imagination as an event but recently happened. Any person of common humanity would have experienced pain from the reflection that between five and six hundred brave men fell victims to the merciless savages. The marks of cannon and musket balls are still to be seen on the trees, many of the
impressions are twenty feet from the ground.
My indignation was greatly excited against the commander of the British army, in suffering so many brave men to perish from an obstinate adherence to European rules of war. The observations I heard Sir Francis Halket
make of the disasters of that bloody day, and his filial expressions of affection to the memory of his worthy father, Sir Peter Halket, rushed to my recollection.
My feelings were heightened by the warm and glowing narration of that day’s events by Dr. Walker, who was an eye witness. He pointed out the ford where the army crossed the Monongahela (below Turtle creek 800 yds. )
a finer sight could not have been beheld, the shining barrels of the muskets, the excellent order of the men, the cleanliness of their appearance, the joy depicted on every face at being so near Fort DuQuesne, the highest object of their wishes—the music re-echoed through the mountains.
How brilliant the morning—how melancholy the evening! The Savages and French had hardly an idea of victory when they made the attack.
Braddock appeared almost to have courted defeat.
Against every remonstrance of Sir Peter Halket, Major Washington, and others of his officers, he refused to let a man leave his rank; they fired in platoons against no object—how very dispiriting to a gallant soldier;
they were shot down in whole ranks.
The enemy observing the infatuation of the General, felt assured of victory, redoubled their exertions, and fired with such fatal precision as to cause our men to throw away their guns and run off in the greatest disorder.
The officers in vain attempted to arrest their course—they were compelled to follow their example. How differently did they cross the river now—without arms, order or music, the hellish yells of the Indians, and the groans and shrieks of the dying and the wounded falling upon their ears.
I will not pain you by a further recital, suffice it that the enemy pursued them no farther than the ford.
The dead bodies of our troops were suffered to remain a prey to wolves and crows.
When the English took possession in 1758 of Fort Pitt, a party was sent out, who buried upwards of four hundred and fifty skulls.
Many have since been buried, & many remain monuments of our shame.
That the enemy derived any advantage from the ground I cannot believe, their real advantage consisted in their mode of fighting and the blunder of Braddock.
We returned home late in the evening, the music of the flute was delightful and solemnly impressive.
What a waste of blood and treasure has this little spot cost France, England, and America.
The prospects around here are most charming on the Allegheny and Monongahela, and the walks pleasant beyond description.
I had often heard of the celebrated fortress of DuQuesne in my youth—what is it now; a little irregular ground, a few graves, and the fosse of the Fort are only visible.
I remarked the grave of Col. Clapham.
Fort Pitt stands 100 yards from Fort Du Quesne, fronting the junction of the waters.
A garrison and guard reminds me that we are still in a state of warfare.
May God grant that peace be restored to us, and the liberty of our country placed beyond the arm of Tyranny to reach.
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Sources:
The letter by Judge Yeates:
Douglas Southall Freeman's Young George Washington
The Letters of Horace Walpole:
More Hazards Registers:
About Judge Yeates who wrote about that trip to Braddock's Defeat site:
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Sources for Pictures:
Robert Griffing's Crossing the Monongahela
A great collection of pictures about Braddock's Defeat
The British Grenadiers Song
Braddock's Cannon on Cork and Braddock streets of Winchester VA:
The Grenadiers' March Song
Did the Virginia Blues sing
or hum it to themselves
when listening to the Grenadiers
who were singing it
as they crossed the Monongahela
near the mouth of Turtle Creek
930 am July 9 1755 ??
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A living history group, The Virginia Regiment sings this song.
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See quote:
. By about 930am [July 9, 1755]
Gage was leading the advanced guard
across the Monongahela’s second ford
opposite the mouth of Turtle Creek.
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The fatigue brought on by
early rising and road-building
would be offset by the exhilaration
of the river crossings,
which the men did
to the triumphant strains
of the “Grenadiers March.” .
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End quote.
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Page 220 in the paperback version, Braddock’s Defeat by David Preston
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Thanks to Tony Elar Jr. for providing to our group – Virginia Regiment George Mercer’s Company — the REDCOATS CD.
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Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules Of Hector and Lysander, and such great names as these But of all the world’s great heroes There’s none that can compare With a tow, row row row , row row row To the British Grenadiers
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None of these ancient heroes ne’er saw a cannon ball Nor knew the force of powder to slay their foes with all But our brave boys do know it and banish all their fears Sing tow, row row row , row row row For the British Grenadiers
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When e’er we are commanded to storm the palisades Our leaders march with fuses, and we with hand grenades; We throw them from the glacis about the enemies’ ears Sing tow, row row row , row row row For the British Grenadiers
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And when the siege is over, we to the town repair The townsmen cry ‘Hurrah, boys, here comes a Grenadier’ Here come the Grenadiers, my boys, who know no doubts or fears Sing tow, row row row , row row row For the British Grenadiers
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So let us fill a bumper, and drink a health to those Who carry caps and pouches, and wear the louped clouthes May they and their commanders live happy all their years Sing tow, row row row , row row row For the British Grenadiers
Back to top
See the VA Regiment sing this song at their stay at Sky Meadows State Park March 5, 2018
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About Turtle Creek, where Braddock’s men cross the Monongahela:
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Turtle Creek is the English translation of the Native American name,[3] naming the area for its abundance of turtles.[4] In 1742, John Fraser and his family established Braddock at the mouth of Turtle Creek as the first permanent English settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains.[5] George Washington visited the area in 1753-1754. It was the site of Braddock’s Defeat on July 9, 1755.
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Follow-up Question
Since some sources say 450 were buried in Nov 1758, we wonder about the 1776 visit to that site still reporting many skulls left on the battle site. We also wonder about the story of finding the skeletons of Halkett and his son.
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Saving note here for later edits
Click on picture to Enlarge. Sketch of woods by Jim Moyer to show the extra large trees in this dark forest. The Virginia Regiment is overlaid on the sketch to show the Virginia Regiment of the Forbes Expedition after having celebrated the capture of Fort Duquesne November 1758, travel to the site of Braddock’s Defeat of 3 years earlier of July 9, 1755 to bury their men still left above ground.
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