One Foot of Snow Falls on Braddock's men
- jimmoyer1
- Apr 18, 2022
- 9 min read
Updated: Apr 11
The day before was hot. The dusty road was choking the men. Lightning Storm at night. Then they wake up to what? One Foot of Snow? And this is April 15, 1755 !!!
What is this odd continent on the other side of the Atlantic?
Just like April 18, 2022, it is snowed in the Winchester VA area. And I just planted sweet basil, tomato plants and strawberries. That's the penalty for not waiting until after Mother's Day to plant.
But enough of that. What's going on with Braddock and his men?
On the same day of this snow, where was General Braddock? He and many Governors and leaders were holding a "Grand Congress" in comfort at Carlyle's House,
Prior to that, Braddock's army split in two.
One group went on the Maryland side. That was Thomas Dunbar's 48th. That's who got the snow on the same day as the "Grand Congress."
One group went on the Virginia side. That was Peter Halkett's 44th.
Splitting them up, lessened the burden on the countryside, because an Army has needs. The men foraged for food or took livestock along the way.
Let David Preston in his "Braddock's Defeat" tell you in more detail:
Dunbar’s March
through Maryland offered only a few variations on Halkett’s march through Virginia. With Spendelow’s Royal Navy detachment leading the way, the men endured a fifteen mile march on April 14,1755.” .
See this spot on the map.
The dusty road choked the men and sullied uniforms by the time they encamped at Owen’s Ordinary.
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See this spot on the map.
The next day brought a sweltering sixteen mile march to another ordinary – very modest in proportions – that settler Michael Dowden had opened in 1754. . America’s volatile weather was fully displayed to Dunbar’s men on the night of April 15 at Dowden’s Ordinary.
[Source of Picture of Dowden's Ordinary]
SNOW APRIL 15, 1755
“That oppressively hot day had given way to powerful thunderstorms and falling temperatures throughout the night; the next morning the soldiers awoke to blizzard-like conditions and more than a foot of snow. . Cholmley’s servant remembered that the snow was “so Vialent” that they had to clean off the tents sagging under the heavy weight. . The local weather added to the the sense of strangeness with which British regulars perceived the land. . One British officer noted that the “thunder and lightning storms were so severe that “all the Elements seem on Fire.” . The storm halted the advance for an entire day. . As the men struggled to find shelter and fodder for the horse. .
. FLOODED MONOCACY When Dunbar’s column resumed its march to the Monocacy River on April 17, the men found it flooded from the recent rains and were forced to cross over on a float. .
. FREDERICK MD That evening the British made camp at Frederick, a small town founded only ten years earlier. Whose largely German inhabitants were described as industrious people by Midshipman Gill. Footnote 46.”
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Source Page 90 Braddock’s Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution By David Lee Preston.
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That's it.
That's our lead story.
Compiled and authored by Jim Moyer 2017, updated 4/15/2019, 4/11/2020, 4/18/2022, 4/19/2022, edited 4/11/2025
For some more detail see below.
The Grand Congress Plan
The “Grand Congress” of the colonial Governors met at the Carlyle House.
These Governors were: Horatio Sharpe of Maryland, Robert Hunter Morris of Pennsylvania, William Shirley of Massachusetts and James De Lancey of New York and Lt Gov Robert Dinwiddie who was for all purposes the Governor.
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To simplify:
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Braddock would reduce Fort DuQuesne.
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Were those objectives achieved?
Only Monckton was successful.
The others started late and never accomplished their objective.
From Founders Online footnote to a Washington-Carlyle letter date 14 May 1755:
5. The attacks on Niagara, Crown Point, and Nova Scotia, which had been approved in April at the Alexandria conference, did little to divert French attention from Braddock’s expedition. Of the three northern forces only the Nova Scotia one led by Lt. Col. Robert Monckton moved against its objective during the spring. The Crown Point expedition under Col. William Johnson did not engage the enemy until late summer, and William Shirley’s troops got no closer to Niagara than Oswego in 1755. See also GW to John Augustine Washington, 14 May 1755, n.3.
Source is footnote 5
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MORE LINKS:
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William and Mary Quarterly from 1910 on the Carlyle House and the Grand Congress.
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Dowden’s Ordinary Archaeological Site, MN-CPPC of Montgomery County, Maryland
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Picture and detail on Dowden's Ordinary
Virginia's Little Ice Age:
Help from the Colonies
Who other than Ben Franklin supplied Braddock?
3. Disappointed by Virginia and Maryland in the supplying of forage as in the furnishing of wagons and horses, Braddock again looked to Pennsylvania for help. On 10 May 1755 Capt. Matthew Leslie, assistant deputy quartermaster general, was sent into that colony to buy oats for the army. A few days later Gov. Robert Hunter Morris advanced Leslie money to make purchases in Lancaster and the other Pennsylvania back counties. Morris also arranged with Benjamin Franklin and several other members of the Pennsylvania Assembly to collect forage in Philadelphia and its surrounding area. He reported to Braddock from Philadelphia on 12 June “that Mr. Leslie has sent from the Back Counties . . . forty-five Waggons loaded with Oats or other Forage, and that the Persons employed by me have at last dispatched fifty-two Waggons from this Town, each carrying fifty Bushels of Grain, one-half Oats the other Indian Corn” (Pa. Arch., Col. Rec., 6:415–16). By that time Braddock’s army was marching west from Fort Cumberland.
Source is footnote 3 to Washington writing Carlyle 14 May 1755
Virginia Money helps Braddock?
6. On 30 June the burgesses passed “an Act for raising the Sum of Six Thousand Pounds by a Lottery, for the further Protection of his Majesty’s Subjects against the Insults and Encroachments of the French.” On 5 July they approved another military defense act. This authorized the raising of additional funds by one-time taxes of 1s. 3d. on every 100 acres of land and 2s. on each tithable slave plus an extra duty of 10 percent on all slaves imported during the next 3 years. Of these monies £2,000 was appropriated for three new ranger companies to patrol the colony’s frontiers, £600 to strengthen the garrison at Fort Cumberland, and £10,000 for Braddock’s expedition (JHB, 1752–1755, 1756–1758, 288, 290; 6 Hening 453–68).
Source is footnote 6 William Fairfax writing George Washington 28 June 1755
South Carolina Gov did not attend the Grand Congress but did help with Money.
Maryland did not help.
Pennsylvania had helped with supplies but no money.
7. For the actions of the Virginia Assembly this spring, see William Fairfax to GW, 28 June 1755. The South Carolina Assembly reconvened 28 April 1755 and voted £6,000 as its only contribution to the expedition. The Pennsylvania Assembly, which met on 10 May and again on 13 June, became involved in a dispute with its governor and appropriated no further military funds. The Maryland Assembly appropriated nothing further when it belatedly met on 23 June.
Source is footnote 7 to Washington writing Carlyle 14 May 1755
9. This officer was probably Lachlan Shaw, who resigned a commission in the 25th Regiment of Foot on 20 June 1753 and on 25 Nov. 1754 became a lieutenant in Capt. Raymond Demeré’s South Carolina Independent Company, a position that he held at least until 1760. From South Carolina Shaw brought £2,000 in bills of exchange, the final payment of the £6,000 that the South Carolina Assembly had appropriated for Braddock’s expedition in April. Shaw, however, did not reach Braddock until shortly after the battle of 9 July and found the general dying and Robert Orme “at a loss to know what to do” with the bills (Orme to Dinwiddie, 18 July 1755, in Koontz, Dinwiddie Papers, 747).
Source is footnote 9 William Fairfax writing George Washington 28 June 1755
Where is King George II ?
He leaves during this critical plan to knock out the French in America.
He's gone 28 April 1755 to 16 Sept 1755. He goes to Hanover, him home.
In his absence who ruled?
The Butcher, Cumberland. Although he was not the Regent, his advice ruled over the Regent.
Who was the regent?
The widowed wife of the King's late son. Frederick. Her name is Augusta.
Both Frederick County and Augusta County were named after that couple.
7. King George II (1683–1760), who visited his German electorate with some regularity, left London for Hanover on 28 April and did not return until 16 Sept.
In his absence the regency was dominated by his only surviving son, William Augustus, duke of Cumberland (1721–1765).
Although neither regent nor heir apparent, Cumberland was head of a council of advisers without whose consent nothing could be done by the regent, Princess Augusta, widow of George II’s eldest son and mother of the heir to the throne, Prince George, later King George III (1738–1820).
Source is footnote 7 William Fairfax writing George Washington 28 June 1755
RESEARCH NOTES
Notes on an original post on the French and Indian War Foundation Website
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Compiled by Jim Moyer 2017, updated 4/15/2019, 4/11/2020
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Braddock Expedition
SNOW falls on Dunbar’s 48th
Dowden’s Ordinary
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BIG SNOW hit Braddock’s men on 15 April, 1755.
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Forecasts threatened snow 7 April 2018.
It never came about.
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Neither did the goals discussed at Carlyle House come about.
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The Grand Congress Plan
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The “Grand Congress” of the colonial Governors met at the Carlyle House.
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These Governors were: Horatio Sharpe of Maryland, Robert Hunter Morris of Pennsylvania, William Shirley of Massachusetts and James De Lancey of New York and Lt Gov Robert Dinwiddie who was for all purposes the Governor.
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To simplify:
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Braddock would reduce Fort DuQuesne.
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But back to the Braddock’s men on their march
before the Big Snow
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15 April 1755 —
Braddock’s men under Dunbar’s 48th Regiment were marching through Maryland while the Governors and Braddock were enjoying fine food and wine discussing the demise of New France.
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Here’s where the blizzard happened.
Right here. Dowdens Ordinary.
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See location of Dowden’s Ordinary on this map.
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OVERVIEW
After leaving Alexandria-Rock Creek area, the Braddock Expedition split up.
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Peter Halkett’s 44th went on the VA side.
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Dunbar’s 48th marched on the MD side.
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This split up the foraging and burden on the countryside.
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Photo from Allen Browne’s Blog
Dunbar’s 48th Regiment arrives and stays for a day. Norman Baker’s Braddock’s Road page 27.
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Quote below is from David Preston
Page 90, of Braddock’s Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution By David Lee Preston.
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“Dunbar’s March
through Maryland offered only a few variations on Halkett’s march through Virginia. With Spendelow’s Royal Navy detachment leading the way, the men endured a fifteen mile march on April 14,1755.” .
. OWEN’S ORDINARY The dusty road choked the men and sullied uniforms by the time they encamped at Owen’s Ordinary.
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From Sweltering to Cold
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PHOTO of a reconstructed Downden’s Ordinary from DAR, Daughters of American Revolution
. The next day brought a sweltering sixteen mile march to another ordinary – very modest in proportions – that settler Michael Dowden had opened in 1754. . America’s volatile weather was fully displayed to Dunbar’s men on the night of April 15 at Dowden’s Ordinary.
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( Photo from DAR is in this link )
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SNOW
APRIL 15, 1755
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“That oppressively hot day had given way to powerful thunderstorms and falling temperatures throughout the night; the next morning the soldiers awoke to blizzard-like conditions and more than a foot of snow. . Cholmley’s servant remembered that the snow was “so Vialent” that they had to clean off the tents sagging under the heavy weight. . The local weather added to the the sense of strangeness with which British regulars perceived the land. . One British officer noted that the “thunder and lightning storms were so severe that “all the Elements seem on Fire.” . The storm halted the advance for an entire day. . As the men struggled to find shelter and fodder for the horse. .
. FLOODED MONOCACY When Dunbar’s column resumed its march to the Monocacy River on April 17, the men found it flooded from the recent rains and were forced to cross over on a float. .
. FREDERICK MD That evening the British made camp at Frederick, a small town founded only ten years earlier. Whose largely German inhabitants were described as industrious people by Midshipman Gill. Footnote 46.”
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Source Page 90 Braddock’s Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution By David Lee Preston.
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MORE LINKS:
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William and Mary Quarterly from 1910 on the Carlyle House and the Grand Congress.
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Dowden’s Ordinary Archaeological Site, MN-CPPC of Montgomery County, Maryland
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NOTES
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posted ON FB 4/8/2018 … 845am 175,306 Frontier Forts Google Maps 39124 French and Indian War Foundation
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Photo of Dowden’s Ordinary in this link.
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