Skulls, no Bones? A Thanksgiving Nov 1758.
Thanksgiving
26 Nov 1758
The French blew up their Fort Duquesne two days ago.
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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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Douglas Southall Freeman writes the above in Pages 366-367, Volume 2, Young George Washington, published by Charles Scribner and Sons, 1948.
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Skulls remaining. Bones long gone.
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See Civil War photo of what that might have looked like. Mostly skulls remained and not the bones.
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And why are mostly skulls left and not bones? Bones easier to chew on?
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See wolf behavior.
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Bottom of graph shows number of kills.
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Left side of graph shows percentage of consuming the corpse.
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Conclusion:
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Less Kills, higher Consumption.
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More Kills, Less Consumption.
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What does it tell us of mostly skulls left and no bones?
Hard to tell, right?
The slaughtered of Braddock's Expedition were left unburied for 3 years.
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Source for graph:
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Contrast that observation of the unburied slaughter of Braddock's men 3 long years ago to this observation below:
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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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There's a Benjamin West sketch of that.
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Fort Ligonier opening day for first showing this sketch: 4/28/2018:
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See events at Fort Ligonier, known as Loyalhannon or some similar spelling in the letters of the soldiers who camped there.
It shows a British officer in 1758 reclaiming the remains of family members killed on Braddock’s Field in the Battle of the Monongahela, an earlier engagement of the French and Indian War.
“It depicts the emotional moment
when Major Sir Francis Halkett
identified the bones
of his father and brother,
both killed
under what a witness called
over three years before,”
said Dr Erica Nuckles,
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More on the Benjamin West sketch:
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See picture by artist Robt Griffing interpretation of this, entitled The Reunion.
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More on this picture:
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George Washington writes one of the 2 sons of Peter Halkett surviving that slaughter of Braddock's Expedition:
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George Washington is still at Fort Loudoun in Winchester Va before he joins the Forbes Expedition.
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My dear Halkett.Ft Loud[oun] 12th Aprl 1758.
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; 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.
. To cut short: I really feel a degree of satisfaction upon the prospect of meeting you again, altho’ I have scarce time to tell you so, as the Express is waiting. I am, with most sincere Regard, Dr Sir, your &c. G:W.
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Founders Online Footnote: Francis Halkett, John Forbes’s brigade major, was Edward Braddock’s brigade major in 1755 during the Battle of the Monongahela, when his father Sir Peter Halkett, colonel of the 44th Regiment, and his brother James Halkett, lieutenant in the 44th, were both killed. In “Memorandums of Major Halketts” that he wrote at about this time in 1758 with an eye to getting a major’s or lieutenant colonel’s commission, Halkett noted “that he is the eldest Captain in the Regiment but one has been five campaigns upon service and by the 2d day of May next will be of 7 years standing, that he has constantly attended his duty, and hopes discharg’d it to the satisfaction of all his Commanders. That he has acted as Major of Brigade since the Troops first came over to this Country, and always had the honour, to attend the person of the Commander in Chief” (ViU: Forbes Papers).
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Source:
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Question?
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This Francis Halkett,
the other son,
who survived the battle of Braddock’s Defeat,
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– Did he return to this site 3 years later ?
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And …
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by Jim Moyer, updated 11/26/2020
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