Skulls, no Bones? Peter Halkett's Death Embrace true?
The French blew up their Fort DuQuesne late afternoon 24 Nov 1758. This place defined what Winchester VA was all about for half of a decade.
Some saw the smoke on the water.
Some heard the shudder of the explosions.
The reports by the Indian scouts came in.
The Forbes Expedition quickly sent the light horse and others to secure what was left of the fort.
Much of the army had to move through the woods, no road having been cut.
At dusk into the dark they travelled. In the snow they trudged. Up to 12 miles of that. Quiet. They still had to be careful. They didn't know what to expect. In the hard cold they arrived. Destruction left nothing much useable. No shelter useable.
A Thanksgiving with a sermon is observed on the 26th. Then on the 27th, celebration (drinking), handling other necessaries.
Then on the 28th?
They will first go to the haunted site of Braddock's Defeat . The unburied sat there for 3 years.
A Golgotha in the woods.
After that they will go to the site of Grant's Defeat, it's corpses more than 2 months old lying above ground.
Lots of burying to do.
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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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Douglas Southall Freeman cites in a footnote, a letter of Judge J Yeates, Aug 21, 1775, published in volume 6 Hazard’s History Reg , page 105, a reference observing only skulls left.
We have not found any other references that mostly skulls were left.
We look to the aftermath of the unburied in other battles.
See Civil War photo of what that might have looked like. Photo taken in 1865: Image of unburied soldiers south of Plank Road in Wilderness.
Mostly skulls remained and not the bones.
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And why are mostly skulls left and not bones? Because Bones are easier to chew than skulls?
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Partial Prey consumption
might also explain
partial skeleton dismantling.
Bottom of graph shows number of kills.
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Left side of graph shows percentage of consuming the corpse.
Source for graph: http://isleroyalewolf.org/node/42
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This graph study proves if there is plenty of prey, less of each consumed, and by extension less dismantling of the skulls and bones. . .
The authors of the study:
"The idea is that when prey are relatively scarce
it pays, obviously, to eat all that you kill.
However, when prey are relatively easy to catch, it pays to eat only the good parts (or perhaps leave behind the least choice parts).
It may take more effort than it is worth to chew and digest the last few bits of low quality scraps that remain after most of the carcass has already been eaten."
After 3 years, a more complete consumption of the remains and a fuller dismantling of the skeleton would have occurred.
See wolf behavior. That article describes how the author finds skulls as one of the last pieces of the skeleton dismantled.
We bring up these grisly details
because there is a romantic story
reported of skeletons of father and son in an embrace by an unusual tree.
This story tells of Peter Halkett the head of the 44th Foot Regiment and his son, James Halkett were found in a death embrace.
Knowing the details of what might be left after 3 years could the stories and pictures below be true?
That's it.
That's our lead story.
There's always more.
Skip around.
Read bits and pieces.
Compiled and authored by Jim Moyer, updated 11/26/2020, updated 11/24/2022, updated 224pm 11/27/2022, updated 12/2/2022
Table of Contents:
This report depicts skeletons embracing.
Do we believe this report, knowing predator behavior?
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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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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,
More on the Benjamin West sketch:
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Robert Griffing Picture of that report
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]
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:
A short biography of Francis Halkett:
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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Did Francis Halkett return
to this site 3 years later ?
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And …
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Loud Explosions
From Douglas R Cubbison's book on the Forbes Expedition:
Sergeant Lindenmuth, with the 2nd Pennsylvania Provincials in Bouquet's Brigade, recalled the stirring events of that day from an infantryman in the ranks' perspective:
"Finally, it was decided to march against the enemy with the entire army . . . as the weather was hard and cold, the march proceeded very poorly until finally on the [23rd] we arrived at Bouquet's encampment or Bouquet's Breastwork.
On the morning of the [24th] in a deep snow orders were given the entired army to march, but then a halt was called due to an alarm because our leader or pilot had discovered a corps of Indians who however fled as quickly as they could. Immediately the cavalry with 50 men was sent off under Captain Hambrecht's [this is Captain John Hambright of the 2nd Pennsylvania Provincials, who commanded the Pennsylvania Light Horse] command.
But before the infantry could set off, a
shuddering was heard, that is to say like an earthquake.
We then went in full march.
In came the cavalry, however [they] rode forward very hard to be about 8 miles this side of the fort, where they met a lad of 16 who had run off from them [the Indians], who said that they were occupied in burning everything, which put Captain Hambrecht into such a fervor that he immediately gave orders to set out and they rode with such speed that they still found 7 barrels of powder of which in one magazine one barrel was no further than one London Inch from the fire, and also 8 barrels of pork which were saved. The pork was destroyed for fear it had been poisoned. And otherwise all the building were completely in flames.
That evening in the night the infantry and cavalry arrived at 6 o'clock and took possession of the place in very hard weather and camped on the open field.
The next day [25th] everything was inspected and the pickings were very poor. Everything was burned, and the cannons were all gone. We had the place in our possession but they left us nothing besides a destroyed site."
Source:
Page 172-173 of The British Defeat of the French in Pennsylvania, 1758: A Military History of the Forbes Campaign Against Fort Duquesne: by Douglas R. Cubbison. Cites The Journal of Johann Michael Lindenmuth, pages 35-39.
More sources of the Journal:
Portions of the journal online
Different wording in this interpretation of the German
Smoke Sighted
Bouquet's Reports only Smoke seen, not hearing the Explosion.
The 23 [23 Nov 1758] we took post 12 Miles from hence [Fort Duquesne]
and halted the 24 [ 24 Nov 1758] for Intelligence.
In the Evening
our Indians reported that they had discovered a very thick smoak from the Fort [another transcription uses "Front"] extending in the bottom along the Ohio; a few hours after they sent word that the Enemies had abandoned their Fort after having burnt everything.
Source:
Page 172 of The British Defeat of the French in Pennsylvania, 1758: A Military History of the Forbes Campaign Against Fort Duquesne: by Douglas R. Cubbison. Cites The Papers of Henry Bouquet, 2:610.
Braddock's Defeat
The quote: The longest battle fought with nobody.
Kevin O’Malley draws this picture
in July 2017 to show the dying General Braddock carried on his Sash used as a stretcher.
"you Fight like Men, & will die like Souldiers"
appears 13 August 1755, while a similar phrase
appears in GW’s letter of 18 August 1755..
GW writes from Fort Cumberland to Lt Gov Dinwiddie on 18 August 1755, five days after Bolling's letter.
Quote: . ‘The Virginian Companies, behavd like Men, and died like Soldiers’
Source: Footnote 4 from …
“…he [the dying General Braddock] woud cry out my dear Blue’s (which was the Colrs the Virginians wore) give em tother Fire, you Fight like Men, & will die like Souldiers; "
How did the Virginians do?
The story of the Defeat
Grant's Defeat
See source for picture here:
This is where Grant's men met defeat on a hill overlooking Fort Duquesne. The Hill has been much reduced by modern development.
Golgotha
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