2 FRANCIS ORPEN MORRIS 



the killed and wounded amounted to seven hun- 

 dred and fourteen. Had Braddock listened to the 

 counsels of others, the result must have been 

 far otherwise than the event proved ; but he was 

 new to the Indians' mode of warfare, and they took 

 him unawares. Of the other two aides-de-camp 

 who served under Braddock at this time, one was 

 George Washington, then a young officer in the 

 Virginian Militia. The only one of the three who 

 escaped untouched was the young Virginian colonel, 

 though, seeing that he had two horses shot under 

 him and four bullets through his coat, it was little 

 short of a miracle that the first President of the 

 United States was not some other than he. Unhurt 

 as he was, Washington was able to attend to the 

 wants of his brother aides-de-camp when they 

 withdrew from the battle-ground. He and Captain 

 Morris were then on terms of intimacy. 



It was not long, however, before these two were 

 rivals in a campaign of another kind. 



In the February following the battle of the 

 Monongahela, Washington left his residence at 

 Mount Vernon on a journey to Boston to confer 

 with General Shirley on military affairs. On reach- 

 ing New York he stayed at the house of his old 

 friend, Beverley Robinson, with whom he had served 

 under Braddock. While there he met for the first 

 time Mary Philipse, the sister-in-law of his friend, 

 then a young lady of many charms. She was the 

 daughter of Frederick Philipse of Philipsburg, and 

 with her sister, Mrs. Beverley Robinson, had in- 



