100 COLLISION OF THE RIVAL COLONIES. [1754. 



Meadows, where he had before thrown up a slight 

 intrenchment. Here he found himself assailed by 

 nine hundred French and Indians, commanded by 

 a brother of the slain Jumonville. From eleven in 

 the morning till eight at night, the backwoodsmen,- 

 who were half famished from the failure of their 

 stores, maintained a stubborn defence, some fight- 

 ing within the intrenchment, and some on the plain 

 without. In the evening, the French sounded a 

 parley, and offered terms. They were accepted, 

 and on the following day Washington and his men 

 retired across the mountains, leaving the disputed 

 territory in the hands of the French.^ 



While the rival nations were beginning to quarrel 

 for a prize which belonged to neither of them, the 

 unhappy Indians saw, with alarm and amazement, 

 their lands becoming a bone of contention between 

 rapacious strangers. The first appearance of the 

 French on the Ohio excited the wildest fears in the 

 tribes of that quarter, among whom were those 

 who, disgusted by the encroachments of the Penn- 

 sylvanians, had fled to these remote retreats to 

 escape the intrusions of the white men. Scarcely 

 was their fancied asylum gained, when they saw 

 themselves invaded by a host of armed men from 

 Canada. Thus placed between two fires, they knew 

 not which way to turn. There was no union in 

 their counsels, and they seemed like a mob of bewil- 



1 For the French account of these operations, see M^moire contenant le 

 Precis des Fails. This volume, an official pubUcation of the French 

 court, contains numerous documents, among which are the papers of the 

 unfortunate Braddock, left on the field of battle by his defeated army. 



