1755.] MARCH OF BRADDOCK. 107 



Washington, twelve hundred chosen men moved 

 on in advance with the lighter baggage and artil- 

 lery, leaving the rest of the army to follow, by 

 slower stages, with the heavy wagons. On the 

 eighth of July, the advanced body reached the 

 Monongahela, at a point not far distant from Fort 

 du Quesne. The rocky and impracticable ground 

 on the eastern side debarred their passage, and the 

 general resolved to cross the river in search of a 

 smoother path, and recross it a few miles lower 

 down, in order to gain the fort. The first passage 

 was easily made, and the troops moved, in glitter- 

 ing array, down the western margin of the water, 

 rejoicing that their goal was well nigh reached, 

 and the hour of their expected triumph close at 

 hand. 



Scouts and Indian runners had brought the tid- 

 ings of Braddock's approach to the French at Fort 

 du Quesne. Their dismay was great, and Contre- 

 coeur, the commander, thought only of retreat ; 

 when Beaujeu, a captain in the garrison, made the 

 bold proposal of leading out a party of French 

 and Indians to waylay the English in the woods, 

 and harass or interrupt their march. The offer 

 was accepted, and Beaujeu hastened to the Indian 

 camps. 



Around the fort and beneath the adjacent forest 

 were the bark lodges of savage hordes, whom the 

 French had mustered from far and near ; Ojibwas 

 and Ottawas, Hurons and Caughnawagas, Abena- 

 kis and Delawares. Beaujeu called the warriors 

 together, flung a hatchet on the ground before 



