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Colonial military minds revealed

Monday, February 10, 2003

By Marylynne Pitz, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

George Washington's four close encounters with death on three Pennsylvania battlefields and in the woods made him America's No. 1 action figure of the 18th century.

This portrait of George Washington by Charles Willson Peale was painted in 1772 when Washington was about 40. Washington is wearing the uniform of the British militia, 22nd Regiment of Virginia. A consortium of local historic sites has purchased two documents that will alllow people to see first-hand the mindset of Washington and his commander, British Maj. Gen. Edward Braddock, in the War for Empire, which began 240 years ago today. Peale's original painting is displayed in the Washington - Custis - Lee Collection at Washington and Lee University. Related story: Laurel Foundation funds purchase of documents View images from Braddock's restored 1755 orders directing an Indian agent to secure Native American alliances: In paragraph three, Braddock authorizes the expenditure of 500 pounds Sterling In the final paragraph, Braddock urges the Indian agent to be thrifty in spending the money You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files. History: War for Empire The War for Empire, also known as the French and Indian War, began in 1754 and ended 240 years ago today with the Treaty of Paris. In the New World, the war was a struggle over possession of the trans-Appalachian region, with the English fighting to evict the French from the area. It also was part of a wider conflict among European powers, the Seven Years War, which pitted England and Prussia against France, Austria, Russia and Spain. The Treaty of Paris was signed by England, France and Spain. France lost Canada to Great Britain, as well as claims to territory east of the Mississippi River. Spain ceded Florida. The treaty was a triumph for England, which ended up controlling most of North America east and north of the Mississippi.

At the urging of a close aide who planned to write a biography of him, Washington reminisced on paper about an escape from Indians, his role in battles at Fort Necessity and Fort Ligonier, and British Maj. Gen. Edward Braddock's defeat at the Battle of Monongahela, where four bullets whizzed through Washington's uniform and another through his hat.

He also wrote of his frustration at Braddock's rejection of his warning about fighting in formation while their New World enemies, the French and the Indians, used guerrilla warfare.

That rarely seen 11-page manuscript was recently acquired for $834,000 for a consortium of local historic sites.

A second, four-page document, purchased this year for $18,000 for the same consortium, is a set of orders from Braddock to William Johnson, chief Indian agent for the British, in which he instructs Johnson to secure Native American alliances against the French and expresses confidence that the Indians will be flattered to be asked to join the British.

The documents provide a window into the minds of an inexperienced 23-year-old commander, who nevertheless understood the realities of the conflict at hand, and a 60-year-old general full of hubris and ignorance that led to his disastrous defeat.

The documents will be exhibited as part of the 250th anniversary of the War for Empire, commonly known as the French and Indian War. The observance runs from 2004 to 2007. That war ended 240 years ago today, when France, Britain and others signed the Treaty of Paris of 1763.

The two documents will be invaluable as educational tools, said Laura Fisher, senior vice president of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, who is working with the consortium War for Empire Inc. to plan the commemoration.

Titled "Remarks," Washington's manuscript is one of his few autobiographical writings and vividly recounts his impressions of service in the War for Empire. Written around 1785, it contains unusually frank observations. Washington gave it to Col. David Humphreys, who drafted a biography of the country's first commander in chief but never finished it. Washington then wanted it burned, but it survived.

By the time he volunteered to be Braddock's aide in 1755, Washington knew the wilderness well because he had surveyed so much of it. He also had suffered defeat at Fort Necessity a year earlier, the only time he was forced to accept terms of surrender.

An ambitious, indefatigable soldier, Washington describes his attempts to warn Braddock of the dangers of his adherence to the traditional style of military engagement.

"[I] used every proper occasion to impress the General, and the principal officers around him, with the necessity of opposing the nature of his defence to the mode of attack which more than probably he would experience from the Canadian French, and their Indians, but so prepossessed were they in favor of regularity and discipline and in such absolute contempt were these people held that the admonition was suggested in vain."

Braddock rejected Washington's advice.

Braddock's character is evident in the earlier set of orders dated April 15, 1755, addressed to Johnson.

	British Maj. Gen. Edward Braddock is shown in a detail from a painting by Frederick James that is on display at the Braddock Carnegie Library.

"You are to deliver my speech to them, which you are to enforce by all arguments in your power -- and to make them a present in his Majesty's name of the value of 500 pounds sterling," Braddock wrote.

"He is essentially conveying sole authority to Johnson to be the Indian agent on behalf of the crown," said Fisher. "He goes through all these instructions on how to secure Native American alliances. ... He's giving you the sense that the Indians will be flattered that they are being asked to be part of the crown's mission."

Braddock's underestimation of his opponents cost him his life.

During the Battle of Monongahela on July 9, 1755, Washington was weak with dysentery. But he became Braddock's sole aide because so many officers died or were wounded in a ravine where they were engaged by 250 French soldiers and 600 Indians.

During the battle, which inflicted nearly 1,000 casualties on the British in two hours, Washington somehow escaped the five bullets that pierced his uniform.

Braddock, mortally wounded after four horses were shot out from under him, died a few days later and was buried along what is now U.S. Route 40.

"Thus dies a man, whose good and bad qualities were intimately blended," Washington wrote. "He was brave even to a fault and in regualar [sic] Service [on a traditional battlefield] would have done honor to his profession. His attachments were warm, his enmities were strong, and having no disguise about him, both appeared in full force. He was generous and disinterested, but plain and blunt in his manner even to rudeness."

Washington never forgot Braddock's defeat, especially the horrific aftermath he witnessed as the British troops marched away, carrying their fallen leader.

	George Washington was shocked by the horrific aftermath of Braddock's defeat, as British troops marched away, carrying their fallen leader. That scene is portrayed in "Braddock's Retreat," an engraving based on a painting by Alonzo Chappel.

"The shocking scenes which presented themselves in this Night's March are not to be described. The dead, the dying, the groans, lamentations and crys along the Road of the wounded for help were enough to pierce a heart of adamant," Washington wrote.

During a "tour of frontier posts" some time after Braddock's defeat, Washington recalled in "Remarks," he was passing a party of Indians who were lying in wait in the woods on a curved road. Luckily for Washington, the party's leader was looking the other way when Washington rode past.

"I passed and escaped almost certain destruction for the weather was raining and the few carbines unfit for use if we had escaped the first fire," Washington wrote.

In the fall of 1755, Washington became colonel and commander in chief of all Virginia forces.

Three years later, on Nov. 11, 1758, Washington was camped at Fort Ligonier and set off with 500 men to engage the French. Another group of 500 men from Fort Ligonier were determined to cut the French off.

As mist covered the Laurel Mountains on a dark, foggy day, the two groups met, and mistaking each other for the French, began a round of friendly fire. Several privates were killed.

Washington and other officers tried to stop the fighting, using their swords to lift the men's rifles.

"He's often right in the fray of these battles. To think that no bullet ever struck him, no sword ever struck him, is pretty amazing," said Jim Rees, resident director of Mount Vernon, Washington's mansion in Virginia.

"What always strikes me about Washington is how mature he is for his age," said Rees. "To be in your low 20s and leading military retreats and being the highest ranking officer among the colonists. ... He's showing us very early on that he's a very special kind of leader. That document backs that up."

Laura Fisher, senior vice president of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, reviews a set of orders from British Maj. Gen Edward Braddock to William Johnson, chief Indian agent for the British, in which he instructs Johnson to secure Native American alliances against the French and expresses confidence that the Indians will be flattered to be asked to join the British. (Joyce Mendelsohn, Post-Gazette)

Washington's "Remarks" was purchased last summer from the estate of Malcolm Forbes for the War for Empire Inc. consortium.

The consortium's members are the Fort Pitt Museum, Bushy Run Battlefield, Fort Ligonier, Fort Necessity, Jumonville's Glen, Braddock's Grave, Dunbar's Camp, Braddock's Road Preservation Association and Braddock's Field Historical Society.

War for Empire Inc. plans to publish a new transcription of Washington's reminiscences. The only other was in 1936.

This week, Christine Smith, a conservator who spent the last four years restoring Washington's will, will examine the manuscript and determine how it should be preserved.

"He used iron gall ink," Smith said, adding that the ink often turns to sulfuric acid and chomps away at paper molecules.

Once Smith determines if the ink is stable or active, she will have a better idea of how the paper should be preserved.

After the document is restored and strengthened, several French and Indian War museums in southwestern Pennsylvania will display it during the 250th anniversary.

The Braddock document, which has been restored, arrived in Pittsburgh Thursday.

Marylynne Pitz can be reached at mpitz@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1648.