to follow this salutary counsel. Three hundred
British troops comprehending the grenadiers and light infantry,
commanded by colonel Gage, composed his van; and he followed, at some
distance, with the artillery, and the main body of the army, divided
into small columns.

[Sidenote: Battle of Monongahela.]

Within seven miles of fort Du Quesne, immediately after crossing the
Monongahela the second time, in an open wood, thick set with high
grass, as he was pressing forward without fear of danger, his front
received an unexpected fire from an invisible enemy. The van was
thrown into some confusion; but, the general having ordered up the
main body, and the commanding officer of the enemy having fallen, the
attack was suspended, and the assailants were supposed to be
dispersed. This delusion was soon dissipated. The attack was renewed
with increased fury; the van fell back on the main body; and the whole
army was thrown into utter confusion.

The general possessed personal courage in an eminent degree; but was
without experience in that species of war, in which he was engaged;
and seems not to have been endowed with that rare fertility of genius
which adapts itself to the existing state of things, and invents
expedients fitted to the emergency. In the impending crisis, he was
peculiarly unfortunate in his choice of measures. Neither advancing
nor retreating, he exerted his utmost powers to form his broken
troops, under an incessant and galling fire, on the very ground where
they had been attacked. In his fruitless efforts to restore order,
every officer on horseback except Mr. Washington, one of his
aides-de-camp, was killed or wounded. At length, after losing three
horses, the general himself received a mortal wound; upon which his
regulars fled in terror and confusion. Fortunately, the Indian enemy
was arrested by the plunder found on the field, and the pursuit was
soon given over. The provincials exhibited an unexpected degree of
courage, and were among the last to leave the field.

[Sidenote: Death of Braddock.]

The defeated troops fled precipitately to the camp of Dunbar, where
Braddock expired of his wounds. Their panic was communicated to the
residue of the army. As if affairs had become desperate, all the
stores, except those necessary for immediate use, were destroyed; and
the British troops were marched to Philadelphia, where they went into
quarters. The western parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia,