September. It had been determined not to use the road made by
Braddock, but to cut a new one from Raystown to fort du Quesne. About
the time this resolution was formed, and before the army was put in
motion, major Grant was detached from the advanced post at Loyal
Hannan with eight hundred men, to reconnoitre the fort and the
adjacent country. This gentleman invited an attack from the garrison,
the result of which was that upwards of three hundred of the
detachment were killed and wounded, and major Grant himself was made a
prisoner.[163]

[Footnote 163: MSS.]

[Sidenote: Fort Du Quesne evacuated.]

Early in October general Forbes moved from Raystown; but the
obstructions to his march were so great that he did not reach fort Du
Quesne until late in November. The garrison, being deserted by the
Indians, and too weak to maintain the place against the formidable
army which was approaching, abandoned the fort the evening before the
arrival of the British, and escaped down the Ohio in boats. The
English placed a garrison in it, and changed its name to Pittsburg, in
compliment to their popular minister. The acquisition of this post was
of great importance to Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Its
possession had given the French an absolute control over the Indians
of the Ohio, who were accustomed to assemble at that place, for the
purpose of making their destructive incursions into those colonies.
Their route was marked by fire and the scalping knife; and neither age
nor sex could afford exemption from their ferocity. The expulsion of
the French gave the English entire possession of the country, and
produced a complete revolution in the disposition of the Indians
inhabiting it. Finding the current of success to be running against
their ancient friends, they were willing to reconcile themselves to
the most powerful; and all the Indians between the lakes and the Ohio
concluded a peace with the English.

Although the events of 1758 did not equal the expectations which had
been formed from the force brought into the field, the advantages were
decisive. The whole country constituting the original cause of the
war, had changed masters, and was in possession of the English. The
acquisition of the island of Cape Breton opened the way to Quebec; and
their success in the west enabled them to direct all their force
against Canada. The colonists, encouraged by this revolution in their
affairs, and emboldened, by the conque