essions in America.

Without waiting, however, for directions from England, Governor
Dinwiddie, of Virginia, raised a regiment of troops, of which George
Washington was made lieutenant-colonel, and with which he marched
across the wilderness to attack Fort Du Quesne, now Pittsburg, at the
junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers.

That unsuccessful expedition was the commencement of the great
colonial contest in which Canada was conquered. Early in 1755, General
Braddock was sent to America to commence offensive operations. The
colonies cooeperated, and three expeditions were planned; one to attack
Fort Du Quesne, a second to attack Fort Niagara, and a third to attack
Crown Point. The first was to be composed of British troops, under
Braddock, the second of American, under Governor Shirley, and the
third of militia of the northern colonies.

The expedition against Fort Du Quesne was a memorable failure.
Braddock was a brave man, but unfitted for his work, Hyde Park having
hitherto been the only field of his military operations. Moreover,
with that presumption and audacity which then characterized his
countrymen, he affected sovereign contempt for his American
associates, and would listen to no advice. Unacquainted with Indian
warfare, and ignorant of the country, he yet pressed towards the
interior, until, within ten miles of Fort Du Quesne, he was surprised
by a body of French and Indians, and taken in an ambuscade. Instant
retreat might still have saved him; but he was too proud not to fight
according to rule; and he fell mortally wounded. Washington was the
only mounted officer that escaped being killed or wounded. By his
prudent and skilful management, he saved half of his men, who formed
after the battle, and effected a retreat.

The other two expeditions also failed, chiefly through want of union
between the provincial governor and the provincial assemblies, and
also from the moral effects of the defeat of Braddock. Moreover, the
colonies perfectly understood that they were fighting, not for
liberty, but for the glory and ambition of the mother country, and
therefore did not exhibit the ardor they evinced in the revolutionary
struggle.

But the failure of these expeditions contributed to make the ministry
of the Duke of Newcastle unpopular. Other mistakes were also made in
the old world. The conduct of Admiral Byng in the Mediterranean
excited popular clamor. The repeated disappointments and miscarri