Battle of the Monongahela
Part of the French and Indian War
Route of the Braddock Expedition
Date July 9, 1755 Location Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Result Decisive French victory
Combatants
France Indian Tribes	Britain
Commanders
Liénard de Beaujeu † Jean-Daniel Dumas Charles de Langlade	Edward Braddock †
Strength
105 regulars 147 militia 600 natives	1,459 regulars and militia
Casualties
23 killed 20 wounded	456 killed 521 wounded

The Braddock expedition (also called "Braddock's campaign") was a failed British attempt to capture the French Fort Duquesne in the summer of 1755 during the French and Indian War. The expedition takes its name from General Edward Braddock, who led the British forces and died in the effort. Braddock's defeat at the Battle of the Monongahela was a major setback for the British in the early stages of the war with France. Combatants France First Nations allies: * Algonquin * Lenape * Wyandot * Ojibwa * Ottawa * Shawnee Great Britain Iroquois Confederacy American Colonies Strength 3,900 regulars 7,900 militia 2,200 natives (1759) 50,000 regulars and militia (1759) The French and Indian War was the nine-year North American chapter of the Seven Years... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (907x726, 156 KB) Route of the Braddock Expedition. ... July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 175 days remaining. ... 1755 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Nickname: Motto: Benigno Numine (With the Benevolent Deity) Location in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States Commonwealth Pennsylvania County Allegheny Founded November 25, 1758 Incorporated April 22, 1794 (borough)   March 18, 1816 (city) Government  - Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (D) Area  - City 151. ... Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area  Ranked 33rd  - Total 46,055 sq mi (119,283 km²)  - Width 280 miles (455 km)  - Length 160 miles (255 km)  - % water 2. ... Charles Michel de Langlade (1729–c. ... General Edward Braddock General Edward Braddock (1695? – July 13, 1755) was a British soldier and commander-in-chief for North America during the actions at the start of the French and Indian War. ... Combatants Prussia Great Britain Hanover Portugal Brunswick Hesse-Kassel Austria France Russia Sweden Spain Saxony Naples and Sicily Sardinia The Seven Years War(i) (1754 and 1756–1763), incorporating the Pomeranian War and the French and Indian War enveloped both European and colonial theatres. ... Combatants France First Nations allies: * Algonquin * Lenape * Wyandot * Ojibwa * Ottawa * Shawnee Great Britain Iroquois Confederacy American Colonies Strength 3,900 regulars 7,900 militia 2,200 natives (1759) 50,000 regulars and militia (1759) The French and Indian War was the nine-year North American chapter of the Seven Years... The Battle of Jumonville Glen was a battle of the French and Indian War fought on May 28, 1754 near what is present-day Uniontown in Western Pennsylvania. ... Combatants Britain France Commanders George Washington James Mackay Louis Coulon de Villiers Strength 100 regulars 193 militia, and natives 100 natives 600 marines, and militia Casualties 31 dead 70 wounded 192 captured 3 dead 19 wounded The Battle of the Great Meadows, also known as the Battle of Fort Necessity... Combatants France Britain Commanders Louis Du Pont Duchambon de Vergor Robert Monckton Strength 162 2,000 Casualties 162 dead, wounded, or captured Unknown The Battle of Fort Beauséjour marked the opening of a British-American offensive in North America in the Seven Years War. ... Combatants Britain France Commanders William Johnson, 1st Baronet Johnson King Hendrick † Jean Erdman, Baron Dieskau Strength 1,500 militia and 200 Mohawks 3,500 regulars, militia, and natives Casualties 200 dead or wounded 800 dead or wounded The Battle of Lake George was fought on 8 September 1755 in the... Combatants France Britain Commanders Chaussegros de Léry James Wolfe Strength 259 regulars and militia 103 natives Unknown Casualties 1 dead 2 wounded 103 dead, wounded, or captured The Battle of Fort Bull was a French raid on the British-held Fort Bull on March 27, 1756. ... Combatants France Britain Commanders Louis-Joseph de Montcalm James Mercer † Strength 3,000 2,000 Casualties 30 dead or wounded 80 dead 1,700 captured The Battle of Fort Oswego was one in a series of early French victories in the North American theater of the Seven Years War won... The Kittanning Expedition, also known as the Armstrong Expedition, was a raid during the French and Indian War that led to the destruction of the Native American village of Kittanning, which had served as a staging point for attacks by Delaware (Lenape) and Shawnee warriors against European-American colonists in... Combatants France Britain Commanders Louis-Joseph de Montcalm Lieutenant-Colonel George Monro Strength 1,600 natives 6,000 regulars and militia 2,500 regulars and militia Casualties Unknown 297 dead or wounded 2,308 captured The Battle of Fort William Henry in August 1757 resulted in Britains loss of... Costumed interpreters perform a dance in the street at Fortress Louisbourg. ... The Battle of Carillon was fought at Fort Carillon (later known as Fort Ticonderoga), on the shore of Lake Champlain in what was then the British colony of New York, July 7-July 8, 1758 during the French and Indian War, and resulted in a victory of the French garrison... The Battle of Fort Frontenac took place from August 25 to August 27, 1758 near the end of the Seven Years War (referred to as the French and Indian War in the United States) between France and Britain. ... Combatants France Britain Commanders François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery James Grant Strength 500 militia and natives 400 regulars 350 militia Casualties 16 dead or wounded 300 dead 100 captured The Battle of Fort Duquesne was a failed attempt by elements of General John Forbess British-American army... The battle of fort Ligoneir was fought in 1758 and was a battle of the French-Indian war. ... The Battle of Ticonderoga of 1758 was an engagement of the French and Indian War (the North American theatre of the Seven Years War not so much a battle as an investment. ... The Battle of Fort Niagara was one of the final battles in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War. ... The Battle of Beauport was fought on July 31, 1759 between a British fleet and French land forces. ... Combatants Britain France Commanders James Wolfe † Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm † Strength 4,800 regulars 4,000 regulars 300 militia Casualties 658 dead or wounded 644 dead or wounded The Battle of the Plains of Abraham was a pivotal battle in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War... Combatants France Britain Commanders François Gaston de Lévis James Murray Strength 2,600 regulars 2,400 militia[1] 3,800 regulars 20 guns Casualties 833 dead or wounded 1,124 dead or wounded The Battle of Sainte-Foy, sometimes called the Battle of Quebec (1760), was fought on... Combatants Britain France Commanders Capt. ... The Battle of the Thousand Islands was fought between 16 August and 24 August 1760, in the upper St. ... Combatants France Great Britain Commanders Guillaume de Bellecombe MacDonell Strength 295 regulars 200 regulars Casualties 10–20 dead or wounded 4–5 dead 19 wounded The Battle of Signal Hill (September 15, 1762) forced the French to surrender St. ... An artist’s rendering of Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in what is now downtown Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. ... 1755 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Combatants France First Nations allies: * Algonquin * Lenape * Wyandot * Ojibwa * Ottawa * Shawnee Great Britain Iroquois Confederacy American Colonies Strength 3,900 regulars 7,900 militia 2,200 natives (1759) 50,000 regulars and militia (1759) The French and Indian War was the nine-year North American chapter of the Seven Years... General Edward Braddock General Edward Braddock (1695? – July 13, 1755) was a British soldier and commander-in-chief for North America during the actions at the start of the French and Indian War. ...

Background

Braddock's expedition was just one part of a massive British offensive against the French in North America that summer. As commander-in-chief of the British Army in America, General Braddock led the main thrust, commanding two regiments (about 1,350 men) and about 500 regular soldiers and militiamen from several British American colonies. With these men Braddock expected to seize Fort Duquesne easily, and then push on to capture a series of French forts, eventually reaching Fort Niagara. Twenty-three year-old George Washington, who knew the territory, served as a volunteer aide-de-camp to General Braddock.^[1] Commander-in-Chief (in NATO-lingo often C-in-C or CINC pronounced sink) is the commander of all the military forces within a particular region or of all the military forces of a state. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... British regiment A regiment is a military unit, consisting of a variable number of battalions - commanded by a colonel. ... Lexington Minuteman representing militia minuteman John Parker. ... British North America was an informal term first used in 1783, but uncommon before the Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839), called the Durham Report. ... Historical recreation actors at Old Fort Niagara Fort Niagara is a three hundred-year-old fortification originally built to protect the interests of New France in northern North America. ... George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)[1] led Americas Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and in 1789 was elected the first President of the United States of America. ...

Braddock's attempt to recruit Native American allies from those tribes not yet allied with the French proved mostly unsuccessful; he had but eight Mingo Indians with him, serving as scouts. A number of Indians in the area, notably Delaware leader Shingas, remained neutral. Caught between two powerful European empires at war, local Indians could not afford to be on the side of the loser. Braddock's success or failure would influence their decisions. Native Americans are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska. ... The Mingo are an Iroquois group of Native Americans that migrated west to the Ohio Country in the mid-eighteenth century. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Shingas (fl. ...

Braddock's Road

Setting out from Fort Cumberland in Maryland on May 29, 1755, the expedition faced an enormous logistical challenge: moving a large body of men with equipment, provisions, and (most importantly for the task ahead) heavy cannon, across the densely wooded Allegheny Mountains and into western Pennsylvania, a journey of about 110 miles. Braddock had received important assistance from Benjamin Franklin, who helped procure wagons and supplies for the expedition. Among the wagoners, incidentally, were two young men who would later become legends of American history: Daniel Boone, and Daniel Morgan. Among the British were Thomas Gage; Charles Lee and Horatio Gates. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2136x988, 600 KB) Summary (John Kennedy Lacock, 1912) Licensing This image is in the public domain in the United States. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2136x988, 600 KB) Summary (John Kennedy Lacock, 1912) Licensing This image is in the public domain in the United States. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Official language(s) None (English, de facto) Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Area  Ranked 42nd  - Total 12,407 sq mi (32,133 km²)  - Width 90 miles (145 km)  - Length 249 miles (400 km)  - % water 21  - Latitude 37°53N to 39°43N  - Longitude 75°4W to 79°33... May 29 is the 149th day of the year (150th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1755 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Allegheny Mountain Range (also spelled Alleghany and Allegany) -- informally, the Alleghenies -- is part of the Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States. ... Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area  Ranked 33rd  - Total 46,055 sq mi (119,283 km²)  - Width 280 miles (455 km)  - Length 160 miles (255 km)  - % water 2. ... Benjamin Franklin (January 17 [O.S. January 6] 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the most well known Founding Fathers of the United States. ... This 1820 oil painting by Chester Harding is the only portrait of Daniel Boone made from life. ... Daniel Morgan (July 6, 1736 – July 6, 1802) was an American pioneer, soldier, and United States Representative from Virginia. ... Engraving of Thomas Gage Sir Thomas Gage (1719 – April 2, 1787) was a British general and commander in chief of the North American forces from 1763 to 1775 during the early days of the American Revolution. ... Charles Lee Charles Lee (1732–1782) was a British soldier turned Virginia planter who was a Major General of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

The expedition progressed slowly, in some cases moving as few as two miles a day, creating Braddock's Road—an important vestige of the march—as they went. To speed up movement, Braddock split his men into a "flying column" of about 1,500 men (commanded by him), and a supply column with most of the baggage (commanded by Colonel Thomas Dunbar), which lagged far behind. They passed the ruins of Fort Necessity along the way, where the French had defeated Washington the previous summer. Small French and Indian war bands harried Braddock's men during the march, but these were minor skirmishes. In 1755, General Edward Braddock of the Coldstream Guards was sent to rout the French from Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh). ... Fort Necessity was a British fortress west of the Pennsylvania colony. ...

Meanwhile, at Fort Duquesne, the French garrison consisted of only about 250 regulars and Canadian militia, with about 640 Indian allies camped outside the fort. The Indians were from a variety of tribes long associated with the French, including Ottawas, Ojibwas, and Potawatomis. The French commander, after recieving reports from Indian scouting parties that the British were on their way to besiege the fort, realised that his fort could not withstand Braddock's cannon, decided to launch a preemptive strike: an ambush of Braddock's army as he crossed the Monongahela River. The Indian allies were initially reluctant to attack such a large British force, but the French commander donned Indian war dress, complete with war paint, and convinced them to follow his lead. Motto: Advance Ottawa/Ottawa en avant Location of the City of Ottawa in the Province of Ontario Coordinates: Country Canada Province Ontario Established 1850 as Town of Bytown Incorporated 1855 as City of Ottawa Amalgamated January 1, 2001 Government  - Mayor Larry OBrien  - City Council Ottawa City Council  - Representatives 8... Chippewa redirects here. ... Rain dance, Kansas, c. ... The Monongahela River at Morgantown, West Virginia in 1999 The Monongahela River (Affectionately referred to as The Mon) is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in West Virginia and Pennsylvania in the United States. ...

Battle of the Monongahela

19th century engraving of the death of Major-General Braddock at the Battle of the Monongahela.

On July 9, 1755, Braddock's men crossed the Monongahela without opposition, about nine miles south of Fort Duquesne. The advance unit under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gage began to move ahead, and unexpectedly came upon the French and Indians, who were hurrying to the river, behind schedule and too late to set an ambush. In the furious skirmish that followed between Gage's soldiers and the French, the French commander was killed, although apparently his death did not have a negative effect on French morale as the French and their Indian allies continued to advance. The battle, which came to be known as the Battle of the Monongahela (or the Battle of the Wilderness, or just Braddock's Defeat), was joined. Braddock's impressive column of almost 1,500 men faced less than 900 French and Indians.^[2] Image File history File links Braddock's_death_at_the_Battle_of_Monongahela_9-July-1755. ... Image File history File links Braddock's_death_at_the_Battle_of_Monongahela_9-July-1755. ... July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 175 days remaining. ... 1755 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Engraving of Thomas Gage Sir Thomas Gage (1719 – April 2, 1787) was a British general and commander in chief of the North American forces from 1763 to 1775 during the early days of the American Revolution. ...

After an initial defense, Gage's advance group fell back. In the narrow confines of the road, they collided with the main body of Braddock's force, which had advanced rapidly when the shots were heard. The entire column dissolved in disorder as the Canadian militamen and Indians enveloped them and continued to snipe at the British from the woods and ravines on the sides of the road. At this time, the French regulars began advancing from the road and began to push the British back.

Following Braddock's example, the officers kept trying to reform units into regular order within the confines of the road, mostly in vain and simply providing targets for their concealed enemy. In a fruitless attempt, cannon was used, but in such confines of the forest road, it was ineffective. The colonial militia accompanying the British either fled or took cover and returned fire. In the confusion, some of the militiamen who were fighting from the woods were mistaken for the enemy and fired upon by the British regulars.

Finally, after three hours of intense battle, Braddock was shot off his horse, and effective resistance collapsed. However, Colonel Washington, with no official position in the chain of command, was able to impose and maintain some order and formed a rear guard, which allowed the force to evacuate and eventually disengage. This earned him the sobriquet Hero of the Monongahela, by which he was toasted, and established his fame for some time to come. George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)[1] led Americas Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and in 1789 was elected the first President of the United States of America. ...

By sunset, the surviving British and American forces were fleeing back down the road they had built. Braddock died of his wounds during the long retreat, on July 13, and is buried within the Fort Necessity parklands. July 13 is the 194th day of the year (195th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Fort Necessity was a British fortress west of the Pennsylvania colony. ...

Of the approximately 1,460 men Braddock had led into battle, 456 were killed and 421 wounded. (Commissioned officers were prime targets and suffered greatly: out of 86 officers, 63 were killed or wounded.) Also, of the 50 or so women that accompanied the British column as maids and cooks, only 4 survived. The roughly 250 French and Canadians reported 8 killed and 4 wounded; their 637 Indian allies lost but 15 killed and 12 wounded.

Colonel Dunbar, with the rear supply unit, took command when the survivors reached his position. He ordered the destruction of supplies and cannon before withdrawing, burning about 150 wagons on the spot. Ironically, at this point the demoralised and disorganised British forces still outnumbered their opponents, who had not even dared to pursue.

Aftermath

Braddock's defeat at the Battle of the Monongahela was a momentous event for the people of the region. The French and their Indian allies gained the upper hand in the struggle for control of the Ohio Country, and a ferocious frontier war quickly escalated. Indians in the area who had been inclined to remain neutral now found it nearly impossible to do so. And the colonists of "backcountry" Pennsylvania and Virginia now found themselves without professional military protection, scrambling to organise a defence. This brutal frontier war would continue until Fort Duquesne was finally abandoned by the French as a result of the successful approach of the Forbes Expedition in 1758. The Ohio Country, showing the present-day U.S. state boundaries The Ohio Country (sometimes called the Ohio Territory) was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake... John Forbes (5 September 1707 – March 11, 1759) was a British general in the French and Indian War. ... 1758 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Another notable outcome of Braddock's defeat was the effect it had on the reputation of George Washington. Washington, despite being in poor health before the battle, distinguished himself as being calm and courageous under fire. He emerged from the disaster as Virginia's military hero. Official language(s) English Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Area  Ranked 35th  - Total 42,793 sq mi (110,862 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 430 miles (690 km)  - % water 7. ...

Debate

The debate on how Braddock—with professional soldiers, superior numbers, and bigger guns—could fail so miserably began soon after the battle, and continues to this day. Some blamed Braddock, some blamed his officers, some blamed the British regulars or the colonial militia. George Washington, for his part, supported Braddock and found fault with the British regulars.

Braddock's tactics are still debated. One school of thought holds that Braddock's reliance on time-honoured European methods, where men stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the open and fire mass volleys in unison, was not appropriate for frontier fighting and cost Braddock the battle. Skirmish tactics that American colonials had learned from frontier fighting, where men take cover and fire individually ("Indian style"), was the superior method in the American environment, so the argument goes.^[3]

A less popular interpretation, though perhaps the one favoured by military historians, counters that the European use of concentrated firepower was unmatched when properly executed, and that the superiority of frontier tactics is an American myth. Braddock's failure, according to proponents of this theory, was not that he did not use frontier tactics. He failed because he did not adequately apply traditional military doctrine, particularly by not using distance reconnaissance.^[4] Mixed reconnaissance patrol of the Polish Home Army and the Soviet Red Army during Operation Tempest, 1944 Reconnaissance is the military term for the active gathering of information about an enemy, or other conditions, by physical observation. ...

Footnotes

1. ^ Some accounts state that Washington commanded the Virginia militia on the Braddock Expedition, but this is incorrect. (Though it is true that Washington commanded Virginia militia before and after the expedition.) As a volunteer aide-de-camp, Washington essentially served as an unpaid and unranked gentleman consultant, with little real authority, but much inside access.
2. ^ The Battle of the Monongahela has often been mistakenly described as an ambush. The encounter was actually a meeting engagement, where two forces clash at an unexpected time and place. The quick and effective response of the French and Indians led many of Braddock's men to believe they had been ambushed. However, French documents reveal that the French and Indian force was too late to prepare an ambush, and had been just as surprised as the British.
3. ^ See, for example, Armstrong Starkey's European and Native American Warfare, 1675-1815 (University of Oklahoma Press, 1998).
4. ^ This argument is most recently presented in Guy Chet's Conquering the American Wilderness: The Triumph of European Warfare in the Colonial Northwest (University of Massachusetts Press, 2003).

An ambush is a long established military tactic in which an ambushing force uses concealment to attack an enemy that passes its position. ...

References

• Chartrand, Rene. Monongahela, 1754-1755: Washington's Defeat, Braddock's Disaster. United Kingdom: Osprey Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-84176-683-6.
• Jennings, Francis. Empire of Fortune: Crowns, Colonies, and Tribes in the Seven Years War in America. New York: Norton, 1988. ISBN 0-393-30640-2.
• Kopperman, Paul E. Braddock at the Monongahela. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1973. ISBN 0-8229-5819-8.
• O'Meara, Walter. Guns at the Forks. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1965. ISBN 0-8229-5309-9.

External links

• Braddock's Road
• The French Army 1600-1900
• WikiTravel Itinerary tracing the route of the expedition