III.

1754.

abled from rendering any service on this occasion. Van- CHAPTER braam returned, and brought with him from M. de Villiers, the French commander, proposed articles of capitulation. These he read and pretended to interpret, and some changes having been made by mutual agreement, both parties signed them about midnight.

capitulation.

July 4.

By the terms of the capitulation, the whole garrison Terms of was to retire, and return without molestation to the inhabited parts of the country; and the French commander promised, that no embarrassment should be interposed, either by his own men or the savages. The English were to take away every thing in their possession, except their artillery, and to march out of the fort the next morning with the honors of war, their drums beating and colors flying. As the French had killed all the horses and cattle, Colonel Washington had no means of transporting his heavy baggage and stores; and it was conceded to him, that his men might conceal their effects, and that a guard might be left to protect them, till horses could be sent up to take them away. Colonel Washington agreed to restore the prisoners, who had been taken at the skirmish with Jumonville; and, as a surety for this article, two hostages, Captain Vanbraam and Captain Stobo, were delivered up to the French, and were to be retained till the prisoners should return. It was moreover agreed, that the party capitulating should not attempt to build any more establishments at that place, or beyond the mountains, for the space of a year.

Early the next morning Colonel Washington began to march from the fort in good order, but he had proceeded only a short distance, when a body of one hundred Indians, being a reinforcement to the French, came upon him, and could hardly be restrained from attacking his men. They pilfered the baggage and did other mischief. He marched forward, however, with as much speed as possible, in the weakened and encumbered condition of his army, there being no other mode of conveying the wounded men and the baggage, than on the soldiers' backs.

Army retires

to Will's

Creek.

III. 1754.

CHAPTER As the provisions were nearly exhausted, no time was to be lost; and, leaving much of the baggage behind, he hastened to Will's Creek, where all the necessary supplies were in store. Thence Colonel Washington and Captain Mackay proceeded to Williamsburg, and communicated in person to Governor Dinwiddie the events of the campaign.

Number of

men engaged

The exact number of men engaged in the action canin the battle. not be ascertained. According to a return made out by Colonel Washington himself, the Virginia regiment consisted of three hundred and five, including officers, of whom twelve were killed and forty-three wounded. Captain Mackay's company was supposed to contain about one hundred, but the number of killed and wounded is not known. The Independent Companies from New York did not reach the army before the action.

Vote of thanks by

Burgesses.

The conduct of the commander and of the troops was the House of highly approved by the governor and Council, and received merited applause from the public. As soon as the House of Burgesses assembled, they passed a vote of thanks to Colonel Washington and his officers "for their bravery and gallant defence of their country." A pistole was granted from the public treasury to each of the soldiers. *

* It was fortunate that the disagreement between Colonel Washington and Captain Mackay, respecting the right of command, did not produce any personal ill feeling, nor interfere with their public duty. It is also pleasing to observe, that their friendship continued through life, although they never again saw each other. Thirty-eight years after the battle of the Great Meadows, that is, in 1792, a gentleman in Scotland wrote to Washington, making inquiries about Captain Mackay. Washington replied; "In 1755, he left the service, sold out, and went to Georgia. I heard nothing of him from that time till about five or six years ago, when he went by water from Georgia to Rhode Island on account of his health. On his return to Georgia by land, he was seized either by the complaint for which he had gone to Rhode Island, or by some other disorder, and died at Alexandria; not at my house, as your letter mentions. I was not informed of his being at Alexandria until after his death, which was a circumstance that I regretted much, not only on account of the regard which I had for him, from our former acquaintance, but because I understood that he was

III.

1754.

Thus commenced the military career of Washington, CHAPTER and thus ended his first campaign. Although as yet a youth, with small experience, unskilled in war, and relying on his own resources, he had behaved with the prudence, address, courage, and firmness of a veteran commander. Rigid in discipline, but sharing the hardships and solicitous for the welfare of his soldiers, he had secured their obedience and won their esteem amidst privations, sufferings, and perils, that have seldom been surpassed.

Notwithstanding the late discomfiture, Governor Dinwiddie's ardor did not abate. It was indeed a foible with him, that his zeal outstripped his knowledge and discretion. Wholly ignorant of military affairs, he undertook to organize the army, prescribe rules, issue orders, form plans of operation, and manage the details. Hence frequent blunders and confusion. Colonel Washington rejoined his regiment, which had marched by way of Winchester to Alexandria. He there received orders to fill up the companies by enlistments, and lead them without delay to Will's Creek, where Colonel Innes was employed in building Fort Cumberland, with the remnant of the North Carolina troops, and the three independent companies, that had come to Virginia from South Carolina and New York. It was the governor's project, that the united forces should immediately cross the Alleganies, and drive the French from Fort Duquesne, or build another fort beyond the mountains.

V

Governor

resolves to

prosecute

the war.

August.

the gover

ures.

Astonished that such a scheme should be contemplated, Disapproves at a season of the year when the mountains would be nor's meas rendered impassable by the snows and rigor of the climate, and with an army destitute of supplies, feeble in

then on his way to pay me a visit, and had expressed an anxious desire to see me before he died. I do not know whether Captain Mackay left any family or not; for, from the time of his quitting the service until his death, as I observed before, I knew nothing of him. I have, however, been informed, that he was possessed of a handsome property in Georgia."

III.

1754.

CHAPTER numbers, and worn down by fatigue, Colonel Washington wrote a letter of strong remonstrance to a member of the governor's Council, representing the absurdity and even impossibility of such an enterprise. His regiment was reduced by death, wounds, and sickness. He was ordered to obtain recruits, but not a farthing of money had been provided. He was ordered to march, but his men had neither arms, tents, ammunition, clothing, nor provisions, sufficient to enable them to take the field, and no means existed for procuring them. It is enough to say, that the scheme was abandoned.

Governor's

plans opposed by the Assembly.

Army enlarged.

The governor was destined to struggle with difficulties, and to have his hopes defeated. The Assembly were so perverse, as not to yield to all his demands, and he never ceased to complain of their "republican way of thinking,' and to deplore their want of respect for the authority of his office and the prerogative of the crown. He had lately prorogued them, as a punishment for their obstinacy, and written to the ministry, that the representatives of the people seemed to him infatuated, and that he was satisfied "the progress of the French would never be effectually opposed, but by means of an act of Parliament to compel the colonies to contribute to the common cause independently of assemblies." When the burgesses came together again, however, he was consoled by their good nature in granting twenty thousand pounds for the public service; and he soon received ten thousand pounds in specie from the government in England for the same object.

Thus encouraged he formed new plans, and as the gift of ten thousand pounds was under his control, he could appropriate it as he pleased. He enlarged the army to ten companies, of one hundred men each, and put the whole upon the establishment of independent companies, by which the highest officers in the Virginia regiment would be cap-. tains, and even these inferior to officers of the same rank holding King's commissions. The effect was to reduce Colonel Washington to the rank of captain, and put him under officers whom he had commanded. Such a degra

dation, of course, was not to be submitted to by a high- CHAPTER minded man. He resigned his commission, and retired

from the army.

Governor Sharpe, of Maryland, soon after received an appointment from the King as commander-in-chief of the forces employed to act against the French. Knowing Colonel Washington's character, and the importance of his aid, Governor Sharpe solicited him, by a letter from himself and another from one of his officers, to resume his station. It was intimated, that he might hold his former commission. "This idea," said Washington in reply, "has filled me with surprise; for, if you think me capable of holding a commission, that has neither rank nor emolument annexed to it, you must entertain a very contemptible opinion of my weakness, and believe me to be more empty than the commission itself." He promptly declined the invitation, and added; "I shall have the consolation of knowing, that I have opened the way, when the smallness of our numbers exposed us to the attacks of a superior enemy; and that I have had the thanks of my country for the services I have rendered."

Thus sustained within himself, neither seeking redress nor venting complaints, he passed the winter in retirement. He acknowledged his partiality, however, for the profession of arms, and his ambition to acquire experience and skill in the military art. Nor did he wait long for an opportunity to gratify his wishes.

III.

1754.

Requested

to rejoin the

army, but

declines.

Nov. 15.

appointment

camp to General

Genrock.

March 15.

Early in the spring, General Braddock landed in Vir- Accepts the ginia, with two regiments of regular troops from Great of aid-deBritain, which it was supposed would bear down all opposition, and drive back the intruding French to Canada. The people were elated with joy, and already the war on the frontier seemed hastening to an end. Colonel Washington acceded to a request from General Braddock to take part in the campaign as one of his military family, in which he would retain his former rank, and the objections on that score would be obviated.

8