Under the influence of this consideration, it was determined to select twelve hundred men, who should be led by the general in person to the point of destination. The residue of the army, under the command of colonel Dunbar, was to follow, with the baggage, by slow and easy marches.
This disposition being made, Braddock pressed forward to his object, in the confidence that he could find no enemy capable of opposing him; and reached the Monongahela on the eighth of July.
As the army approached fort Du Quêsne, the general was cautioned of the danger to which the character of his enemy, and the face of the country, exposed him; and was advised to advance the provincial companies in his front, for the purpose of scouring the woods, and discovering ambuscades. But he held both his enemy and the provincials in too much contempt, 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.
Within seven miles of fort Du Quêsne, 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.