on the hillsides about that post. But in consequence of the difficulty of procuring teams, the artillery, &c., did not arrive until May the 20th.

The erection of Fort Cumberland and its strength have been already described. It stood upon the bank of Will's Creek, hard by its junction with the Potomac, on the site of the present town of Cumberland, and within what is now Alleghany County, Maryland.' Here had probably, in ancient days, been a Shawanoe village, and its Indian name, Cucucbetuc, is still preserved; and here, as we have seen, after a series of most distressing delays, Braddock at length succeeded in bringing together all his forces. As nearly as can be ascertained, these consisted as follows: The 44th and 48th regiments, originally 1000 strong, were increased by the Maryland and Virginia Levies to 1400 men. Of the remaining levies, about one hundred were formed by the General into two companies of Carpenters or Pioneers, each composed of thirty men, two sergeants, two subalterns, and a captain. The duty of these was to open the road and make the necessary repairs to the wagons, &c., on the route; and a few of the most experienced of the others were received into a company of Guides, composed of a captain, two aids, and ten men.' There was also a troop of provincial light-horse which he had procured to be formed, and which hitherto had served. as his body-guard; and a detachment of thirty sailors, with some half-dozen officers, furnished by Commodore

'Cumberland is now a thriving town with about 7000 inhabitants. It is 179 miles west by north from Baltimore.

2 II. Olden Time, 227.

Keppel to assist in rigging cordages, &c., should it be found necessary to build bridges on the way.' But the entire force which eventually marched from Fort Cumberland, as given by Captain Orme, consisted of 2037 men, out of a complement of 2100. To these must be added the Guides, the Light-horse, and the seamen; in all not exceeding one hundred, which, with the staff and the eight Indians, who remained with the General unto the end, will make a total of about 2150 souls. The usual train of non-militants who always accompany an army was not wanting here-women, who could not fight; Indians who would not; and wagoners who cut loose their horses and fled, to a man, at the first onset. Early in June, too, the well-known Captain Jack had repaired with his company to the camp and offered his services for the expedition. His merits as a

'The employment of seamen on this service seems to have caused a little natural surprise to those unacquainted with the circumstances of the case (II. O. T. 229); yet it was not a thing of unusual occurrence in America during this war. At Martinico and at Quebec they were employed to pull the guns. "An hundred or two of them, with ropes and pulleys, will do more than all your dray-horses in London." At Quebec, when Wolfe passed along the lines ere

he found a number of jolly tars, who had been engaged in hauling up the cannon, meekly sliding into the ranks of his soldiery. As they were armed some with hangers, more with sticks, most not at all, he saw no advantage in permitting them to stay, and, despite their petitions, bade them retire. "God bless your honor!" they cried; "if we may not fight, at least let us stop and see fair play between you and the French!" Wolfe laughed at this droll request, and thanked them and sent them to their ships. But they were not disposed, after all their toil, to go away without a share in the battle; and lurking about till it actually begun, they took an active part in its perils and glories. See XXV. Gent. Mag., 130, 180.

guide and as an "Indian killer" were not unknown to Braddock, but the proffered services were coupled with some stipulations for freedom from the regular discipline of the army, and were rejected. This singular man was once a frontier-settler. Returning to his cabin one evening after a long day's chase, he found it a heap of smoking ruins, and the blackened corpses of his murdered. family smouldering in its embers. From that fatal hour, he vowed never but with life to forgive the race who had wrought his woe, and to his dying hour he was the most dreaded enemy the Indians knew. In 1753, he held some commission under Governor Hamilton; and at this period, he was at the head of a party of bold woodsmen, clad, like himself, in Indian attire, and following very much the Indian mode of warfare. His home was in the Juniata country; but the celerity and extent of his movements. caused his fame to reach from Fort Augusta to the Potomac. A mystery has always shrouded his personal history. His swarthy visage (darkened, perchance, by a tinge of baser blood) and destructive arm, however, live in the fireside legends of the West; and many a tale is told of the deeds of the Black Rifle - the Black Hunter- the Wild Hunter of the Juniata, or the Black Hunter of the Forest -under all of which sobriquets he was known. It was a misfortune for Braddock that he neglected to secure the services of such an auxiliary.'

Being at last, if not thoroughly prepared, at least sufficiently so to warrant his undertaking the long and tedious journey that was before him, Braddock issued his orders.

' IV. Haz. Penn. Reg., 389, 390, 416. V. Ibid, 191.

for the army to leave Fort Cumberland. On the 30th of May, Sir John St. Clair, with Major Chapman, of the 44th, and 600 men, set out to clear a road to the Little Meadows on the Youghiogeny, thirty miles distant, where they were to erect a fortified camp. The army followed in three divisions: the first, under Halket, on the 7th of June; the next, under Gage, on the 8th; and the third, under Dunbar, on the 10th; Braddock delayed his own departure until the last man had marched; and the expedition was now fairly on its way to the Ohio. The opposite map will give the reader a perfect idea of its route, and in Captain Orme's text almost every detail of the march is minutely noted down. Owing to the innumerable difficulties of its situation, the progress of the army was painfully slow; five miles being a good day's march, and even half this distance being sometimes barely accomplished. Roads were to be cut through the forests and over the steep mountains; streams were to be bridged, and morasses made passable. The number of wagons and pack-horses struggling through this untravelled land protracted the line to a most dangerous length, and all the difficulties predicted by Franklin were in a fair way to be realized. Accordingly, at the

In 1847, Mr. T. C. Atkinson, of Cumberland, Maryland, being employed upon a railroad survey through this region, traced Braddock's route with great accuracy by means of the indications still remaining on the ground; and under his supervision, an excellent map was prepared by Mr. Middleton. This plan was subsequently engraved for the Olden Time (Vol. II., p. 539), where it appears with a very valuable explanatory paper by Mr. Atkinson. It is to the politeness of Mr. Craig that we are indebted for the original plate from which the impression that accompanies this volume is taken.

2

Entertaining some doubts of the result so confidently anticipated by the General, Franklin had remarked to him, "To be sure, sir, if you arrive