French and Indian War: Battle of the Wilderness at Fort Duquesne,

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French and Indian WarBattle of the Wilderness
at Fort Duquesne, General Braddocks
Defeat,July 9, 1755
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(No Transcript)
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Location Western Pennsylvania, just south of
Lake Erie
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Fort Duquesne as it would have looked in 1755.
This is from a diorama built by Table Top Studios
for the film, Last of the Mohicans.
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The Two Sides1600 against 891

• The British Reportedly had around 4,000 officers
  and troops altogether. However, the actual number
  was much smaller 1600 troops were in the field,
  consisting of around 200 of British regulars,
  200 volunteers, 40-50 women, and a few Oneida
  Native allies.
• The French and Allies 36 officers, 72
  regulars, 146 militiamen, 637 Natives

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The Fight
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Though they outnumbered the French and their
Native allies by thousands, the British suffered
severe losses.
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At one point in the fighting, two British
6-pounders, similar to the one pictured below,
were taken by the French and Natives and fired
upon the British.
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British General Braddock was having a
particularly rough day4 times, his horse was
shot out
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Battlefield deaths were agonizing.
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Prisoner Deaths were Even Worse

• A British prisoner of war recalled this
• After sundown, I saw about a dozen prisoners,
  stripped naked, with their hands tied behind
  their backs, and their faces and parts of their
  bodies blackened these prisoners they burned to
  death on the bank of the river ... I stood on
  the fort wall until I beheld them begin to burn
  one of these men they had him tied to a stake,
  and kept touching him with firebrands, red-hot
  irons and he screamed ... The Indians, in the
  mean-time, yelling like infernal spirits.

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The Defeat

• Toward the end of the battle, General Braddock
  and his assistant, Major George Washington, were
  the only officers on the British side still
  alive.

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Painting Title Braddocks Defeat Date of
Painting 1903 Artist Edwin DemingDate of
Battle 1755Source Wisconsin Historical Society
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A Primary Voice

• Charles Langlade was a Frenchman who lived among
  the Natives of modern-day Wisconsin and Michigan
  in the mid-1700s. Like so many of his French
  countrymen, he lived off the land, hunting,
  trapping, and trading with Natives. The Natives
  gave the French furs to sell to Europe, food to
  survive in the wilderness, and lessons about how
  to survive and thrive in the wilderness. In
  return, the French gave the Natives textiles,
  iron tools, and European weapons such as muskets.
  The onset of war between the British and French
  pulled Charles Langlade out of his life as a fur
  trader and into the life of a soldier. Because of
  his knowledge of the land and the many
  friendships he had with Natives throughout the
  Great Lakes region, Charles Langlade was
  appointed to lead a band of Frenchmen and Natives
  in battle against the British at Fort Duquesne.
  Charles Langlade told his wartime experiences to
  his grandson, who wrote down the stories so that
  they could be preserved for future historians
  like us.

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In Charles Langlades Words

• I do not know how large a band my
  grandfather led from the northwest but I
  remember his saying that when they assembled at
  the fort the total number of French and their
  Indian allies amounted to not far from fifteen
  hundred nearly all the Indian force was
  composed of the bands led by my grandfather
  Upon their arrival at Fort Du Quesne, spies were
  sent out to discover the enemys approach and
  they soon returned reporting that Braddocks army
  was within a half a days march of the
  Monongahela River, cutting a load as they
  advanced. It was determined that with what
  French could be spared, the Indian force and my
  grandfather should go out and meet the enemy at
  the Monongahela River and attack them while
  crossing that stream. The English got to the
  south bank of the Monongahela about noon, halted
  and prepared for dinner while the French and
  Indians were secreted on the other shore. My
  grandfather went to the commander and told him
  no time should be lost but that the attack should
  be at once begun. The commander made no
  reply. My grandfather then called the chiefs
  together and asked them to go to the
  commander and demand orders to beginthe
  battle. No reply was made to this demand. Then
  my grandfather went himself and urged the
  necessity of at once attacking the English. He
  said to the commander that if he did not
  intend to fight at all then it was well to act as
  he did. But if fighting was to be done then it
  was the time to do it while the English were
  eating. Source Wisconsin Historical Society, ID
  whcvIII0000. Date of Augustin Grignons memoir
  1857. Date of battle 1755. Edited by Ms.
  Ellison. 

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Due largely to their Native allies and their use
of guerrilla techniques, the French and Indians
defeated the British at Fort DuquesneSketch
Title Defeat of General Braddock Artist
Billings Sketch Date 1855 Battle Date
1755Source Wisconsin Historical Society