ET. 26.]

WASHINGTON AT FORT DUQUESNE.

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and the approach of the British, were deserting the French in great numbers. This intelligence revived the hopes of Forbes, and, to the great joy of Washington and his men, he issued orders for the army

to move on.

Celerity of movement was important, and, without tents or heavy baggage, and with a train of light artillery, they advanced rapidly. Washington led the van, and detached Colonel Armstrong with a numerous party to keep in advance as a corps of observation. The provincials, and especially the Virginians, worked cheerfully by the side of their beloved leader. On the fifteenth of November, Washington was at Chestnut Ridge; on the seventeenth he was at Bush Run, and the next day he had opened the road to Armstrong's three miles in advance. "All the men," he wrote to his gencamp, eral, "are in fine spirits and anxious to go on," notwithstanding all along their line of march, as they approached Fort Duquesne, the bones of those who were slaughtered at Braddock's defeat were visible.

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Anxious to know the condition of the fort, General Forbes now offered a reward of forty pounds to any man who would capture a hostile Indian. This was soon accomplished by a sergeant of the North Carolina militia; and that prisoner informed the general that the Indians, terror-stricken at the approach of the British, had fled in a body from Fort Duquesne, declaring that the Great Spirit had evidently withdrawn his protection from the French. He further affirmed that the French, deprived of expected supplies from Frontenac, disheartened by the victory of Bradstreet at that place, and alarmed at the approach of the British, had just abandoned and set fire to the fort, and fled down the Ohio in their boats. Encouraged by this information, Washington and his party pushed forward, and on the following day, the twenty-fifth of November, he unfurled the British flag over the still smoking ruins of that formidable fortress in the wilderness, from which, for three years, had issued the terrible frontier scourges. Three days afterward he had the pleasure of writing to Governor Fauquier: "The enemy, after letting us get within a day's march of the place, burned the fort, and ran away

by the light of it, at night, going down the Ohio by water, to the number of about five hundred, according to our best information."*

After the first burst of joy at this consummation of their hopes and toils, the whole army, officers and privates, engaged in the pious work of burying the remains of those who were slain at the defeats of Braddock and Grant. When this duty was performed, the fort was repaired. Then, with waving banners and peals of artillery, the event was celebrated, and the post was named Fort Pitt, in honor of the illustrious statesman whose wise and liberal measures, in making provisions for this campaign, had been instrumental in greatly enhancing the glory and puissance of the British realm. Upon that spot, the large and growing city of Pittsburgh now stands, a noble monument to the memory of England's greatest prime minister.

The Indians, as usual, paid their devotions to the rising sun— bowed submissively to the conquering power. Treaties were speedily concluded with all the tribes between the Ohio and the lakes, and the French dominion in the West now became a part of the history of the past. All of this might have been accomplished long before, if the opinions of Washington could have controlled the councils of his province.

Ever mindful of the comfort of his troops, it was with great reluctance that Washington left a portion of his command to garrison Fort Pitt, in obedience to the orders of General Forbes. At Loyal

* When General Forbes was on the eve of starting for Fort Duquesne, it was resolved to employ a trustworthy man to go among the western Indians, who were becoming distrustful of the French, and endeavor to draw them over to the interest of the English. It would be a mission of great peril, yet a man was found to undertake it. That man was Christian Frederick Post, a Moravian who had married a native woman and had lived among the savages seventeen years. He left Philadelphia on the fifteenth of July, proceeded up the Susquehanna river, passed the French post at Venango three weeks afterward, and held conferences with the Indians at various places. On the twenty-fourth of August, he was with some Indian friends opposite Fort Duquesne, where he had a talk with many of the leading men. He found the Delawares and all the western tribes wavering in their affection for the French. He made a favorable impression upon their minds, yet they complained bitterly of the encroachments of the English. “Your heart is good," they said to Post— "you speak sincerely; but we know there is always a great number who wish to get rich; they have enough. Look! we do not want to be rich, and take away what others have.”—“The white people think we have no brains in our heads," said an old chief. They are big, and we a little handful; but remember, when you hunt for a rattlesnake you can not find it, and perhaps it will bite you before you see it." But Post persevered, and concluded quite a definite treaty with some of the most influential chiefs. After enduring many hardships in the midst of perils, he returned to Philadelphia early in September. No doubt this mission did much toward the victory at Fort Duquesne, in causing the Indians to desert the French.