Braddock's Road and Three Relative PapersHulbert, Archer Butler
History
Braddock's Road and Three Relative Papers
Hulbert, Archer Butler
Braddock's Campaign, 1755; Roads -- United States; United States Highway 40
Less than one mile eastward of Chalk Hill, beside a brook which bears
Braddock's name, beneath a cluster of solemn pines, lies the dust of the
sacrificed Braddock. If there is any question as to whether his body was
interred at this spot, there is no question but that all the good he
ever did is buried here. Deserted by those who should have helped him
most, fed with promises that were never kept, defeated because he could
not find the breath to cry "retreat" until a French bullet drove it to
his throat--he is remembered by his private vices which the whole world
would quickly have forgotten had he won his last fight. He was typical
of his time--not worse.
In studying Braddock's letters, preserved in the Public Records Office,
London, it has been of interest to note that he never blamed an
inferior--as he boasted in the anecdote previously related. His most
bitter letter has been reproduced, and a study of it will make each line
of more interest. His criticism of the Colonial troops was sharp, but
his praise of them when they had been tried in fire was unbounded. He
does not directly criticise St. Clair--though his successful rival for
honors on the Ohio, Forbes, accused St. Clair in 1758 not only of
ignorance but of actual treachery. "This Behavior in the people" is
Braddock's charge, and no one will say the accusation was unjust.
With something more than ordinary good judgment Braddock singled out
good friends. What men in America, at the time, were more influential in
their spheres than Franklin, Washington, and Morris? These were almost
the only men he, finally, had any confidence in or respect for.
Washington knew Braddock as well as any man, and who but Washington, in
the happier days of 1784, searched for his grave by Braddock's Run in
vain, desirous of erecting a monument over it?
Mr. King, editor of the Pittsburg _Commercial-Gazette_, in 1872 took an
interest in Braddock's Grave, planted the pines over it and enclosed
them. A slip from a willow tree that grew beside Napoleon's grave at St.
Helena was planted here but did not grow. There is little doubt that
Braddock's dust lies here. He was buried in the roadway near this brook,
and at this point, early in the last century, workmen repairing the road
discovered the remains of an officer. The remains were reinterred here
on the high ground beside the Cumberland Road, on the opposite bank of
Braddock's Run. They were undoubtedly Braddock's.
As you look westward along the roadway toward the grave, the significant
gorge on the right will attract your attention. It is the old pathway of
Braddock's Road, the only monument or significant token in the world of
the man from whom it was named. Buried once in it--near the cluster of
gnarled apple-trees in the center of the open meadow beyond--he is now
buried, and finally no doubt, beside it. But its hundreds of great
gorges and vacant swampy isles in the forests will last long after any
monument that can be raised to his memory.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account