A few weeks before this Col. Bouquet, from his post at Fort Ligonier, forgot his usual prudence, and at his urgent request, allowed Major Grant, commander of the Highlanders, to advance. On the 14th of September, at about 2 A. M., he reached an eminence about half a mile from the Fort. He divided his forces, placing detachments in different positions, being convinced that the enemy was too weak to attack him. Infatuated with this idea, when the fog had cleared away, he ordered the reveille to be sounded. It was as if he put his foot into a hornet's nest. The roll of drums was answered by a burst of war-whoops, while the French came swarming out, many of them in their night shirts, just as they had jumped from their beds. There was a hot fight for about three-quarters of an hour, when the Highlanders broke away in a wild flight. Captain Bullit and his Virginians tried to cover the retreat, and fought until two-thirds of them were killed and Grant taken prisoner. The name of "Grant's Hill" still clings to the much-ambushed "hump" where the Court House now stands. The French pushed their advantages with spirit, and there were many skirmishes in the forest between Fort Ligonier and Fort Duquesne, but their case was desperate. Their Indian allies had deserted them, and their supplies had been cut off; so Ligneris, who succeeded Contrecoeur, was forced to dismiss the greater part of his force. The English, too, were enduring great hardships. Rain had continued almost without cessation all through September; the newly made road was liquid mud, into which the wagons sunk up to the hubs. In October the rain changed to snow, while all this time Forbes was chained to a sick-bed at Raystown, now Fort Bedford. In the beginning of November he was carried from Fort Bedford to Fort Ligonier in a litter, and a council of officers, then held, decided to attempt nothing more that season, but a few days later a report of the condition of the French was brought in, which led Forbes to give orders for an immediate advance. On November 18, 1758, two thousand five hundred picked men, without tents or baggage, without wagons or artillery except a few light pieces, began their march. [Illustration: LORD VISCOUNT LIGONIER.] FOOTNOTES: [A] The names of these woodsmen were Barnaby Currin and James MacGuire, Indian Traders; Henry Stewart and William Jenkins; Half King, Monokatoocha, Jeskakake, White Thunder and the Hunter. [B] In recognition of this honor, the Duke of Bedford presented to the fort a large flag of crimson brocade silk. In 1895 this flag was in the possession of Mrs. Moore, of Bedford, who kindly lent it to the Pittsburgh Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, for exhibition at a reception given by them at Mrs. Park Painter's residence, February 15th, 1895. FORT PITT French Abandon Fort Duquesne.--Fort Pitt is Built.