The unfortunate selection of the chief of this expedition was, however, more fatal than difficulty[27] or delay; his character was unsuited for such a command in every point except that of personal courage: haughty, self-sufficient, and overbearing, he estranged the good-will, and rejected the counsel of his Indian and Provincial allies.[28] His troops were harassed by the endeavor to enforce a formal and rigid discipline, which the nature of the service rendered impracticable. Through the tangled and trackless passes of the Alleganies, he adhered with stubborn bigotry to a system of operations only suited to the open plains of civilized Europe. But his greatest and worst error was to despise his foe: in spite of the warnings of the Duke of Cumberland, his patron and friend, he scorned to take precautions against the dangerous ambush of the American savage. On the 29th, Major Chapman, with 600 men and two guns, marched from the camp: Sir John St. Clair, quarter-master general, some engineers, and seamen, accompanied this detachment to clear the roads and reconnoiter the country. From that time till the 10th of June an incredible amount of useless and harassing toil was wasted in widening and leveling the forest paths, and erecting unnecessarily elaborate bridges. At length, on the 10th, Braddock followed with the rest of his army, and reached the Little Meadows that night, a distance of twenty-two miles. In spite of the facilities afforded by the labors of the pioneers, great difficulty was experienced in the conveyance of the heavy stores. During the route still to be pursued, where no preparations had been made, greater delays were to be expected. At the same time the general was stimulated to activity by information that the French soon expected a re-enforcement at Fort du Quesne of 500 regular troops; with more of energy than he had yet displayed,[29] he selected 1200 men, and taking also ten guns, the seamen, and some indispensable supplies of provisions and ammunition, he pushed boldly on into the pathless and almost unknown solitudes of the Alleganies. Colonel Dunbar, with the rest of the army and the heavy luggage, followed as they best might.