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compiled by Jim Moyer April, May 2018, updated 8/18/2019

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Longest Battle fought with Nobody

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Horace Walpole writes to Richard Bentley in letter dated September 30, 1755.  

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Braddock’s defeat still remains in the situation of the longest battle that ever was fought with nobody.     

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But Walpole adds as consolation:

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Content your English spirit with knowing that there are very near three thousand French prisoners in England, taken out of several ships.

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Source:

https://archive.org/details/lettershoracewal03walpiala/page/352

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Use Ctrl F to find strings in this text format:

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http://www.archive.org/stream/lettershoracewal03walpiala/lettershoracewal03walpiala_djvu.txt

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Meanwhile Dunbar’s 48th

is running away

from that Nobody

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From ExploreHistoryPa.com on their historical signs page:

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Upon inheriting command after Braddock’s death, Dunbar decided against launching a counterattack against Fort Duquesne, even though he still commanded a formidable and well-supplied army.

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Instead, he continued the retreat to Fort Cumberland, which he reached on July 22.

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Two weeks later, he decided to march his troops to Philadelphia, where he surprised the city’s residents by requesting winter quarters.

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Ultimately, he took the army north to Albany, where it encamped for the rest of the year.

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What did the site of Braddock’s Defeat look like 3 years later?

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Braddock’s Defeat occurred July 9, 1755

compiled, written by Jim Moyer   2015, July 2017, 8/29/2017

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To Give a Sense of this Story,

let us give you a scene

of the battlefield 3 years later.

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A word that caught our eye – The skulls.

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The Forbes Expedition follows up on this scene 3 years later.

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The French gave up, leaving a burnt ghost of a fort, November 1758, three years after Braddock’s disaster.

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And now the victors will march to Braddock field.

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It is their first chance after 3 years to see their fallen comrads.

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In Volume 2, Young George Washington, published by Charles Scribner and Sons, 1948,  pages 366-367, Douglas Southall Freeman writes:

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“…a service of thanksgiving on the 26th

with a sermon,

a day of celebration on the 27th,

and then a solemn march to Braddock’s field,

where the skulls

of more than 450 men were buried.

Their bones long before had been scattered by wolves.”

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A Hallowed Halloween of a site greeted our Forbes Expedition victors.

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See  wolf behavior.  

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Please Come and Enjoy These Two Upcoming Events . Fort Loudoun Day Lecture and Reception – May 18 Fort Loudoun Day Living History Event – May 19 . Fort Loudoun Day Lecture “Braddock’s Defeat: A Pivotal Moment in American History” . by Dr. David L. Preston Professor of History at the Citadel University . David Preston has a story to tell.  Winchester has a street named for this story. And has a cannon left behind from this story. Braddock Memorial Winchester VA . FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2018 LECTURE  •  7:00 PM – 8:00 PM   •  FREE TO ATTEND RECEPTION TO FOLLOW   •   $15 DONATION . Stimpson Auditorium, Halpin-Harrison Hall Shenandoah University 600 Millwood Avenue, Winchester, VA View Campus Map . Co-Sponsored by Community History Project of Shenandoah University  . Please join us for a special evening lecture in which award-winning historian Dr. David L. Preston will recount details of an important event that would lead to the onset of hostilities between the British and French known as the French and Indian War in North America and the Seven Years War in Europe. . Reception to Follow the Lecture  Meet Dr. David L. Preston, who will have his latest book Braddock’s Defeat: The battle of the Monogahela and the Road to Revolution available for sale and for signing. . Lecture attendance not required to attend reception. . Reception Attendance by $15 tax-deductible donation to the French & Indian War Foundation of Winchester. . Snacks will be provided. Cash Bar available. An RSVP by May 8 for the reception, including number of guests, will be appreciated. . Email fiwf.dsg@comcast.net or Call 540-678-1743 . Attendees may pay in advance by PayPal, by Check to P.O. Box 751, Winchester, VA 22604 or pay at the door – please come and enjoy! . Dr. Preston Biography . David Preston is an award-winning historian of American military history with a special interest in war and peace among the French, British, and Indian peoples of the eighteenth century. . He is currently Professor of History at The Citadel, where he teaches cadets and officer candidates about U.S. military history and early American history. . . His most recent work is Braddock’s Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution. . Reward and Recognition . It was published in 2015 by Oxford University Press in the Pivotal Moments in American History book series edited by eminent historians James McPherson and David Hackett Fischer, who described Preston as “one of the most gifted young historians writing today.” Braddock’s Defeat won the 2016 Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History, one of the nation’s most prestigious and largest literary prizes, recognizing the best book published on military history in the English language each year, and was a finalist for the George Washington Book Prize.  It also won the Distinguished Book Award from the Society of Military History and the PROSE Award in U.S. History of the Association of American Publishers and received the Judge Robert Woltz Award of the French & Indian War Foundation. . . REVIEWS: . “David Preston has offered what will probably be the final word on one of the most important battles in North American history.  This engaging, thorough book debunks timeworn myths about Edward Braddock and his soldiers while affording their French and American Indian foes long overdue attention and credit for what was their victory more than ‘Braddock’s Defeat.’  A vital contribution and singular scholarly achievement.” . —John W. Hall, Ambrose-Hesseltine Chair in U.S. Military History, University of Wisconsin-Madison . Click to Read More Reviews  . Fort Loudoun Day Living History Event . Fort Loudoun’s Beginning Our Col George Washington who designed Fort Loudoun writes to Lt Col Adam Stephen that construction has started on Fort Loudoun Winchester VA had begun on May 18, 1756. . Declaration of War Virginia did not know yet that Great Britain declared official war on May 17, 1756, even though Braddock’s Defeat occurred July 9, 1755, but Colonel Washington got word of this formal declaration in August 15, 1756 and ordered  a  “triple Discharge of the Artillery, and three Rounds of Musquetry, with loud Acclamations of the People.” . We are observing Fort Loudoun’s Beginning Saturday May 18, 2018 Photo by Winchester Star of the Captain Mercer Company of the Virginia Regiment when they observed Presidents Day Monday February 19, 2018. Click on photo to enlarge. The annual commemoration of the beginning of construction of Fort Loudoun is observed on Foundation property at: . 419 North Loudoun Street Winchester, Virginia on Saturday, May 19, 2018 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. . Captain George Mercer’s Company of the 1st Virginia Regiment, Colonel James Wood, General Edward Braddock and others will be in attendance. . Activities will include tours of the Fort Loudoun grounds, a flag-raising at noon, a musketry demonstration as well as other activities. . This is a free event . Thank you to our Fort Loudoun Day Sponsors

Visit the French and Indian War Foundation Website to learn more

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David Preston writes a Thank You

Dr Preston is author of

“Braddock’s Defeat:

A Pivotal Moment in American History”

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David Preston, author

This email of January 13, 2016 was sent from David Preston, author Braddocks Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution  to the Foundation’s Board members Norman Baker, Dr Carl Ekberg and Steve Resan :

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“This is a long overdue note of my deepest thanks for the great honor you saw fit to bestow upon my book Braddock’s Defeat, the 2015 Judge Robert Woltz History Award of the French and Indian War Foundation. 

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The lovely gorget hangs in a place of honor in my office.  Receiving such an unexpected award–especially from my friend and colleague Norman–is a memory that I will long cherish. 

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I greatly appreciate the work that the French and Indian War Foundation has done, and it goes without saying that I am always at your service.  I hope that my book will bring added attention to the sites and the history that you are preserving and interpreting.”

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Photo shows author David Preston (left) is wearing the gorget, which is the Judge Robert Woltz History Award. Norman Baker(right) Board member is the Foundation’s historian and who fought on Iwo Jima in WWII.

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MORE LINKS

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Good article on beginnings of Braddock Expedition

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44th Regiment – Sir Peter Halkett

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48th Regiment – Colonel Thomas Dunbar

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More on Dunbar

The Sole Surviving Colonel – Thomas Dunbar

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Conestoga Wagons in Braddock’s Campaign, 1755,  Don H. Berkebile, Release Date: August 10, 2009: htttp://www.gutenberg.org/files/29653/29653-h/29653-h.htm

Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

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Braddock’s Expedition, a monograph, Historical Society of PA

History of an Expedition against Fort Du Quesne in 1755 under Major-General Edward Braddock edited from the original manuscripts by Winthrop Sargeant, M.A., member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, published Philadelphia, J.B.Lippincott & Co for the Historical Society of Pennsylvania 1856

https://archive.org/stream/historyofexpedit00sarg#page/380/mode/2up

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See Details of the Defeat http://www.britishbattles.com/braddock.htm.

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Click on book for more info

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Letters in the aftermath:

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As Volunteer unpaid aide to General Braddock, George Washington writing from Fort Cumberland 18 July 1755, gives an account of the defeat to Lt Gov Dinwiddie, “As I am favourd with an oppertunity, I shoud think myself inexcusable, was I to omit givg you some acct of our late Engagemt with the French on the Monongahela the 9th Inst. …”

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Read Lt Gov Dinwiddie’s  26 July 1755 letter to Washington, asking if Dunbar might regroup to again march against Fort Du Quesne.  Dunbar instead leaves for Philadelphia.

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They left Fort Cumberland, Will’s Creek, and some came back to it

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Navigate around the Emanuel Episcopal Church at Fort Cumberland using the Google car.

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Navigational Street View of Savage River Camp historical sign  near Fort Cumberland.

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The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire.

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Events commemorating Braddock’s Road and Defeat

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Braddock Road Preservation Assn Annual Event

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See ANNUAL EVENT  consisting of a bus tour on Friday 6 Nov 2015 and seminar Saturday 7 Nov 2015

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You can choose the bus tour only or seminar only  or both.

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See times and dates

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Click on REGISTER ONLINE

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See Braddock Road Preservation Association website.  This site is extensive and informative. Browse through it at your leisure.

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See their Facebook Page too.

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The French and Indian War Encampment

Event this July 16-19, 2015 will commemorate this defeat.

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The event is located off US 19 just north of the village of Portersville, Pa. – right beside Gellner’s Arctic Cat. Just a short distance from I-79 at The Portersville Old Engine & Steam Show Grounds.  1512 Perry Highway, Portersville, PA 16051.

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See FORM TO FILL OUT on  the Facebook page F & I Grand Encampment: July 16-19, 2015 BRADDOCK’S DEFEAT.

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Return this form to:

By mail: Mark Wiley 5077 Clayton Circle New Castle, PA 16101

As an email attachment: wileyhouseshoppe@yahoo.com

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Registration deadline:  June 1, 2015

Please note: This form should be used by any civilian or military unit or individual.  Sutler registration is available by contacting Jen or Mark Wiley at wileyhouseshoppe@yahoo.com or by phone: 724 487-8617

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Cost:

$5.00 per person Children 12 and under free

Date:

July 17-19, 2015

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Place:

Portersville Old Engine and Steam Show Grounds 1512 Perry Highway Portersville, Pa 16051

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Thursday, July 16, 2015 participants, re-enactors come to set up

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Public Hours:

Friday, July 17, 2015 … 10am – 4pm

Saturday, July 18, 2015 … 9am – 5pm Battle beginning at 1:00pm

Sunday, July 19, 2015 … 9am – 4pm Battle beginning at 1:00pm

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For more information and to register please visit facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/braddocksdefeat2015/

Or contact Mark Wiley at 724-487-8617 wileyhouseshoppe@yahoo.com

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