Braddock's Defeat: Beaujeu and Monongahela
A considerable bend in the Monongahela River, and the nature of the banks, made it necessary for the army to cross it twice before they reached the fort. On the morning of the 9th of July, everything being in readiness, the whole train crossed the river in perfect order, a short distance below the mouth of the Youghiogheny, and took up their line of march along its southern bank, in high spirits. The garrison of the fort was understood to be small, and quite inadequate to resist the force now brought to bear upon it; exulting hope filled every heart; and no one doubted that he should see the British flag waving, next day, over the battlements, and the enemy obliged to retire to Canada or surrender themselves prisoners of war. The march on that morning is described as a splendid spectacle, being made in full military array, in exact order, the sun glancing from the burnished bayonets to the scarlet uniform of the regulars, with a majestic river on the right, and dark, deep woods on the left. Not an enemy appeared, and the most profound silence reigned over this wild territory. The only countenance among them which was clouded with care or concern was that of Washington, who, as he rode beside the general, vainly represented that the profound silence and apparent solitude of the gloomy scenes around them afforded no security in American warfare against deadly and imminent danger. Again, and still vainly, did he offer to scour the woods in front and on the left with the provincial troops. The general treated his fears as the effects of fever on his brain, and the provincials were ordered to form the rearguard of the detachment.
About noon they reached the second crossing-place, within ten miles of Fort Duquesne, and at one o'clock had all crossed the river in safety. Three hundred men under Colonel Gage formed the advance party, which was closely followed by a party of two hundred; and last of all followed the general with the main body, consisting of about seven hundred men, the artillery and baggage.
After crossing the river, the road along which they marched led for about half a mile through a low plain, and then commenced a gradual ascent of about three degrees, the prospect being shut in by hills in the distance. About a hundred and fifty yards from the bottom of this inclined plain, and about equidistant from the road leading to the fort, commenced two ravines, from eight to ten feet deep, which led off in different directions until they terminated in the plain below. Covered as these ravines were with trees and long grass, and the British having no scouts, it was impossible for them to discover their existence without approaching within a few feet of them. Up this inclined plain, between these ravines, General Braddock led his army on the afternoon of the 9th of July.
While the English were thus leisurely advancing, the scouts of the French kept the commandant at Fort Duquesne accurately informed of their motions and their numbers. Believing the small force under his command wholly inadequate to the defence of the fort against three thousand men, with a formidable park of artillery, as his scouts had represented them, he was hesitating what course to pursue, when Captain de Beaujeu offered to lead a small party of French and Indians to meet the enemy and harass his march. It required a great deal of persuasion to induce the Indians to engage in what they considered an impossible undertaking; but, possessing their confidence, he finally subdued their unwillingness, and induced about six hundred of them to accompany him. With these and about two hundred and fifty French and Canadians, he intended to occupy the banks of the Monongahela and harass the English as they crossed the river. It was only on the morning of the 9th that he was ready to start on this expedition, and when he arrived near the river his spies reported that Braddock had already crossed. Finding that he was too late to pursue his original plan, de Beaujeu placed his followers in the ravines before mentioned, between which the English were seen advancing along the road.