Disaster in the Forest free essay sample

George , our Indian interpreter, Joint him on his march with one hundred of those people, who might have been of great use to his army as guides, scouts, etc. , If he had treated them kindly; but he slighted and neglected them, and they gradually left him. In conversation with him one day, he was giving me some account of his Intended progress. After taking Fort , says he, I am to proceed to Niagara; and, having taken that, to , If the season will allow time; and I suppose It will, for can hardly detain me above three or four days; ND then I see nothing that can obstruct my march to Niagara. Having before revolve in my mind the long line his army must make in their march by a very narrow road, to be cut for them thro the woods and bushes, and also what I had read of a former defeat of fifteen hundred French, who invaded the country, I had conceived some doubts and some fears for the event of the campaign. We will write a custom essay sample on Disaster in the Forest or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But I ventured only to say, To be sure, sir, if you arrive well before , with these fine troops, so well provided with artillery, that place not yet completely fortified, and as we hear with no very strong garrison, can probably make but a short resistance.The only danger I apprehend of obstruction to your march Is from ambuscades of Indians, who, by constant practice, are dexterous In laying and executing them; and the slender line, near four miles long, which your army must make, may expose It to be attacked by surprise in its flanks, and to be cut like a thread into several pieces, which, from their distance, can not come up in time to support each other. He smiled at my ignorance, and , These savages may, indeed, be a formidable enemy to your awe American militia, but upon the kings regular and disciplined troops, sir, it is impossible they should make any impression. I was conscious of an impropriety in my disputing with a military man in matters of his profession, and said no more. The enemy, however, did not take the advantage of his army which I apprehended its long line of march exposed it to, but let it advance without interruption till within nine miles of the place; and then, when more in a body (for It had Just passed a river, where the front had halted till all were come over and In a more open part of the goods than any It had passed, Its advanced guard by a heavy fire from behind trees and bushes, which was the first Intelligence the general had of an enemys being near him.This guard being disordered, the general hurried the troops up to cattle; and presently the fire came upon their flank: the officers, being on horseback, were more easily distinguished, pick out as marks, and fell very fast; and the soldiers were crowded together in a huddle, having or hearing no orders, and standing to be shot at till two-thirds of them were killed ; and then, being seized with a panic, the hole fled with precipitation.The Waggoner took each a horse out of his team and scampered; their example was immediately followed by others; so that all the wagons, provisions artillery, and stores were left to the enemy. The general, being wounded, was brought off with difficulty; his secretary, Mr.. , was killed by his side; and out of eighty-six officers, sixty-three were killed or wounded, and seven hundred and fourteen men killed out of eleven hundred. These eleven hundred had been picked men from the whole army; the rest had been left behind with Colonel, who was to follow with the heavier part of the stores, provisions, and baggage. The flyers, not being pursued, arrived at camp, and the panic they brought with them instantly seized him and all his people; and, the he had now above one thousand men, and the enemy who bad beaten did not at most exceed four hundred Indians and French together, instead of proceeding, and endeavoring to recover some of the lost honor, he ordered all the stores, ammunition, etc. , to be destroyed, that he might have more horses to assist his flight towards the settlements, and less lumber to remove.He was there met with requests from the governors of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, that he would post his troops on the frontiers, so as to afford some protection to the inhabitants; but he continued his hasty march thro all the country, not thinking himself safe till he arrived at Philadelphia, wh ere the inhabitants could protect him. This whole transaction gave us Americans the first suspicion that our exalted ideas of the prowess of British regulars had not been well founded. * John , Deed. , Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (Philadelphia: J. B. co. , 1868), 309-313.