British Territory still on American soil

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I vaguely remembered General Braddock from American History. As children in public schools, we spend some time on history in our early years of education, though it may take a lifetime to connect the dots among the collection of facts that stick in the mind.

Since moving to the Eastern part of the USA, I occasionally drive from Washington DC area westward through Maryland. On one occasion, I stopped at Antietam, a Civil War battlefield of large significance. Antietam is a creek and apparently the name given to the battlefield adjacent the creek that was planted in corn at the time. There is a stone bridge over the creek that is called Braddock Bridge as it was constructed under the General’s supervision in British America as he was a general. That bridge is still sturdy to this day.

He was born in 1695 and I want to talk about his death on July 13th 1755 in a moment. As I drive further west I see a sign for Braddock Hills. Apparently he built a fort up there.

With a little research I learned that he was Scottish by birth. He earned advancement in the military based on his service to the crown in the “Netherlands campaign,” and became a major general by 1754.

In 1755, he arrived in Virginia to rid America of the French. Following a meeting with the Congress of Alexandria various Generals were given assignments to manage attacks and defense operations at Forts in the north and west of the British Territory. I am skipping details about the others as I want to get to focus on Braddock.

Braddock would lead an expedition against Fort Duquesne at the Forks of the Ohio river.

Apparently there were some logistics and supply squabbles in equipping the expedition. My guess is that General Braddock was accustomed to the way they did things back in England, and now he is out in the wilderness and that is a completely different situation.

He got to pick his own troops and one was young officer, George Washington. I suspect he picked Washington because he knew the wilderness and had surveying skills.

Braddock’s column crossed the Monongahelia River on 9 July 1755, and immediately engaged an Indian and French force. His troops were completely surprised and routed, and “Braddock, rallying his men time after time, fell at last, mortally wounded by a shot through the chest.”

Punchline

Allegedly, George Washington took General Braddock from the battlefield. Now, is where the story gets interesting because Braddock, on the verge of dying, gave to Washington his ceremonial battle sash. Thereafter, Washington never went anywhere without his sash.

Washington buried Braddock in the middle of the road because he didn’t want the French and Indians to find and desecrate it. Those guys were brutal back in those days.

In 1804, a year after Ohio became a state and in the State of Pennsylvania, workmen repairing the roadway discovered the remains of General Braddock, removed and reburied them west of Great Meadows, Pennsylvania. A memorial was erected in 1913 by the Coldstream Guards, Braddock’s unit, and the gravesite is considered to be British Territory!