Braddock's Defeat
In April 1755 Major General Edward Braddock was sent to Virginia. He brought soldiers with him to help fight against the French. His strategy to defeat the French was by capturing four Forts. The four forts were Fort Beauséjour, Crown Point, Fort Niagara, and Fort Duquesne. The first fort he chose to attack was Fort Duquense, and he took George Washington as his second hand man.
To get to Fort Duquesne Braddock had three hundred axemen cut a road through the forest that was twelve feet wide. The army progressed at a slow rate because all of the artillery and wagons kept breaking. After thirty days of marching they were eight miles away from Fort Duquesne.
In the morning of July 9, Braddock's army crossed the Monongahela River in columns. The French Indian scouts saw the British were coming and informed the French. The French commander, Captain Daniel Beaujeu, realized that there was no way he was going to win this battle unless he ambushed the army. Beaujeu led his force of eight hundred Canadians and Indians into battle, getting shot as soon as the British were in sight. When Beaujeu died the Natives took control of the situation and used guerrilla warfare tactics against the British. These tactics destroyed Braddock's army, and Braddock himself took a shoot to the lung and died four days later. What was left of his army retreated back across the river to where it was safe. Washington took the remaining soldiers back to Virginia. Of the 1,459 British soldiers, the battle killed and wounded 977 soldiers leaving only 482 men alive. This was one of France's greatest victories in the French and Indian War
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