frequent scouting in them, my men are at least as well acquainted with all the passes and difficulties, as any troops that will be employed." The request was now complied with. He received General Forbes's orders to march with his regiment; and at Loyal Hanna he was placed at the head of a division, or brigade, amounting to one thousand men, who were to move in front of the main army, and to act as pioneers in clearing the road, keeping out scouts and patrolling guards to prevent a surprise, and throwing up entrenchments at proper stations as a security to the deposits of provisions. While in this command, he had the temporary rank of brigadier.

The month of November had set in, before General Forbes, with the artillery and main body of the army, arrived at Loyal Hanna. The road was extremely bad, and difficulties without number interposed at every step to cause delays, discouragement, and suffering. The season of frost had come, and the summits of the hills were whitened with snow. It was no wonder that the spirits of the soldiers should flag, scantily clothed and fed, as they were, and encountering hardships from want, exposure, and incessant labor. More than fifty miles, through pathless and rugged wilds, still intervened between the army and Fort Duquesne. council of war was held, and it was decided to be unadvisable, if not impracticable, to prosecute the campaign any further till the next season, and that a winter encampment among the mountains, or a retreat to the frontier settlements, was the only alternative that remained. Thus far all the anticipations of Washington had been realized.

A

A mere accident, however, which happened just at this crisis, turned the scale of fortune, and brought hope out of despair. Three prisoners were taken, who

gave such a report of the weak state of the garrison at Fort Duquesne, that the council reversed their decision, and resolved to hazard an effort, which held out a possibility of success, and in any event could be scarcely more ruinous than the alternative first proposed. Henceforward the march was pursued without tents or heavy baggage, and with only a light train of artillery. The troops, animated by the example of the officers, performed their tasks with renovated ardor and alacrity. Washington resumed his command in front, attending personally to the cutting of the road, establishing deposits of provisions, and preparing the way for the main army.

No material event occurred till the 25th of November, when General Forbes took possession of Fort Duquesne, or rather the place where it had stood. The enemy, reduced in number to about five hundred men, and deserted by the Indians, had abandoned the fort the day before, set fire to it, and gone down the Ohio in boats. Thus ended an expedition, in which more than six thousand men had been employed for five months. Rejoiced that their toils were over, the troops forgot their sufferings; and the people of the middle provinces, who had murmured loudly at the dilatory manner in which the campaign had been carried on, were contented with the issue in this consummation of their wishes. The continued illness of General Forbes had perhaps operated unfavorably. He was esteemed a worthy and brave man, possessing eminent military talents. Worn down with infirmities, which had been increased by the fatigues of the campaign, he died a few weeks afterwards at Philadelphia.

The lateness of the season rendered it impossible, that the French should attempt to recover the ground they had lost before the next year. It was necessary,

however, that a small garrison should be left there, as well to retain possession of the post, as to keep the Indians in check and win their alliance. Two hundred of the Virginia troops were detached for this service, by the express order of the general, but against the remonstrances of their commander, who thought they had performed their full share of duty. General Forbes said he had no authority to leave any of the King's forces for that purpose, and the place was then understood to be within the jurisdiction of Virginia. This latter circumstance was probably the reason, why the task of defence was not assigned to the Pennsylvanians. The French name of the fort was changed to Fort Pitt, in honor of the minister by whose counsels the expedition for capturing it had been undertaken.

On his return, Colonel Washington stopped a short time at Loyal Hanna, where he wrote a circular letter to the frontier inhabitants, requesting them to take out provisions to the men at the fort, who would be in great distress if not immediately supplied, and promising a liberal compensation for every thing that should thus be furnished. He then proceeded by way of Mount Vernon to Williamsburg. The remainder of his troops marched to Winchester, where they went into

winter-quarters.

For some months it had been his determination, if this campaign should prove successful, to retire from his command at its close. By gaining possession of the Ohio, the great object of the war in the middle colonies was accomplished; and, as he had abandoned the idea of making any further attempts to be united to the British establishment, there was no prospect of rising higher in the military line; so that neither his duty as a citizen, nor his ambition as a soldier, operated any longer to retain him in the service. The

one had been faithfully discharged; the other had yielded to the force of circumstances, and to the visions of the tranquil enjoyments of private life, which now opened upon his mind. After settling all his public accounts, therefore, he resigned his commission the last week in December, having been actively and almost uninterruptedly engaged in the service of his country more than five years.

On this occasion he received from the officers, who had served under him, a testimony of their attachment, which must have been as grateful to his feelings, as it was honorable to his character. They sent him an address, written in camp, expressive of the satisfaction. they had derived from his conduct as commander, the sincerity of his friendship, and his affable demeanor ; and of the high opinion they entertained of his military talents, patriotism, and private virtues.

"Nor was this opinion confined to the officers of his regiment. It was common in Virginia; and had been adopted by the British officers with whom he served. The duties he performed, though not splendid, were arduous; and were executed with zeal and with judgment. The exact discipline he established in his regiment, when the temper of Virginia was extremely hostile to discipline, does credit to his military character; and the gallantry the troops displayed, whenever called into action, manifests the spirit infused into them by their commander. The difficulties of his situation, while unable to cover the frontier from the French and Indians, who were spreading death and desolation in every quarter, were incalculably great; and no better evidence of his exertions, under these distressing circumstances, can be given, than the undiminished confidence still placed in him by those, whom he was unable to protect. The efforts to which he

incessantly stimulated his country for the purpose of obtaining possession of the Ohio; the system for the conduct of the war, which he continually recommended; the vigorous and active measures always urged upon those by whom he was commanded; manifest an ardent and enterprising mind, tempered by judgment, and quickly improved by experience." *

The events of this war had a more important influence on the life and character of Washington, than might at first be supposed. They proved to him and to the world his mental resources, courage, fortitude, and power over the will and actions of others. They were in fact a school of practical knowledge and discipline, qualifying him for the great work in which he was to be engaged at a future day. The duties of his station at the head of the Virginia troops, and the difficulties he had to contend with during an active warfare of five years, bore a strong resemblance to those, that devolved on him as commander-in-chief of the American armies in the revolution. They differed in magnitude, and in the ends to be attained; but it will be seen, as we proceed, that they were analogous in many striking particulars, and that the former were an essential preparation for the latter.

* Marshall's Life of Washington, 2d. ed., Vol. I. p. 27.