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but lost, in killed or wounded, many of their gallant comrades. This determined opposition so discomfited the French leader, that a parley was offered on his part and accepted, and an honourable capitulation was the consequence. The diminutive garrison marched out, with the honours of war, and their commander at their head, with baggage and military stores the provincial soldiers were plundered and massacreed, during their retreat, by the savages; after this discomfiture, the skeleton of the Virginian regiment returned to Alexandria, to re-fill their ranks and repose after their disasters.

WHEN the British ambassador remonstrated at the court of Versailles, on the infraction of the articles of capitulation, it was perceived that the French officers in America had acted agreeable to their instructions; the real views of the christian king, in respect to the colonies in America, then under British subjugation, were now developed ;. and after this disclosure, the French became more active in their hostile preparations, which were pursued without remission through the winter of 1754, and the spring: of 1755.

THE government of Virginia did not remain regardless of the machinations and aggressions of the French. They erected forts Cumberland and Loudon, and ordered a camp at Wills Creek, from which situation they could harrass their enemies on the Ohio. In the furtherance of these designs, Colonel WASHINGTON was highly useful, and his services were acknowledged in terms of respect and approval.

IT was at this period when the ill-fated General Braddock arrived in America from Britain he landed at Alexandria, with two old regiments from Ireland, and to these were to be united the different corps in America, including the independent and provincial bodies; at the head of this combined force he was to crush the bold and cruel invaders of our frontiers. On this occasion the the evils of etiquette were permitted to annull the recommendations of virtue; a royal definition of rank had prevailed, which ridiculously signified, that no officer who had not derived his commission immediately from his majesty, could command one who had been blessed with that honour. When this distinction was understood, Colonel WASH

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INGTON resigned his commission, but he did not suffer his disgust, arising from the forms and fopperies of a court, to supercede the regards he bore towards his country he entered the army as a volunteer, and condescended to serve as an extra aid de camp to General Braddock. The army marched by Wills Creek for fort Du Quesne, and in this route Colonel WASHINGTON'S Counsel would have proved the salvation of the army, had it been duly taken and followed; as no person, in the colony, was so thoroughly acquainted with the advantages and disadvantages connected with the various stations in this march, as himself; but on this event, as in others, the presumption of arrogance involved the destruction of its own agency. General Braddock disdained to be instructed by a provincial officer, and he perished in his folly in the course of the march he met, unexpectedly and without adequate preparation, a large body of the foe, when a bloody conflict instantly ensued, which ended in the defeat of Braddock's army, which consisted of 2000 regulars and 800 provincials: the slaughter of the British troops was great, and their extermination would have occurred, had not the intrepid and discreet Wash

INGTON, aided by his colonial adherents, cov ered their retreat, which they effected in the utmost confusion and dismay; when Col. WASHINGTON had conducted them safely over the ford of the Monongahela, and the enemy ceasing to pursue their career, he thought it expedient to consult with Col. Dunbar, who was left in the rear with the second division of the army and the baggage: in pursuance of this idea,he was constrained to travel all night, on horseback, through a gloomy and untrodden forest, and was so exhausted on his arrival, by such a variety of fatigue, that he was supported by pillows. It may not be unnecessary to remark that he was the only officer, who was mounted during the battle, that was not killed or wounded. The European accounts of this memorable and calamitous affair, were not unmixed with abundant praises on his skill, his perseverance and gallantry.

SHORTLY after this overthrow, the ar rangement of rank, so injuriously unpleasant to the colonial officers, was altered, and the government of Virginia, bestowed on Colonel WASHINGTON,the command of all the troops raised, and to be raised,in the colony :

he maintained this commission with honour, until 1759, when the restoration of tranquil ity on the frontiers took place, and he resigned his command: he was additionally induced to this resignation, by the personal inconveniences of a pulmonary disease, the probable enfeebling effect of a life of thought, hazard, toil and inconvenience. The officers and private soldiers, which formed the Virginia line, would not permit their beloved commander to retire without following him to his retreat, with an unanimous testimonial of their veneration of his character, and their regret at his resolution: he received this token of their unaffected regard, with manly tenderness, and even increased their love towards him, by proving himself so uniformly worthy of its fulness.

He had not receded long from the bustle and horrors of a campaign, and the customs of a soldier's duty, before his health was happily increased: it was at this epoch that he married Mrs. Martha Custis, a young and beautiful widow, "with whom he had a fortune of twenty thousand pounds sterling in her own right, besides her dower in one of the principal estates in Virginia ;"

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