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flank either side of his advancing army, and thus beat up any ambuscade which might have been formed. The Virginians and Indians were faithful and suitable for such work; but the foolish general kept them in the rear.

It was now two o'clock. The advance party and the pioneers had crossed the plain and were ascending the rising ground. Braddock had drawn up the main body and given the word to march, when, some distance in the advance, the air was suddenly rent by the crack of rifles.

"It's an ambuscade, general!" cried Washington. Braddock deigned no answer, but, turning to Lieutenant-Colonel Burton, ordered him to hasten forward with a vanguard of the main army, eight hundred strong. The remainder, four hundred, were halted and posted to protect the artillery and baggage. The firing continued with fearful yelling, and the uproar was deafening.

Major Bridges! Major Bridges!" called General Braddock, greatly excited; "gallop forward and ascertain the nature of the attack."

"Egad! Zounds! General

"Forward!"

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Bridges' florid face was now of a deathly white. He clapped spurs to his horse and dashed forward like the wind. He dared not refuse the command. Without awaiting the return of the aid, and finding

the turmoil increasing, Braddock marched forward, leaving Sir Peter Haklet in command of the baggage. "Will you go, Colonel Washington?" asked the general.

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Anywhere, general. You had better order up the provincials," answered Washington.

The advance of the army had indeed been drawn into an ambuscade. From behind trees, stones, from the grass and the ground there came the constant puffs of smoke, and the sharp crack of rifles filled the air.

Gage, who was in advance, ordered his men to fix bayonets and to form in order of battle. They did so in hurry and trepidation. When he or dered the men to scale the hills and bluffs on the right, from whence came the hottest fire, not a platoon would quit the line of march. Dismayed by the horrid yells of the Indians, which were new to them, the boasted regulars huddled together like so many sheep and were shot down by the savages and concealed French. The Indians concealed themselves along the hills and in the ravines; but their whereabouts was only known by their demoniac yells and the puffs of smoke from their rifles. The soldiers fired at will wherever they saw smoke. "Don't shoot till you see an enemy!" roared Gage; but his commands went unheeded.

At this moment, Major Bridges dashed on the

scene amid whizzing balls and fire and death. Men were falling on every side, and before he could say a word a rifle carried off his hat.

"Zounds! egad! what the d-1 does this mean?" he roared. "Where are the foe?"

"In the woods!" Gage answered. "Drive them out. "9

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That is what I am trying to do," Gage responded.

Having ascertained the nature of the attack, Bridges was about to return, when a bullet killed his horse.

Colonel Burton came up with the reserves and was forming his men before the rising ground, when the two advanced detachments gave way and fell pell mell on the troops, who were forming, throwing all into utmost confusion.

"All is not going well, Colonel Washington!" cried General Braddock, as they galloped up toward the scene.

"General, your whole army is thrown into confusion," Washington answered.

"Zounds! it is so, and British regulars, too!"

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General, they are not used to this kind of fighting. Let me hasten the provincials forward. "Do whatever you will!" Braddock answered, and, with drawn sword and a horrible oath, he dashed forward into the midst of the melee.

"Virginians, now is your time! Show them the sort of mettle you are made of!" cried Washington to the provincials.

They recognized him, and, with yells of joy, dashed forward into the heat of the contest. Taking refuge behind trees, stones and whatever would screen them, they picked off the Indians one by one, and checked the onslaught. The terrible conflict raged on every side. The British regulars were horrified and panic stricken with fighting a foe whom they could not see. The officers behaved with consummate bravery, and Washington beheld with admiration those who, in camp or on the march, had appeared to him to have an almost feminine regard for personal ease and convenience, now exposing themselves to immediate death with a courage that kindled with the thickening horrors. Their field-pieces had been captured early in the engagement, and General Gage, aided by Major Bridges, formed two or three hundred regulars and charged the enemy to recover the guns. Wild yells and flashing rifles met them on every hand. With fixed bayonets, the maddened soldiers dashed right into the bushes on the muzzles of the pieces of the concealed foe. Many were slain with Indian hatchets, and some ran the Indians through with their bayonets.

"Egad! zounds! drive them from the woods!

sweep them from the face of the earth!" roared Bridges, as, with drawn sword, he leaped his horse in a thicket.

A score of rifles were discharged at once, some so near to his face, that the powder burned his cheeks. With a snort of agony, his horse reared and leaped backward. The volleys of fire and death mowed down the soldiers, they gave way. When regulars become panic stricken, they are harder to manage than volunteers, for they are never taught self-reliance.

Major Bridges, with a slight wound on his face, his hat shot off his head and his horse wounded in the neck, fell back with the others. Gage was trying to rally his men, ordering them to form again.

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What are you going to do?" Bridges asked, almost beside himself with vexation.

"Turn their left flank!" answered Gage.

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Turn the devil!" roared Bridges. "You might as well attempt to turn the mountains."

Gage soon learned this, and his troops again gave way and fell back to the main army, where, huddled together, they were shot down like quails. The officers, almost without exception, behaved with becoming gallantry. In the vain hope of inspiriting the men to drive off the enemy from the flanks and regain the cannon, they would dash

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