Monongahela, Battle of the

A confrontation between British troops and a French force together with Indians and Canadian irregulars on July 9, 1755, during the French and Indian War (1754-63). British Maj. Gen. Edward Braddock led 1, 450 men toward the Monongahela River in western Pennsylvania to repel French “encroachments.” Unprepared for an attack by 783 French, Indians, and Canadians, the British suffered 977 casualties, including Braddock, who died four days after the battle. The phrase “ Braddock's Defeat” came to be used to refer to the superiority of frontiersmen over European regulars.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Monongahela, Battle of the (9 July 1755). In the opening stages of the French and Indian War, a vanguard of British Gen. Edward Braddock's expedition encountered a band of French and Indian soldiers near Braddock, Pa., surprising both sides. The British opened fire immediately, scattering the enemy. The Indians occupied a commanding hill and worked through a gully on the other British flank. Surrounded, the vanguard retreated, abandoning its guns. Meanwhile, the main body rushed forward hastily, and the whole army became an unmanageable huddle. Most of the officers were killed or wounded, but Lt. Col. George Washington, who was one of Braddock's aides, was almost miraculously unscathed. Braddock, mortally wounded, ordered a retreat; the soldiers fled in disorder.

Bibliography

Hamilton, Charles, Ed. Braddock's Defeat. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959.

Kopperman, Paul E. Braddock at the Monongahela. Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1977.

Pargellis, Stanley McCrory. "Braddock's Defeat." American Historical Review (1936).

Parkman, Francis. Montcalm and Wolfe. New York: Collier Books, 1962.