“When the grumbling crews assembled around his perch he told them, ‘Hear me! You may dump your loads in the five places I point out to you. But if any of you move a wagon down the trail toward Fort Cumberland before ordered to do so, I will shoot you dead for desertion and give your draft horses to your widows and orphans. Are there any questions?’ There were none.

“Throughout the remainder of the day and night, as Braddock struggled in and out of consciousness, the bloody remnants of his expedition, no longer pursued by the enemy, straggled into the encampment. At dawn on the 13th, Lieutenant Colonel Washington and your father arrived with the rear guard. A quick council was held beneath the tent sheltering General Braddock and this time he took Washington’s advice: retreat to Fort Cumberland.

“Under Morgan’s supervision more than seventy of the sturdiest wagons were cleared of their cargo and loaded with blankets and six to eight sick and wounded apiece. The bodies of eighteen dead officers carried back to the encampment by their men were wrapped in canvas and piled in two wagons. To avoid the dust, General Braddock, struggling to breathe, was gently placed into the lead wagon, directly in front of Morgan’s at the front the column.

“Colonel Dunbar was ordered to remain behind with 600 Regulars and a company of militia to cover their retreat, destroy the artillery, and burn the five mountains of cargo pulled from the wagons. Each pile had gunpowder to insure ignition of the baggage, barrels of flour, salted pork, and beef. Left for the pyre were scores of common soldiers and camp followers who perished in or near the camp. Colonel Dunbar had the decency to wait until the last of the defeated troops and wagons were out of sight before setting it all afire.

“If memory serves me right, your wounded father was riding in Morgan’s wagon. The slow-moving cavalcade was but a few miles down the trail toward Fort Necessity when Morgan and your father saw Braddock gesture to Colonel Washington whose horse was aside the general’s wagon. The entire procession stopped as Washington climbed into the transport and knelt beside his dying commander. Though Daniel told me he couldn’t hear what was said, he watched as Braddock handed Washington his red sash—the symbol of command—and then expired.

“Colonel Washington asked Daniel to gather some men and dig a grave in the middle of the roadway so pursuing savages would be unlikely to find and desecrate the general’s body. The surviving members of the staff, including Thomas Gage, Charles Lee, and Horatio Gates were quickly gathered.