Edward Braddock

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General Edward Braddock

Edward Braddock (* around 1695 in Perthshire , Scotland , † July 13, 1755 at the Monongahela River ) was a British soldier and Commander-in-Chief for North America during operations at the beginning of the French and Indian Wars . He died in 1755 as a commander in the Battle of Monongahela , one of the most devastating defeats in British military history.

Life

Career until 1754

His father Edward Braddock (* 1664, † 1725) was an officer, later major general, of the Coldstream Guards . It was in this regiment that Braddock junior began his military career in 1710. It rose in the ranking only very slowly, also because after the end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 , Great Britain did not allow itself to be involved in any major armed conflicts, reduced its standing army and thus scarcely any promotion opportunities arose. 1716 he was Lt., 1734 Kapitänleutnant, 1736 Hauptmann ( captain ) and 1745 during the second Jakobitenaufstandes finally Major ( major ) and finally Colonel ( lieutenant-Colonel ). During these years he was mostly familiar with administrative tasks.

During this time he became known less for his military achievements than for his involvement in various scandals of the illustrious society of the spa town of Bath , which at that time was the preferred meeting place for the English upper class. Braddock's family - father, mother and his two sisters Henrietta and Frances, called "Fanny" - had settled here around 1715. Within a few years until 1725 everyone died except Fanny, who, however, lost her inherited fortune within a very short time playing cards and through sheer naivety in dealing with money. In addition, she fell into disrepute due to an affair with a no longer known by name, but at the time probably notorious heartbreaker, and was soon considered a fallen girl . In 1726 she hanged herself in her home. Her suicide made headlines across the country and was subsequently edited several times. Among other things, the episode is described in Oliver Goldsmith's The Life of Richard Nash (1762); also to Henry Fielding's drama The Covent Garden Tragedy allude, at least, Braddock said to have themselves recognized in the figure of Bilkum, though portrayed conceivable unfavorable. Braddock himself had a reputation for being a serious man, and in Bath he often surrounded himself with figures of dubious repute. He also attracted attention through duels and fights, some of the gossip about Braddock can be read in Horace Walpole's letters . Braddock also had a close friendship with Baron Tyrawley, known for his large number of illegitimate children . His daughter George Anne Bellamy , who would later become famous as an actress, grew up under his care; in her memoir ( An Apology for the Life of George Anne Bellamy , 1785) she draws a touching portrait of him.

In the course of the Austrian War of Succession , Braddock was appointed commander of the British troops in Ostend , which was threatened by French troops, in 1745 , but ultimately there was no fighting here. In November and December of that year he marched with his regiment under the leadership of the Duke of Cumberland against the troops of Charles Edward Stuart advancing from Scotland , which however successfully evaded this counter-attack. After the end of the Jacobite revolt, Braddock was again ordered to the Netherlands, where he did not take part in any fighting until the peace treaty in 1748. In 1753 he sold his officer post with the Coldstream Guards and moved as a colonel to the 14th foot regiment, which was stationed in Gibraltar at that time , where he was not only the highest-ranking military in 1753/54, but also with the civil administration of this British in the absence of the governor Outpost was entrusted.

Commander in Chief in North America

A year later, in 1754, he was promoted to major general. A short time later, he was given command of the troops deployed against the French in North America. On February 19, 1755 he landed with two regiments of professional soldiers (Regulars) in Virginia . He met with several colonial governors in Alexandria on April 14th. In particular, the Deputy Governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie , convinced him to take vigorous action against the French. So he started four independent initiatives; Governor Shirley of Massachusetts should the Fort Niagara attack, General Johnson at Crown Point and Colonel Monckton in Fort Beauséjour in the Bay of Fundy. Braddock himself would lead an expedition against Fort Duquesne near the Forks of the Ohio.

After a few months of preparation, hampered by administrative chaos and lack of supplies, he went into the field with a select group. In this, among other things, George Washington served as a volunteer officer. The march column crossed the Monongahela River on July 9, 1755 and immediately met an Indian and French force. Braddock's soldiers were completely taken by surprise and worn out. Braddock finally fell fatally wounded after trying time and time again to rally his soldiers. Braddock was evacuated from the battlefield with great difficulty and died on July 13, 1755.

Braddock's grave

He was buried just west of Great Meadows, where his surviving troops stopped to rearrange themselves. Braddock was buried in the middle of the street, and wagons kept rolling over the place. The aim was to make the grave unrecognizable to the persecutors to prevent it from being discovered and the corpse being desecrated. George Washington presided over the funeral as the chaplain was badly wounded. In 1804, construction workers found human remains in the road about 1.5 miles west of Great Meadows. They were exhumed and then reburied. A marble monument was erected over the new grave in 1913.

In Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, he mentions an incident according to which he helped General Braddock gather supplies and equip the troops with carriages. He also reported on a conversation with Braddock, during which he explicitly warned him not to let his troops march through a narrow valley. He saw in this the danger of an attack.

literature

Monographs
Essays
  • John Kennedy Lacock: Braddock Road . In: Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 38, 1914, pp. 1-37.
  • Stanley Pargellis : Braddock's Defeat . In: The American Historical Review 41: 2, 1936. pp. 253-269.
Encyclopedia Articles

Web links

Commons : Edward Braddock  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ McCardell: Ill-Starred General , p. 44.
  2. ^ McCardell: Ill-Starred General , p. 69.
  3. ^ McCardell: Ill-Starred General , p. 86.
  4. ^ McCardell: Ill-Starred General , pp. 54 ff .; John Eglin: The Imaginary Autocrat: Beau Nash and the Invention of Bath . Profile Books, London 2005, pp. 132-134.
  5. ↑ Peter Cunningham: (Ed.): The Letters of Horace Walpole (9 volumes). Henry G. Bohn, London 1861. Volume II, pp. 458ff.
  6. ↑ McCardell: Ill-Starred General , pp. 87 ff.
  7. ^ McCardell: Ill-Starred General , pp. 93 ff.
  8. ↑ McCardell: Ill-Starred General , pp. 101 ff.
  9. ↑ McCardell: Ill-Starred General , pp. 116 ff.
  10. ^ A b The Battle of the Monongahela . 1755. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  11. ↑ See: Alan Houston: Benjamin Franklin and the "Wagon Affair" of 1755 . In: The William and Mary Quarterly , Third Series, 66: 2, April 2009, pp. 235-286.
personal data
SURNAME Braddock, Edward
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Commander in chief of British forces in North America at the start of the French and Indian War
DATE OF BIRTH around 1695
PLACE OF BIRTH Perthshire , Scotland
DATE OF DEATH July 13, 1755
Place of death at Great Meadows, USA