A Short History of Pittsburgh | Page 5

Indian loss was not over sixty. A few prisoners captured by the
Indians were brought to Pittsburgh and burnt at the stake. Four days
after the fight Braddock died, exclaiming to the last, "Who would have
thought it!"
VI
Despondency seized the English settlers after Braddock's defeat. But
two years afterward William Pitt became prime minister, and he
thrilled the nation with his appeal to protect the Colonies against
France and the savages.
[Illustration: William Pitt, Earl of Chatham]
William Pitt, the great Earl of Chatham, the man for whom our city is
named, was one of the most indomitable characters in the
statesmanship of modern times. Born in November, 1708, he was

educated at Eton and at Oxford, then traveled in France and Italy, and
was elected to Parliament when twenty-seven years old. His early
addresses were not models either of force or logic, but the fluent speech
and many personal attractions of the young orator instantly caught the
attention of the people, who always listened to him with favor; and it
was not long before his constant participation in public affairs
developed the splendid talents which he possessed. Wayward and
affected in little things, Pitt attacked the great problems of government
with the bold confidence of a master spirit, impressing the clear genius
of his leadership upon the yearning heart of England in every
emergency of peace or war. Too great to be consistent, he never
hesitated to change his tactics or his opinion when the occasion
developed the utility of another course. Ordinary men have been more
faithful to asserted principles, but no statesman more frequently
departed from asserted principles to secure achievements which
redounded to the honor of the nation. During the thirty years in which
Pitt exercised the magic spell of his eloquence and power over the
English Parliament, the stakes for which he contended against the
world were no less than the dominion of North America and of India.
In the pursuit of these policies he fought Spain and subdued her armies.
He subsidized the king of Prussia to his interests. He destroyed the
navy of France and wrested from her the larger part of her possessions
beyond sea. Having always a clear conception of the remotest aim of
national aspiration, he was content to leave the designing of operations
in detail to the humbler servants of the government, reserving to
himself the mighty concentration of his powers upon the general
purpose for which the nation was striving. The king trusted him, the
Commons obeyed him, the people adored him and called him the Great
Commoner. He was wise, brave, sincere, tolerant, and humane; and no
man could more deserve the honor of having named for him a city
which was destined to become rich and famous, keeping his memory in
more enduring fame than bronze or marble.
VII
Pitt's letters inspired the Americans with new hope, and he promised to
send them British troops and to supply their own militia with arms,

ammunition, tents, and provisions at the king's charge. He sent twelve
thousand soldiers from England, which were joined to a Colonial force
aggregating fifty thousand men, the most formidable army yet seen in
the new world. The plan of campaign embraced three expeditions: the
first against Louisburg, in the island of Cape Breton, which was
successful; the second against Ticonderoga, which succeeded after a
defeat; and the third against Fort Duquesne. General Forbes, born at
Dunfermline (whence have come others to Pittsburgh), commanded
this expedition, comprising about seven thousand men. The militia
from Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland was led by Washington,
whose independent spirit led the testy Scotchman, made irritable by a
malady which was soon to cause his death, to declare that Washington's
"behavior about the roads was no ways like a soldier." But we cannot
believe that the young Virginian was moved by any motive but the
public good. On September 12, 1758, Major Grant, a Highlander, led
an advance guard of eight hundred and fifty men to a point one mile
from the fort, which is still called Grant's Hill, on which the
court-house now stands, where he rashly permitted himself to be
surrounded and attacked by the French and Indians, half his force being
killed or wounded, and himself slain. Washington followed soon after,
and opened a road for the advance of the main body under Forbes. Fort
Frontenac, on Lake Ontario, had just been taken by General Amherst,
with the result that supplies for Fort Duquesne were cut off. When,
therefore, Captain Ligneris, the French commandant, learned of the
advance of a superior force, having no hope of reinforcements, he blew
up the fort, set fire to the adjacent buildings, and drew his garrison
away.
On Saturday, November 25, 1758, amidst a fierce snowstorm, the
English took