Bouquet, with a party of soldiers, was among
the defiles of the Alleghanies. The fort could wait; the
Indians would endeavour to annihilate Bouquet's force as
they had annihilated Braddock's army in the same region
eight years before; and if successful, they could then
at their leisure return to Fort Pitt and starve it out
or take it by assault.
In June, when Amherst had finally come to the conclusion
that he had a real war on his hands--and had, as we have
seen, dispatched Dalyell to Detroit--he had, at the same
time, sent orders to Colonel Bouquet to get ready a force
for the relief of Fort Pitt. Bouquet, like Ecuyer, was
a Swiss soldier, and the best man in America for this
particular task. After seven years' experience in border
warfare he was as skilled in woodcraft as the Indians
themselves. He had now to lead a force over the road,
two hundred odd miles long, which connected Fort Pitt
with Carlisle, his point of departure in Pennsylvania;
but every foot of the road was known to him. In 1758,
when serving under General Forbes, he had directed the
construction of this road, and knew the strength of every
fort and block-house on the way; even the rivers and
creeks and morasses and defiles were familiar to him.
Best of all, he had a courage and a military knowledge
that inspired confidence in his men and officers.
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