The Braddock Road was a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

road built in 1755 in what was then

British America British America collectively refers to various British colonization of the Americas, colonies of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and its predecessors states in the Americas prior to the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1 ...

and is now the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It was the first improved road to cross the barrier of the successive ridgelines of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

. It was constructed by troops of

Virginia militia The Virginia militia is an armed force composed of all citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia capable of bearing arms. The Virginia militia was established in 1607 as part of the English militia system. Militia service in Virginia was compulso ...

and British regulars commanded by General Edward Braddock of the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

, part of an expedition to conquer the

Ohio Country The Ohio Country (Ohio Territory, Ohio Valley) was a name used for a loosely defined region of colonial North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and south of Lake Erie. Control of the territory and the region's fur trade was disputed i ...

from the French at the beginning of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, the North American portion of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

was an aide-de-camp to General Braddock (one of his favorites) who accompanied the expedition. The expedition gave him his first field military experience along with other American military officers. A number of these men would profit from this experience during the Revolutionary War.

Construction

In 1755, Braddock was sent to remove the French from

Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne ( , ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed ...

(Pittsburgh). Starting from Fort Cumberland, General Braddock ordered 600 men, commanded by Major Chapman and John St. Clair to cut a military road over Haystack Mountain. The road followed an Indian path known as

Nemacolin's path image:Cumberland md braddock road.jpg, 450px, Braddock's Road, General Braddock's March (points 1–10) follows or parallels (and improves upon) Chief Nemacolin's Trail from the Potomac River to the Monogahela. The route from the summit to Redst ...

which had been improved by George Washington and Christopher Gist for the Ohio Company. Chapman’s task was to build the road to Little Meadows, about 20 miles away. After a day of road-building, Maj. Chapman's men had only built two miles of road and had destroyed three wagons trying to get over the treacherous terrain encountered on the mountain. Braddock was about to dispatch 300 more men to the road crew when he was informed, by Lt. Spendlow of the Navy detachment, of an easier route through the Narrows. Braddock took approximately 1400 men, with accompanying wagons, along Spendlow's route and joined Chapman's road at Spendlow's Camp, in today's LaVale, Maryland. upright=1.6, Lacock's map of the road Braddock met defeat east of

and was fatally wounded. He was buried in the middle of the road he built, and his soldiers marched over the grave, with the hope of concealing the grave's location from the Indians. The grave was found years later by road workers and the grave was moved. The site is now marked by a marble monument erected in 1913. The

Forbes Expedition The Forbes Expedition was a British military campaign to capture Fort Duquesne, led by Brigadier-General John Forbes in 1758, during the French and Indian War. While advancing to the fort, the expedition built the Forbes Road. The Treaty of Eas ...

, a more successful British expedition mounted against Fort Duquesne in 1758, used a different route through the mountains west of

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census ...

along what became known as

Forbes' Road The Forbes Road, a historic military roadway in what was then British America, was initially completed in 1758 from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to the French Fort Duquesne at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in what is now dow ...

. The

Cumberland Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

, which subsequently became part of the

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

and later

U.S. Route 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America (a nickname shared with U.S. Route 66), is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid- ...

, roughly parallel Braddock's Road between

Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a city in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,075. Located on the Potomac River, Cumberland is a regional business and comm ...

, and Chestnut Ridge near Uniontown. In August 1908 and again during June and July 1909, John Kennedy Lacock, a Harvard professor originally from Amity, in

Washington County, Pennsylvania Washington County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 209,349. Its county seat is Washington, Pe ...

, was able to identify the path of Braddock's march. He hired Ernest K. Weller to photograph the road. Lacock's commissioned photographs survive in the form of postcards, which he published in 1910, and his written account was published in the ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'' in 1914. The road Lacock discovered was a road made by over 30 years of colonial settlers following Braddock's trail.

References

Footnotes

Sources

* John Kennedy Lacock,
Braddock's Road
" ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'', XXXVIII, 1 (1914), pp. 1–38. * Will H. Lowdermilk, ''History of Cumberland'', Clearfield Co., October 1997, Paperback,
Full Text Online
*Steve Colby, ''General Braddock's Road Over Haystack Mountain, West of Fort Cumberland'', (https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10151673387202667&id=226549977666) * Cassandra Vivian, ''The National Road in Pennsylvania'', Arcadia Publishing, 2004, * Norman L. Baker, ''Braddock's Road: Mapping the British Expedition from Alexandria to the Monongahela'', The History Press, 2013, .

External links

John Kennedy Lacock Postcards and Photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braddock Road (Braddock Expedition) Historic trails and roads in Maryland Historic trails and roads in Pennsylvania Historic trails and roads in the United States History of Cumberland, MD-WV MSA Pre-statehood history of Maryland Pre-statehood history of Pennsylvania Roads in Pennsylvania Streets in Pittsburgh U.S. Route 40

Construction

See also

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links