Note 31 — Chapter I

"After the successful expedition against Fort du Quesne in 1758, General Forbes resolved to search for the relics of Braddock's army. As the European soldiers were not so well qualified to explore the forests, Captain West, the elder brother of Benjamin West, the painter, was appointed, with his company of American Sharp-shooters, to assist in the execution of this duty; and a party of Indians were requested to conduct him to the places where the bones of the slain were likely to be found. In this solemn and affecting duty, several officers belonging to the 42d regiment accompanied the detachment, and with them Major Sir Peter Halket, who had lost his father and brother in the fatal destruction of the army. It might have been thought a hopeless task that he should be able to discriminate their remains from the common relics of the other soldiers; but he was induced to think otherwise, as one of the Indian warriors assured him that he had seen an officer fall near a remarkable tree, which he thought he could still discover; informing him, at the same time, that the incident was impressed on his memory by observing a young subaltern, who, in running to the officer's assistance, was also shot dead on his reaching the spot, and fell across the other's body. The major had a mournful conviction in his own mind that those two officers were his father and brother; and, indeed, it was chiefly owing to his anxiety on the subject that this pious expedition, the second of the kind that is on record, was undertaken. Captain West and his companions proceeded through the woods and along the banks of the river toward the scene of the battle. The Indians regarded the expedition as a religious service, and guided the troops with awe and in profound silence. The soldiers were affected with sentiments not less serious; and as they explored the bewildering labyrinths of those vast forests, their hearts were often melted with inexpressible sorrow, for they frequently found skeletons lying across the trunks of fallen trees: a mournful proof to their imaginations that the men who sat there had perished of hunger in vainly attempting to find their way to the plantations. Sometimes their feelings were raised to the utmost pitch of horror by the sight of skulls and bones scattered on the ground, a certain indication that the bodies had been devoured by wild beasts; and in other places they saw the blackness of ashes amid the relics, the tremendous evidence of atrocious rites. At length they reached a turn of the river, not far from the principal scene of destruction, and the Indian who remembered the death of the two officers stopped: the detachment immediately halted. He then looked round in quest of some object which might recall distinctly his recollection of the ground, and suddenly darted into the wood. The soldiers rested their arms without speaking; a shrill cry was soon after heard; and the other guides made signs for the troops to follow them toward the spot from which it came. In a short time they reached the Indian warrior, who, by his cry, announced to his companions that he had found the place where he was posted on the day of battle. As the troops approached, he pointed to the tree under which the officers had fallen. Captain West halted his men round the spot, and, with Sir Peter Halket and the other officers, formed a circle, while the Indians removed the leaves which thickly covered the ground (the leaves of three seasons). The skeletons were found, as the Indian expected, lying across each other. The officers having looked at them for some time, the major said that as his father had an artificial tooth, he thought he might be able to ascertain if they were indeed his bones and those of his brother. The Indians were therefore ordered to remove the skeleton of the youth, and to bring to view that of the old officer. This was done, and after a short examination, Major Halket exclaimed, "It is my father!" and fell back into the arms of his companions. The pioneers then dug a grave, and the bones being laid in it together, a Highland plaid was spread over them, and they were interred with the customary honors."—Galt's Life of West.