EDWARD

See also:

• BRADDOCK
• EDWARD BRADDOCK (1695?—1755),

BRADDOCK (1695?—1755),  ,British general, was born in Perthshire, Scotland, about 1695 . He was the son of Major-General Edward Braddock (d . 1725), and joined the Coldstrearn Guards in 1710 . In 1747 as a lieutenant-colonel he served under the prince of Orange in Holland during the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom . In 1753 he was given the colonelcy of the 14th foot, and in 1754 he became a major-general . Being appointed shortly afterwards to command against the French in America, he landed in Virginia in February 1755 . After some months of preparation, in which he was hampered by administrative confusion and want of resources, he took the field with a picked column, in which George Washington served as a volunteer officer, intended to attack Fort Duquesne (Pittsburg, Pa.) . The column crossed the Monongahela river on the 9th of July and almost immediately afterwards fell into an ambuscade of French and Indians . The troops were completely surprised and routed, and Braddock, rallying his men time after time, fell at last mortally wounded . He was carried off the field with difficulty, and died on the 13th . He was buried at Great Meadows, where the remnant of the column halted on its retreat to reorganize .