fort with twelve great guns; and our Indians saluted again three times round with their small arms. By accident some of the Indians found a raft hid in the bushes, and Mr. Hays, coming last, went over first with two Indians. They sent us but a small allowance; so that it would not serve each round. I tied my belt a little closer, being very hungry, and nothing to eat.[1] It snowed, and we were obliged to sleep without any shelter. In the evening they threw light balls from the fort; at which the Indians started, thinking they would fire at them; but seeing it was not aimed at them, they rejoiced to see them fly so high.
4th.—We got up early, and cleared a place from the
snow, cut some fire wood, and hallooed till we were tired. Towards noon Mr. Hays came with a raft, and the Indian chiefs went over: he informed me of Colonel Bouquet's[2] displeasure with the Indians' answer to the
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- ↑ As it often happens to the Indians, on their long marches, in war, and sometimes in their hunting expeditions, to be without victuals for several days, occasioned by bad weather and other accidents, they have the custom in such cafes; which Post probably learned of them, viz. girding their bellies tight, when they have nothing to put in them; and they fay it prevents the pain of hunger.—[C. T.?]
- ↑ Colonel Henry Bouquet, a Swiss officer, who had served with distinction in the armies of Sardinia and Holland, was engaged to enter the regiment of Royal Americans, and came to America in 1756. The following year he was in command in South Carolina; but early in 1758 was summoned north to aid Forbes in his march through Pennsylvania. Bouquet commanded the advance, and prepared the road, ordered the stations for reserve supplies, and by careful management contributed much to the success of the campaign. Upon Forbes's retiring, Bouquet was left in command at Fort Pitt, where he remained fulfilling the arduous and exacting duties of his frontier service until late in 1762, when he was relieved by Captain Ecuyer, and returned to Philadelphia. On the news of the siege of Fort Pitt (1763), Bouquet organized a relief expedition, which inflicted a severe defeat upon the Indians at Bushy Run. The following year, the Indian country was invaded, Bouquet's expedition to the Muskingum proving a complete success. Relieved from his Western command, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general and placed in command of all
