The appalling condition in which he found the country along the border would have daunted a less bold man. Every fort from Lake Erie to the Ohio had been razed to the ground. The whole country was panic-stricken. Houses were left vacant or burned, together with crops, and the mountain roads were blocked with fugitives, half famished, who threw themselves upon the intrepid Bouquet at his camps. It was indeed a trying time, a time for such a man as Bouquet to show himself.
Never did the success of a campaign in the history of war depend more on the sagacity, bravery, and personal knowledge of a single commanding officer. This daring Swiss was everywhere and everything. He knew that the enemy, though they retired before him even as he approached Fort Ligonier, were watching every movement of the coming army. He knew they were cognizant of his weakness, the debility of his men, the lack of provision, the paucity of scouts and spies. He knew, and so did the silent, lurking spies of the enemy, that Braddock's slain outnumbered his whole force.
