Blazing Braddock's Road
“We this day passed the ‘Aligany’ Mountain (Big Savage Mountain) which is a rocky ascent of more than two miles, in many places extremely steep…”
Captain Robert Orme, June 15, 1755
British General Edward Braddock led a 2,100-man army through this wild country in 1755. The troops intended to dislodge the French from the “Forks of the Ohio” (Pittsburgh) almost 100 miles away. They were blazing a new trail, forever known as “Braddock’s Road.”
As they crossed this formidable mountain about a mile south of here, Braddock’s aide, Captain Robert Orme, recorded the difficulties. “Its descent is very rugged and almost perpendicular; in passing which we entirely
demolished three wagons and shattered several.” After Orme listed the passage of 2100 soldiers, 30 wagons, 400 horses, siege artillery and tons of supplies, General Braddock took a young George Washington’s advice. He soon created a “flying column,” shedding most of the cumbersome equipment and moving more quickly to his objective.
(Sidebar):
Retracing General Braddock’s Route
More than 150 years after Braddock’s march to a disastrous defeat, John Kennedy Lacock, a Harvard Professor, led an expedition to retrace the original route of Braddock’s Road. Here, Lacock and his colleagues rest near the summit of Big Savage Mountain. The old twelve-footwide road is clearly visible between them.
Marker is on Historic National Road (Alternate U.S. 40), on the left when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
