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Facts and Events
Col. James Smith's Comment
- A couple of times, James Smith and John Ormsby (Pittsburgh) respectfully enshrine a Virginian, Lemuel Barrett who was in charge of a small group of Pennsylvania Rangers that left Carlisle in 1763. It was Lemuel Barrett's scheme that had made Captain Henry Bouquet's reputation a success at the Battle of Bushy Run. Captain Henry Bouquet arrived at Fort Bedford on July 25. Before continuing west, he raised a company of 14 rangers, commanded by Captain Lemuel Barrett, to act as scouts, complaining "the Highlanders lose themselves in the Woods as soon as they got out of the Road." The Higlander's Smith refered to here are the 42nd Regiment of Foot and the 77th Regiment of Foot (Montgomerie's Highlanders), which were a British relief column of 500 soldiers, left Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to relieve Fort Pitt, then under siege by indians led by Guyasuta.
- [1] Barrett's insight that the way to get Indians to commit themselves on the battlefield is to appear to be disintegrating, is incorporated in James' schema in an incidental way. That is, James Smith says that even if there is a collapse of part of the square in which the soldiers are fighting and the Indians rush in, they will be rushing deeper into a trap.
- Source - [1] J. Smith, Treatise, 6-7, 21. While not perfectly clear, it seems likely that Ensign Smith was talking of Captain Henry Bouquet's command at Bushy Run when he wrote: "they knew no more about fighting Indians, than Indians do about ship building." Treatise, 52.
- 05,06 Aug 1763 - Battle of Bushy Run - Western Pennsylvania - War Bounty Land Grant - "three thousand acres of land due unto the said Saml. Sample for Military service performed by him as a Captain in the late war between Great Britain and France according to the terms of the King of Great Britain proclaimed of 1763." This land was later sold by said Samuel Sample to Robert Hunter.
- It was later proved in 1780 Yohogania County Court Records to the satisfaction of the court that Samuel Semple served as a Captain in a Corps of Rangers in Pennsylvania.
- the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia
Henry Bouquet (born Henri Louis Bouquet; 1719 – 2 September 1765) was a Swiss mercenary who rose to prominence in British service during the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War. He is best known for his victory over a Native American force at the Battle of Bushy Run, lifting the siege of Fort Pitt during Pontiac's War. During the conflict Bouquet gained lasting infamy in an exchange of letters with his commanding officer, Jeffery Amherst, who suggested a form of biological warfare in the use of blankets infected with smallpox which were to be distributed to Native Americans. Despite this indictment historians have praised Bouquet for leading British forces in several demanding campaigns on the Western Frontier in which they "protected and rescued" settlers from increasingly frequent attacks.
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