All the Indians began to mock and laugh at him. He
could hold it no longer, and went out."[658]
[Footnote 658: _Journal of Christian Frederic Post, October, November,
1758._]
The overtures of peace were accepted, and the Delawares, Shawanoes, and
Mingoes were no longer enemies of the English. The loss was the more
disheartening to the French, since, some weeks before, they had gained a
success which they hoped would confirm the adhesion of all their
wavering allies. Major Grant, of the Highlanders, had urged Bouquet to
send him to reconnoitre Fort Duquesne, capture prisoners, and strike a
blow that would animate the assailants and discourage the assailed.
Bouquet, forgetting his usual prudence, consented; and Grant set out
from the camp at Loyalhannon with about eight hundred men, Highlanders,
Royal Americans, and provincials. On the fourteenth of September, at two
in the morning, he reached the top of the rising ground thenceforth
called Grant's Hill, half a mile or more from the French fort. The
forest and the darkness of the night hid him completely from the enemy.
He ordered Major Lewis, of the Virginians, to take with him half the
detachment, descend to the open plain before the fort, and attack the
Indians known to be encamped there; after which he was to make a feigned
retreat to the hill, where the rest of the troops were to lie in ambush
and receive the pursuers. Lewis set out on his errand, while Grant
waited anxiously for the result.
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