Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/375

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BRADBURY
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brother, E. G. Bradbury, the manufacture of pia- nos, in which he was very successful. Mr. Brad- bury is best known as a composer and publisher of a series of musical collections for choirs and schools. He was the author and compiler of fifty-nine sep- arate books, besides contributing largely to the periodical musical literature, and writing letters from Europe to the New York " Evangelist." The first of his books was published in 1841, and they continued to appear during nearly thirty years. They include "The Golden Chain" (1801) ; "The Key-Note " and " Pilgrim Song " (1863) ; " Golden Trio " (1864) ; " The Shawm " (1864) ; " The Jubi- lee" (1865); and "Temple Choir" and "Fresh Laurels" (1867). This was his last new book, though " Clarina," a compilation from his works, appeared in his name in Oct., 1867. In the com- pilation of some of his books he was assisted by the composer Thomas Hastings. Among Mr. Brad- bury's compositions was a cantata entitled " Esther, or the Beautiful Queen " (New York, 1857). Over 5,000,000 copies of his works have been sold.


BRADBURY, William Frothingham, educator, b. in Westminster, Mass., 17 May, 1829. He was graduated at Amherst in 1856, and was valedictorian. He taught school every winter from 1848 till his graduation, and then became a teacher in the Cambridge, Mass., high school, of which he be- came head master in 1878. He has published a series of nine mathematical text-books, and " Cam- bridge High School History and Catalogue." He has patented devices for teaching the metric sys- tem, and assisted to organize the American metric bureau. Mr. Bradbury in 1883-'4 was a member of the Cambridge common council.


BRADDOCK, Edward, British soldier, b. in Perthshire, Scotland, about 1695 ; d. near Pitts- burg, Pa., 13 July, 1755. He had attained the grade of major-general after more than forty years' service in the British guards, when on the eve of the French war he was sent here as general- issimo of all the British forces in the colonies. He landed, 20 Feb., 1755, at Hampton, Va., and de- barked his troops at Alexandria, to which point the Virginia levies had also been directed. The house that was his headquarters in Alexandria, shown in the engraving, is still standing. The general was a good tactician, but a very martinet, proud, prejudiced, and conceited. Horace Walpole describes him as "a very Iroquois in disposition,"

and tells an anecdote that sheds light on his char- acter. " He once had a duel with Col. Glumley, who had been his great friend. As they were going to engage, Glumley, who had good humor and wit {Braddock had the latter), said : ' Braddock, you are a poor dog ! here, take my purse ; if you kill me, you will be forced to run away, and then you will not have a shilling to support you.' Braddock refused the purse, insisted on the duel, was disarmed, and would not even ask for his life." When Braddock heard that not more than twenty-five wagons could be procured for the use of the army, he declared that the expedition should not start. Wash- ington was made his aide-de-camp. At Frederick- town, Benjamin Franklin, then postmaster-general, with his usual sagacity and energy, undertook to provide the necessary conveyances, and records the conversation with Braddock in which he unfolded his intentions. "After taking Fort Duquesne," said the general, " 1 am to proceed to Niagara ; and, having taken that, to Frontenac if the season will allow time, and I suppose it will, for Duquesne can hardly detain me above three or four days ; and then I can see nothing that can obstruct my march to Niagara." Franklin thoixght the plan excellent, provided he could take his fine troops safely to Fort Duquesne, but apprehended danger from the ambuscades of the Indians, who might destroy his army in detail. The intimation struck Braddock as absurd, and he said : " These savages may indeed be a formidable enemy to raw Amer- ican military, but upon the king's regular and dis- ciplined troops, sir, it is impossible they .should make an impression." Similar warnings by Wash- ington met with similar replies. The expedition made slow progress, but at last drew near the fort, and crossed the Monongahela in regular order ; the drums were beating, the fifes playing, the colors flying, and their bayonets glittered in the sun. Suddenly, as the van was ascending a slope with underbrush and ravines on both sides, it was ex- posed to a murderous fire from an invisible foe. Braddock ordered the main body to halt, the firing continued, and the British for the first time heard the terrible war-whoop. The effect of the Indian rifles, directed by the French, was deadly; most of the grenadiers and many of the jiioneers were shot down, and those who escaped the bullets were com- pelled to fall back. The British were ordered to form in line, but the men were so frightened by the demoniac yells of the hidden savages that they refused to follow their officers in small divisions. The Virginians, familiar with Indian warfare, seji- arated, and from behind sheltering rocks or trees picked off the enemy. Washington suggested to the general to pursue the same course with the regulars ; but he scorned to receive advice, and is reported to have said that a British general might dispense with the military instruction of a Vir- ginia colonel. He insisted that his men should be formed in regular platoons ; they fired by platoons at random at the rocks, into the ravines and the bushes, and killed a number of Americans — as many as fifty by one volley — while they them- selves fell with alarming rapidity. The officers behaved splendidly, and Braddock's personal bra- very was conspicuous ; five horses had been killed under him, when at last a bullet passed through his right arm and lodged in his lungs. He fell from his horse, and was with difficulty removed from the gi-ound. The defeat was total, and the rout complete. Washington's escape was almost miraculous; sixty-four out of eighty-five officers were killed or wounded. There is little doubt that, but for the obstinacy and self-sufficiency of Brad- dock, the disaster might have been averted; for the crushing and sanguinary defeat of 9 July was inflicted by a handful of men, who intended only to molest his advance. The retreat was covered by Washington, and the remnant of the army went into camp at the Great Meadows four days later. Braddock said nothing, but exclaimed in the evening after the engagement, "Who would have