Braddock Road (Braddock expedition)

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In 1755, General Edward Braddock of the Coldstream Guards was sent to rout the French from Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh). A strict yet inept officer, Braddock led his troops from an area near Bethesda, Maryland, through Frederick, Maryland, into Virginia and arriving at Fort Cumberland a short time later. From Fort Cumberland, Braddock's army cut a military trail through the wilderness roughly following Nemacolin's path.

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Braddock met defeat east of Fort Duquesne and was fatally wounded. He was buried right in the middle of the road he built (in hopes of disguising his remains from the French).

Route 40 roughly parallels Braddock's Road between Cumberland, Maryland and Laurel Ridge near Uniontown.

Harvard professor John Kennedy Lacock (originally from Amity, Pennsylvania, near Washington) was one of the most knowledgeable Braddock historians that ever lived. Lacock spent countless days scouring the countryside and was able to identify the exact path of Braddock's ill-fated march. In addition to writing one of the best texts on Braddock's Road, Lacock also hired a photographer to document the road. Fortunately, Lacock's photographs survive in the form of postcards which Lacock published around 1905.

[edit] References

  • Cassandra Vivian, The National Road in Pennsylvania, Arcadia Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-7385-1166-8
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