The Battle of Bushy Run Part 2

Martin Ainscough concludes his story on the famous battle

- Martin Ainscough

Would the British Forces be able to reach the lightly defended pack train and regroup or would the Indians get to it first and in so doing give the British another wilderness debacle to explain?

We left the British, by now heavily depleted relief column under the command of Bouquet, on the edge of the trees listening to the cries of the wounded and the occasional intimidating war whoops from within the forest. It would be a long night and their prospects of survival come dawn did not look great!

However, accounts of what happened next on the morning of August 6, 1763, differ. One record suggests that the Indian warriors attacked in the morning to try to break the British line, but in turn found themselves ambushed by British sentries relieved from their evening posts. Such was the surprise of the sentries from the flank combined with a frontal assault by the main British column, that the now outnumbered Indians allegedly fled in a very disorganised retreat.