Battle of Bushy Run - Pontiac's War

Bushy Run Battlefield consists of appropriately 213 acres, located by Harrison City, Westmoreland County in the state of Pennsylvania. "It was small enough-a piece of land in the Allegheny Mountain range, enfolded by dense woods of large oaks and chestnuts, rolling hills, swamps, small creek beds. There, on Chestnut Ride near an outpost called Bushy Run....."[1]Today is a state run battlefield managed by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission along with the Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society.

After the French & Indian War ended in 1760, the Native American tribes quickly realized that the British could not or would not uphold the terms of the Treaty of Easton. Three main points of the treaty were that all lands west of Carlisle would belong to the Native Americans for their hunting grounds. The Rum trade would be stopped and all forts in the west would be destroyed.

By 1763 the Native Americans were becoming very upset with the British. Gen Amherst, the overall commander of the British stopped all trading with the tribes. All the tribes had became depended upon the guns, ammo and other trade items that now would not be forthcoming. The rum trade had not been stopped, and the elder members of the tribes had trouble controlling younger braves when drunk with rum. Settlers continued to move west and pushing the tribes off the land that was promised to them.

Chief Pontiac who was an Ottawa War Chief, located in the Detroit area hated the British and wanted the French back, so he stirred up the local tribes to attack forts in the Detroit area. Many of the forts were captured and the people killed or taken prisoner. The eastern tribes waited to see if Chief Pontiac had success with the uprising before they became involved.

Fort Pitt was besieged by members of the Delaware, Mingoes, Wynadots, Shawnee, Miamies and probably some Ottawas. After this happened, Gen Amherst realized the seriousness of the uprising and commanded Colonel Henry Bouquet to march to the aid of Fort Pitt.

Colonel Henry Bouquet was born in Rolle, Switzerland in 1719. At the early age of 17, he joined the military. He was a member of the Swiss Guard, which today is still a famous unit. He was an excellent officer and very well educated. After Gen Braddock's defeat, he was commissioned in the British Army and came to America.

Colonel Bouquet had under his command the 42^nd and 77^th Highlanders plus the 60^th Royal Americans. On July 18^th, 1763 they left Carlisle with 450 men and wagons loaded with flour and supplies for the besieged Ft Pitt. After a week they arrived at Ft Bedford on July 25. While at Ft Bedford he obtain the services of rangers to help guide the column. Arriving at Ft Ligonier on August 2^nd, there Col Bouquet had the flour transferred to 340 pack horses. This he did because time was of the essence and horses would travel faster than wagons.

After leaving supplies and men at each fort that he stopped at, he left Ft Ligonier with about 400 men and 340 pack horses. After a march of 17 miles they arrived at what today is called Edge Hill. They were on the South Fork road, a branch off of the old Forbes Rd.

After advancing down Edge Hill, the front of the column was ambushed by Delaware, Mingoes, Wyndots, Shawnee, Miamies and some Ottawas braves. These were the same braves that had Ft Pitt under siege, but broke off that siege to ambush the British. The time was about 1 pm on August 5^th. After a fight that lasted close to dark, and losing about 50 men killed, Col Bouquet ordered the troops to retreat back up Edge Hill.

Col Bouquet ordered the flour sacks placed in a circle to protect the wounded. He placed his troops in a horseshoe shape defensive line with the open end behind the hill. All during the night the Native Americans kept the British on edge with yelling, and shooting.

The battle continued the next morning, with the Native Americans keeping the pressure on by their running style of fighting. They would fire at one point of the line and then reload and move to another point, thus giving the impression of more fighters than there really were. By mid morning things were getting serious for the British. Water was becoming a problem; casualties were mounting, so Col Bouquet came up with a plan that was brilliant. He pulled back two companies from the left center of his line as if to retreat and shifting the right of the line to cover the weakened areas.

The Native Americans seeing this movement, thinking that a retreat was in progress, rushed to take advantage of this situation. After marching over the hill and out of sight of the enemy, the British turned to the right and came in on the flank of the Native Americans. The action became heavy and many of the braves were killed at this point. They ran, with the British chasing them for some distant.

The battle of Bushy Run was over. The British lost about 115 killed and wounded and the Native Americans probably around 50 or 60 braves. Col Bouquet after resting the troops for a while, continued on to Ft Pitt, arriving there on August 10^th.

The Battle of Bushy Run is small in comparison to other battles, but was very important in that the victory by the British opened up the west to expansion. With their defeat at Bushy Run, Pontiac's War was dealt a heavy blow. After this battle there was no question that the westward expansion would continue and the country would continue to grow.

Bushy Run Battlefield address is P.O. Box 468, Harrison City, PA 15636-0468. It is located on Rt 993, Jeannette, Pa. Hours of the Park are: Wednesday-Sunday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm year round. Visitor's Center is April 1 - October 31, Wednesday -Saturday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and Sunday 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Admission is for Adults - $3.00, Senior Citizens & Groups $2.50, Children Ages 6-17 $2.00. Some of the exciting events that takes place at Bushy Run Battlefield are: Archaeology in Action where students learn how archaeologists excavate sites by excavating one of four simulated sites. Haunted History Hayride is a hayride through the historic Bushy Run Battlefield, Clash of cultures where students examine the life of a soldier in Royal American Regiments and the life of an Ohio Valley Native American on the changing western frontier. Historic Weapons Show is the Old Westmoreland Rifles-Collectors Show Association's annual historic weapon's show. The main event is the annual Anniversary Reenactment of the Battle. It is a two day event with many reenactors and period items for sale.

[1] Article by Jane Ockershausen in the in Pennsylvania Heritage® Magazine
Volume XXII, Number 3 - Summer 1997