From George Washington to Francis Halkett, 12 April 1758
To Francis Halkett
To Major Halkett—
My dear Halkett.Ft Loud[oun] 12th Aprl 1758.
Are we to have you once more among us? and shall we revisit, together, a hapless spot, that proved so fatal to so many of our (former) brave companions? Yes! and I rejoice at it; hoping it will now be in our power to testify a just abhorrence of the cruel Butcheries exercised on our friends, in the unfortunate Day of Genl Braddock’s Defeat; and moreover to shew our Enemies, that we can practise all that lenity and compassion of which they only boast, without affording any adequate proofs at all.
To cut short: I really feel a degree of satisfaction upon the prospect of meeting you again, altho’ I have scarce time to tell you so, as the Express is waiting. I am, with most sincere Regard, Dr Sir, your &c.
G:W.
LB, DLC:GW.
Francis Halkett, John Forbes’s brigade major, was Edward Braddock’s brigade major in 1755 during the Battle of the Monongahela, when his father Sir Peter Halkett, colonel of the 44th Regiment, and his brother James Halkett, lieutenant in the 44th, were both killed. In “Memorandums of Major Halketts” that he wrote at about this time in 1758 with an eye to getting a major’s or lieutenant colonel’s commission, Halkett noted “that he is the eldest Captain in the Regiment but one has been five campaigns upon service and by the 2d day of May next will be of 7 years standing, that he has constantly attended his duty, and hopes discharg’d it to the satisfaction of all his Commanders. That he has acted as Major of Brigade since the Troops first came over to this Country, and always had the honour, to attend the person of the Commander in Chief” (ViU: Forbes Papers).