Editing Braddock Expedition (section)

===Braddock's Road===
The expedition progressed slowly because Braddock considered making a road to Fort Duquesne a priority in order to effectively supply the position he expected to capture and hold at the Forks of the Ohio, and because of a shortage of healthy draft animals. In some cases, the column was only able to progress at a rate of two miles (about 3&nbsp;km) a day, creating [[Braddock Road (Route 40)|Braddock's Road]] — an important legacy of the march — as they went. To speed up movement, Braddock split his men into a "flying column" of about 1,300 men which he commanded, and, lagging far behind, a supply column of 800 men with most of the baggage, commanded by Colonel Thomas Dunbar. They passed the ruins of [[Fort Necessity]] along the way, where the French and Canadians [[Battle of Fort Necessity|had defeated]] Washington the previous summer. Small French and Native American war bands skirmished with Braddock's men during the march.
[[File:Braddock Road Fort Necessity PA.jpg|thumb|Braddock Road trace near Fort Necessity, Pennsylvania.]]
Meanwhile, at Fort Duquesne, the French garrison consisted of only about 250 French marines and [[Colonial militia in Canada|Canadian militia]], with about 640 Native American allies camped outside the fort. The Native Americans were from a variety of tribes long associated with the French, including [[Odawa|Ottawas]], [[Ojibwa]]s, and [[Potawatomi]]s. [[Claude-Pierre Pécaudy de Contrecœur]], the Canadian commander, received reports from Native American scouting parties that the British were on their way to besiege the fort. He realised he could not withstand Braddock's cannon, and decided to launch a preemptive strike, an ambush of Braddock's army as he crossed the [[Monongahela River]]. The Native American allies were initially reluctant to attack such a large British force, but the French field commander [[Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu]], who dressed himself in full war regalia complete with war paint, convinced them to follow his lead.