Ill Starred General: Braddock of the Coldstream Guards [Paperback]

Lee Mccardell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 1986

A rare combination of documented fact and good storytelling, Ill-Starred General is the biography of a much maligned man from one of history's most vital eras. The career of Edward Braddock began during the court intrigues of Queen Anne and George I, gained momentum in continental military campaigns in the early 1750s, and ended abruptly in the rout of his American army near present-day Pittsburgh in 1755. This highly acclaimed biography reveals the man--and the politics--behind his defeat, one of the major setbacks to British imperial power in the American colonies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Braddock was the first English general that Americans had ever seen in action, and although he lost his life fighting for them, they detested him. . . . What [McCardell] has done is to replace a historical puppet with a credible human being, and . . . to explain how a carefully planned colonial expedition can go wrong."
--New Yorker

From the Back Cover

"A first-rate biography."-New York Times "This is history, but in Mr. McCardell's skilled hands it reads like a novel."- St. Louis Globe-Democrat "Here, in a rare combination of documented fact and good storytelling is the biography of an often neglected man who lived during one of history's most vital eras."-Booklist

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press (August 15, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822959038
• ISBN-13: 978-0822959038
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,417,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars General Edward Braddock, January 18, 2006

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ill Starred General: Braddock of the Coldstream Guards (Paperback)

Published in 1958, McCardell's biography of General Edward Braddock is an excellent account of his life and ultimate disaster in the forests of western Pennsylvania in 1755 near the outset of the French and Indian War. Braddock was born in Scotland in 1695 and joined the Coldstream Guards in 1710. Moving up through the ranks of the Guards, he served in Holland, Flanders, and Gibraltar before being appointed major general in 1754. In February of that year he came to America to lead the British forces against the French.

The greatest interest in Braddock's life occurs from this point on for most readers. Although there were many administrative problems to be ironed out, eventually matters were set right enough for an expedition against Ft. Duquesne (Pittsburgh), a French stronghold, to proceed. Leaving what is today Cumberland, MD, on the Potomac River, Braddock's forces cut a road over the Allegheny Mountains to the Monongahela River; after crossing the river they advanced to within eight miles or so of Ft. Duquesne before being ambushed by about 250 French and 600 Indians. It was a total rout, and the British retreated; Braddock himself, after having four horses shot from under him, was wounded and died a few days later at the Great Meadows (where Washington had engaged the French the year before, raising the curtain on the French and Indian War), where he was buried. The defeat was a disaster for the British, and 1755-56 witnessed tremendous bloodshed for the settlers in the central and western parts of PA.

Braddock was characterized by Benjamin Franklin as being "a brave man, ... but he had too much self-confidence, too high an opinion of the validity of regular troops, and too mean a one of both Americans and Indians." The British army received an important lesson from Braddock's defeat, though the attitudes and prejudices (if Franklin's opinion is correct) of officers like Braddock carried over into the Revolutionary War, to similar results.

McCardell writes exceedingly well and is scholarly in his approach (there are hundreds of footnotes). His story about Braddock, especially after he arrives in America, is swift and compelling. Highly recommended.