The irritation caused by this event precipitated the commencement of hostilities.

A corps of Canadians, re-enforced by a few savages, marched at once against Washington; he was intrenched in the plain; he had to be attacked with artillery.

The future hero of American independence was obliged to capitulate; the English retired with such precipitation that they abandoned even their flag.
Negotiations were still going on between London and Versailles, and meanwhile the governors of the English colonies had met together to form a sort of confederation against French power in the new world.

They were raising militia everywhere.

On the 20th of January, 1755, General Braddock with a corps of regulars landed at Williamsburg, in Virginia.
Two months later, or not until the end of April, in fact, Admiral Dubois de la Motte quitted Brest with re-enforcements and munitions of war for Canada.