Page:1758, being a sketch of the founding of Pittsburgh.djvu/10

 a Scotchman, forty-nine years old, and had seen much service in Europe. In the war with France, which had ended the preceding year, he had been quarter-master-general to the Duke of Cumberland. A well-bred man of the world, his manners were free from affectation and he soon won the confidence of the people of Philadelphia, where he had his headquarters. His conduct of the campaign shows that he was far-sighted, cautious and of indomitable will. Every assistance was rendered him by the provincial authorities. He realized, even before he reached Philadelphia, the advantage of detaching from the French interest the Indians on the Ohio, or at least keeping them neutral, and made his wishes known to the provincial authorities. The Shawanese and Delawares had become attached to the French side immediately after Braddock's defeat. From that time on, their forays against the English settlers had become so intolerable that an expedition had been sent against them by the Pennsylvania authorities in September, 1756, under command of Colonel John Armstrong, and the Indians had been terribly punished at their village of Kittanning, and that place destroyed. This punishment still rankled in the bosoms of the savages when Forbes was planning his campaign. Who to get to brave the dangers of venturing among Indians, still smarting under this defeat, was the question with Governor Denny. It required a man of unbounded courage, of cool brain, well known and popular with the Indians. Pennsylvania's former ambassador among them, Conrad Weiser, was old and in failing health. No one else could be found until the Society of Friends, who, always desirous of maintaining peace, suggested a German named Christian Frederick Post.

Post was a Moravian missionary and had lived among the Indians, although he had never been in the Ohio country; he spoke their language and had married one of their women. The Moravians, like the Friends, were opposed to war and preached peace. This zealous sect of Germans were the only Protestants who were attempting to bring the Indians over to the Christian faith, or had any missions among them. Post was their most successful missionary; no man stood higher in the estimation of the savages among whom he labored. His uprightness of character, his true Christian spirit, his sagacity, his courage, all marked him as the man to undertake Forbes' dangerous enterprise. In venturing into the enemy's country, this simple missionary showed the courage of a hero. He took his life in his hands. If captured by the French, it meant an ignominious death