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Name:
Bushy Run Battlefield
Region:
Pittsburgh Region
County:
Westmoreland
Marker Location:
At site, PA 993, 1 mile East of Harrison City
Dedication Date:
September 14, 1964
Behind the Marker
The outbreak of Pontiac's Rebellion in May 1763 once again plunged the Pennsylvania frontier into warfare. British garrisons at 
Fort Presque Isle, Fort Venango, and Fort LeBoeuf fell quickly to Indian assaults, and Fort Pitt came under siege in July.
Colonel Henry Bouquet, who had served as General Forbes's second-in-command during the 1758 campaign, led an army of about 500 troops from Carlisle to relieve Fort Pitt. Traveling the same road he had helped build four years earlier, Bouquet arrived at Fort Ligonier on August 2, streamlined his army, and headed immediately to Fort Pitt. Hoping to avoid the Indians while en route, he took a shortcut through Bushy Run.
Despite this safeguard, Bouquet's men were attacked about 25 miles east of Fort Pitt on August 5 near Edge Hill. In what became known as the Battle of Bushy Run, they sustained heavy casualties, but Bouquet was able to build a temporary fortification out of the flour bags carried by his packhorses, and his leadership kept his troops from abandoning the field. The next morning, Bouquet's men faked a retreat, by which they lured the Indians into the open and then dispersed them with musket fire and bayonets. Bouquet continued on to Fort Pitt, where he found that the Indians had abandoned the siege a few days earlier, in part to go fight him.
Bouquet led one more expedition into the Ohio Country in fall 1764. This show of force convinced the remaining hostile Delawares and Shawnee to sue for peace. One of Bouquet's conditions was the return of captives, about 300 of which were eventually repatriated to the British, although many of them returned to their Indian families at first opportunity. [Original Document] Bouquet took over the British command at Pensacola in West Florida the following year and died shortly after his arrival there
Fort Presque Isle, Fort Venango, and Fort LeBoeuf fell quickly to Indian assaults, and Fort Pitt came under siege in July. Colonel Henry Bouquet, who had served as General Forbes's second-in-command during the 1758 campaign, led an army of about 500 troops from Carlisle to relieve Fort Pitt. Traveling the same road he had helped build four years earlier, Bouquet arrived at Fort Ligonier on August 2, streamlined his army, and headed immediately to Fort Pitt. Hoping to avoid the Indians while en route, he took a shortcut through Bushy Run.
This battle scene shows Colonel Bouquet's forces fighting the Indians, after...
Despite this safeguard, Bouquet's men were attacked about 25 miles east of Fort Pitt on August 5 near Edge Hill. In what became known as the Battle of Bushy Run, they sustained heavy casualties, but Bouquet was able to build a temporary fortification out of the flour bags carried by his packhorses, and his leadership kept his troops from abandoning the field. The next morning, Bouquet's men faked a retreat, by which they lured the Indians into the open and then dispersed them with musket fire and bayonets. Bouquet continued on to Fort Pitt, where he found that the Indians had abandoned the siege a few days earlier, in part to go fight him.
Bouquet led one more expedition into the Ohio Country in fall 1764. This show of force convinced the remaining hostile Delawares and Shawnee to sue for peace. One of Bouquet's conditions was the return of captives, about 300 of which were eventually repatriated to the British, although many of them returned to their Indian families at first opportunity. [Original Document] Bouquet took over the British command at Pensacola in West Florida the following year and died shortly after his arrival there
