Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight.”

• 2 Samuel 10:12

“After the battle, he wrote his mother, saying, ‘I luckily escaped without a wound, though I had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me  I was not half recovered from a violent illness that had confined me to my bed and a wagon for above ten days.’
“Washington believed God had providentially protected him, and it infused him with confidence in God’s guarding, guiding hand. Writing to his brother, John, he said, ‘By the all-powerful dispensation of Providence I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side.’
“The Native Americans were equally perplexed at Washington’s survival. One of the chiefs had repeatedly fired at him and ordered his young warriors to do the same, all of them being true marksmen. But their bullets were ‘turned aside by some invisible and inscrutable interposition.’ Chief Red Hawk claimed to have personally shot at Washington eleven times. Another chief, perplexed at Washington’s survival, is said to have predicted, ‘He will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn will hail him as the father of a mighty empire.’
“Washington’s incredible survival created a sensation in the Colonies, and many felt God’s hand was on him for a special purpose. That opinion was expressed in a famous sermon preached in Hanover County, Virginia, on August 17, 1755, by Samuel Davies.”

• Robert J. Morgan, 100 Bible Verses That Made America

In my recent trip to visit the grandchildren, the oldest of them went with me to Nashville, to sell used books and games.  One of the books that I purchased in return was 100 Bible Verses That Made America by Robert J. Morgan.  As we approach the 250^th anniversary of the birth of the USA, I thought I would do a condensed mini-series on some of these verses, four posts per week for a few weeks – maybe not all 100 verses.

The photo above is of Fort Necessity.  The battle aftermath mentioned above is from the Battle of Braddock’s Field or the Battle of Monongahela.

Fort Necessity:

The previous year before the Battle of Monongahela, George Washington, an engineering officer in charge of building the “National Highway” from Baltimore to a fort at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers (which form the Ohio River – thus, the Three Rivers of Pittsburgh, PA).  He had never faced anyone in battle before.  An advance party had met resistance and Washington quickly built Fort Necessity (out of Necessity).

I was an engineering officer and I thought, “What was he thinking?”  He had a crude shelter, but he was totally surrounded.  The Indians (okay, Native Americans, but the war that ensued became the French and Indian War)… They did not play fair.  They crouched behind the trees and picked off Washington’s men one at a time.  Surrounded, the French general allowed Washington to leave with his troops down the road he had just built, back to Baltimore.  Washington’s first battle ended in defeat, lucky that the French officer gave him and his troops mercy.

The Battle of Monongahela:

Before I start, my wife lived here for 27 years before she passed away and she never pronounced Monongahela correctly once.  Her versions were usually 10-12 syllables with a “Who-Ha” in the middle somewhere.  It was her little joke.

But Braddock asked the colonial officer, Washington to come along due to his experience from the year before.  Washington was in charge of the rear guard, intending on not being part of the battle at all.  Braddock fought a conventional European battle.  Again, the Indians did not play fair.  Braddock and one of his chief aides were killed.  Before dying, Braddock asks that Washington be in charge of the retreat.  He trusted that Washington would give him a burial worthy of his position.

As the chapter on this verse begins, Washington was a colonial officer.  He had no authority other than General Braddock’s dying wish, to command British troops.

Near the town of Braddock, PA, you drive by the Braddock grave that is next to the “National Highway.”  George Washington did as commanded.  He honored General Braddock’s request.

But the aftermath, in making Washington to be the hero who had lost his first battle and was successful only in an orderly retreat was now some sort of indestructible person.

Another Note:  The orderly retreat was only made possible because the “Indians” insisted on obtaining scalps and looting the soldiers strewn around the battlefield.

And yet another Note: The blame for Braddock’s loss is probably his adherence to the European style of fighting, which gave George Washington the blueprint on how to defeat the British ten years later.  But scholars cannot decide how an army of more men, accompanied by artillery, could be defeated so soundly.

What does the Bible verse have to do with the battle?

The last paragraph in the quote ends with a pastor’s name.  Samuel Davies was a Presbyterian evangelist and pastor, greatly affected by the Great Awakening.  He wrote a sermon about a month after the battle.  The sermon was on the verse quoted above.

Samuel Davies had just lost his wife during a miscarriage less than a year after they were married.  Rev. Davies suffered from tuberculosis.  But he continued to preach.

Be strong and fight bravely.  By this point, the French and Indian War was waging, and one of those Indian chieftains had given Washington a moniker that would be used for over 250 years, “The Father of our Country.”

Saying that you feel that God had ordained you to be in the position you are today does not make it so.

But it helps when you are trusting God to lead you through as you stand strong and fight bravely.

How did all those bullets miss?  Maybe George Washington was right after all.  God saw him through the battle and the war that started roughly ten years later.

And yet another note: Travelling along Highway 40, travelling east out of Uniontown, PA, you pass through Braddock and Braddock’s Grave, and over a couple of hills, Fort Necessity is on the right-hand side of the road.  And the next highway to the left a little further east, you can go to Kentuck Knob and Fallingwater, two Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes, and a little further down the road is the ski resort Seven Springs.  You can see it all on a well-planned day trip out of Pittsburgh, PA.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.