Amherst was in a bad way for troops. The only available
forces for the relief of Fort Pitt were 242 men of the
42nd Highlanders--the famous Black Watch--with 133 of
the 77th (Montgomery's) Highlanders, and some Royal
Americans. These, with a few volunteers, made up a
contingent 550 strong. It was a force all too small for
the task before it, and the majority of the soldiers had
but recently arrived from the West Indies and were in
wretched health.

Bouquet had sent instructions to Carlisle to have supplies
ready for him and sufficient wagons assembled there for
the expedition, but when he reached the place at the end
of June he found that nothing had been done. The frontier
was in a state of paralysis from panic. Over the entire
stretch of country from Fort Pitt the Indians were on
the war-path. Every day brought tragic stories of the
murder of settlers and the destruction of their homes.
There was no safety outside the precincts of the feeble
forts that dotted the Indian territory. Bouquet had hoped
for help from the settlers and government of Pennsylvania;
but the settlers thought only of immediate safety, and
the government was criminally negligent in leaving the
frontier of the state unprotected, and would vote neither
men nor money for defence. But they must be saved in
spite of themselves. By energetic efforts, in eighteen
days after his arrival at Carlisle, Bouquet was ready
for the march. He began his campaign with a wise precaution.
The last important fort on the road to Pitt was Ligonier,