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Henry Bouquet (1719 – September 2, 1765) was a noted British army officer in the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War. Bouquet is best known for his victory over American Indians at the Battle of Bushy Run, lifting the siege of Fort Pitt during PontiacÂ’s War.
Early Life
Bouquet was born in Rolle, Switzerland, the son of an army officer. Like many military officers of his day, Bouquet traveled between countries serving as a mercenary. He began his military career the Dutch army and later was in the service of Sardinia. In 1748 he was again in the service of Holland, as lieutenant colonel of the Swiss guards.
He entered the British Army in 1756 as a lieutenant colonel. He served under General John Forbes in the expedition against French garrison at Fort Duquesne (present Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) in 1758, and it was by his advice that the army constructed a new road through central Pennsylvania, instead of using the road from Maryland made during the unsuccessful Braddock Expedition. Bouquet and his troops were attacked by French and Indians at Loyalhanna, near present Ligonier, Pennsylvania, but the attack was repulsed and they continued on to Fort Duquesne, only to find it razed by the fleeing French.
Pontiac's War
In 1763, Pontiac's War broke out on the frontier. Pontiac, an Ottawa war leader, began urging Indians that had been allied to the French to fight the British. Pontiac initiated attacks on frontier forts and settlements, believing the defeated French would rally and come to their aid. The conflict began with the siege of Fort Detroit on May 10,1763. Fort Sandusky, Fort Michilimackinac, Fort Presque Isle, and numerous other frontier outpost were quickly overrun.
Several frontier forts had fallen to the allied tribes, and Fort Pitt, Fort Ligionier, and Fort Bedford along ForbesÂ’ road were besieged. Bouquet, who was in Philadelphia, threw
together a hastily organized force of 500 men, most of them Scots Highlanders, to relieve the forts. On August 5, 1763, Bouquet and the relief column were attacked by warriors from
the Lenape-Delaware, Mingo, Shawnee, and Wyandot tribes at near a small outpost called Bushy Run, in what is now Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. In a two day battle, the tribes were defeated by Bouquet's force and Fort Pitt was relieved.
It was during Pontiac's War that Bouquet gained a certain lasting infamy. In a series of letters during the summer of 1764 between Bouquet and his commander, General Jeffery Amherst, the idea was raised of infecting the Indians who had besieged Fort Pitt with smallpox by giving them blankets from the fort's smallpox hospital. However, apparently the fort's commander already thought of the idea and may have carried out the plan on his own initiative. An outbreak of smallpox did occur among the area Indians at this time, but it is impossible to verify if the blankets from Fort Pitt were the cause. If so, it would be the first known case of germ warfare in North America.
By the autumn of 1764, Bouquet had become the commander of Fort Pitt. To subdue the ongoing Indian uprising, he led a force of nearly 1,500 militiamen and regular soldiers from the fort into the Ohio Country. On October 13, 1764 Bouquet's army reached the Tuscarawas River. Shortly thereafter the Shawnee, the Seneca, and the Lenape-Delaware came to Bouquet to sue for peace.
As part of the peace treaty, Bouquet demanded the return of all white captives in exchange for a promise not to destroy the Indians' villages or seize any of their land. The exchange of captives was poorly done, and many whites adopted into the tribes were taken against their will. This caused much bitterness among the native groups.
Promotion and sudden death
Bouquet moved his army from the Tuscarawas River to the Muskingum River at modern-day Coshocton, Ohio. This placed him in the heart of tribal lands and would allow him to quickly strike the natives' villages if they refused to cooperate.
In 1765 Bouquet was promoted to brigadier general and placed in command of all British forces in the southern colonies. He died in Pensacola, West Florida on September 2, 1765, probably from yellow fever.
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