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Documentary details Braddock's defeat
Friday, November 03, 2000 By Marylynne Pitz, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Shortly after crossing the Monongahela River on July 9, 1755, British Maj. Gen. Edward Braddock was just a few miles away from seizing Fort Duquesne in the name of King George II.
The 60-year-old soldier, a veteran of the elite Coldstream Guards, never doubted that his army of 2,200 men would take the French fort at the confluence of the Allegheny, Ohio and Monongahela rivers.
Near a steep ravine, Braddock ran right into French Capt. Daniel Beaujeu, who commanded 250 soldiers and 600 Native Americans. Three hours later, Braddock lay mortally wounded and his army was in retreat.
Dramatizing that story for a documentary, titled "When the Forest Ran Red," was a challenge for film producer Robert Matzen, who scoured libraries, museums, newspapers and his personal archives for vivid images.
Matzen's interest in Braddock began 15 years ago at Fort Necessity when he saw a trace of the road the British general's army built through Western Pennsylvania.
Braddock fascinates the film producer.
"I just see him as such an enigma and a tragic figure," said Matzen, owner of Paladin Communications in Bethel Park.
After seven months of shooting and post-production, the documentary premieres at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow during the 12th annual French and Indian War Seminar at Jumonville Retreat Center in Hopwood, Fayette County.
The film, which opens with an audio and visual montage, uses narration, historical re-enactors and the detailed paintings of local artist Robert Griffing to recount the early battles of the French and Indian War.
Professor Fred Anderson, author of "Crucible of War," and Professor R. David Edmunds, author of "The Shawnee Prophet," offer historical commentary.
Matzen hopes that The History Channel or PBS will broadcast his film and that local museums, such as the Heinz History Center, will use it to educate visitors. An 11-minute segment of the film played repeatedly during the history center's recent exhibit on George Washington.
Tom Wilson, who spent 400 hours editing the film, also searched for visual images and found a historic engraving for $6 on E-Bay. Wilson, a native of North Braddock and resident of Braddock Hills, was thrilled to help tell the story of his hometown's historic moment.
"Finding stuff to show was probably the biggest challenge," Wilson said. "You can go down to Braddock and shoot but you've got to stretch the imagination pretty hard to imagine what it looked like 250 years ago," Wilson said.
Using computer modeling software, Wilson created animated maps that show how Braddock's defeat unfolded.
After shooting began last April, Matzen ran into some serendipitous luck. Matzen and his film crew captured footage of about 130 French and Indian War re-enactors, who gathered in Jumonville last May for tactical maneuvers.
The organizer of that event was Jim McGaughey of Scott, a historical re-enactor who belongs to the 60th Regiment of Foot, Lander's Company, an English regiment that included Irish and German immigrants.
"It worked out very well for him," McGaughey said. "It was very foggy. It rained a lot. The ground was damp. When it gets fogged in up there, you can't see 10 feet in front of you."
Matzen saved money because the re-enactors did not actually stage battles, McGaughey said.
"It's a lot cheaper. It's a lot more spontaneous. We're not actors. We're all armchair generals," McGaughey said.
Last July, Matzen's crew filmed the Royal Americans, a group of re-enactors from New Jersey who came to Jumonville's Glen.
"We took them up to Jumonville and staged some scenes," Matzen said.
Broadside Electric, an electric folk band from Philadelphia, provides the music. The band, which specializes in authentic historical music, performs "George Washington's March," "General Braddock's March" and the "Grenadiers' March."
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