Braddock's Neglected Route: The Forgotten Fork of the Conococheague Road on Maryland's Western Frontier

At six o'clock on the morning of April 28th 1755, one thousand men of his majesty's 48th regiment of foot marched out of the last town they would see for three months. For some of them, it would be the last town they'd ever see. On the second day the 48th regiment took the right fork on a road to another waypoint. Their general, would ride out of Fredericktown that day and take the left fork. Much speculation has ensued regarding just where that fork in the road may have been. This is an attempt to identify it and the first two miles of that lost road. What emerges is a clearer picture of not only where this road was, but why it was there. We also discover that it's western end, long reported not to exist, not only did exist, but had for decades prior to the expedition. Why that Maryland road was forsaken in favor of the Virginia route remains as one of the mysteries of the doomed mission.