 By ignoring their advice, Braddock was exposing his men to unnecessary risks. Now it's July 1755. Imagine about 1,300 British regulars and colonial militia laboring through the woods on a hot summer day near the Monongahela River. They were exhausted after weeks of strenuous marching. Now Washington himself was in really bad shape since he was plagued with a fever and headaches. His condition was so bad,