US History 10-14-19

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Settlement: George Washington’s French And Indian War

The French had two successful permanent settlements, Acadia (settled in 1604) and Quebec (1608) in North America. 
Their ships regularly brought furs back to France. The European population of New France grew steadily from 3,200 in 1666, to some 70,000 by 1750. However, during the same period, the English population from Massachusetts down to the Carolinas grew to more than a million.

The French believed that they could link New France to their settlements in Louisiana and along the Mississippi, which would stop the English getting more control of North America. By the middle of the 1700s, both England and France believed they would go to war.

Fighting over West Pennsylvania

In 1747, George Washington's two older half-brothers were interested in the fur trade and land development. They organized the Ohio Company of Virginia. The King of England gave them permission to get 200,000 acres near the Forks of the Ohio River, which is present-day Pittsburgh. This is where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers come together to form the Ohio River. The company agreed to settle at least 100 families and build a fort for their protection.

In 1749, the French began sending troops and their Native American allies to attack English settlers. They claimed all the land along the Ohio River and along all the smaller rivers that emptied into it.

In 1750, the Ohio Company began making a trail from Wills Creek in Maryland, over the mountains to the Monongahela River. Christopher Gist, a veteran woodsman and surveyor, was hired to identify the best land for the settlers. A trail was then widened for the wagons of the pioneers who would make their homes there.

The French in Quebec knew the English were coming to the Forks. The governor of Quebec ordered four forts to be built in the Ohio country. The first was Fort Presque Isle on the south shore of Lake Erie. The second was Fort Le Boeuf at the head of French Creek. The third, where French Creek emptied into the Allegheny River, was Fort Machault. The last, at the Forks of the Ohio, was to be named Fort Duquesne.

Young George Washington goes to battle

Meanwhile, Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia and other colonial governors knew what the French were doing. In June, Dinwiddie reported this to England. By mid-November, Virginia had permission to battle the French. Dinwiddie sent a young Major George Washington to fight the French.

Washington hired a French translator, Jacob Van Braam, and Gist the surveyor, and they purchased horses and supplies and headed west. Rain and heavy snow slowed their progress. When they finally reached the Forks, Washington met with Native Americans friendly to the English. He hired Half King, an important Seneca chief. Half King joined the group that would meet with the French.

They followed the Allegheny River to French Creek where they found a small group of French soldiers. That evening, with the help of some wine, the French soldiers opened up and told Washington of their plans. The French planned to control the Ohio country and keep the English from settling there. On December 11, Washington reached Fort Le Boeuf, where he presented a letter from Governor Dinwiddie to the French. It told them to leave. A few days later, Washington received a written response that they were not leaving.

Washington, Half King, Gist, Van Braam and the others left Le Boeuf on December 16. Progress was slow, so Washington and Gist left the others to get the letter to Governor Dinwiddie more quickly. Native American attacks and ice-swollen rivers nearly cost them their lives. They reached Wills Creek in Maryland on January 6, 1754. From there, Washington continued alone and arrived at Williamsburg, Virginia, on January 16.

Washington calls a council of war

Dinwiddie had Washington write a report of what had happened. It was published in colonial and London newspapers. The young Washington was beginning to be noticed.

Dinwiddie began sending supplies and arms to the Forks. He ordered Washington to form an army of 100 men. At first, very few volunteered. Then the governor promised land to those who signed up. Six companies were filled and Washington was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He was now second in command under Colonel Joshua Fry. 

On April 2, 1754, Washington and his men left Alexandria, Virginia. On the 19th, at Wills Creek, he received an urgent message from the Forks. The newly completed fort had been captured by the French. On April 23, Washington called a council of war. They decided to move forward to the Monongahela River, where they would wait for reinforcements.

On May 24, a message from Half King warned them that the French had sent out soldiers to stop them. On May 27, Gist arrived and reported that the French were five miles away. That evening, another message from Half King said that he had located the French. Washington took 40 men and joined up with the chief. In the early morning hours, they attacked the French camp. As many as a dozen Frenchmen were killed and 21 were taken prisoner. One English soldier was killed and three were wounded.

Washington sent reports to Colonel Fry and Governor Dinwiddie.

Soldiers can't fight a war without food

In the days that followed, Washington constructed a circular log fort, about 50 feet in diameter with a shallow trench around it. It was named Fort Necessity. On June 10, about 200 men, nine small cannons and a small amount of food rations arrived from Virginia. That same day, Washington sent a letter to Dinwiddie asking for more supplies. 

Soon after, a company from South Carolina of about 100 men under Captain James Mckay arrived. This was good and bad. Although Mckay had brought a small herd of cattle, his men began eating the fort's short supply of food.

On June 15, Washington marched his regiment toward the Monongahela river nearly 30 miles away. He left Mckay and his men at Fort Necessity because Mckay refused to take orders from Washington. On the 27th, they had reached Gist and the trading post he set up, near present-day Union town, Pennsylvania. Washington sent one group ahead hoping to find corn. Later that same day, he received reliable information that the French at Fort Duquesne had been reinforced by about 1,000 men. With that news, he pulled back on June 28. He sent a message to Captain Mckay ordering him and his company to come forward.

The officers, including Mckay, quickly met. They agreed that they should not attack this large army, but should withdraw to Fort Necessity. They were desperately short of rations and had been without meat or bread for several days. They loaded what ammunition and other materials they could on the available horses and began the march back. Some arrived late the next day, but those dragging the nine cannons did not reach Fort Necessity until July 1.

Like shooting fish in a barrel

Washington put his men to work, improving the fort. Late on the morning of July 3, a force of about 600 French and their 100 Native American allies appeared. Washington gathered up his men to meet them. The French took up positions in the woods, so then Washington moved his men back into the fort. The French and Native Americans, firing from behind trees and fallen timbers, killed many. Rain fell throughout the day and into the night, flooding the marshy ground and the trenches, making it almost impossible to keep their weapons and gunpowder dry.

As night approached, Captain Louis de Villiers, commander of the French force, called for a truce to discuss an end to the fighting. With his men exhausted and starving, Washington surrendered. Near midnight, terms were agreed upon.  

On July 4, the English left Fort Necessity and began the march for Wills Creek and on to Virginia. The French stayed only long enough to burn Fort Necessity, then retraced their steps to Fort Duquesne, burning Gist's trading post as they went.

Washington and Mckay made their formal report to Dinwiddie on July 19, 1754, and it was sent on to London. Later in the year, Dinwiddie wanted to try again, but the other colonies were not interested. However, back in England, it was reported that "the volley fired by a young Virginian in the backwoods of America set the world on fire." So in mid-January 1755, Major General Edward Braddock and two Irish regiments set sail for North America to displace the French in the Ohio country.

The British get Canada

When Braddock arrived, Washington volunteered to serve. In July 1755, the English were ambushed as they approached Fort Duquesne and General Braddock was killed. However, Washington was instrumental in saving the regiments, and his bravery was celebrated at home and abroad. 

The English did not give up and, in 1757, sent Brigadier General John Forbes to North America to capture Fort Duquesne. Forbes spent months clearing a road, and when he advanced his troops on November 25, 1758, the outnumbered French burned their fort and retreated. Forbes rebuilt the fort where the three rivers meet, renaming it Fort Pitt, and  the surrounding area he called Pittsburgh. The event ultimately won Canada for the English and ended French ambitions in that part of North America.

Forbes recognized that Washington, who had returned to command the Virginia regiment in 1756, could be of useful service to him. Forbes made good use of the young colonel  and Washington learned invaluable lessons on how an army should be organized, supplied and fought in North America.

In February 1763, the Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years' War and the French gave Canada to the English. In October, the king restricted settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains, and the next year adopted a hugely unpopular policy of taxing the American colonies to help pay for the English war debt. These taxes from the French and Indian War caused unrest in the colonies that would eventually lead to the American Revolution, but it also marked Washington's rise as a soldier and hero who would soon lead a new nation to victory.

Theodore J. Crackel spent 21 years in the U.S. Army. He was also a professor and editor-in-chief of the "Papers of George Washington" at the University of Virginia.