Washington Starts a War (cont.)
28 MAY 1754
WASHINGTON STARTS A WAR (cont.)
(Now) LTC George Washington had no authority to do what he was about to do. There had been no declaration of war between France and England, nor did Washington’s orders require him to interact more than to deliver a letter to the French commander. Nevertheless, Washington’s council of war concluded an attack was necessary. Leading a detachment of 40 men and 12 Native Americans under Washington’s ally Chief Tanaghrisson, Washington stumbled through the black, rain-soaked forest on the night of 27-28 May. The men were quickly soaked and had trouble keeping their powder dry, but the rain worked to their advantage. The French, unaware of the attack, had stacked their muskets in a dry spot under an overhanging rock. Neither had Jumonville posted sentries. As the morning mists began to part this day, Washington’s 50-odd men surrounded the French encampment in the quiet glen.
History debates what happened next. Perhaps a wary Frenchman just rousing from his slumbers spotted the British. Perhaps an eager militiaman opened fire himself but firing quickly erupted. French soldiers bounding for their weapons were cut down mid-stride by the volley from Washington’s men. Tanaghrisson’s tribesman rushed the camp and began clubbing those still standing. Some Frenchmen managed to return fire, some ran for cover only to be ferreted-out by Tanaghrisson’s Indians. In a short fifteen minutes the skirmish was over. As the gunsmoke cleared ten of the Frenchmen lay dead, including Jumonville. The Virginians had lost one killed and three wounded. Tanaghrisson’s natives had scalped the dead before Washington could descend into the encampment, then demanded that the 21 surviving Frenchmen be turned over for a similar fate. Washington refused. The 21 prisoners were interrogated and sent back to Wills Creek. Prophetically the young Washington reported back to LT Governor Dinwiddie his exhilaration, “I heard the bullets whistle, and believe me there is something charming in the sound.”
One Frenchman was absent the camp at the moment of the attack. He escaped into the woods and carried news of Washington’s action back to Fort Duquesne. Fearing a counter-attack, Washington built a log fortification at Great Meadow that came to be called Fort Necessity. The counter-attack did come in July, by a far superior French force. Washington wisely capitulated and was forced to sign a surrender document written in French. Because he could not speak the language, Washington was unaware the document labeled his attack an unprovoked and unwarranted “assassination” of Jumonville. This French characterization became the international insult that launched the French and Indian War!
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 4 JUN 24
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Rehabilitation Medicine
Fowler, William M., Jr. Empires at War: The French and Indian War and the Struggle for North America, 1754-1763. New York, NY: Walker and Co., 2005.
O’Meara, Walter. Guns at the Forks. Pittsburgh, PA: Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1979, pp. 77-92.
Nester, William R. The Great Frontier War: Britain, France, and the Imperial Struggle for North America, 1607-1755. Westport, CT: Preager, 2000, pp. 186-93.
Site visit. Fort Necessity National Battlefield and Jumonville Glen. Farmington, PA, 30 June 2007.
Site visit. Point State Park, Pittsburgh, PA, June 1987.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: MAJ Washington had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel after his departure from Williamsburg.
From the 10-gun brigantine of the Revolutionary War to our present Nimitz-class carrier CVN-73 there have been twelve US Navy warships named in honor of George Washington, more than any other individual and twice the number remembering John Paul Jones.
Today Fort Necessity and the nearby Jumonville Glen are preserved by the National Park Service as historical sites. Fort Duquesne was eventually captured by the British and renamed Fort Pitt, after Sir William Pitt, then the Prime Minister of the English Parliament. Fort Pitt lent its name to the town that grew up nearby, Pittsburgh. Point State Park in what is now downtown Pittsburgh marks the site of these 18th century forts.
