Photo:
National Archives
The events
at Fort Duquesne marked the first major event in the French
and Indian War. In 1754, the area which included the source
of the Ohio River was occupied by French settlers. English
settlers, moving northwest from Virginia, hoped to colonize
the area to take advantage of the region's abundant game.
They built a small fort at the forks of the Ohio River
known as Fort Prince George. A larger garrison of French
settlers, however, arrived soon after and destroyed the
fort. Fort Duquesne was built on its ruins.
In the spring
of 1754, Major George Washington was sent to Fort Duquesne
to discuss boundaries, and to persuade the French to leave
the area peacefully. The French, however, refused to vacate
the area. Washington returned to the region with a group
of Virginia troops in an attempt to take the fort by force.
On the way to the fort, Washington encountered a French
scouting party. He attacked them near a place now known
as Jumonville Glen, though at least one French soldier
escaped. He then ordered construction of Fort Necessity,
which was soon taken by the French after the Battle of
Great Meadows. Fort Necessity was subsequently burned
to the ground. The British again attempted to take Fort
Duquesne in 1755, but were defeated by the French at the
Battle of Monogahela.
The French
occupied Fort Duquesne until 1758. In September 1758,
Pennsylvania and Virginia militia, under the command of
James Grant, were annihilated by French forces after storming
the fort. The heads of dead British militia were impaled
on stakes that encircled the fort as a warning against
future British invasion. Nevertheless, the small British
force was only a detachment of a much larger British force
of 6,000 that had moved into the area. On November 26,
1758, the French burned Fort Duquesne to the ground before
retreating. The British soon took over the remains, rebuilt
the fort and named it Fort Pitt, after Prime Minister
William Pitt.
