Show folt tai I 1 eu film S S 0 of Z 1 61 af IM t at red V 41 ick 0 P 0 a rep wa e n waw ala P R X A na fo r T or zap 01 1 a aa az 1 I tl ii N w A rw V Z A A ahe R reconstructed I 1 or t anzee cc e ss ity capt george 0 O by ELMO SCOTT WATSON OT the least interesting of all the celebrations held during this the washington bl centennial year was the dedication last month of a fort in a mountain meadow near Union uniontown town pa as a national shrine to the rather father of his hia country for ahls little fort consisting only of a log cabin circled by a log stockade was fort necessity where on july 3 1754 george washington began the military career which was to place his name among those of the great captains of all time and where as the famous voltaire expressed it was fired the cannon candon shot in the woods ot of america which set all europe ablaze the affair at fort necessity hail had its origins in the clash between the british anil and the french tor for the control of the interior of the north american continent tu to wake make good her claim to the mississippi and ohio valleys and to check the westward expansion of en iii I settlement beyond the alleghenies the french and h d erected a fort at presque isle now rrie erie iu ila had built fort le boeuf on french creek and had alo al o seized the british trading post of venni venn in 1753 1733 gov robert kobert dinwiddle of ir ii arzinia zinia inia selected george washington then only fuenty one years old for the difficult task of demanding that the french cease their encroachments encroach ments upon british soil when washington returned with the information that the french had bad no intention of giving up their forts dinwiddle decided upon more drastic action late in 1753 be sent a party of men under captain trent to build a fort at the forks of the ohio where pittsburgh now stands and to bold I 1 it t against any attacks which aich the french might make both north carolina and the home government had promised aid to the expedition but when no troops had arrived by the last day of march 1754 dinwiddle ordered washington and his virginians to proceed to the ohio there to help captain trent build forts and to defend the possessions of his big majesty against the attempts and hostilities of the F reach french meantime trents arents little company of 33 men had bad commenced a stockade at the forks but in april a force of 0 french aud and indians arrived orl on the scene and made them prisoners they were promptly released and allowed to return home without harm washington coming to their aid met the returning fort builders at wills creek near the present city of cumberland mi nd md by this time ibe the french had extended trents arents work and pushed it to a rapid completion calling their stronghold fort duquesne here had been gathered a considerable force of canadians french regulars and indian allies a detachment from which led by coulon do de jumon vilie scouted advance on may 28 at the bead of a scouting grouting party W washington ashington stumbled upon the small french scouting party the virginians immediately fired upon the french Fren cli ten were killed one wounded and 21 taken prisoner among the file french lend dead was jumonville the news of this encounter was carried to port fort duquesne and its commander immediately sent out a force under coulon de villiers a brother of Juni orrille to attack the english washington withdrew to great meadows where he erected a fort although the place was unfit tor for defense being surrounded on three sides bides by higher ground which was heavily forested and afforded good shelter from which the enemy could lire fire down upon the defenders of the forte fort force was so weakened by lack of ammunition and other supplies that he considered it ft impracticable to retreat further hence the name of fort necessity as aa indicative of hla his desperate plight A contemporary account of what followed has been discovered recently in the charleston S C public library in a copy of the south carolina gazette tor for august 22 1754 1751 which reads as ail follows williamsburg va july 19 on wednesday last arrived in town col goorge george washington and capt james mackay who gave the following account to tits his honor the governor of the late action between them and the french at the great meadows in the western part of this dominion the third of this instant july about 9 we received intelligence that the french having been reinforced with recruits had left monongahela nod and were in full march with men to attack us upon this no as our numbers were so unequal our whole force not ex 10 A gen B dd 1 beeding we prepared tor for our defense in the best manner we could by throwing up lip W a small entrenchment which we had not time to perfect before our sentinel gave notice about 11 of their approach by firing his piece which he did at the enemy and as we learned afterward killed three of their men on which they began to fire upon us at about GOO yards distance but without effect we immediately called all our men to their arms and drew up in order before our trenches tren dies but its as we looked upon this distant fire of the enemy only as an artifice to intimidate or draw our fire from us we waited their nearer approach before we returned their salute they then advanced in a very irregular manner mander to another point of woods about go CO yards off and from thence made a second discharge upon which finding they had no intention of attacking us in the open field we retired into our trenches and still sliu reserved our fire as we expected from their great superiority of numbers dumbers that they would endeavor to force our trenches but finding they did not seem to intend this either elt lir the colonel gave orders to fire which was wag done with great alacrity and daunt edness we continued this unequal fight with an enemy sheltered behind the trees ourselves without shelter in trenches full of water in a settled rain and the enemy galling us on all sides incessantly from the woods till 8 lat t night when nhen the french called to parley from the great improbability that such a vastly superior force and possessed of such an advantage would offer a parley first we suspected a deceit and therefore refused to consent that they should come among us on which they desired us to tend bend an officer to them and engage their parole for his safety we then sent captain van braam and sir mr Pey ronee ronce to receive their proposals which they did and about midnight we agreed that each side should retire without molestation they back bach to their fort at monongahela and we to wills creek that we should march away with all the honors of war and with all our stores effects and baggage accordingly the next morning with our drums beating and our colors flying we began our march in good order with our stores etc in convoy but we were interrupted by the arrival of a reinforcement of indians among the french who were hardly restrained train from attacking us and did us considerable damage by pilfering our baggage we then proceeded but soon found it necessary to leave our bagga baggese e and tores the great scarcity of our provisions obliged us to use the util utmost loSt expedition and having neither wagons nor horses to transport them the enemy had bad cepi deprived cited us of all our creatures by killing in the beginning of the engagement our horses cattle and every living thing they could even to the very dogs the number of lulled killed on our side was 30 and 70 wounded among the former was lieutenant bler herder cler of captain macnays Mat Mac kays independent company a gentleman of true military worth and whose bravery would not permit him to retire though dangerously wounded till a second shot disabled him and a third put an end to his life as he was being carried to the surgeon our men behaved with singular intrepidity and we determined not to ask ash for quarter but with our bayonets fixed to sell our lives as dearly as possibly we could from the numbers of the enemy and our situation we could not hope for victory and from the character of those we had to encounter we expected no do mercy but on terms that we positively resolved not dot to submit to the number killed and wounded of the enemy Is uncertain in the articles of capitulation submitted by de villiers VIll lers which washington signed was one word which was to prove to be diplomatic dynamite 11 it referred to the prisoners taken by washington dans clans du da bleur de ju monville the terms of capitulation were trans 7 ruins of fort frederick lared saeed to washington by captain van tan braan braam a dutchman NN ho he seems to have had only a sk sketchy knowledge of the french language ile he translated that passage as the killing or death of 0 jumonville whereas the french interpretation of it was assassination immediately the french raised the cry ot of treachery on the part of the young vir virginian finlan asserting that jumonville bad been an ambassador hearing bearing a peaceful message to the english in regard to the dispute over the western country just as washington had bad been a similar ambassador to the french posts in 1753 17 3 and that by own admission lo in the articles of capitulation he had as this peaceful messenger As for washington he was roost most decidedly in bad both at home and in england because his unfortunate expedition had apparently put the english in a very bad light the result of this fiasco and other indignities which he suffered leu led him finally to resign his commission ond and it seemed that the mill military tary career of this future great leader was ended almost at its beginning Iloie var lils his defeat did result in the resolution of the british ministry to force matters to a crisis so KI there come came about the arrival of goo geo edward braddock in america to command the combined I 1 and colonial forces va which aich were to eject the french from the ohio valley the result of that expedition the bloody business of braddock Braddo cb it has been aptly called Is too well known to be dwelt upon extensively even though it did result to in disaster on the banks of the monongahela that july day a year later it was braddock who made washington an aide decamp de camp on his start staff and who gave him his chance to win enduring tame fame while braddock was winning only defeat and death not far from the reconstructed fort necessity Is the place where braddock was wag burled buried and a part ot of the dedication ceremonies held at In ing tons little fort last month was aas the visit 0 of f a military to the british embassy in the national capital to Brad braddicks braddocks docks prave grave there to lay a wreath in honor of the general with whom hora history has dealt so harshly cut but the reconstructed fort necessity Is not the only post connected with the stirring events in those far off times which the american of today can visit near md Is fort frederick which Is also in process of reconstruction st through h the efforts of the Hagers hagerstown town chamber of commerce co merce find and associated with it are the names of both braddock and washington it was in frederick town md ild tant washington first met braddock on may 2 1755 and two days later arrived with him at winchester va vili whence ence they set out for fort cumberland wills C reek creek md aid on the beg beginning of his big disastrous expedit expedition lon after the defeat of braddock the indian raids along alone the fr frontier antler of pennsylvania maryland aryland I and virginia became so alarming that gov horatio sharpe of maryland asked the colonial legislature for an appropriation for a strong fort to be erected in the western part of frederick county which was eventually granted upon receiving the grant according to the correspondence of governor sharpe 11 1 I am preparing to set oft off for the frontier to put this province la in the best provision of defense and that the bill will permit me and construct a strong fort and block houses for the protection protects on of the north mountain while I 1 was at I 1 fort ort frederick colonel washington paid me a visit and informed me that he was also raising a strong fort at winchester we already have men near and about fort frederick under colonel john dagworthy we face the bastions and curtains with stone and shall mount on each bastion a six during the next tw two 0 Y years ears until the final capture of fort duquesne fort frederick was a base for military supplies and a refuge for the inhabitants of that region when the red terror swept down upon them during the french and indian war and again in 1703 when the conspiracy of pontiac threatened to drive the hated bated english into the sea the fort also played a part in the revolution and the civil war and a 12 d dow cow the people of maryland hope to restore it and preserve it as a state shrine lea by western IJ olon |