Fort Necessity National Battlefield

Rival claims between the French and English to the vast territory along the Ohio River between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River approached a climax about 1750.  In  1753 Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia learned the French had built a fort near Lake Erie (land claimed by Virginia.   He sent George Washington to warn the French to withdraw.   George, then only 21 years old, made the journey in the winter of 1753-54.   The French refused to leave and that set the stage for the events that took place at Fort Necessity.  

In June a regiment of Va arrived at Great Meadows bringing supplies and guns to Washington.  He now had 293 officers and men, and a few days later received a reinforcement of 100 additional men.  They were to build a road between Fort Necessity and Gist's Plantation a frontier settlement in the direction of the Ohio French forts.   Washington and the Virginia troops withdrew to Ft. Necessity when he heard the French with 600 men and 100 Indians were approaching.

The French took up positions in the woods surrounding the Ft. Necessity clearing on the morning of July 3, and Washington's men incurred the worst of the battle.   They were in the clearing, the French in the woods, and Washington's men felt they were doomed to die at the Fort.   They got into the liquor stored at the fort, and got drunk.   The French in the woods were getting drenched  by heavy rain, and requested a truce to discuss the surrender of Washington's command.    The British were allowed to withdraw with the honors of war, retaining their baggage and weapons but having to surrender their swivel guns.  

The British troops left the fort July 4.  The confrontation of Fort Necessity was the opening battle of the war fought by England and France for control of the North American Continent.   The action at Fort Necessity was also the first major event in the military career of George Washington and it was the only time he ever surrendered to an enemy.