In summer 1754, during the French and Indian War (1754-63), Colonel George Washington began construction of a stockade in an area called the Great Meadows in modern southwestern Pennsylvania. This was part of the British-Virginian expedition to build a road to the Monongahela River to supply a fort at the Forks of the Ohio (modern Pittsburgh). Fort Necessity was poorly located, with forest only 60 yards away, and in a low-lying area that became like a marsh in heavy rains. Washington also never completed the fortifications since he expected reinforcements from the east to help drive the French out of the area. After the Battle of Jumonville Glen (May 28, 1754) and the death of his own superior officer on May 31, the entire command of the British-Virginian forces for the expedition fell upon Washington's inexperienced shoulders.

Washington had his men continue to work on the road until June 28, when Native-American scouts reported that French troops had left Fort Duquesne (later Fort Pitt) to punish the British for the murder of Ensign Joseph Coulon Jumonville on May 28. The commander of the powerful French force was Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers, brother of the murdered Jumonville. Knowing he was outnumbered, Washington retreated. With his men already exhausted from laboring on the road, Washington got as far as Fort Necessity on July 1, and the British-Virginians could go no further. On July 2 it began to rain, making the Great Meadow a morass and leaving everyone soaked to the skin. On the morning of July 3, only 300 out of 400 in Washington's command were fit for duty.

The French attacked at about 11 o'clock that morning in the rain. Washington attempted to line up his troops in the meadow, believing that the French would do battle in the conventional European manner. Villiers, however, was a veteran of North American wars and spread out his numerically superior force in the woods near the fort and, from cover, leveled a devastating fire on the British and Virginian soldiers who huddled in shallow trenches halffilled with water or within the poorly constructed stockade. The defenders could hardly return the fire since their inferior muskets were soaked. By evening the hopeless situation became desperate, and many of the men broke into the rum supply and drank themselves into oblivion.

As night fell, with his own ammunition running low and unsure of the political ramifications of the attack, Villiers offered generous surrender terms. Washington's men would be allowed to march out of Fort Necessity with their possessions, muskets, and colors. All they had to do is give up the fort, promise not to return to the region for a year, relinquish their swivel guns, and leave two officers as hostages to ensure that the terms were kept. Unbeknownst to Washington, the terms, written in French, also included a provision indicating that Washington was personally responsible for the "assassination" of Jumonville. Having lost 30 killed and 70 wounded--the French had only three killed--Washington had little choice but to surrender. At 10 a.m. on July 4, 1754, Washington's ragged and hungover troops left Fort Necessity and began the long march back to Virginia.

The French destroyed the fort and returned triumphantly to Fort Duquesne, having secured the Ohio Valley--for at least the time being. Today, Fort Necessity National Battlefield has a reconstructed stockade run by the National Park Service.

Bibliography:

Fred Anderson, The Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of the British Empire in North America, 1754-1766 (New York: Knopf, 2000)

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