George Washington in the French and Indian War

In 1748, at the age of sixteen, George Washington ventured into the Western reaches of Virginia to survey lands in the Shenandoah Valley and along the South Branch of the Potomac River for Lord Fairfax.

Fairfax was the proprietor of millions of acres of land in the Northern Neck, which comprised of the land between the headwaters of the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers.  

Pierre Joseph Céloron de Blainville set out from Montreal on a mission to mark the boundaries of French claims in the Ohio country.  Lead plates were buried at the mouths of key tributaries and waterways, including at the forks of the Ohio River where modern-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is located.  

Due in part to his experience surveying on the frontier, as well as his ties to the powerful Fairfax family, Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie selected George Washington to undertake an arduous journey to the French forts in the Ohio Valley. 

Washington leaves Williamsburg, Virginia on this day, under orders to demand a French withdrawal from lands that were claimed by Virginia.  

Washingtons' party leaves Fort LeBouef with St. Pierre's response on December 16, 1753.  St. Pierre says he will forward Dinwiddie's letter to Duquesne. Washington and Gist embark on a dramatic journey back to Williamsburg.

Washington's troops, aided by allied Native American under the command of Tanacharison, attack a party of French soldiers led by Joseph Coulon de Villiers, Sieur de Jumonville. Washington's native allies killed the wounded, including Jumonville. The surviving French soldiers claim to be on a diplomatic mission.

On May 27th, 1754, one day prior to the attack on Jumonville's forces, George Washington wrote to Governor Dinwiddie that "We have with Natures assistance made a good Intrenchment and by clearing the Bushes out of these Meadows prepar’d a charming field for an Encounter...."

By early June, Washington's "charming field" was bolstered by a small stockade, ringed by several small cannons known as swivel guns. Washington update Dinwiddie of his situation on June 3rd, boasting that "We have just finish’d a small palisadod Fort in which with my small Number’s I shall not fear the attack of 500 Men,"

At 11 a.m. the French forces surrounding Washington's position attack Fort Necessity under the leadership of Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers, Jumonville's older brother.  By 8 p.m. the French offer terms for surrender that Washington and his fellow officers agree to.  

Determined to capture Fort Duquesne and the forks of the Ohio once and for all, British regulars under the command of Major General Edward Braddock concentrated in Alexandria, Virginia before leaving for the frontier in April 1755.

After refusing a captaincy in the newly formed Virginia independent companies, Washington volunteers to serve as Braddock's aide de camp. 

Before leaving home to join the general, Washington wrote to his friend William Fairfax "I cannot think of quitting Fairfax without embracing this last oppertunity of bidding you farewell. I shall this day set out for Wills Creek, where I expect to meet the Genl, and to stay—I fear too long, as our March must be regulated by the slow movements of the [artillery] Train, which I am sorry to say, will be tedious—very tedeous indeed—as I have long predicted, tho’ few believ’d."

Braddock's forces, nearing their target of Fort Duquesne, are surprised and routed by a much smaller force of French and their allied Native Americans.  

Braddock is mortally wounded during the attack, but George Washington rallies the remaining forces. Even in defeat, he is lauded as the "hero of the Monongahela." 

To learn more about the role Washington played in this battle, read our interview with Dr. David Preston, author of "Braddock's Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution."

Although the fighting in America had been ongoing since 1754, Great Britain formally declared war on France in 1756. This marked the beginning of what would become known in Europe as the Seven Years' War.  

Washington pens a four-page letter to Virginia lieutenant governor Robert Dinwiddie on behalf of the officers of the Virginia Regiment for official commissions in the British Army. Arguing that he and his fellow officers of the Virginia Regiment were being unjustly ignored by the royal government, the letter is the earliest-known example of Washington’s rebellious spirit—foreshadowing a revolution 20 years away.

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As British forces under General John Forbes advance from their base at Fort Ligonier, the French blew up and abandoned Fort Duquesne.  British troops took possession of the ground and began building a new fortification, named Fort Pitt. Washington and his Virginians played a pivotal role in this successful campaign.  

Late in 1758, while in Williamsburg, Virginia, George Washington resigned his commission in the Virginia Regiment. On December 31, 1758, George Washington's officers addressed their commander, stating:

"Judge then, how sensibly we must be Affected with the loss of such an excellent Commander, such a sincere Friend, and so affable a Companion. How rare is it to find those amiable Qualifications blended together in one Man? How great the Loss of such a Man?"

On January 6, 1759, following his resignation, Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis at her home in New Kent County, Virginia.  With the war behind him, Washington enthusiastically turned his attention to his new family and life as a farmer at Mount Vernon.