Fort Necessity National Battlefield is a National Battlefield Site preserving elements of the Battle of Fort Necessity in
Fayette CountyFayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the2000 census, the population was 148,644. The county is part of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area....
,
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
, United States. The Battle of Fort Necessity occurred on July 3, 1754 and was an early battle of the
French and Indian WarThe French and Indian War, also known as the War of the Conquest or referred as part of the larger conflict known as the Seven Years' War, was a war fought in North America between 1754 and 1763...
.
After returning to the great meadows in what is now
Fayette CountyFayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the2000 census, the population was 148,644. The county is part of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area....
,
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
,
George WashingtonGeorge Washington was the commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the first President of the United States of America...
decided it prudent to reinforce his position. Supposedly named by Washington as Fort Necessity or Fort of Necessity, they constructed a storehouse to store supplies such as gunpowder, rum, and flour.
Fort Necessity National Battlefield is a National Battlefield Site preserving elements of the Battle of Fort Necessity in
Fayette CountyFayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the2000 census, the population was 148,644. The county is part of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area....
,
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
, United States. The Battle of Fort Necessity occurred on July 3, 1754 and was an early battle of the
French and Indian WarThe French and Indian War, also known as the War of the Conquest or referred as part of the larger conflict known as the Seven Years' War, was a war fought in North America between 1754 and 1763...
.
Battle of Fort Necessity
After returning to the great meadows in what is now
Fayette CountyFayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the2000 census, the population was 148,644. The county is part of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area....
,
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
,
George WashingtonGeorge Washington was the commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the first President of the United States of America...
decided it prudent to reinforce his position. Supposedly named by Washington as Fort Necessity or Fort of Necessity, they constructed a storehouse to store supplies such as gunpowder, rum, and flour. The crude palisade they erected was built more to defend supplies in the fort's storehouse from Washington's own men, whom he described as loose and idle, rather than as a planned defense against a hostile enemy. The
sutlerA sutler or victualer is a civilian merchant who sells provisions to an army in the field, in camp or in quarters.-Origin of the term:...
of Washington's force was John Fraser, who earlier had been second-in-command at Fort Prince George and who would later serve as Chief Scout to Braddock and then Chief Teamster to the Forbes Expedition.
By June 12, 1754, Washington had under his command 293 colonials and the nominal command of 100 additional regular British army troops from
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
. Washington spent the remainder of June 1754 extending the wilderness road further west and down the western slopes of the Allegheny range into the valley of the
Monongahela RiverThe Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in North-Central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States...
aiming for a river crossing point roughly near Redstone Creek and a mound on a bluff overlooking the river crossing known as
Redstone Old FortRedstone Old Fort or Redstone Fort or Fort Burd was the name of a wooden fort built about 1759 by English explorers on a mound overlooking the eastern shore of the Monongahela River in what is now Fayette County, Pennsylvania near Redstone Creek...
an aboriginal mound structure that may have once been a fortification. Five years later in the war Fort Burd was constructed at the target destination and the area eventually became the site of Nemacolin Castle and
Brownsville, PennsylvaniaBrownsville is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, 35 miles south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River. In 1940, 8,015 people lived here...
an important western jumping off point in the late
eighteenth centuryThe 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini/Common Era numbering system.However, Western historians sometimes specifically define the 18th century otherwise for the purposes of their work...
and early
nineteenth centuryThe 19th century was a period in history marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Ottoman, Holy Roman and Mughal empires...
.
Colonel Washington's chosen path west in order to reach the
Ohio RiverThe Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. It is approximately 981 miles long and is located in the eastern United States....
basins' navigable waters as soon as possible on the
Monongahela RiverThe Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in North-Central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States...
was along Nemacolin's Trail
as opposed to following the ridge hopping high altitude path traversed by the western part of Braddock's Road which jogged to the north near the fort and passed over another notch near
Confluence, PennsylvaniaConfluence is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 834 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Confluence is located at ....
into the valley and
drainage basinA drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean...
of the
Allegheny RiverThe Allegheny River is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania....
. The Redstone destination at the terminus of Nemacolin's Trail was a natural choice for an advanced base for the location was one of the few known good crossing points where both sides of the wide deep river had low accessible banks in a region where steep-to-sides characteristic of the Mon-valley were the norm.
Late in the day on July 3rd, Washington did not know the French situation. Feeling that their position was untenable, Washington accepted surrender terms which allowed the peaceful withdrawal of his forces which he completed on July 4, 1754. The French subsequently occupied the fort and then burned it. Washington did not speak French, and stated later that if he had known that he was confessing to the "assassination" of Jumonville, he would not have signed the surrender document.
Park formation and structure
Attempts to preserve the location of Fort Necessity were undertaken and on March 4, 1931, Congress declared the location a
National Battlefield SiteNational Military Park, National Battlefield, National Battlefield Park, and National Battlefield Site are four designations for 24 battle sites preserved by the United States federal government because of their national importance....
under management of the
War DepartmentThe United States Department of War, also called the War Office, was the cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the US Army...
. Transferred to the
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
in 1933, the park was redesignated a National Battlefield on August 10, 1961. As with all historic sites administered by the National Park Service, the battlefield was listed on the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on October 15, 1966. Subsequent archaeological research helped to uncover the majority of the original fort position, shape and design. A replica of the fort was completed in the 1970s. A new
visitor centerA visitor center or centre , visitor information center, tourist information center or tourist information, may be:...
, which also is home to a National Road interpretive center opened on October 8, 2005. The battlefield and fort are currently being improved, with a the fort replica being reconstructed to look more historically accurate, new informative signs being added, and the historic treelines and charge locations being outlined.
Along with the fort, the national battlefield also features two other historic sites. On a hillside adjacent to the battlefield and within the boundaries of the park is Mount Washington Tavern, a classic example of the many inns lining the
National RoadThe National Road or Cumberland Road was one of the first major improved highways in the United States, built by the federal government. Construction began in 1811 at Cumberland, Maryland, on the Potomac River. It then crossed the Allegheny Mountains and southwestern Pennsylvania, reaching...
, America's first federally-funded highway. The land on which the tavern was built was originally owned by George Washington, who purchased the site on which he commanded his first battle just a few months before his death in 1799. In 1827, Judge Nathnial Ewing of Uniontown constructed the tavern. James Sampey acquired the land and constructed an inn along the new highway. It was operated by his family until the railroad construction boom caused the National Road to decline in popularity, rendering the inn unprofitable. In 1855, it was sold to the Fazenbakers and served as a private home for the next 75 years, until it was acquired by the National Park Service in 1933 and restored. The Mount Washington Tavern demonstrates the standard features of an early American tavern, including a simple but congenial barroom that served as a gathering place, a more fancy parlor room that was used for relaxation, and crowded bedrooms in which people would crowd in order to catch up on sleep.
In a separate unit of the park lying about one mile (1.6 km) east of the battlefield lies the grave of General
Edward BraddockGeneral Edward Braddock was a British soldier and commander-in-chief for North America during the actions at the start of the French and Indian War...
. The legendary British commander oversaw many French and Indian War battles and led the construction of a useful, but inadequate wilderness road through Western Pennsylvania. Braddock was severely wounded in a failed siege on
Fort DuquesneFort Duquesne was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in what is now downtown Pittsburgh in the state of Pennsylvania....
. He and his regiment fled along the wilderness road to a site near Great Meadows. Here, on July 13, 1755, the worn-out general died and was buried in an elaborate ceremony presided and officiated by George Washington. His grave was hidden by the British, hoping to keep the site's location out of the hands of the enemy. His body was discovered in 1804 by men making repairs to the wilderness road. A fitting marker was erected in 1913.
Cultural Influences
- In the episode "Bart Gets an F
"Bart Gets an F" is the first episode of The Simpsons
' second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 11, 1990. In the episode, Bart fails four consecutive history exams and the school psychiatrist recommends that Bart repeat the fourth grade...
" of The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
, after failing a history test (which would result in his repeating the fourth grade) Bart says, "Now I know how George Washington felt when he surrendered Fort Necessity to the French in 1754." In what his teacher regards as applied knowledge of an accurate and relatively obscure reference, she gives him an extra point on his exam allowing him to pass the fourth grade.
See also
- Joseph Coulon de Jumonville
Joseph Coulon de Villiers, Sieur de Jumonville was a French Canadian military officer. His defeat at the Battle of Jumonville Glen and his death after surrendering to George Washington would help spark the French and Indian War .- Early life :Jumonville was born in the seigneury of Verchères, New...
- Jumonville
Jumonville is a United Methodist camping and retreat center located in rural Fayette County, Pennsylvania, USA near the town of Hopwood.-See also:* Battle of the Great Meadows* Battle of Jumonville Glen* Fort Necessity* Joseph Coulon de Jumonville...
- Battle of Jumonville Glen
The Battle of Jumonville Glen, also known as the Jumonville affair, was the opening battle of the French and Indian War fought on May 28, 1754 near what is present-day Uniontown in Fayette County, Pennsylvania...
- Fort Necessity
- Battle of the Great Meadows
The Battle of Fort Necessity, or the Battle of the Great Meadows took place on July 3, 1754 in what is now the mountaintop hamlet of Farmington in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The engagement was one of the first battles of the French and Indian War and George Washington's only military surrender...
External links
- Map links
- Main unit (Fort Necessity):
- Braddock Grave unit:
- Jumonville Glen unit: