Fort Necessity (Photo: National Park Service)
In “Fort Necessity,” a small wooden barricade the 22-year old novice officer had ordered the Virginia colonial militiamen he commanded to construct. It was there —22 years before independence was declared — that Washington surrendered to a French army on July 4, 1754 –the first and only time he surrendered in his military career.
In command of a small group of Virginians and allied Native Americans led by a chief called the Half King, Washington had attacked a small party of French soldiers in late May in the wilderness south of modern day Pittsburgh near the border with West Virginia. (The site is now part of Fort Necessity National Battlefield). During the brief firefight, several Frenchmen had been killed after throwing down their weapons.
When Washington later surrendered to the French army that had come after him and his men, he was required to sign a formal “parole,” in which he essentially admitted that he had “assassinated” a French diplomat, one of the officers killed in the ambush. Washington later claimed that he did not understand the meaning of the French document he had signed. This incident helped spark the Seven Years War–known in American history as the French and Indian War, in which Washington served and gained his military experience.
The complete story of another important July 4th in American history is told in the “Washington”s Confession” chapter in AMERICA’S HIDDEN HISTORY
America’s Hidden History, includes tales of “Forgotten Founders”
