Wednesday night my PBS station is airing the first of a two part series on the French and Indian War called The War That Made America. They are advertising it as the world war “started by George Washington”.
A couple of days ago I commented on one of SusanHu’s front pages that we shouldn’t lose heart if we lose the Alito battle. George Washington proved that you can lose almost every battle and still win the war. The average American doesn’t know how many battles George Washington lost during the American Revolution. For that matter, the average American doesn’t know that George Washington’s first military endeavor was such a disaster that it began a world war.
I haven’t seen “The War that Made America” so I can’t vouch for its accuracy. But I intend to watch it. For those of you who think this series might be too dry, let me tell you the story of how George Washington started a world war. But first, a disclaimer. I’m not an historian, just a French Canadian history buff. Most of this story will come from Chapter 4 (Washington Steps onto the Stage …) and Chapter 5 (… and Stumbles) of Fred Anderson’s “The Crucible of War” which contains the most even-handed narrative about the war that I’ve yet read.
On December 11, 1753, the French stationed at Fort LeBoeuf, just south of Lake Erie, had settled in to endure an early winter snowstorm. Imagine their surprise when, in the midst of the snowstorm, a bedraggled group of Englishmen arrived to deliver a letter. The French and British empires were at peace; yet this visit was a surprise.
Captain Jacques LeGardeur, the fifty-five year old veteran French commander of Fort LeBoeuf, greeted the young leader of the English expedition, George Washington, and offered him the comforts of the fort. He received from Washington a letter from Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia that politely but emphatically asked the French to vacate the Ohio River valley.
Washington would later describe LeGardeur as “an elderly gentleman with much the air of the soldier,” proving that he had missed, as Anderson says, the measure of the veteran soldier. When LeGardeur retired with his officers (and English interpreter) to consider the letter, Washington made notes on the strength of the fort which clearly had been built by the French with the intent of making their presence in the land south of the Great Lakes permanent.
LeGardeur returned a polite but brief reply to Washington. He would forward the letter to the Governor of New France in Quebec so they could consider “the pretensions of the King of Great Britain.” But in the meantime LeGardeur made it clear that he intended to follow his orders and retain control of Fort LeBoeuf and the land of the Ohio River Valley.
LeGardeur, whose ancestors had come to the New World in the 1630’s, was clearly concerned about the Washington expedition and its effect on New France. Washington was clearly concerned about the permanent look of the fort and his feeling that the French were in the Ohio Valley to stay, thereby blocking the English westward expansion and, in the process, blocking Washington’s land speculation plans.
Washington passed his fears along to Governor Dinwiddie (who was also interested in land speculation). The governor decided that it was his duty as an Englishman to drive the French out – although whether the colonial office in London desired that the governor of a remote American colony begin a war between a British colony and a colony of the French Empire is not at all clear.
Dinwiddie decided that the construction of an English post at the forks of the Ohio (currently Pittsburgh) would show the French that their plans would come to naught. A group of Englishmen set off and began to build the fort, with full knowledge that the French would soon arrive to challenge them. But they also knew that Dinwiddie was sending Washington with troops to follow and reinforce them. The French of course soon learned of the construction of the new Fort and, with the spring thaw, arrived under the command of Captain Contrecoeur to remove this incursion onto what they believed to be their domain.
Let’s let Fred Anderson describe what happened when Ensign Ward in the English fort was confronted by the French:
When Contrecoeur’s spies in the region reported that the English had begun building a fort on the site, he had moved quickly, and now was indisposed to negotiate. He bluntly informed Ensign Ward that he could choose between immediate surrender or having his post seized by force. Ward weighed the odds – forty English volunteers and carpenters with next to no food in a hastily completed palisade, against a force of professional soldiers that looked to him at least a thousand strong, wielding enough firepower to blow his fort to matchsticks – and chose the better part of valor. Once it became clear that Contrecoeur would allow him and his men to leave the post with their honor and possessions intact, Ward made no further protest. That evening, as if to show that there were no hard feelings, Contrecoeur treated Ward and his men to a handsome, and welcome, feast.
The French proceeded to construct Fort Duquesne at the forks of the Ohio:
On April 20th Washington was making his way through the Virginia wilderness with his cannon and wagons and 160 “untrained, poorly equipped, inadequately supplied, badly clothed solders” with, as Anderson says, “little hope of harassing, much less killing and destroying, the French”. Chopping and sawing their way through the woods, the English were making poor progress.
Unlike the French, the English had little experience in military campaigning in the back country. But like the French, they relied on their Indian allies. Unfortunately for the English, their primary allies, the Iroquois confederation had, fifty years earlier, pledged neutrality in all conflicts between the French and the English. And now their Southern Indian allies, the Cherokee and Catawba, had failed to respond to the call to arms. Washington had with him only an Indian named Taneghrissan and an Indian escort. Taneghrissan, who lived in the Ohio valley, was angry with the French who had reduced his standing among the Indians of the Ohio Valley. And now Washington learned that Ward had abandoned the post to the French.
Taking stock of this unpromising situation, a mature and self-confident commander might well have bided his time, awaited reinforcements, sought better intelligence, advised the governor of the state of affairs. Washington decided to advance.
In the meantime, at Fort Duquesne Contrecoeur, was following the reports of their progress with concern. France and England were at peace. And yet he had an English force advancing upon his position with apparently every intention of reaching Fort Duchesne. A preemptive strike was out of the question since he did not want to start a war. He decided to send an emissary to the English commander to instruct him to withdraw.
Contrecoeur chose Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville, a member of a French Canadian military family who had been raised in the service of New France, as his emissary. Jumonville set off with an escort of 35 men. Since Contrecoeur knew the makeup of Washington’s force, he clearly did not intend Jumonville’s much smaller force to attack the English force.
Four days later Washington was informed by Taneghressan that a French force was scouting his position. Washington immediately sent half his force to cut off the French between the river and his encamped position. But later that evening he received word from Taneghrisson of the exact French position and he realized he had sent half his men off in the wrong direction.
Washington decided that he must act. Breaking camp at 10:00 at night, making their way through the woods in a pouring rain, led by Taneghrisson and his men, the Englishmen made their way to the location where the French camped for the night. They arrived at sunrise, exhausted and dirty and disoriented. Taneghrisson took his men to the other side of the French camp while Washington remained with his 40 men. Washington described the engagement in his diary:
We formed ourselves for an Engagement, marching one after the other, in Indian manner: we were advanced pretty near to them as we thought, when they discovered us; whereupon I ordered my company to fire; mine was supported by that of Mr. Waggoner’s and my company and his received the whole fire of the French, during the greatest part of the action, which only lasted a quarter of an hour, before the Enemy was routed.
We killed Mr. de Jumonville, the commander of that party, as also nine others; we wounded one and made twenty-one prisoners among whom were M. laForce, M. .Drouillon and two Cadets. The Indians scalped the dead and took away the most part of their arms …
“We killed Mr. de Jumonville”. That prosaic diary entry holds a whole host of questions. Washington repeated this version of events in his official report and in a letter to his brother Jack. But there were other versions of the encounter.
One of Jumonville’s soldiers had escaped through the woods before Jumonville was killed. He made his way back to Fort Duquesne where he gave his report to Contrecoeur who passed it on to the governor in Quebec:
One of that party, Monceau by name, a Canadian, made his escape and tells us that they built themselves cabbins in a low bottom where they sheltered themselves as it rained hard. About seven o’clock the next morning they saw themselves surrounded by the English on one side and the Indians on the other. The English gave them two volleys but the Indians did not fire. Mr. de Jumonville, by his interpreter, told them to desist, that he had something to tell them. Upon which they ceased firing. Upon which Mr. de Jumonville ordered the summons which I had sent them to retire, to be read … The aforesaid Monceau, saw all our Frenchmen coming up close to Mr. de Jumonville whilst they were reading the summons, so that they were all in platoons between the English and the Indians, during which time Monceau made the best of his way to us, partly on land through the woods and partly on the River Mononghahela in a small canoe. This is all, Sir, that I could learn from said Monceau.
And so a different picture of the encounter emerges. The Indians and the English did come upon the French encampment and surround the French, but in this account a ceasefire had occurred during which Jumonville had presented his missive. How then had Jumonville been killed? But Monceau had no answers, he had escaped before the death of Jumonville.
Contrecoeur learned of the death of Jumonville from one of Taneghrissan’s Indians who arrived later at Fort Duquesne.
[the Indian informed Contrecoeur] that Mr. de Jumonville was killed by a musket shot in the head , whilst they were reading the summons; and the English would afterwards have killed all our men , had not the Indians who were present, by rushing between them and the English prevented their design.
And so the picture changes to a battle followed by a massacre. Jumonville was killed by the English during the ceasefire and the Indians heroically protected the remainder of the French. In the eyes of the French, Washington had now perpetrated a massacre on his foe against all rules of civilized warfare. But why did one of Taneghrissan’s Indians make his way to Fort Duquesne to tell this story? And was it true?
Yet another version of the battle exists. It was a report by a soldier, private John Shaw, to the governor of South Carolina. The soldier was not there, he heard it from persons who were there, so it is hearsay.
That an Indian and a White Man, having brought information to Colonel Washington that a party of French consisting of five and thirty men were out [scouting] and lay about six miles off upon which Col. Washington and about forty men and Captain Hogg with a party of forty more and [Taneghrissan] with his Indians consisting of thirteen immediately set out in search of them, but having taken different roads Col. Washington and his men and the Indians first came up with them and found them encamped between two hills . It being early in the morning some of them were asleep and some eating, but having heard a noise they were immediately in great confusion and immediately betook themselves to their arms and as this deponent has heard one of the French fired a gun upon which Col. Washington gave the word for all his men to fire. Several of them being killed the rest betook themselves to flight, but our Indians having gone round the French when they saw them immediately fled back to the English and delivered up their arms desiring quarter which was accordingly promised them.
Some time after the Indians came up [Taneghrissan] and split the head of the French captain having first asked if he was an Englishman and being told that he was a French Man. He then took out his brains and washed his hands with them and then scalped him. All this he [Shaw] has heard and never heard contradicted but knows nothing of it from his own knowledge only he has seen the bones of the French Men who were killed in number about 13 or 14 and the head of one stuck upon a stick for none of them were buried and he also heard that one of our men was killed at that time.
So now we learn that the French accidentally fired first, which caused Washington to unleash his fire. That there was a cease fire; but Jumonville was not killed by the English but by Taneghrissan.
The final account is from another French report.
The 7th Sunday, a courier arrived from the Ohio. Monsieur de Contrecoeur … sends the attached deposition of an English deserter.
Denis Kaninguen, who deserted from the English army camp yesterday morning, arrived at the camp of Fort Duquesne today, 30 June.
He reports that the English army is composed of 430 men , in addition to whom there are about 30 savages.
That Monsieur de Jumonville had been killed by an English detachment which surprised him. That the officer had gone out to communicate his orders to the English commander. Notwithstanding the discharge of musket fire that the latter [Washington] had made upon him, he [Washington] intended to read it [the summons that Jumonville carried] and had withdrawn himself to his people, whom he had [previously] ordered to fire upon the French. That Monsieur de Jumonville, having been wounded and having fallen, Taneghrissan, a savage, came up to him and had said, thou art not yet dead, my father, and struck several hatchet blows with which he killed him.
That Monsieur Druillon, ensign, and second in command to Monsieur de Jumonville, had been taken captive with all of the detachment, which was of thirty men. Messieurs de Boucherville and du Sable, cadets, and laForce, commissary, were among the number of prisoners. There were between ten and twelve Canadians killed and that the prisoners had been carried to the city of Virginia [Williamsburg].
That the English had little food with them.
That if the French do not come into the territory of the English, the latter will no longer want to come into the land of the former.
That the said Denis Kaninguen had been pursued when leaving the English camp by a horseman whose thigh he broke with a gunshot, and [that he had] taken his horse, and ridden at full speed to the French camp.
According to Fred Anderson, this last report allows us to understand what had happened. Taneghrissan, out of favor with the French who controlled the Ohio River valley, knew that his only hope of regaining his authority was through the English. He also knew (through years of experience) that he couldn’t count on the English to do the job right and not surrender to the French. And, in fact, he was disgusted when Ensign Ward surrendered the forks of the Ohio to the French. And so, in Fred Anderson’s opinion, Taneghrissan decided to do the job right and start a war between the French and the English. His evidence is the words of ritual “my father”. “You are not dead yet my Father” contains those words of ritual used between the French and the Indians where the Indians referred to the French as “my father”.
And Washington? After the initial shock of Jumonville’s death, Washington composed his careful, bland report and then began to build a palisaded camp (Fort Necessity) against the attack that he knew would come in retaliation from the French. In fact, the attack was lead by Jumonville’s brother who had arrived at Fort Duquesne with a supply train only to hear of his brothers death at the hands of the English. Washington ended up surrendering his entire force to the French on July 3, 1754 and was forced to sign articles of capitulation that included his “confession” to the murder of Jumonville. Washington would later claim that, since the document was in French, he hadn’t known what he was signing.
Washington’s mission was an unmitigated disaster. The war he started would spread throughout the French and British empires and would end the French colonization of North America.
This was the first of many battles that Washington would lose in his lifetime. But Washington will always be remembered as the man who won one of the most important wars in history. So keep that in mind when it seems that we are losing battles. Keep your eyes on the ultimate prize.
