 | CHAPTER XLII History of Virginia |  |
CHAPTER XLII
DINWIDDIE'S ADMINISTRATION—FORT
NECESSITY
It was plain to Dinwiddie from the tenor of the letters of
the French that force alone would stop the further advance
of this nation towards the Alleghanies, and he, therefore,
began to take energetic steps to demonstrate to the enemy that
this advance would be resisted with all the military power of
the Colony. Two companies, one of them to be made up of
seasoned frontiersmen, were, according to the first plan which
he formed, to be organized and placed under Washington's
order in an expedition that was to proceed to the confluence
of the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers, where it was supposed
the Ohio Company had by this time started upon the
construction of the fort so long intended to be built there.
The troops now to be sent out were expected to complete this
fort, had it not been already finished. The General Assembly
after some delay, appropriated ten thousand pounds in colonial
currency for the equipment of the soldiers. The regiment
that was ultimately despatched numbered three hundred men,
under the command of Colonel Fry and Lieutenant-Colonel
Washington. The governors of New York and South Carolina
were instructed by the English Government to recruit troops
to co-operate with this force.
By April (1754), Washington, at the head of two companies,
had arrived at Great Meadows, and here he learned
that the detachment which had been engaged at the confluence
of the Alleghany and Monongahela in building the fort permitted
by the terms of the Indian treaty had been set upon
by the French descending from Venango, captured, and their
was continued by the enemy for their own use.
Washington decided that it would be imprudent for him
to go forward with his small force and attack the foe
entrenched in their now formidable position, and he, therefore,
contented himself with the clearing of a road through
the woods that would allow the easy passage of his cannon.
The attitude of the Indians while he was so employed was
such as to cause him serious apprehension. There was
encamped not far from Great Meadows a detachment of
French, who, with their savage allies, were constantly engaged
in reconnoitering the movements of his troops. Upon this
party, Washington, at the head of a band of his own men
and friendly Indians, stole under the cover of darkness, and,
in the skirmish that followed, killed the commander and ten
of his soldiers, and captured twenty-two others.
This seems to have been the first real battle in which Washington
had ever taken part, and it was reported long afterwards
that he had exclaimed on this occasion that "there was
no music so pleasing to the ear as the whistling of bullets."
He denied in later years that he had ever given utterance to
such balderdash; or if he had done so, it could only have
been, he said, when he was under the influence of youthful
effervescence.
Colonel Fry died in March, and Washington was promoted
to the chief command of the regiment. Hearing that the
French, who had reinforced the detachment stationed at Fort
Duquesne, were making active preparations to march down
to the scene of the skirmish, he, now short of provisions and
dissatisfied with his situation on that ground, fell back to
Great Meadows, which had recently received the new name
of Fort Necessity. By the third of July, a little army of nine
hundred Frenchmen had come up and occupied a position,
lying in front of the fort, which was protected from close
inspection by a canopy of leaves and a mass of high-growing
grasses. This position was especially favorable for the fire
a heavy rain began to fall, which so flooded the trenches in
the fort that they had to be deserted, and many of the guns
were also put out of use by the downpour. To render the
circumstances of their situation worse, a large number of
the soldiers became intoxicated, and, in that condition, were
incapable of making a defense.
The French at this moment offered a parley, to which
Washington acceded. The terms submitted, being liberal in
a high degree, were accepted. The cannon were to be spiked,
but the soldiers were to be permitted to carry away their
arms and baggage, and also to march out of the confines of
the fort with their flags flying above their heads and their
drums beating a lively tattoo. The casualties of the Virginia
regiment in the siege had not exceeded twelve killed and
forty-three wounded. The losses of the other colonial troops
present were, perhaps, even more insignificant. The greater
part of the baggage and stores was abandoned in the fort, since
most of the packhorses had been devoured for rations. It
was with difficulty that the Indians, following their custom,
could be restrained from attacking the long procession of
retiring soldiers, and they sullenly contented themselves with
rifling the baggage and provisions which accompanied it.
That Washington's reputation for courage and discretion
was not damaged by the unlucky episode of Fort Necessity
was proven by the vote of thanks which was extended to him
by the General Assembly. A phrase in the articles of surrender
signed by him excited surprise when the document was
published. It would be inferred from his signature that he
had assented to the statement contained in this document
that he had "assassinated" De Jumonville, who had commanded
the reconnoitering party of French in the skirmish
that preceded the siege of Fort Necessity. It was shown
afterwards that Van Braam, the interpreter, in turning the
sentences from the French language into the English, had
mistranslated the word "assassinated" into a very mild
and the Assembly refused to reward his services in
the recent campaign; but it was revealed subsequently that
the man had no accurate knowledge of either the French or
the English tongue. He and another interpreter named Stobo
were retained by the French as hostages for the safe delivery
of all French prisoners who were to be released. Both men
after the fall of the fort were carried off to Quebec. Stobo
escaped, and returning to Williamsburg, was the subject of
a laudatory resolution adopted by the Assembly. Van Braam
continued a captive until Wolfe seized the heights of Abraham;
and he closed his military career as a major in a loyalist
regiment during the Revolution.
The success of the French military operations in the
region of the Ohio River stirred up the inhabitants of the
different colonies. The General Assembly of Virginia appropriated
twenty thousand pounds for the prosecution of the
war; and this sum was swelled by the funds contributed by
Maryland, New York, and England. The number of Virginia
companies was increased by Dinwiddie from five to ten.
There had recently arisen very sharp friction between officers
who held the King's commission and those who could only
show the commission of a colonial governor. The former
claimed the superior rank, although both might have been
appointed captains, majors, or colonels—the one by the royal
signature; the other, by the gubernatorial. Washington, who
had served as colonel, was demoted to the rank of captain, and
as such was expected to take orders from men with the King's
commission who had retained their higher rank, although,
during the existence of the former military status, they had
been subordinate to his command. In disgust, he threw up
the colonial commission which he held and withdrew from the
camp to his own home.
For the purpose of removing his objection to this
inequality, which was also shared by the other Virginian
officers, Dinwiddie directed that the new companies should be
forces in America; and that their officers should acquire their
rank exclusively from him as the governor of the Colony.
Colonel Innes, at the head of a little army composed of
Virginian and Carolinian troops, took position at Winchester
as the first step to an excursion beyond the Alleghanies; but
no equipment or provisions having been collected there for
a winter campaign (1754-5), the whole force seems to have
sunk into such inaction that it is not recorded that they
marched even to the crest of the nearest mountain. Subsequently,
Colonel Innes, at the head of a large body of Carolinians
and New Yorkers, erected a stronghold on the north
branch of the Potomac known as Fort Cumberland. This
fort was situated on the Maryland side of the stream at a
distance of fifty-five miles from the site of the modern Winchester.
The supineness displayed after the fall of Fort Necessity
in the previous July was possibly attributable to the expectation
that England would sooner or later despatch an army
from her own shores to drive the French intruders along
the Ohio back to their settlements in Canada. And in February
this anticipation—if it was ever really entertained—was
shown to be correct by the arrival of General Edward Braddock,
accompanied by a detachment of one thousand regulars.
| CHAPTER XLII History of Virginia | |