It was hoped to build a strong fort at the junction of the
Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, which would prevent the French getting
to the Ohio, since all travel in that wilderness must be by water. On
May 28, 1754, while hastening forward to secure this position,
Washington's little force encountered a party of French, and the first
shots were exchanged of the great contest which, twelve years later, was
to result in the expulsion of the French from the continent. It was
Washington who gave the word to fire, little foreseeing what history he
was making.
"I heard the bullets whistle," he wrote home to his mother, "and believe
me, there is something charming in the sound"--a bit of bravado which
shows that Washington had not yet quite outgrown his boyhood. No doubt
the bullets sounded much less charmingly five weeks later when he and
his men, brought to bay in a rude fortification which he named Fort
Necessity, were surrounded by a superior force of French and Indians,
and, after an all-day fight, compelled to surrender. It is worth
remarking that this bitter defeat--the first reverse which Washington
suffered--occurred on the third day of July, 1754. Twenty-one years from
that day, he was to draw his sword at the head of an American army.
Washington made his way back to Virginia with the news of his
failure.
Pages:
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86