BGuthrie Photos: PA -- Fort Necessity Natl Battlefield -- Fort

PA -- Fort Necessity Natl Battlefield -- Fort:

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon

underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.

Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

Accessing as Spider: The system has identified your IP as being a spider.
IP Address: 3.138.134.107 -- Domain: Amazon Technologies
I love well-behaved spiders! They are, in fact, how most people find my site. Unfortunately, my network has a limited bandwidth and pictures take up bandwidth. Spiders ask for lots and lots of pages and chew up lots and lots of bandwidth which slows things down considerably for regular folk. To counter this, you'll see all the text on the page but the images are being suppressed. Also, some system options like merges are being blocked for you.
Note: Permission is NOT granted for spiders, robots, etc to use the site for AI-generation purposes. I'm sure you're thrilled by your ability to make revenue from my work but there's nothing in that for my human users or for me.
If you are in fact human, please email me at guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can check if your designation was made in error. Given your number of hits, that's unlikely but what the hell.

Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]

[1] FTNECF_130330_001_STITCH.JPG

[2] FTNECF_130330_003_STITCH.JPG

[3] FTNECF_130330_004_STITCH.JPG

[4] FTNECF_130330_005_STITCH.JPG

[5] FTNECF_130330_009_STITCH.JPG

[6] FTNECF_130330_011_STITCH.JPG

[7] FTNECF_130330_013.JPG	[8] FTNECF_130330_017.JPG	[9] FTNECF_130330_023.JPG
[10] FTNECF_130330_029.JPG	[11] FTNECF_130330_035.JPG	[12] FTNECF_130330_041.JPG
[13] FTNECF_130330_048.JPG	[14] FTNECF_130330_056.JPG	[15] FTNECF_130330_065.JPG
[16] FTNECF_130330_070.JPG	[17] FTNECF_130330_076.JPG	[18] FTNECF_130330_082.JPG
[19] FTNECF_130330_093.JPG	[20] FTNECF_130330_100.JPG	[21] FTNECF_130330_104.JPG
[22] FTNECF_130330_118.JPG	[23] FTNECF_130330_122.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. FTNECF_130330_017.JPG: Building Fort Necessity Here, in a rare meadow among the frontier forests, British soldiers began raising a small stockade in May of 1754. Lt Col George Washington and 40 Virginia militia had skirmished with a small French detachment nearby on May 28; now Washington decided to built [sic] a "fort of necessity" to defend his 130-man regiment from a large French army he assumed would see revenge. Washington selected the fort's site in the field ahead. His soldiers split oak logs in half, then set them upright in a large circle about 53 feet across. Inside the stockade, they built a 14-foot-square log storehouse. Outside, they began digging trenches in the boggy ground. They finished building the fort in five days. By mid-June, Washington received reinforcements, increasing the British force to almost 400 -- with promises that more British troops were on the way. Building the Road: While waiting for reinforcements and further orders, Washington kept most of his men busy extending their British military road. Virginia troops extended the road 13 miles beyond Fort Necessity. On June 28, Indian scouts reported a French and Indian force was advancing south. Hoping to find supplies and reinforcements, the British retreated back over Chestnut Ridge to Fort Necessity (June 28-30). Leaving Fort Duquesne, 600 French and 100 Indians paddled and poled up the Monongahela River (June 28-30), then marched along Redstone Creek and up the British military road to Fort Necessity (July 1-3).
2. FTNECF_130330_029.JPG: Surrender Negotiations Soon after 8:00pm on July 3, 1754, the British crossed this meadow to discuss the surrender terms being offered by the French under Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers. The timing was fortunate for the British as about half of their 400 soldiers were sick, wounded, or dead. Surrounded by some 700 French and Indians, they had little chance to escape. Over the next four hours, French and British officers negotiated the surrender details. At daybreak on July 4, the British marched from Fort Necessity between two facing ranks of French troops. The surrender troops allowed the British to carry out their arms, supplies, and wounded, and "return to their own country." Soon after it was vacated, the French burned Fort Necessity and left it in ruins. The French surrender document that Captain James Mackay and Col George Washington signed was negotiated under difficult circumstances, mostly through a Virginia officer of Dutch descent who spoke French. Later, Washington discovered that the document included an admission that he had "assassinated" de Villiers' brother at Jumonville Glen on May 28.
3. FTNECF_130330_035.JPG: The French Attack: July 3, 1754 dawned and drizzly. Mid-morning about 700 French and Indians approached from the far end of the meadow toward fewer than 400 British soldiers in and around Fort Necessity. French Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers saw the British standing before their trenches, in battle lines typical of European tactics. With a cry, the Indians and French advanced. Strategies quickly changed as the British withdrew into their fortifications while the French and Indians dispersed into the woods to surround the fort. Most of the French and Indians concentrated in the woods behind you where -- protected by trees and within accurate firing range -- they held the advantage. As rain fell throughout the day, the French exchanged musket fire with the British, most of whom were lying in water-filled trenches. The French and Indian force approached along Washington's unfinished military road until they reached the Great Meadows. They briefly appeared in this part of the Great Meadows, before following their scouts into the woods. The French commander, de Villiers, positions his troops "so as to confine the British in their fort and entirely prevent them from leaving." The majority of the French and their Indian allies then fought from this position in the woods within musket range of Fort Necessity. When not firing at the British in and around Fort Necessity, the French and Indians shot the British army's horses, cattle, and dogs in this meadow.
4. FTNECF_130330_041.JPG: British Defenses: From the earthworks and stream banks behind you, the British fired back at the French and Indians. A steady rain dampened gun powder and fouled muskets. Lying in water-filled trenches, the British soldiers' ammunition and morale began to dwindle. Casualties mounted. Dozens of wounded were carried or dragged into the stockade. About 30 dead soldiers lay in the mud. By late afternoon, the drizzle changed to a downpour. When it stopped, the British feared the worst. With few bayonets to counter a deadly charge from the woods, the British were at a great disadvantage. Then, about 8:00pm, a Frenchman yelled out -- not in a battle cry, as expected -- but asking the British if they wanted to negotiate. Twenty-two-year-old Colonel George Washington planned his defenses between two streambeds, with earthworks surrounding a wooded stockade. Although Washington's selection for the fort's location was proper for the tactics of the time, it had two drawbacks: the fort was too close to the treeline, and the trenches dug into the boggy soil filled with water when it rained.
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Wikipedia Description: Fort Necessity National Battlefield
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fort Necessity National Battlefield, located near Farmington, Pennsylvania, commemorates the first military engagement of the French and Indian War (known as the Seven Years' War outside of the United States). Established by an act of Congress in 1932, the park consists of three separate sections totaling about 900 acres (4 km�). Here, George Washington commanded almost 400 troops in a failed early attempt to thwart French colonial expansion. What became known as the Battle of the Great Meadows, which was fought on July 3, 1754, sparked a long struggle between British and French colonial interests in North America, and in doing so helped cause the worldwide conflict known as the Seven Years' War. It is also the location of George Washington's only military surrender. Along with the fort and battlefield, the park also contains an historic tavern from the early days of the National Road and the grave of British military commander Edward Braddock.

Fort design and construction:

Built in an open clearing surrounded by dense hardwood forest, the fort was a circular palisade constructed primarily of white oak. Crude and simplistic, the fort centerpiece was a 10 by 14 foot (3 by 4 m) shed surrounded by a 7 to 8 foot (2 to 2.5 m) tall palisade fence that was 53 feet (16 m) in diameter. Earthworks were built outside the main stockade in a diamond shape and two streams run in between the earthworks and the palisade. The project took the men five days to complete.

History:

After the failed attempt to build and secure a fort at the "Forks of the Ohio" (present day location of Pittsburgh) in January 1754, colonial Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia sent 22 year old Lt. Colonel George Washington to build a roadway through the forest that would allow greater numbers of troops and equipment to enter the region. After completing the road in May 1754, Washington and his party scouted out an area which was known as the great meadows and decided that this would be a good choice for an encampment. Told by Indian guides that an advance party of French soldiers was nearby, Washington and approximately 40 of the colonials set out to locate them. On the morning of May 28, 1754, Washington's party encountered a small group of French troops, under the leadership of Joseph Coulon de Villiers, Sieur de Jumonville. In the Battle of Jumonville Glen, 10 French soldiers were killed and 21, including Jumonville, who was wounded, were captured. It has never been determined who initiated the first shots, but what has become known as the Jumonville affair has been credited as the commencement of the French and Indian War, or as it is known in Europe, the Seven Years' War.

After returning to the great meadows, Washington decided it prudent to reinforce his position. Supposedly named by Washington as Fort Necessity or Fort of Necessity, the crude palisade they erected was hoped to be at least temporarily sufficient to protect their position. By June 12, 1754, Washington had under his command 293 colonials and nominal command of 100 additional regular British army troops from South Carolina. Washington spent the remainder of June 1754 fortifying his position and extending the wilderness road further towards the forks of the Ohio.

On July 3, 1754, in the Battle of the Great Meadows, 600 French troops led by Capt. Louis Coulon de Villiers, the brother of Jumonville, along with 100 Indians, attacked the fort. Throughout the day, heavy rain swamped the low lying fort making the use of firearms difficult and ruining much of the gunpowder and provisions. Late in the day, seeing that their position was untenable, Washington accepted a truce 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.

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 Site under management of the War Department. Transferred to the National Park Service 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 Places 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 center, 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 Road, 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 1828, 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 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 east of the battlefield lies the grave of General Edward Braddock. 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 Duquesne. 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" of The Simpsons, 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.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].