Editing Fort Duquesne (section)

==History==
===18th century===
[[File:Forts at Forks of Ohio.png|thumb|Map indicating the locations of the two forts]]
[[File:French Forts 1754.png|thumb|French forts, 1753 and 1754]]
[[File:Kitfry-1-.jpg|thumb|A 1755 map clearly showing the location of Fort Duquesne at the upper edge of the map.]]
[[File:Fort Duquesne.jpg|thumb|Model of Fort Duquesne]]
[[File:Duquesne outline.JPG|thumb|[[Point State Park]] in [[Downtown Pittsburgh]], where bricks mark the outline of the former site of Fort Duquesne. These bricks have since been replaced by granite slabs.<ref name="pointstparkguide" />]]
Fort Duquesne, built at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers which forms the [[Ohio River]], was considered strategically important for controlling the [[Ohio Country]],<ref name="Washington">"The Diaries of George Washington, Vol. 1", Donald Jackson, ed., Dorothy Twohig, assoc. ed. [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html Library of Congress American Memory site]</ref> both for settlement and for trade. The English merchant [[William Trent]] had established a highly successful [[fur trade|trading post]] at the forks as early as the 1740s, to do business with a number of nearby [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] villages. Both the French and the [[British colonization of the Americas|British]] were keen to gain advantage in the area.

As the area was within the drainage basin of the [[Mississippi River]], the French had claimed it as theirs. They controlled [[New France]] (Quebec), the Illinois Country along the Mississippi, and [[La Louisiane]], the ports of [[New Orleans]] and [[Mobile, Alabama]].

In the early 1750s, the French began construction of a line of forts, starting with [[Fort Presque Isle]] on [[Lake Erie]] in present-day [[Erie, Pennsylvania]], followed by [[Fort Le Boeuf]], about 15 miles south in present-day [[Waterford, Pennsylvania]], and [[Fort Machault]], on the Allegheny River in [[Venango County, Pennsylvania|Venango County]] in present-day [[Franklin, Pennsylvania]].

[[Robert Dinwiddie]], Lieutenant Governor of the [[Virginia Colony]], thought these forts threatened [[Ohio Company|extensive claims]] to the land area by Virginians (including himself) of the Ohio Company.

In late autumn 1753, Dinwiddie dispatched a young Virginia militia officer named [[George Washington in the French and Indian War|George Washington]] to the area to deliver a letter to the French commander at Fort Le Boeuf, asking them to leave. Washington was also to assess French strength and intentions. After reaching Fort Le Boeuf in December, Washington was politely rebuffed by the French.

Following [[George Washington|Washington]]'s return to [[Mount Vernon]] in January 1754, Dinwiddie sent Virginians to build [[Fort Prince George]] at the [[Forks of the Ohio]]. Work began on the fort on February 17. By April 18, a much larger French force of five hundred under the command of [[Claude-Pierre Pécaudy de Contrecœur]] arrived at the forks, forcing the small British garrison to surrender. The French knocked down the tiny British fort and built Fort Duquesne, named in honor of [[Marquis Duquesne]], the governor-general of [[New France]]. The fort was built on the same model as the French [[Fort Frontenac]] on [[Lake Ontario]].<ref name="W.J.Eccles">''France in America'', Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, p. 181</ref>

Washington, who was lieutenant colonel in the newly created [[Virginia Regiment]], set out on April 2, 1754, with a small force to build a road to, and then defend, Fort Prince George. Washington was at [[Wills Creek (North Branch Potomac River)|Wills Creek]] in north central Maryland when he received news of the fort's surrender. On May 28,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Letter from George Washington to John Augustine Washington (May 31, 1754)|last=Washington|first=George|url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/letter-from-george-washington-to-john-augustine-washington-may-31-1754/|access-date=18 March 2023|date=31 May 1754}}</ref> Washington encountered a Canadian scouting party near a place now known as [[Battle of Jumonville Glen|Jumonville Glen]] (several miles east of present-day [[Uniontown, Pennsylvania|Uniontown]]). Washington attacked the French Canadians, killing 10 in the early morning hours, and took 21 prisoners, of whom many were ritually killed by the Native American allies of the British.  On May 31, Washington replaced Colonel [[Joshua Fry]] as commander of the Virginia Regiment after Colonel Fry died en route to Wills Creek.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/fry-joshua-ca-1700-may-31-1754/|title=Joshua Fry (ca. 1700–May 31, 1754)|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Virginia|last=Farrell|first=Cassandra|date=22 December 2021|access-date=18 March 2023}}</ref>

The Battle of Jumonville Glen is widely considered the formal start of the [[French and Indian War]], the North American front of the [[Seven Years' War]].<ref name="anderson crucible of war">{{Cite book|title=Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754–1766 |last=Anderson |first=Fred |year=2000 |publisher=Knopf |location=New York |isbn=0-375-40642-5 |page=747 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-vMxLslZopgC&pg=PR1 }}</ref><ref name="Miller_Molesky_Our_Oldest_Enemy">{{cite book|last=Miller|first=John J.|author2=Molesky, Mark|date=18 December 2007|title=Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with France|pages=23–4|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0307419187|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q4VRH1I4POoC&pg=PT23 }}</ref>

Washington ordered construction of [[Fort Necessity]] at a large clearing known as the [[Battle of the Great Meadows|Great Meadows]]. On 3 July 1754, the counterattacking French and Canadians forced Washington to [[Battle of the Great Meadows|surrender Fort Necessity]]. After disarming them, they released Washington and his men to return home.

Although Fort Duquesne's location at the forks looked strong on a map—controlling the confluence of three rivers—the reality was rather different.  The site was low, swampy, and prone to flooding.  In addition, the position was dominated by highlands across the Monongahela River, which would allow an enemy to bombard the fort with ease.  Pécaudy de Contrecœur was preparing to abandon the fort in the face of [[Braddock expedition|Braddock's advance]] in 1755. He was able to retain it due to the advancing British force being annihilated (see below).  When the [[Forbes expedition]] approached in 1758, the French had initial success in the [[Battle of Fort Duquesne]] against the English vanguard, but were forced to abandon the fort in the face of the much superior size of Forbes' main force.

The French held the fort successfully early in the war, turning back the [[Braddock expedition|expedition led]] by General [[Edward Braddock]] during the 1755 [[Battle of the Monongahela]]. George Washington served as one of General Braddock's aides.  A [[Battle of Fort Duquesne|smaller attack]] by [[James Grant (general)|James Grant]] in September 1758 was repulsed with heavy losses.

Two months later, on November 25, 1758, the [[Forbes Expedition]] under the Scotsman General [[John Forbes (British Army officer)|John Forbes]] took possession Fort Duquesne after the French destroyed and abandoned the site.<ref>[[#Withers|Withers, & Draper, 1895]], p. 73</ref>