Editing French and Indian War (section)

===Escalation in Ohio Country===
Governor-General of New France [[Jacques-Pierre de Taffanel de la Jonquière, Marquis de la Jonquière|Marquis de la Jonquière]] died on March 17, 1752, and he was temporarily replaced by Charles le Moyne de Longueuil. His permanent replacement was to be [[Michel-Ange Duquesne de Menneville|the Marquis Duquesne]], but he did not arrive in New France until 1752 to take over the post.<ref>Anderson (2000), p. 27</ref> The continuing British activity in the Ohio territories prompted Longueuil to dispatch another expedition to the area under the command of [[Charles Michel de Langlade]], an officer in the Troupes de la Marine. Langlade was given 300 men, including [[French-Canadians]] and warriors of the [[Ottawa (tribe)|Ottawa tribe]]. His objective was to punish the Miami people of Pickawillany for not following Céloron's orders to cease trading with the British. On June 21, the French war party [[Raid on Pickawillany|attacked the trading center]] at Pickawillany, capturing three traders<ref name="ParkLoram"/> and killing 14 Miami Indians, including Old Briton. He was reportedly ritually cannibalized by some Indians in the expedition party.

====Construction of French fortifications====
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[[File:Fort Le Boeuf.jpg|thumb|[[Fort Le Boeuf]] in 1754. In the spring of 1753, the French began to build a series of forts in the Ohio Country.]]
In the spring of 1753, [[Paul Marin de la Malgue]] was given command of a 2,000-man force of Troupes de la Marine and Indians. His orders were to protect the King's land in the Ohio Valley from the British. Marin followed the route that Céloron had mapped out four years earlier. Céloron, however, had limited the record of French claims to the burial of lead plates, whereas Marin constructed and garrisoned forts. He first constructed [[Fort Presque Isle]] on Lake Erie's south shore near [[Erie, Pennsylvania]], and he had a road built to the headwaters of [[LeBoeuf Creek (Pennsylvania)|LeBoeuf Creek]]. He then constructed a second fort at [[Fort Le Boeuf]] in [[Waterford, Pennsylvania]], designed to guard the headwaters of LeBoeuf Creek. As he moved south, he drove off or captured British traders, alarming both the British and the Iroquois. [[Tanaghrisson]] was a chief of the [[Mingo]] Indians, who were remnants of Iroquois and other tribes who had been driven west by colonial expansion. He intensely disliked the French whom he accused of killing and eating his father. He traveled to Fort Le Boeuf and threatened the French with military action, which Marin contemptuously dismissed.<ref name="fowler 31">Fowler, p. 31.</ref>

The Iroquois sent runners to the manor of [[Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet|William Johnson]] in upstate New York, who was the British Superintendent for Indian Affairs in the New York region and beyond. Johnson was known to the Iroquois as ''Warraghiggey'', meaning "he who does great things." He spoke their languages and had become a respected honorary member of the [[Iroquois|Iroquois Confederacy]] in the area, and he was made a colonel of the Iroquois in 1746; he was later commissioned as a colonel of the Western New York Militia.

The Indian representatives and Johnson met with Governor [[George Clinton (Royal Navy officer)|George Clinton]] and officials from some of the other American colonies at [[Albany, New York]]. [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]] [[Chief Hendrick]] was the speaker of their tribal council, and he insisted that the British abide by their obligations{{which|date=April 2017}} and block French expansion. Clinton did not respond to his satisfaction, and Hendrick said that the "[[Covenant Chain]]" was broken, a long-standing friendly relationship between the Iroquois Confederacy and the British Crown.

====Virginia's response====
[[File:Washington 1772.jpg|thumb|upright|In 1754, [[George Washington]] of the [[Virginia Regiment]] was dispatched to warn the French to leave Virginian territory.]]
Governor [[Robert Dinwiddie]] of Virginia was an investor in the Ohio Company, which stood to lose money if the French held their claim.<ref>O'Meara, p. 48</ref> He ordered 21-year-old Major [[George Washington]] (whose brother was another Ohio Company investor) of the [[Virginia Regiment]] to [[George Washington in the French and Indian War|warn the French to leave Virginia territory]] in October 1753.<ref name=A2K_42_3>Anderson (2000), pp. 42–43</ref> Washington left with a small party, including [[Jacob Van Braam]] as an interpreter, [[Christopher Gist]] (a company surveyor working in the area), [[Guyasuta]] (a [[Mingo]] warrior), Jeskakake (a [[Cayuga people|Cayuga]] chief),  Kaghswaghtaniunt (a [[Seneca people|Seneca]] leader),<ref>[https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/kaghswaghtaniunt_3E.html William A. Hunter, “KAGHSWAGHTANIUNT (Coswentannea, Gaghswaghtaniunt, Kachshwuchdanionty, Tohaswuchdoniunty) (Belt of Wampum, Old Belt, Le Collier Pendu, White Thunder),” in ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography,'' vol. 3, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed May 2, 2025]</ref> and Tanaghrisson. On December 12, Washington and his men reached Fort Le Boeuf.<ref>Anderson (2000), p. 43</ref><ref>Jennings, p. 63</ref>

[[Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre]] succeeded Marin as commander of the French forces after Marin died on October 29, and he invited Washington to dine with him. Over dinner, Washington presented Saint-Pierre with the letter from Dinwiddie demanding an immediate French withdrawal from the Ohio Country. Saint-Pierre said, "As to the Summons you send me to retire, I do not think myself obliged to obey it."<ref name="fowler 35">Fowler, p. 35.</ref> He told Washington that France's claim to the region was superior to that of the British, since [[René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle]] had explored the Ohio Country nearly a century earlier.<ref name="ellis 5">Ellis, ''His Excellency George Washington'', p. 5.</ref>

Washington's party left Fort Le Boeuf early on December 16 and arrived in [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]] on January 16, 1754. He stated in his report, "The French had swept south",<ref name="fowler 36">Fowler, p. 36.</ref> detailing the steps which they had taken to fortify the area, and their intention to fortify the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers.<ref>O'Meara, pp. 37–38.</ref>