Boys Book of Famous Soldiers | Page 5

to Mr.
Frazier's."
Here they succeeded in procuring horses, and in a few days more,
Major Washington handed in his report to the Governor at
Williamsburg.
This report stirred the Virginia House of Burgesses to action. It showed
that the whole western frontier was imperilled. One of Washington's
recommendations, that a fort be built at the fork of the Ohio, was put
into effect at once; and a Captain Trent was sent out with some
woodsmen to begin its construction. But before the fort was completed
a force of French descended upon it and captured it. Near its site they

themselves built a larger one, which they called Fort Duquesne--the site
of the later city of Pittsburgh.
This action on the part of the French was equivalent to a declaration of
war. It was really the beginning of the Seven Years' War between
England and France, for the control of America--a drama in which
Washington was to have no little part.
When news of the French move reached the Governor, he sent
Washington, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and a small armed
force against the invaders. The men were mostly half-trained militia
whom Washington had been drilling for some such emergency. They
were raw soldiers, but hardy fellows, who thoroughly believed in their
young commander. He himself, although but twenty-two, was a
seasoned campaigner of the wilderness. Now he was essaying his first
trial as a soldier.
His men marched to a point about half-way to Fort Duquesne, blazing a
road for other troops to follow, and constructing a fort to serve as a
base of supplies. There he sent out scouts to reconnoitre. They reported
an advancing party of French who were ready to attack any English
whom they might encounter. Washington did not wait for them to
attack. He decided to attack first. Taking a force of about forty men he
made a night march in the pelting rain, to surprise the enemy. It
reminds us of his later famous exploit at Trenton.
"The path," he wrote, "was hardly wide enough for one man. We often
lost it, and could not find it again for fifteen or twenty minutes, and we
often tumbled over each other in the dark."
However, at daybreak on this May day of 1754, they reached the camp
of their Indian allies; who in turn took them with stealthy tread to the
hollow where lay the French--waiting to ambush the colonists. But it
was their turn to be surprised, and they quickly sprang to their feet and
grasped their weapons.
Washington gave his men the order to fire--the first of many such
orders that were to come in the stormy days of two successive

wars--and in a sense this was the opening gun. A lively but brief
skirmish followed. The French lost their commander, Jumonville, and
nine others. The English lost only one man, killed, and two or three
wounded. The remainder of the French, twenty-two in number, were
taken prisoners.
The affair made a great stir, and was the forerunner of extended
hostilities. Washington foresaw the results immediately, and set his
men to constructing a fort which was called Fort Necessity. He had
won his first battle and it greatly inspired his troops. Writing afterwards
to his brother, Lawrence, he said: "I heard the bullets whistle; and,
believe me, there is something charming in the sound."
Their fort, however, was well-named. For presently the French and
Indians marched down upon them, nine hundred strong, and as
Washington had, all told, but three hundred poorly equipped men, they
were compelled to surrender. The terms of surrender were liberal
enough, permitting the English to return home with their light arms.
Thus did Washington's first campaign come to a somewhat inglorious
close. He tendered his resignation, and may have felt humiliated over
his defeat; although the House of Burgesses passed a vote of thanks to
him and his staff, "for their bravery and gallant defense of their
country." But later when Governor Dinwiddie requested him to head
another regiment against Fort Duquesne, Washington politely declined.
He had not received sufficient support in the first venture to warrant
another such attempt.
The next stage in the French and Indian War--and likewise in
Washington's military development--was the arrival of General
Braddock with two regiments of seasoned troops from England.
Braddock was an old campaigner of forty years' experience, who had
long since learned all that was to be taught about the art of warfare.
"He'd teach those French a lesson--and as for the Indians--stuff and
nonsense!"
Braddock's arrival made a great stir in the colonies. It was the first sign

of real help from the Mother Country. The governors of four or five of
the colonies met him at Alexandria. It was near Mount Vernon, and the
young retired officer watched