Fort Necessity National Battlefield is a
National Battlefield
National Military Park, National Battlefield, National Battlefield Park, and National Battlefield Site are four designations for 25 battle sites preserved by the United States federal government because of their national importance. The designat ...
in
Fayette County,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, United States, which preserves the site of the
Battle of Fort Necessity
The Battle of Fort Necessity, also known as the Battle of the Great Meadows, took place on July 3, 1754, in present-day Farmington in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The engagement, along with a May 28 skirmish known as the Battle of Jumonville ...
. The battle, which took place on July 3, 1754, was an early battle of the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...
, and resulted in the surrender of British colonial forces under Colonel
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
, to the French and Indians, under
Louis Coulon de Villiers.
The site also includes the Mount Washington Tavern, once one of the inns along the
National Road
The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...
, and in two separate units the grave of British
General Edward Braddock, killed in 1755, and the site of the
Battle of Jumonville Glen
The Battle of Jumonville Glen, also known as the Jumonville affair, was the opening battle of the French and Indian War, fought on May 28, 1754, near present-day Hopwood, Pennsylvania, Hopwood and Uniontown, Pennsylvania, Uniontown in Fayette Co ...
.
Battle of Fort Necessity (1754)


After returning to the Great Meadows in northwestern
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, and what is now
Fayette County,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
,
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
decided it prudent to reinforce his position. Supposedly named by Washington as Fort Necessity or Fort of Necessity, the structure protected a storehouse for supplies such as gunpowder, rum, and flour. The crude palisade they erected was built more to defend supplies in the fort's storehouse from Washington's own men, whom he described as "loose and idle", than as a planned defense against a hostile enemy. The
sutler
A sutler or victualer is a civilian merchant who sells provisions to an army in the field, in camp, or in quarters. Sutlers sold wares from the back of a wagon or a temporary tent, traveling with an army or to remote military outposts. Sutler wa ...
of Washington's force was
John Fraser, who earlier had been second-in-command at
Fort Prince George. Later he served as chief of scouts to General
Edward Braddock
Edward Braddock (January 1695 – 13 July 1755) was a British officer and commander-in-chief for the Thirteen Colonies during the start of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American front of what is known in Europe and Canada as ...
and then chief of guides to the
Forbes Expedition.
[Clark, Howard Glenn. "John Fraser, Western Pennsylvania Frontiersman, Parts 1 & 2" ''Western Pennsylvania History Magazine,'' Vol. 38, No 3-4, Fall-Winter 1955; pp 83-93](_blank)
/ref>[Clark, Howard Glenn. "John Fraser, Western Pennsylvania Frontiersman, Part 3" ''Western Pennsylvania History Magazine,'' Vol. 39, No. 1-2, Spring-Summer 1956; pp 35-43](_blank)
/ref>
By June 13, 1754, Washington had under his command 295 colonials and the nominal command of 100 additional regular British army troops from South Carolina
South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
. Washington spent the remainder of June 1754 extending the wilderness road further west and down the western slopes of the Allegheny range into the valley of the Monongahela River
The Monongahela River ( , ), sometimes referred to locally as the Mon (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in nor ...
. He wanted to create a river crossing point roughly away, near Redstone Creek and Redstone Old Fort
Redstone Old Fort — written as Redstone or Red-Stone Fort
or (for a short time when built) Fort Burd — on Nemacolin's Path, the Nemacolin Trail, was the name of the French and Indian War-era wooden fort built in 1759 by Pennsylvania militia ...
.
This was a prehistoric
Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
Native American earthwork mound
A mound is a wikt:heaped, heaped pile of soil, earth, gravel, sand, rock (geology), rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded ...
on a bluff overlooking the river crossing. The aboriginal mound structure may have once been part of a fortification. Five years later in the war, in 1759, Fort Burd was constructed at Redstone Old Fort. The area eventually became the site of Nemacolin Castle and Brownsville, Pennsylvania
Brownsville is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, first settled in 1785 as the site of a trading post a few years after the defeat of the Iroquois enabled a resumption of westward migration after the American Revolutionary ...
an important western jumping-off point for travelers crossing the Alleghenies in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
To reach the Ohio River
The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...
basins' navigable waters as soon as possible on the Monongahela River
The Monongahela River ( , ), sometimes referred to locally as the Mon (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in nor ...
, Washington chose to follow Nemacolin's Trail
450px, Braddock's Road, General Braddock's March (points 1–10) follows or parallels (and improves upon) Chief Nemacolin's Trail from the Potomac River to the Monogahela. The route from the summit to Redstone Creek, which could be used by wag ...
, a Native American trail which had been somewhat improved by colonists, with Nemacolin's help. He preferred this to following the ridge-hopping, high-altitude path traversed by the western part of the route that was later chosen for Braddock's Road. It jogged to the north near the fort and passed over another notch near Confluence, Pennsylvania
Confluence is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was settled in 1870 and incorporated in 1873. The population was 724 at the 2020 census.
Ge ...
, into the valley and drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
of the Youghiogheny River
The Youghiogheny River ( ), or the Yough ( ) for short, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Monongahela River in West Virginia, Maryla ...
. The Redstone destination at the terminus of Nemacolin's Trail was a natural choice for an advanced base. The location was one of the few known good crossing points where both sides of the wide deep river had low accessible banks; steep sides were characteristic of the Monongahela River valley.
Late in the day on July 3, Washington did not know the French situation. Believing his situation was impossible, he accepted surrender terms 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. Washington did not speak French, and stated later that if he had known that he was confessing to the "assassination" of Joseph Coulon de Jumonville, he would not have signed the surrender document.
Park formation and structure
During the Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
of the 20th century, attempts to preserve the location of Fort Necessity were undertaken. On March 4, 1931, Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
declared the location a National Battlefield Site under management of the War Department. Transferred to the National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
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
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on October 15, 1966.
Subsequent archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
research helped to uncover the majority of the original fort position, shape and design. A replica of the fort was constructed on site in the 1970s. A new visitor center, which also is home to a National Road
The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...
interpretive center, opened on October 8, 2005. The battlefield and fort are currently being improved; the battlefield itself has seen much vegetation growth, and the general public are asked to stay out of the battlefield grounds. As the remains of the casualties of the battle were never truly recovered, the battlefield is treated as hallowed ground.
Mount Washington Tavern
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 once lining the National Road
The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...
, the United States' first federally funded highway.
The land on which the tavern was built was originally owned by George Washington. In 1770 he purchased the site on which he had commanded his first battle. Around the 1830s, Judge Nathanial Ewing of Uniontown constructed the tavern. James Sampey acquired the tavern in 1840. It was operated by his family until the railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
construction boom caused the National Road to decline in popularity, rendering the inn unprofitable.
In 1855, it was sold to the Fazenbaker family. They used it as a private home for the next 75 years, until the Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania purchased the property in 1932. In 1961 the National Park Service purchased the property from the state, making the building a part of Fort Necessity. The Mount Washington Tavern demonstrates the standard features of an early American tavern, including a simple barroom that served as a gathering place, a more refined parlor that was used for relaxation, and bedrooms in which numerous people would crowd to catch up on sleep.
Image:MountWashingtonTavern200906.jpg, The Mount Washington Tavern, built as a stagecoach stop for early travelers on the National Road.
File:Fort Necessity Museum.jpg, An old postcard of the Mount Washington Tavern.
General Braddock's grave site
In a separate unit of the park, lying about one mile (1.6 km) northwest of the battlefield, is the grave of General Edward Braddock
Edward Braddock (January 1695 – 13 July 1755) was a British officer and commander-in-chief for the Thirteen Colonies during the start of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American front of what is known in Europe and Canada as ...
. The British commander led a major expedition to the area in 1755 which included the construction of Braddock's Road, a useful but inadequate wilderness road through western Pennsylvania. Braddock was severely wounded in the Battle of the Monongahela as the British advanced toward Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne ( , ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed ...
.
He and his forces fled along the wilderness road to a site near Great Meadows. Braddock died on July 13, 1755, and was buried in an elaborate ceremony officiated by George Washington. He was buried under the road in order to hide the location of his grave from the enemy French and Indians.Fort Necessity – National Park Service
/ref> In 1804 Braddock's remains were discovered by men making repairs to the wilderness road. A marker was erected in 1913.
See also
* Jumonville (Pennsylvania), a camp and retreat center located in Fayette County
References
Citations
General and cited references
*
*
*
External links
*
*
Fort Necessity & National Battlefield Education & Interpretive Center
Christopher Chadbourne and Associates, Inc. (Exhibit Design)
* National Register nomination form* Map links
** Main unit (Fort Necessity):
** Braddock Grave unit:
** Jumonville Glen unit:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Necessity
Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania
Necessity
Necessary or necessity may refer to:
Concept of necessity
* Need
** An action somebody may feel they must do
** An important task or essential thing to do at a particular time or by a particular moment
* Necessary and sufficient condition, in l ...
Necessity
Necessary or necessity may refer to:
Concept of necessity
* Need
** An action somebody may feel they must do
** An important task or essential thing to do at a particular time or by a particular moment
* Necessary and sufficient condition, in l ...
Necessity
Necessary or necessity may refer to:
Concept of necessity
* Need
** An action somebody may feel they must do
** An important task or essential thing to do at a particular time or by a particular moment
* Necessary and sufficient condition, in l ...
George Washington
National battlefields and military parks of the United States
Museums in Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Military and war museums in Pennsylvania
National Park Service areas in Pennsylvania
Necessity
Necessary or necessity may refer to:
Concept of necessity
* Need
** An action somebody may feel they must do
** An important task or essential thing to do at a particular time or by a particular moment
* Necessary and sufficient condition, in l ...
Parks in Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Necessity
Necessary or necessity may refer to:
Concept of necessity
* Need
** An action somebody may feel they must do
** An important task or essential thing to do at a particular time or by a particular moment
* Necessary and sufficient condition, in l ...
National Register of Historic Places in Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Conflict sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania
Protected areas of Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Protected areas established in 1931