JULY 9, 1755

FRENCH AND NATIVE AMERICAN ALLIES ROUT BRITISH AT BATTLE OF MONONGAHELA

After Britain’s 1754 failure to capture Fort Duquesne early in the French-Indian War, General Edward Braddock, with aide-de-camp Colonel George Washington, led a force of 1500 men west to take the Ohio country. On July 9, 1755, as Braddock’s men were cutting a road, the French & their Ottawa, Ojibwe & Potawatomie allies attacked. The Native warriors fought from familiar grounds and used Native tactics successfully against regimental formations. The battle brought near destruction to Braddock’s forces. He, himself, was severely wounded calling for retreat. While the opponents looted the battle field, Washington executed the retreat to join with Colonel Thomas Dunbar and his men who were held in reserve. Braddock relinquished command and died on July 13, 1755. British casualties numbered nearly 1000, including 63 officers.

Source: Matthew A. Bryon, Ph.D., “The Battle of the Monongehela,” George Washington’s Mount Vernon.  Retrieved 12/20/2021, Battle of the Monongahela · George Washington's Mount Vernon
Illustration: Author unknown, pre-1901.  Public Domain.  Source: From Henry David Northrup (1836-1909), Our Greater Country; Being a Standard History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent to the Present Time (Philadelphia: National Publishing Company, 1901), 294.