Washington Surrenders Fort Necessity: The French and Indian War's First Battle
George Washington signed a document admitting to "assassinating" a French diplomat—in French, which he couldn't read. The 22-year-old colonel surrendered Fort Necessity on July 3, 1754, after a daylong downpour turned his hastily-built stockade into a mud trap. Thirty of his men were dead. De Villiers, avenging his brother Jumonville's death weeks earlier, let Washington's force march home with their weapons. That confession, mistranslated as "killed" rather than "assassinated," gave France the diplomatic ammunition to escalate. The only battle Washington ever surrendered sparked a war that spread to four continents.
July 4, 1754
272 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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