Battle of Jumonville Glen

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict = PAGENAME
partof=the Seven Years' War
French and Indian War


caption =
date = May 28, 1754
place = Near present-day Uniontown, Pennsylvania
result=British victory
combatant1=flagicon|United Kingdom|1606 Great Britain
combatant2=flagicon|France|royal France
commander1 = George Washington
commander2 = Joseph Coulon de Villiers de JumonvillePOW
strength1 = 40 Colonial Militia
12 Iroquois [Lengel p.37]
strength2 = 50 Soldiers [Lengel p.36]
casualties1 = 1 killed
2-3 wounded [Lengel p.38]
casualties2 = 10-12 killed
2 wounded
21 captured [Lengel p.37]

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 what is present-day Uniontown in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

Lieutenant Colonel George Washington was leading an expedition to meet up with a group of Frontiersmen who had set out a few months earlier in order to build a fort. On his way, Washington received word that a French party of 50 soldiers was in the area. Fearing they may be a raiding party, Washington ambushed them, and nearly every Frenchmen was killed or captured. This skirmish would prove to be the opening shots of the Seven Years War.

Prelude

In March 1754, Virginia governor Robert Dinwiddie ordered Lieutenant Colonel George Washington of the Virginia Militia, out to the frontier of the Ohio Valley, where he would reinforce a fort that had been built at the fork of the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers. [Lengel p.30] Washington was ordered to gather up as many supplies and paid volunteers as he could along the way. By the time he left for the frontier on April 2, he had gathered 186 men. [Lengel p.32]

Along their march through the forests of the frontier, Washington received a few more men from another regiment that they met at Winchester. [Lengel p.32] At this point news was received from Captain William Trent, who had gone out ahead with two companies of frontiersmen. Along with him was the Seneca chief Tanacharison, who had promised warriors to the colonists. Trent had arrived at the fork of the Ohio and Alleghany Rivers on February 17. [Lengel p.32] Trent had only 40 men, and the French were approaching him with 800. As Washington rode ahead to try and reach Trent, he received news that the French had forced him to evacuate the area, and tear down their fort. [Lengel p.33] In order not to lose support from the Iroquois, Washington decided not to turn back, and instead he would built a fortification 37 miles south of the forks and wait for further instructions. [Lengel p.33]

At the forks, the French had begun to construct Fort Duquesne. The French governor forbid anyone to attack the colonial force unless they were provoked, and on May 23, he sent out Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville to order Washington's troops out of French territory. [Lengel p.34]

After receiving intelligence that French troops were approaching, Washington ordered his troops to dig in, and prepare for an attack. They dug ditches, and flipped over wagons in front of them. [Lengel p.35] During the night 6 men deserted. While waiting for an attack on May 27, Christopher Gist arrived at camp and told Washington that 50 French soldiers had stopped at his cabin and threatened to kill his cow and break everything in his house. [Lengel p.35] Washington ordered a detachment of 75 men in pursuit of the French. After they had left, Washington called together some Native Americans and convinced them to go after the French as well. [Lengel p.36]

At 8:00 PM, Washington received a message from Tanacharison. Tanacharison found the French encampment, and wanted to meet up with Washington. Despite the fact that he had just sent two other groups in pursuit of the French, Washington took a detachment of 40 men and met with Tanacharison. Tanacharison had with him 12 warriors, 2 of them being boys. [Lengel p.37] Both men agreed to attack the French.

Battle

The attackers took up positions behind rocks around the French camp. At 7:00 AM, Washington gave the order to attack. A French soldier noticed them, and sounded the alarm. [Lengel p.37] The battle was very brief, it lasted only 15 minutes. Afterward, 10-12 Frenchmen were dead, 2, including Jumonville, were wounded and 21 captured. The colonials had suffered only 1 killed. [Lengel p.37]

Aftermath

After the firing had stopped, Jumonville handed Washington some papers and insisted that he read them. While Washington did so, Tanacharison came up and smashed Jumonville's skull with a tomahawk, killing him. [Lengel p.38]

Washington wrote a letter to his brother after the battle, in which he said "I can with truth assure you, I heard bullets whistle and believe me, there was something charming in the sound." [Lengel p.39] Following the battle, Washington returned to Great Meadows and began to construct a fort called Fort Necessity. On July 3, the French would seize the fort in the Battle of the Great Meadows.

A portion of the battlefield is preserved as a part of Fort Necessity National Battlefield.

Footnotes

References

*

Further Reading

* Anderson, Fred 2000. " [http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/a/anderson-war.html?oref=login Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766] ."
* Jennings, Francis. "Empire of Fortune: Crowns, Colonies, and Tribes in the Seven Years War in America". New York: Norton, 1988. ISBN 0-393-30640-2.