00:00 - The following program was funded in part by a

00:02 - Grant from the Richard king mellon foundation

00:05 - to highlight the essential role of southwestern Pennsylvania in American history

00:09 - on the occasion of america's two hundred fiftieth anniversary.

00:42 - Ligonier itself

00:43 - is

00:44 - Roughly fifty or so miles right outside of Pittsburgh

00:47 - heading back towards the east

00:50 - so where we sit the little town that we have

00:52 - today is right next to the loyal

00:54 - stream

00:55 - not far from places like Metro grey ginsburg

00:59 - but

00:59 - it puts us about fifty miles outside.

01:02 - My name is Matt gold on the director of

01:03 - education and living history at fort ligonier.

01:07 - General John Forbes was a Scottish officer

01:11 - in the British military now before

01:14 - seventeen fifty eight he was a veteran

01:17 - by this

01:17 - what I mean by that as he had served in the war

01:19 - of Austrian succession he had served over Europe

01:22 - and he had also served as a quartermaster so he

01:25 - knew logistics he knew what it was going to take

01:27 - supplying.

01:28 - Sir John Forbes is going to be

01:31 - chosen

01:32 - to then take over command of what will eventually be the push against fort Duquesne

01:38 - in seventeen fifty eight to take it from the French

01:41 - and control the three rivers in the Ohio country

01:45 - Forbes is going to first off how to come up with a strategy when he decides to do as

01:50 - he's going to follow a military treatise

01:52 - very specifically

01:54 - that focuses on

01:56 - a campaign but he equates it to a siege now what I mean by that

02:00 - is that as you move forward to attack a defense a defensible position

02:05 - you are trying to get closer and all so protect your soldiers

02:09 - so what he's going to do through a much larger expanse of terrain

02:13 - and territory as he's going to have to move forward

02:17 - but as he goes he's going to protect his advance with fortifications

02:21 - so by having those fortifications he can resupply

02:24 - he can move his troops he can hold areas as as he gets closer to his goal

02:30 - so starting in Carlisle then you're going to move to places like

02:33 - fort loud on for Littleton

02:35 - and then after that is going to really be the

02:37 - hard part of what Ford is going to have to do next

02:40 - he's gonna have to build a road as he goes to a place called raised town

02:44 - and very specifically then either up over the mountains

02:48 - or drop down to a place called fort cumberland or what we know as Maryland today but

02:52 - he decides that he's going to instead build a road

02:55 - over the allegheny mountains and the Laurel Ridge

02:58 - and arrive here at the post-it loyal Hanna where he will construct a entrenchment

03:04 - here at this site

03:06 - so really as Forbes moves along long this is going to

03:08 - take time it's going to take labor it's going to be.

03:12 - It's going to be difficult and that's sometimes I think what.

03:16 - We don't really give these soldiers and these people

03:19 - credit for that this is not just getting on the highway

03:22 - this is instead

03:24 - they are cutting through a dense forest they are trying to clear these areas and move

03:29 - through with artillery wagons horses animals

03:33 - it's going to be incredibly difficult.

03:36 - As they move further and further west into the the frontier or honestly the

03:41 - wilderness you're going to find a thick forest this

03:44 - is dense you have areas of course of old growth forest

03:48 - you have occupation or what was past occupation

03:52 - by native American nations that had been throughout this area

03:55 - there are some trails that had been news for native Americans or by native Americans

04:00 - for a great deal of time you're going to have animal pass and what not

04:05 - but you you are also going to come across some areas

04:07 - that have natural meadows there's going to be places that

04:10 - horses will need to feed so you are dealing with an incredibly dense forest

04:17 - with these small areas of respite where the army can be able to perhaps resupply or

04:24 - make camp and feed their animals as they go along

04:29 - but we have quotes where even the soldiers say the trees are as hard as iron

04:33 - so this is not something that's just going to be

04:36 - the you get a chain chainsaw out and take down

04:38 - the tree and said they are hacking with axes

04:41 - they are going to have to then

04:43 - clear clear those trees out of the way for a road

04:46 - I get the stumps just low enough that the wagons can get over

04:49 - so again it's going to be an incredibly difficult slog through this dense.

04:58 - Easiest way to look at the territorial claims

05:02 - of these colonial powers looking at the British and French

05:05 - the British as the traditional

05:07 - we all know is that the team.

05:09 - Were very familiar with that I'm on the east coast but

05:12 - also we have to keep in mind that with those those.

05:16 - Colonial territories.

05:19 - They want to expand so we seen this desire to move further west

05:23 - now the French are up to the north there will be no

05:26 - numa false or Canada today

05:29 - and they have their territorial holdings there

05:32 - and they also began to expand in meal

05:35 - into the Ohio territory

05:37 - throughout the mid seventeen seventeen hundreds

05:40 - so as they come down they are starting to

05:43 - build fortifications to control those areas now

05:47 - with these scenarios

05:48 - the British

05:50 - have the far greater number of people

05:52 - in the commons

05:54 - than the French hadn't.

05:56 - Roughly about ten to one

05:58 - the French are actually

05:59 - number

06:00 - so

06:01 - Really when the British are expanding not only

06:04 - are they

06:04 - moving out and maybe establishing trade posts and things like that

06:08 - but it's the idea that people want to move out here

06:11 - and speculation purchasing land in there

06:14 - wherever these posts end up and especially these forts a little bit later on.

06:19 - People in towns fallen

06:21 - but the French who seem to be a little less that

06:24 - they were mainly for traders in these trade posts

06:27 - and very specifically the native American nations

06:30 - that was throughout this area they noticed

06:32 - they saw

06:33 - that

06:34 - wherever the British went people fallen

06:36 - and that meant

06:37 - that they were going to try and claim those territories and it was infringing on the

06:42 - territories they lived in for hundreds of years

06:44 - so you're seeing that very easily these are going to lead to conflicting claims they

06:49 - are going to be overlapping and you're going to have these groups of people like the

06:52 - British and French they're fighting over territory

06:55 - and then you have many of the Nate of American

06:57 - nations that are caught up in the middle.

06:59 - Going

07:00 - these were our homes for hundreds of years now these

07:02 - people have arrived and they continue to move on.

07:06 - So you can

07:07 - see how a

07:08 - collision

07:09 - was

07:09 - truly brewing in Ohio.

07:12 - Very specifically where the three rivers come together

07:15 - rivers in the seventeen hundreds or higher

07:18 - now as I had said

07:20 - you don't have these roads out here.

07:23 - About thirty interstates anything like that

07:26 - so to utilize those rivers you can trade you can move troops they allow for a sense

07:31 - of control into the interior of what we know as the united states today.

07:38 - Probably a great way to frame

07:39 - this this

07:40 - this

07:41 - timeline of looks

07:43 - and where the three rivers meet is through the eyes begun

07:46 - to get sent up north to tell the French that they have to disperse from this area

07:50 - he's pretty much said we aren't going anywhere and he gets sent back to

07:54 - Kenya.

07:55 - Then shortly thereafter

07:57 - seventeen fifty four

07:58 - with this information the French are now

08:01 - making efforts on those claims

08:04 - territorial claims and starting to continue to move south.

08:08 - Governor dinwiddie of Virginia is going to

08:10 - rush troops to start to move

08:12 - and hold.

08:14 - Very specifically the forty the Ohio

08:17 - captain when Trent is going to make his way up there

08:20 - he builds a small stockade small strong house there

08:24 - the French come down with a larger force

08:26 - push him out without firing a shot

08:28 - and they will then fortify their entrenchment there and shore up their defenses of

08:33 - what will eventually become forty okay do while that's all going on

08:37 - George Washington is on his way to try and reinforce Trent

08:40 - but what's going to lead

08:42 - what happens next is actually going to be

08:43 - what we're very familiar with as for necessity

08:47 - that there's going to be a little incident

08:49 - that happens at a place called drummondville Glenn

08:52 - where really this whole war it gets ignited when Washington and his troops are firing

08:56 - some of the first shots of the war

08:58 - the French view one of those officers that is killed there as a diplomat

09:03 - again you can see how these these relationships are now starting to run into trouble

09:08 - and.

09:10 - Washington will retreat to a place called the great meadows where he has the small

09:14 - stockade

09:15 - so familiar with afford necessity he will be attacked

09:18 - by his enemy the French and forced to surrender

09:21 - signs the document that holds him responsible for the assassination of that French

09:25 - diplomat the ensign the Jew movie.

09:28 - The very next year

09:29 - we will see general Edward braddock take a forced to

09:32 - try and attack fort Duquesne and take it from the French

09:35 - and just a few miles outside of his goal he will be

09:38 - attacked by

09:39 - the French and a large force of native Americans

09:43 - that will then lead to what is so familiar to us as braddock defeat

09:47 - when the battle of bunker hill on July nine seventeen fifty five

09:51 - so then for the next three years the frontier has really

09:54 - left wide open that fifty five to about fifty eight.

09:58 - So until you get to fifty eight don't see another

10:02 - move to attack fort Duquesne

10:04 - nats one John Forbes and this campaign

10:07 - step onto the historical stage.

10:13 - Duquesne

10:14 - acts as.

10:16 - It acts as a hub naturally because of the

10:18 - three rivers that are there but also especially

10:21 - because in seventeen fifty five when braddock builds it's road

10:24 - now it has embroidery down into what we know close to

10:29 - cumberland down into Virginia

10:31 - and Washington the white later

10:33 - that specifically the road that was supposed to be used

10:37 - to take forty.

10:39 - Now was being used

10:41 - as a way to harass the

10:43 - summer.

10:44 - So we do

10:45 - see throughout fifty six and fifty seven

10:48 - that many of the French and native American allies are able to utilize that path

10:53 - are able to.

10:55 - Raid

10:56 - move through that very very easily also because native Americans

10:59 - have

11:00 - this is their terrain

11:01 - they know how to move through this territory very easily

11:05 - and you see actually in Virginia specifically and Washington the Virginia regiment

11:11 - they are trying to protect

11:12 - a lot of that frontier area which is going to

11:15 - be incredibly difficult with low the resources

11:18 - he's building some fortifications where he can

11:21 - but

11:21 - over three hundred miles of frontier that he has to

11:24 - protect which is going to be incredibly difficult

11:27 - so fort Duquesne you can see that he does have

11:31 - that crucial spot

11:34 - and just from where it sits it allows agree great deal of control.

11:40 - The French knew Forbes was coming.

11:43 - They had been sending out scouts we know that even when the second in command colonel

11:47 - Henry bouquet arrives here at the posted loyal Hana in early September

11:52 - he says one of the first interactions he has

11:55 - is that there are some

11:56 - soldiers that come back who had been out hunting

11:59 - and they

12:00 - ran in to some native Americans who were nearby

12:05 - and two of the soldiers they they run off and one stands and fights

12:09 - but

12:11 - we know that there are scouting parties out throughout this area even back along the

12:15 - road towards camino has raised town of bedford

12:18 - so

12:19 - The French knew huh

12:20 - Forbes was on his way

12:23 - now they were keeping tabs not only on the army itself

12:27 - here but also at fort cumberland and quite possibly

12:30 - possibly the route that could be taken

12:33 - of radix old road

12:35 - so they were watching both areas.

12:39 - On October twelfth of seventeen fifty eight

12:42 - the advance.

12:45 - Of this army has arrived they had

12:47 - arrived here in early September

12:49 - so for about a month they've been constructing defenses and entrenchment that's here

12:53 - mainly adding store houses and support so that way they could

12:58 - keep supplies here at this site

13:01 - and.

13:03 - The gentleman charge is going to be a colonel James beard

13:06 - the Pennsylvania and.

13:08 - Colonel Henry bouquet the second in command

13:10 - is not present

13:11 - on October twelfth he's actually back on the road

13:13 - general John Forbes

13:15 - is also

13:16 - much further back he is not

13:18 - gay going to be

13:19 - at the advance

13:21 - in the front

13:22 - of this army so on October twelfth.

13:26 - Really what

13:27 - the fort looks like is mainly just

13:30 - a ring of defenses with

13:32 - a small fort starting to be built.

13:35 - That we know today as part of our reconstruction

13:38 - so the Ford isn't even completed

13:40 - the the entire defense is in a state of.

13:44 - Being half

13:45 - half done

13:46 - and when the French are going to come out

13:49 - they're going to see

13:51 - that

13:52 - the defenses are not completed.

13:55 - Charles Felipe Aubrey is going to be in command of that French group that is willing

13:59 - to come out there is going to be marines release or militia

14:02 - and also a native American contingent that come with them as well

14:07 - and

14:08 - we have a letter from the commandant at fort Duquesne

14:10 - who writes that when Aubrey arrives he's going to take

14:14 - a take in

14:16 - what the fort looks like

14:17 - and he divides his force.

14:19 - So at that point on the British side colonel bird hears firing

14:24 - he says that the

14:25 - twelve shots were heard her to the southwest

14:28 - and so the southwest being.

14:31 - Where we're at in that direction

14:34 - but upon hearing that firing he starts to send some reinforcements out.

14:39 - Most likely to help

14:41 - any grass scar that's out at a distance.

14:44 - Shortly thereafter

14:46 - the firing increases

14:47 - now we have two maps that tell us that the French army's line of attack tac as well

14:52 - as the battle fought on October twelfth actually happens

14:56 - to the north east

14:57 - so you see two opposite directions

15:00 - and that

15:00 - also adds to the credence of that letter that Aubrey split his force

15:04 - one to deal with the the horses

15:07 - the other to move on the entrenchment why was he doing this

15:11 - because it was a sp spoiling raid was a delaying action with the idea that if you

15:15 - take horses you can slow down Forbes and his army again if you delay him and

15:21 - get him to stay here for the winter you've bought yourself months of time

15:26 - but then also

15:27 - he sees an opportunity

15:28 - he sees a force

15:30 - that is not fully up yet the rest of the army isn't completely here.

15:35 - The fort is not completed.

15:37 - Perhaps with a decisive action he might be able to take the fort

15:41 - but we know what happens next is as the French do

15:44 - so they do get the jump on the British that day

15:48 - but it is through the use of artillery

15:50 - that

15:51 - this force it is holding the post of Liliana

15:54 - is able to push the French whack.

15:59 - George Washington arrives at the post-it Louisiana in

16:02 - late October so again we see that the postman loyal Hana

16:06 - is

16:07 - The forces are coming in piecemeal this this

16:09 - army does not move even at it's at it's height

16:13 - with over six thousand people.

16:15 - He does not move or leapfrog instead it is strung out in that these groups are kind

16:20 - of in flux they're moving there's going to be.

16:24 - Soldiers that are protecting caravans of wagons

16:26 - that are coming up with supplies and back

16:29 - from res town

16:31 - so when Washington arrives here

16:33 - he is starting to see

16:35 - that the writing is on the wall

16:37 - that

16:37 - there is a very good chance

16:39 - they are not going to take for two came this campaign season

16:43 - and if they are not

16:44 - running out of time at this point

16:46 - they may have already been completely out of time.

16:49 - So when he arrives here his main role is going to be

16:52 - of course as the colonel in the Virginia regiment.

16:56 - And

16:57 - he is going to act

16:59 - by the orders of what Forbes

17:01 - in this campaign is going to do moving forward while they move forward or will they

17:04 - stay in Washington is going to be resolved

17:08 - to follow those orders he writes that himself he

17:11 - had suggested a plan to take the old braddock road

17:15 - previously lead to use a different mode of

17:17 - approach but general Forbes thought differently.

17:20 - So he was.

17:22 - As a soldier he was following orders from his commanding officers

17:26 - so when he arrives here

17:28 - the rest of the Virginia regiment is going to

17:30 - come up the rest of the army is going to arrive

17:33 - and Washington will be a part

17:36 - of of

17:37 - the conversation

17:39 - of what to do about forty okay

17:41 - so when general forums does get here and he calls his officers together

17:45 - for that council of war Washington will be a part of that as well.

17:50 - On November eleventh of seventeen fifty eight

17:53 - Forbes calls all of the officers together.

17:57 - You have colonel byrd

17:59 - who had been here on October twelfth for the attack he had witnessed the French

18:02 - attack firsthand you have George Washington

18:06 - who is a veteran of this type of frontier warfare he had been on the phone

18:10 - for several years

18:11 - John st Clair who's the quartermaster

18:14 - he had been on radix campaign and during the defeat even wounded

18:18 - during braddock stuffy

18:19 - Forbes himself colonel Henry bouquet the second

18:22 - command so many of these officers have experience

18:25 - and they know

18:27 - that they have to make a decision.

18:29 - Will they move to attack fort Duquesne or will they remain.

18:33 - Keep in mind November eleventh we are very much in the falsies

18:36 - it is getting cold

18:38 - the frost could kill the grass things here or

18:40 - grass that will be on the way to fort Duquesne

18:43 - and

18:44 - if you get stuck here in the winter

18:46 - the mountains are now they're back they have

18:49 - just dragged artillery over these mountains

18:52 - try and get it back over them it's going to be incredibly difficult if not impossible.

18:58 - So what they do is when they get together

19:00 - they make

19:00 - the positives

19:01 - and negatives

19:02 - just like some of us still do today that make the pro and cons list

19:06 - and they decide that the negatives outweigh the positives and they decide to stay

19:10 - here for the winter general Forbes makes the decision

19:13 - he's even going to start making orders the next morning that would.

19:17 - Imply that decision.

19:21 - The next day

19:22 - is November twelfth

19:23 - so we've gone from having this decision on November eleventh though we're going to

19:27 - stay here for the winter the campaign is suspended it is over

19:30 - for Duquesne remains in the hands of the French.

19:34 - But the very next day

19:36 - the French come back out with their native American allies

19:39 - to do something

19:40 - very similar to what they had done a month before

19:43 - and that is to raid the post and try and slow general Forbes down

19:47 - they have no idea that he's made the decision to

19:49 - stay here for the winter they have no clue that

19:53 - he is ok already suspended his campaign to attack fort Duquesne.

19:59 - It is discovered that the French and their native allies

20:02 - are a few miles off

20:04 - we believe in that south westerly direction.

20:08 - Musket fire goes on there's a report that

20:10 - comes back about five hundred virginians under

20:13 - lieutenant colonel George Mercer

20:15 - are going to be sent out to go deal with the Saturday

20:18 - so they go up over the nearby hillside down into the wilderness

20:22 - and they aren't returning

20:23 - but there are reports that musket fire can be heard here

20:27 - at the fort

20:28 - and even Washington were right

20:30 - that

20:31 - there are reports that it's getting loud and there's this thought that perhaps.

20:35 - Colonel Mercer is giving ground

20:38 - meaning he needs help

20:39 - so Washington will then ask for volunteers

20:43 - and with permission from the general

20:45 - general Forbes

20:46 - is going to then go

20:48 - to to reinforce and help colonel Mercer

20:51 - but what we think happens next because Forbes writes

20:53 - that he sends five hundred more to surround the enemy

20:57 - we think Washington takes his troops following the loyal Hanna

21:00 - and then at a run he cuts up

21:03 - and he's using the musket fire in this engagement that's going on with

21:07 - Mercer and the end Jimmy

21:09 - to lead him on

21:11 - but the only issue is is that the

21:13 - when the

21:14 - engagement ceases

21:15 - the firing stops

21:17 - keep in mind

21:18 - whenever they went out

21:19 - it was dark we have some reports that as as late as seven o'clock at night

21:24 - so it is very difficult to see visibility is incredibly low

21:28 - so you using that musket fire was Washington's only guiding light

21:32 - and now

21:33 - as he's moving through the darkness

21:36 - through the wilderness.

21:38 - He's flying blind

21:40 - and as he

21:41 - continues to advance slowly

21:43 - perhaps someone sees a shadowy figure dart from one tree to another

21:47 - a shot rings out natural instinct is to fire back

21:51 - where hot fire ensues these are Virginia troops majority of them

21:55 - they begin to fan out to the trees taking deadly aim when they can see and as

22:00 - Washington is perhaps giving commands trying to keep order in such a hectic

22:05 - and

22:06 - difficult situation.

22:08 - Maybe he hears a familiar.

22:10 - Perhaps through that darkness he's able to see the flash of a blue and red officers

22:16 - and he realizes

22:17 - the worst

22:18 - possible scenario is that.

22:20 - Instead

22:21 - of engaging with the French in their native hours.

22:25 - He has ran in

22:27 - to consumers

22:29 - and now they were firing on.

22:31 - A friendly fire incident peasant food

22:34 - and when Washington realizes

22:36 - to move down the line knocking muskets out

22:39 - yelling

22:39 - cease fire

22:40 - trying to stop any further bloodshed

22:43 - and Washington you're right.

22:45 - That that put his life

22:46 - in the most jeopardy that had ever been before or since

22:50 - that moment

22:51 - when they had mistaken their own

22:53 - for the n.

22:54 - Musket balls passing by him

22:57 - he felt that that

22:58 - was one his life is isn't

22:59 - stake.

23:02 - On November twelfth

23:03 - the

23:04 - raiding party.

23:06 - Of the French and mainly native Americans comes out from fort Duquesne.

23:10 - They are the ones that engage with

23:12 - China

23:13 - Mercer

23:14 - first

23:15 - when that engagement happens

23:16 - at some point most likely in the darkness that firing stops

23:20 - and they are able to do disengage.

23:23 - The majority of that party is able to

23:25 - make their way back through the wilderness and head back towards foot king

23:28 - but there are a few that are left behind and are taking

23:33 - their caption and because they are captured

23:36 - even though the friendly fire incident will ensue

23:39 - and it will lead to this

23:40 - horror

23:41 - loss life

23:42 - there is vital information that is taken from those

23:45 - who are captured because they are brought back to

23:48 - fort ligonier or the post-it will Hana at that point

23:51 - their question

23:52 - and they give valuable information on the state of fort Duquesne

23:57 - and the information that they give is enough

24:00 - that it makes general Forbes say

24:02 - he is confident they can move to attack fort Duquesne this campaign season

24:07 - so he immediately changes his

24:10 - decision

24:11 - to stay in winter quarters to go into winter quarters.

24:15 - So as this army moves forward almost immediately

24:17 - to attack fort Duquesne Washington himself will actually be play aced at the head of

24:22 - one of the main groups moving forward he has the honorary title of brigadier general

24:28 - as he moves forward.

24:30 - As this force

24:31 - is going to

24:33 - what they believe is lay siege to fort Duquesne

24:36 - have artillery and bombard the forks of the Ohio.

24:41 - They will arrive outside and rather than finding

24:44 - a French force quickly entrenching trying to

24:47 - hold up or coming to meet them in a pitch battle

24:50 - they will find that fort Duquesne has been abandoned has been burned

24:54 - and the French have vacated the area with

24:56 - the idea of we can't have it neither can you

24:59 - and partially that is because fort Duquesne was incredibly weak many of it's defenses

25:04 - were starting to decay and it was

25:07 - very difficult to upkeep

25:08 - the fort that was there but also their supplies was running low

25:12 - and as

25:13 - they were heading into that winter season

25:15 - many of their troops had either been sent

25:17 - back to the Illinois country are back home

25:20 - and many their native American allies had also removed to the various villages

25:25 - so the British are able to then arrive at fort Duquesne

25:30 - they find it a smoldering ruin

25:32 - and general Forbes being that he was sick is carried in and is able to claim

25:37 - the forks of the Ohio finally for king and country

25:40 - and gives it the name we are also familiar with which is

25:43 - Pittsburgh but he was Scottish so he most likely called it pittsboro

25:47 - as opposed to Pittsburgh.

25:51 - The post-it loyal Hanna

25:52 - though built in seventeen fifty eight it will be renamed shortly after the fall of

25:56 - fort Duquesne and the establishment of Pittsburgh and fort pitt.

26:01 - That will end up really controlling the forks the Ohio for the foreseeable future.

26:07 - The postal Lohan has renamed fort ligonier

26:09 - and then it will last from seventeen fifty eight

26:12 - to seventeen sixty six

26:13 - so it exists for about eight years

26:16 - officially decommissioned

26:17 - seventeen sixty six.