George Washington in the French and Indian War information
George Washington
This portrait of Washington was painted in 1772 by Charles Willson Peale, and shows Washington in uniform as a colonel of the Virginia Regiment. The original hangs in Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. It is the earliest known depiction of Washington.
Born
(1732-02-22)February 22, 1732 Westmoreland County, Colony of Virginia
Died
December 14, 1799(1799-12-14) (aged 67) Mount Vernon, Virginia
Place of burial
Washington family vault, Mount Vernon
Service/branch
Provincial militia
Years of service
1753–1758
Rank
Colonel, provincial militia
Unit
Virginia Regiment
Commands held
Virginia Regiment
Battles/wars
French and Indian War
Battle of Jumonville Glen
Battle of Fort Necessity
Braddock Expedition
Battle of the Monongahela
Forbes Expedition
Other work
Commander-in-chief, Continental Army
President of the United States of America
George Washington's military experience began in the French and Indian War with a commission as a major in the militia of the British Province of Virginia. In 1753 Washington was sent as an ambassador from the British crown to the French officials and Indians as far north as present-day Erie, Pennsylvania. The following year he led another expedition to the area to assist in the construction of a fort at present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Before reaching that point, he and some of his men, along with Mingo allies led by Tanacharison, ambushed a French scouting party. Its leader was killed, although the exact circumstances of his death were disputed. This peacetime act of aggression is seen as one of the first military steps leading to the global Seven Years' War. The French responded by attacking fortifications Washington erected following the ambush, forcing his surrender. Released on parole, Washington and his troops returned to Virginia.
In 1755, he participated as a volunteer aide in the ill-fated expedition of General Edward Braddock, where he distinguished himself in the retreat following the climactic Battle of Monongahela. He served from 1755 until 1758 as colonel and commander of the Virginia Regiment, directing the provincial defenses against French and Indian raids and building the regiment into one of the best-trained provincial militias of the time. He led the regiment as part of the 1758 expedition of General John Forbes that successfully drove the French from Fort Duquesne, during which he and some of his companies were involved in a friendly fire incident. Unable to get a commission in the British Army, Washington then resigned from the provincial militia, married, and took up the life of a Virginia plantation owner.
Washington gained valuable military skills during the war, acquiring tactical, strategic, and logistical military experience. He also acquired important political skills in his dealings with the British military establishment and the provincial government. His military exploits, although they included some notable failures, made his military reputation in the colonies such that he became a natural selection as the commander in chief of the Continental Army following the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775. His successes in military and political spheres during that conflict led to his election as the first President of the United States of America.
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