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| Fort Necessity stockade and earthwork fortifications |
In 1754, the fertile land around the Ohio River was
contested by both the English and the French.
The English saw it as a desirable location for westward expansion from
their Eastern colonies. The French saw
it as a chance to connect their colonies in what is now Canada and
Louisiana. The English tried to
establish a fort at the forks of the Ohio, near what is now Pittsburgh, but
were unable to move enough men, munitions and supplies through the densely
forested, steep mountain terrain to support it.
The undermanned British stockade was overtaken and the French built a
larger fort at the site, calling it Fort Duquesne.
21-year old Lt. Col. George Washington of the Virginia militia (and thus part of the British army), was dispatched to
what is now southern Pennsylvania with a few hundred Virginia frontiersmen to
open a road suitable for moving troops and supplies to the area. The mountains are really steep here, and the
work must have been slow and arduous.
They established an encampment to store their supplies at a rare level
spot, in the center of a marshy meadow near what is today Farmington PA and
named it Fort Necessity. They heard a
rumor that the French were encamped just seven miles away, so a small group of
British soldiers and their Indian allies went and surprised the French. The French took many casualties including the
commander, Joseph Coulon de Villiers.
Knowing that there would be retaliation, Washington built a
stockade and fortified Fort Necessity in the middle of the meadow that was
surrounded by forest. He had just a few
hundred men, many of whom were sick or exhausted from the back-breaking effort
of building the road. Perhaps sensing
that things were not going to go well, his Indian allies left. The French and their Indian allies in a force
of about 700 men, and lead by de Villiers’ brother, encircled Fort Necessity shooting
from the woods surrounding the meadow, killing many British soldiers. Washington surrendered.
These were the first battles, in very inauspicious
locations, of a global war fought in North America, Europe, India and Asia that
would be named the French and Indian War in the US and the Seven Years War in other
countries. The outcome of this war
would determine what European nation could dominate North America. The site of Washington’s ill-fated stockade is
now memorialized in Fort Necessity National Battlefield.
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| Mount Washington Tavern on the National Road |
The following year after the battle, Washington returned
with British General Braddock to continue working on the road as part of the
French and Indian War. Many years later,
after the Revolutionary War, Washington returned again to the area, eager to
open a navigable pathway for pioneers to move west of the Appalachian Mountains. He and subsequent US leaders shepherded an
effort to designate national funding to build the road. In 1811,
construction began on the National Road that would connect Cumberland MD and
Vandalia IL, eventually stopping in 1839.
This first national highway was the precursor of our current national
highway system.
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| Tavern barroom |
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| Tavern parlor |
The road was heavily used by stagecoaches, pioneer families and to
haul goods from farms in the West to cities in the East. Taverns were set up along the National Road
where stage coaches could switch out fresh horses and travelers could spend the
night. Mount Washington Tavern is a part
of the Fort Necessity National Park. It
had a barroom for the men and a parlor used by the women. Travelers ate meals family style at a big
long table and retired to rooms crowded full with beds with 3 or 4 people sleeping
to a bed.
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| Tavern dining room |
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| Tavern kitchen |
Use of the National Road declined with the coming of the
railroad. The later advent of automobiles
restored some prosperity to the road.
Today, Route 40 travels the same route through the mountains. As we were grinding our slow way up the steep
inclines (and down the steep inclines too, for that matter), we saw two of the
old National Road stone markers still standing along the side of the road
marking how many miles you were away from the previous city or still had to go
to the next city. To think, that a young
George Washington helped clear the land for that original road, and an older
George Washington set in motion the plans for the creation of a National Road. And to also think, hostilities between the
British and French that escalated into a global war, were precipitated by a
small group of soldiers trying to build the original road.
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| Lotsa strangers sleeping in the same room |
We didn’t know this interesting story until we visited Fort
Necessity and the Mount Washington Tavern.
Did you? We left Pennsylvania
driving along the National Road with new appreciation for the history around
everyday places.
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