“Assassins” and “Avengers”: The Battle of Fort Necessity, July 3, 1754

On July 3, 1754, George Washington surrendered Fort Necessity to the French during the 7 Years' War. An excerpt from the article:

"By July 3, the French force had arrived at Great Meadows, where Washington, his 300 Virginians, and 100 South Carolinians under Captain James McKay, which had arrived in June to bolster the expedition, had prepared a crude stockade surrounded by earthen defensive works. Fort Necessity, as the defenses would be dubbed, was anything but an actual fort. At its center stood a circular stockade made of upright standing split logs seven feet in height and about fifty feet in diameter. Within the walls was situated a small shed which housed the ammunition and supplies. Outside, the stockade was defended by several trenches of about four to five feet of earth in height. By the time the battle of Fort Necessity began around eleven in the morning on July 3, terrible rain had turned these ditches into pools of slop and muddy water. These awful conditions would add to the Virginians and South Carolinians’ misery, as many were sick, hungry, and exhausted from weeks of exertion.

When Capt. Villiers led his command into the woods surrounding the open meadow which housed Fort Necessity, shots were exchanged and it was discovered that Washington had advanced about fifty of his men into the open field arrayed in line of battle. Under growing pressure from the sight of hundreds of Canadians and Native Americans manifesting in the woods to their front and flanks, the Virginian pulled his men back within the fort’s trenches. Now surrounded, Washington and McKay’s men huddled closely together making themselves easy targets for the enemy as a sustained exchange of musket fire began through the pouring rain.

The fighting continued until roughly 8 p.m., when Capt. Villiers called for a parlay to discuss the defenders of Fort Necessity’s surrender. Washington and McKay understood that their situation had become hopeless. Nearly one-third of their command had been killed or wounded, their gunpowder was wet, ammunition exhausted, and many of the men had gotten into the alcohol supply and become drunk. All avenues of escape had also been severed by the enemy. Out of options, Washington agreed to hear Villiers’ terms of surrender."