1753: Washington's Diplomatic Mission

In the eighteenth century, France and Great Britain were the world's superpowers. Both nations had expanded the reach of their empires by establishing colonies (permanent settlements of citizens that maintain ties to their home country) in North America and other regions of the world. Great Britain's colonies in North America stretched along the east coast of what later became the United States, from presentday Maine to Georgia. France's territory in North America, known as New France, included parts of modern Canada along the St. Lawrence River, as well as the Great Lakes region and the Mississippi River from Illinois all the way to Louisiana. France and Great Britain had been fighting over their colonial possessions—in North America and around the world—for many years.

In between the French and British territories in North America lay a vast wilderness known as the Ohio Country. This region stretched from the Great Lakes in the north to the Ohio River in the south, and from the Allegheny Mountains in the east to the Mississippi River in the west. It included parts of present-day Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. Both France and Great Britain hoped to extend their colonies into the Ohio Country, which offered settlers access to fertile farmland and the valuable fur trade. But neither European power was able to take control of the Ohio Country because this middle ground was held by the Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the Six Nations of the Iroquois). The confederacy was a powerful alliance of six Indian (Native American) nations from the Iroquois language family—the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscarora.

The Six Nations' hold on the Ohio Country began to break down during the 1740s. As more British and French traders moved into the region, they were able to form relationships with many Indian tribes. Tribes that were once loyal to the Iroquois Confederacy were gradually lured away by the availability of French and British goods. This situation reduced the influence of the Iroquois Confederacy and shook up the balance of power in the Ohio Country. Both France and Great Britain were eager to take advantage of the situation in order to increase the size of their territorial holdings.

France wanted to control the Ohio Country because it provided an important connection between the French colonies in Canada and those in Illinois and along the Mississippi River. French leaders also knew that claiming the region would create a barrier to keep the British colonies from expanding westward beyond the Allegheny Mountains. But Great Britain also recognized the strategic value of the Ohio Country. British leaders wanted to control the region so they could continue expanding their colonies westward and gain access to the land's rich natural resources. They also knew that claiming the area would divide the French territories and make them easier to conquer.

Competing claims on the land

In 1752, Ange Duquesne de Menneville, marquis de Duquesne (1700-1778) became governor-general of New France. A no-nonsense fellow who had served in the French Navy, Duquesne was determined to take control of the Ohio Country. He carried orders from the French government that said he should "make every effort to drive the English from our lands." To carry out this mission, he started building a chain of forts from Lake Erie southward to the Ohio River. Once they were completed, these four forts—Presque Isle on Lake Erie, Le Boeuf on French Creek, Machault at the settlement of Venango in modern-day Pennsylvania, and Duquesne at the junction of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers (a spot known as the Forks of the Ohio)—would effectively prevent British traders and settlers from going west.

At the same time, wealthy and influential men from the Virginia and Pennsylvania colonies convinced King George II (1683-1760) of England to grant them title to land in the Ohio Country. One group of land speculators (people who buy and sell land with the hope of making a profit) formed an association called the Ohio Company. The members of this group included Lawrence Washington (1718-1752), the older half-brother of George Washington (1732-1799; see entry), and Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie (1693-1770; see box) of Virginia Colony. The Ohio Company received a grant of five hundred thousand acres along the Ohio River from the British government. When Lawrence Washington died of tuberculosis (a disease that affects the lungs) in 1752, George inherited some of his land claims.

The members of the Ohio Company knew that their claim to this land would be worthless if France controlled the Ohio Country. In order to protect their interests, they wanted to prevent the French from building their forts. They convinced the British government, which was already concerned about France gaining power in North America, that military action might be needed. In 1753, British authorities gave Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie permission to build forts in the Ohio Country and to remove the French by force if necessary. But he was only allowed to use force in response to hostile acts by the French.

Washington brings a message to the French

Dinwiddie decided to send a message to French leaders in the Ohio Country. The message would inform the French that the king of England had claimed the region. It would also demand that the French stop building forts and leave the Ohio Country. "The lands upon the River Ohio, in the western parts of the colony of Virginia, are so notoriously [widely] known to be the property of the Crown of Great Britain that it is a matter of equal concern and surprise to me, to hear that a body of French forces are erecting [building] fortresses and making settlements upon that river, within his Majesty's dominions [area of ownership or authority]," Dinwiddie wrote in his message to the French. "It becomes my duty to require your peaceable departure."

Since there were no telephones or telegraphs in those days, Dinwiddie had to send a messenger into the wilderness. He selected a young man named George Washington. At first glance, Washington seemed like an unlikely person to perform such an important mission. He was only twenty-one years old, had little military or diplomatic experience, and could not speak French. But Washington was an ambitious young man, eager to take on the dangerous task. He was also a capable horseman who had developed strong outdoor skills by working as a surveyor (a person who measures and marks the boundaries of tracts of land). Finally, Washington shared the governor's interest in securing the Ohio Company's land claims because he had inherited some of his brother's shares.

In late October 1753, Washington set out on horseback from Williamsburg, Virginia, with a group of six other men to deliver Dinwiddie's message to the French fort at Venango. One member of his group was Jacob Van Braam, a friend of the Washington family who spoke French and could act as a translator. He was also accompanied by Christopher Gist (c. 1706-1759), a frontiersman and Ohio Company agent who served as a guide. Rounding out the group were four other woodsmen who acted as bodyguards and servants.

Washington and his group faced a difficult journey through unfamiliar territory (see box). The late fall weather was cold and rainy, with occasional snow. As they followed the Youghiogheny River to the Monongahela River and then to the Ohio River, it took them more than a week to travel seventy-five miles. Washington gathered information about the land and French activities in the region along the way to Venango. When he reached the Forks, where the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers join to form the Ohio (the site of modern-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), he noted that it would be an ideal spot for a fort. "The land in the forks I think extremely well situated for a fort, as it has the absolute command of both rivers," he wrote in his journal. "The land at the point is twenty or twenty-five feet above the common surface of the water; and a considerable bottom of flat, well-timbered land all around it, very convenient for building."

During his journey, Washington also discovered that the Indians who lived in the region had little interest in helping the British. Hoping to convince the French that the Indians were his allies, he had invited representatives of several tribes to accompany his men to their meeting with the French. But only a handful of Indians accepted his invitation, including the Seneca leader Tanaghrisson (also known as Half King). Tanaghrisson was a representative of the Iroquois Confederacy among the tribes of the Ohio Country. His job was to keep these tribes loyal to the confederacy, which also meant keeping them loyal to himself.

When Washington reached Venango, the French soldiers there told him that he needed to meet with their commander, Captain Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre (1701- 1755). Legardeur was stationed at Fort Le Boeuf, another sixty miles up French Creek. Leaving their horses at Venango, Washington and his men proceeded to the fort in canoes and on foot. They arrived and delivered their message on December 11.

French politely refuse to leave

Legardeur was not impressed with young Washington and his rough-looking group of men. But the French commander treated them politely and allowed them to stay for several days while he prepared a reply to Dinwiddie's message. Although he agreed to pass the message along to Marquis Duquesne, Legardeur also made it clear that the French had no intention of leaving the Ohio Country. "As to the summons [warning notice] you send me to retire [leave], I do not think myself obliged [bound or required] to obey it," he wrote to Dinwiddie. "Whatever may be your instructions, mine bring me here by my general's order; and I entreat [ask] you, Sir, to be assured that I shall attempt to follow them with all the exactness and determination which can be expected from a good officer."

Washington left Fort Le Boeuf on December 16 with Legardeur's reply. He and his party knew they had to hurry back to Williamsburg to tell Dinwiddie about the French plans. Winter was upon them, and they did not want to be delayed until spring. Washington and his men paddled furiously down French Creek, which had begun to freeze over. When they arrived at Venango, they found that their horses had become too weak to carry riders. So they set off on foot as the temperature dropped and snow began falling. Some of Washington's men got frostbite and had to be left behind in a small hunting shack. Washington pressed on with his guide, Christopher Gist, shedding some of their supplies so that they could travel light.

Washington and Gist made a dangerous journey through the wilderness. In fact, Washington almost lost his life on two different occasions. Once an Indian shot at him at close range and narrowly missed. Later, he fell into the freezing water of the Allegheny River while trying to cross it on a makeshift log raft. Washington saved himself from drowning by throwing an arm across the raft. But Gist was unable to pole the raft to shore by himself, and they ended up drifting onto a small island instead. After spending a cold night there, the two men were thrilled when the morning light showed that the river had frozen over. They walked across and arrived back in Williamsburg on January 16, 1754, eleven weeks after they had set out.

Upon hearing Washington's story, Dinwiddie gave him twenty-four hours to write a detailed report of his journey through the Ohio Country and his meeting with the French. In this report, Washington wrote that Legardeur "told me that the country belonged [to the French]; that no Englishman had a right to trade upon those waters; and that he had orders to make every person prisoner who attempted it on the Ohio, or the waters of it." Dinwiddie sent copies of the report to the Virginia Assembly and to the British government in London.

This famous document made a strong impact on British and colonial leaders. They decided that the French had committed a hostile act by refusing to stop building forts and leave the Ohio Country. They gave Dinwiddie the authority to use force to drive the French out, or at least prevent them from further strengthening their position. The governor ordered an army of two hundred men to be sent to the Forks of the Ohio. This army, led by Washington, would be charged with defending Virginia's land interests against further French advances. Dinwiddie also ordered the construction of a British fort at the Forks—the same strategic spot where Marquis Duquesne planned to build the fourth French fort.

Robert Dinwiddie, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia

Robert Dinwiddie was a wealthy Scottish merchant who became a leading voice in support of expanding the British Empire deep into the North American wilderness. Dinwiddie was born in 1693 in Scotland, where his father had built a successful business career. Upon reaching adulthood, Dinwiddie followed in his father's footsteps as a prosperous merchant. In 1721, however, he was appointed to serve as administrator of Bermuda, which was a British territory at the time.

After spending sixteen years in Bermuda, Dinwiddie was promoted to the position of surveyor general in the American colonies. As a leading authority over Pennsylvania and several southern colonies, he gained a reputation for firm decision-making and devotion to the British Crown. On July 4, 1751, Dinwiddie was named lieutenant governor of Virginia, England's largest colony in North America. (He was always considered the head of the colony since the two men who held the ceremonial title of governor never set foot in Virginia.) Dinwiddie thus became one of the most powerful figures in all of the colonies.

Dinwiddie strongly supported British efforts to expand their holdings in North America, and he viewed the French and their Indian allies as serious obstacles to that goal. In addition, he saw an opportunity to increase his wealth by harvesting the abundant natural resources of the western forests. As a result, he urged the colonies to create and supply their own military force and called for the use of regular British troops in America. In 1753, the British government gave Dinwiddie permission to establish forts in the Ohio River Valley and other regions.

Eager to claim western lands, Dinwiddie sent a young colonist named George Washington on a mission to a French outpost located deep in the disputed Ohio Country. Washington told the French to stop building forts in the region and to make way for English settlement. The French scoffed at Washington's message, which angered Dinwiddie. The following year, he promoted Washington to lieutenant colonel in the Virginia militia and sent him back into the wilderness with two hundred soldiers. According to Dinwiddie's orders, Washington was to use his army to defend Fort Prince George (modern-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) from enemy attack. But the expedition encountered a wide range of troubles, including the murder of a captured French officer by Tanaghrisson (?-1754; see box in Chapter 3), an Indian chieftain who had been traveling with Washington. This murder is often cited as the event that triggered the French and Indian War (known in Europe as the Seven Years' War).

As the French and Indian War roared to life, Dinwiddie struggled to take care of all his duties as a colonial administrator. He became so concerned about the war and supervising Virginia's affairs that his health suffered. In 1758, he was relieved of office at his own request, and he and his family returned to England. Dinwiddie died in London on July 27, 1770.

Excerpt from George Washington's Journal

George Washington kept a journal during his mission to the Ohio Country in 1753. The following excerpt describes his dangerous winter journey back to Williamsburg, Virginia:

The horses became less able to travel every day; the cold increased very fast; and the roads were becoming much worse by a deep snow, continually freezing; therefore, as I was uneasy to get back, to make my report of my proceedings to his Honor the Governor [Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia], I determined to prosecute [continue] my journey, the nearest way through the woods, on foot.…

I took my necessary papers, pulled off my clothes, and tied myself up in a watch-coat. Then, with gun in hand, and pack on my back, in which were my papers and provisions, I set out with Mr. [Christopher] Gist [a frontiersman and guide], fitted in the same manner, on Wednesday the 26th [of December, 1753]. The day following … we fell in with a party of French Indians, who had lain in wait for us. One of them fired at Mr. Gist or me, not fifteen steps off, but fortunately missed. We took this fellow into custody, and kept him until about nine o'clock at night, then let him go, and walked all the remaining part of the night without making any stop, that we might get the start so far, as to be out of the reach of their pursuit the next day, since we were well assured they would follow our track as soon as it was light. The next day we continued traveling until quite dark, and got to the [Allegheny] river about two miles above Shannopins [a small settlement near modern-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]. We expected to have found the river frozen, but it was not, only about fifty yards from each shore. The ice, I suppose, had broken up above, for it was driving in vast quantities.

There was no way for getting over but on a raft, which we set about [building], with but one poor hatchet, and finished just after sun-setting. This was a whole day's work; we next got it launched, then went on board of it, and set off; but before we were half way over, we were jammed in the ice in such a manner, that we expected every moment our raft to sink, and ourselves to perish. I put out my setting-pole to try to stop the raft, that the ice might pass by, when the rapidity of the stream threw it with so much violence against the pole, that it jerked me out into ten feet water; but I fortunately saved myself by catching hold of one of the raftlogs. Notwithstanding all our efforts, we could not get to either shore, but were obliged, as we were near an island, to quit our raft and make to it.

The cold was so extremely severe, that Mr. Gist had all his fingers and some of his toes frozen, and the water was shut up so hard, that we had no difficulty in getting off the island on the ice in the morning.

Washington spent two more weeks traveling in cold, wet weather before he finally reached Williamsburg on January 16, 1754, and made his report to Lieutanant Governor Dinwiddie.

Source: Harrison, Maureen, and Steve Gilbert, eds. George Washington in His Own Words. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1997.