Battle of Jumonville Glen Amerikaanse geschiedenis [1754]

Battle of Jumonville Glen, (28 mei 1754), het begin van de slag van de Franse en Indische Oorlog en de eerste gevechtsactie voor George Washington. Keizerlijke ambities en concurrentie voor de rijke bonthandel met Amerikaanse indianenstammen brachten Engeland en Frankrijk in conflict in de Ohio River Valley. Toen de Fransen een waarschuwing afwezen en buitenposten begonnen te bouwen, stuurde de koninklijke gouverneur in Virginia een expeditie om de Forks of the Ohio te beveiligen, wat leidde tot de Slag bij Jumonville Glen.De strijd werd uitgevochten in een gebied ten zuidoosten van het huidige Uniontown, Pennsylvania, ten zuidoosten van Pittsburgh.

Franse en Indiase oorlogsgebeurtenissen

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Slag bij Jumonville Glen

28 mei 1754

Battle of Fort Necessity

3 juli 1754

Battle of the Monongahela

July 9, 1755

Battle of Minorca

May 20, 1756

Battle of Carillon

July 8, 1758

Battle of Quebec

September 13, 1759

Treaty of Paris

February 10, 1763

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In January 1754, a company of the volunteer Virginia Regiment was sent to build a fort at the strategic confluence of the Monongohela and Allegany rivers (the "Forks," modern-day Pittsburgh) where the Ohio River began. The Virginians were driven away by French troops, who went on to construct Fort Duquesne on the site. In response, a larger expedition was dispatched in April. Lieutenant Colonel George Washington, the regiment’s deputy commander, led the advance element. On 24 May, his force reached Great Meadows, an open, marshy area about 60 miles (96 km) southeast of the Forks (near present-day Farmington, Pennsylvania) where camp was set up. Three days later, friendly Indians informed Washington that some 50 French soldiers and Indians were camped in a hidden ravine only 15 miles away. Convinced that the French intended to attack, Washington decided to strike first.

During the rainy night of 27 to 28 May, Washington led a raiding party of forty Virginians and Indians to the French location. At dawn, as they moved into position around the glen, a shot was fired. The surprised French, who claimed they were a diplomatic, not military, corps and who were led by Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville, returned the musket fire for fifteen minutes before they surrendered. Details of what happened next have long been debated, but the end result was that Jumonville, during his captivity and interrogation, was suddenly tomahawked to death by Washington’s ally,Mingo (Iroquoian) chief Tanacharison; according to legend, the latter then washed his hands in Jumonville’s brains. The rash attack spurred the other Indians to follow suit, whereupon nine additional captive French soldiers were scalped before a stunned Washington could intervene and stop the massacre.

One of the French survivors escaped into the woods, returned to Fort Duquesne, and reported on the attack. The French pilloried Washington as a war criminal, and their outrage helped spur their July 3 attack on Washington at the Battle of Fort Necessity, which ended in Washington’s sole surrender in his military career.

Losses: French and American Indian, 10 dead, 1 wounded, 21 captured; Virginian, 1 dead, 2 wounded.