Understanding the French and Indian War

Oh [Music] [Music] this program is made possible by Richard King mellon foundation the Heinz endowments Eden Hall Foundation National Endowment for the Humanities and the following [Music] [Music] [Music] gentlemen a declaration by the representatives of the United States of America when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another we hold these truths to be self-evident that heart rate is equal they are endowed by their creator [Music] liberty and the pursuit of happiness that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolve for the support of this declaration it's one of the great ironies of American history the man who led the revolution nearly lost his life fighting for that same British Empire 20 years before on the eve of battle George Washington couldn't help but recollect that earlier war I did not let the anniversary of this month pass without a grateful remembrance of the escape we had at the meadows [Music] and on the banks of the Monongahela [Music] that was the war that made him the leader he was the French and Indian War but the day it all began there was nothing heroic about the father of his country [Music] to be fair Washington is only 22 ambitious and a little naive he doesn't realize he's about to become a pawn in a chess game he doesn't understand [Music] Washington's borders are to drive the French from this contested part of the frontier with force if necessary he doesn't know these French soldiers are on a diplomatic mission [Music] the eager young major doesn't take the time to find out what the French are after [Music] it's George Washington's first taste of battle and he likes it I can with truth assure you that I heard the bullets whistle believe me there was something charming in the south with the [Music] stop the retreat cut off by Washington's Indian allies the French surrendered with inmates their officer sets wounded this is in center Joseph Kudo and Amelia Duchamp on Villa Illinois if the letter from his commander under the protocol of the day Washington is responsible for the well-being of the wounded Frenchman but he soon realizes that this deep in the woods different rules apply [Music] it turns out this Indian leader known as the half King has his own agenda within minutes the half Kings Warriors under the French camp scalping the dead and wounded before they leave the massacre is not an outcome Washington expected nor could have foreseen the consequences this incident will trigger an all-out war for North America that soon spreads around the world we call it the French and Indian War this is the story of a war that helped create a new nation no one could ever have predicted this is the story of the war that made America [Music] to understand how young George Washington could set such momentous events in the motion we have to go back in time before he blundered into battle and see how the stage had already been set for war [Music] [Music] spring 1750 to two years before George Washington's battle in the woods speculators from Washington's native Virginia are coming to Pennsylvania to negotiate with the region's Indians for land they're after a foothold in one of the most contested regions of North America in the 1750s Britain holds the East Coast while Canada and the Mississippi Valley are dominated by the French between those two empires lies a giant prize called the Ohio country a region the size of France that is largely empty and up for grabs both France and Britain set their sights on one spot in particular [Music] a strategic River Junction called the forks of the Ohio where Pittsburgh stands today [Music] but the fort's of the Ohio isn't theirs for the taking the native people consider this their land and not something that can be traded or sold [Music] but there is one Indian leader in the region who is willing to talk the half King the same man who will play such an important role in George Washington's life two years later they don't Jake don't ever forget that any sign of friendship that we make to the English will not escape the French with the French seem weak while the English traders give us Goods when our hunters bring the skin in native tradition women elders provide counsel for important decisions for the half King the stakes in this upcoming negotiation couldn't be higher most of the region's Indians prefer the French but if the British offer him generous trade goods to distribute among these people an alliance with Britain could put him in a position of power it's a dangerous gamble but the half king has few options his people are refugees who have been driven out of their homelands in the east by tribal wars and European settlers diseases have devastated their numbers now 3000 of them have made the Ohio country their new homeland they guard it jealously but with the fringe encroaching from the north and the English from the east the half King knows he must make some kind of accommodation why are they firing is their way of welcome when they fire their guns at the end of the party that you need to worry parlays between Indians and whites are a fact of frontier life and the rules are well-established trade goods grease the wheels the Virginians have brought a small fortune the items are more than just gifts native people rely on European goods for their survival [Music] providing a steady supply of these necessities will go far towards securing Indian allies and then there is wampum crucial to any parley intricately woven belts and strings encoded with messages of war peace and friendship until there is a ceremonial passing of the wampum no negotiation would be complete when it came to winning favor with the Ohio Valley Indians the British had some catching up to do years of land swindles had left native peoples suspicious of British motives the French on the other hand had traded with the Indian nations and fought beside Indian warriors for more than a century so for the visiting Virginians this parlay was more than just closing a land deal it was about winning these people over [Music] the half king is playing a delicate diplomatic game between the British and the French and to make it more complicated he's not altogether he's own master in this negotiation the half king and his people are one of many Indian groups and they are far from the most powerful the dominant force in the Northeast is the Iroquois League a coalition of Six Nations spread across northern New York the Iroquois claimed sovereignty over the Ohio country and all the Indians who lived there [Music] technically they haven't authorized the half King to make an agreement with the British so if he goes ahead and does it anyway he'll be asserting his independence from the Iroquois League in fact he's called the half King because of his limited Authority but if he can strike a good deal with the British at this parley it could make him a leader to be reckoned with brethren be assured that the king our Father in purchasing your lands had never any and why is it taking so long the way it is with aliens will be much talk and even more giving of gifts before the meat of the matter is addressed kindly accept this belt as a symbol of our two peoples living together as one the talking goes on for more than a week finally the half King agrees to let the Virginians build a small trading post at the forks with the two European empires encroaching on the Ohio country the half King has chosen what seems the best of two bad options [Music] the French claim all the land on one side of the river an English claim everything on the other if that be the case I ask where does the Indian land lie we live in a country between and therefore the land belongs to neither one go to the iron the great being above allowed it to be a place of residence for us Philip how do we say farewell neewa better Alysha la fois nous a petit her left Sheila POIs so the Virginians leave the parlay having secured the half king's support he will back the English over the French and he will allow the Virginians to return the following year to build their post at the forks of the Ohio River the full effects of the half kings decision won't be felt for years to come and one thing is certain the French are not about to give up the forks without a fight one look at the map shows why the French already control Canada and the Great Lakes region by building a string of outposts through the Ohio country they could link their French forts in Canada with their Louisiana colony and keep the British bottled up on the East Coast a memorandum by the Marquis de la Gillian air governor of New France urges action cannot be because if the rapid progress of the English colonies be not arrested they will possess in a short time formidable armaments on the continent of America and if that happens warns the Marquis then all the other French colonies will fall to the British as well [Music] Lagaan lawson year was a visionary he saw that the struggle for North America had global implications if the French lost France would be weakened in Europe as well for Britain the stakes were just as high if it allowed France to dominate the Ohio country the British colonies could never expand westward so British authorities sent an expedition to order the French to withdraw from the Ohio country the man they picked to lead it none other than the 21 year old Virginian George Washington [Music] Washington is a natural choice brimming with ambition imposingly tall he is well-connected and eager to make a name for himself Washington draws his own map of the journey that will take him past the forks of the Ohio to Fort LeBouf near Lake Erie a 500-mile journey that gets underway just as winter sets in [Music] along the route Washington comes to a French base the officer in charge gives a warm welcome to the young Virginian but the French make it very clear they won't give in to he's ultimatum that night he invited us to sup with them soon the wine which they dosed themselves with freely loosen their tongues [Music] with utmost charm the officer let's see know the sentiment among the French in the region they told us that it was their absolute design to take possession of the Ohio and by God they would do it for though the English could raise two men to their one they knew our actions were too slow to prevent any undertaking of theirs brushed off by the French Washington starts back to Virginia in December 1753 his report on the mission goes all the way to London where King George the second hears of the young Virginian who had done his best but failed to persuade the French to leave the Ohio Valley the following spring the Virginians take up the half kings offer to build a trading post at the forks of the Ohio but it's not to be almost immediately French troops forced the Virginians to surrender the forks and abandon their unfinished building the half king is furious by taking the fort's the French have humiliated him and the inability of the English to fight back makes him look like he's backed the losing side he calculates how to get even it's the young George Washington who unwittingly offers him that chance that's how Washington came to ambush the French his first taste of battle that same spring of 1754 Washington is on his way back to the forks with orders to help the Virginians finish their trading post when he learns he is too late he makes plans to confront the French and take the forts back the half King agrees to be his ally but Washington doesn't realize that the Indian leader has a complicated agenda of his own if the half king orchestrates a confrontation between the British and the French it will strengthen his own hand in the region but why does the half king go further and kill the wounded Frenchman it's an act of revenge for his humiliation at the forks and a message to the French to back off and he knows the blame will fall on George Washington not himself you know bear [Music] you are not dead yet my father says the half king an ironic twist to the respectful term the Indians usually use for their French allies Washington skirmish alone probably would not have triggered a larger war but the cold-blooded murder of their wounded officer the French couldn't possibly let that go without a response within weeks the brother of the slain ensign Jumonville sets off in pursuit [Music] while Washington has withdrawn his men to a large medal they build a crude stockade that the Virginians O'Reilly named Fort Necessity Washington expects the half king to help defend the fort but the indian leader has lost confidence in the young major as Washington is a good-natured man but he has no experience always driving us to fight by his direction now he wants us to make a stand with him against the French [Music] that little thing upon the meadow Washington's only Indian allied leaves you have no choice we will make our stand here the French have no such problems with their native allies they arrive accompanied by 100 Shawnee Mingo and Delaware warriors about 9 o'clock on the 3rd of July the enemy advanced with shouts and dismal Indian Galison Washington intends to fight face-to-face in the field european-style but the French and their Indian allies don't cooperate [Music] they then from every little rise in tree Bush stump and stone kept up a Golding constant fire which we returned as best we could till late in the afternoon when there fell the most tremendous rain that can be conceived [Music] it filled our trenches with water and went not only the ammunition and the fire locks but also the few stores that we had leaving us only a few bayonets for defense [Music] by nightfall the situation is hopeless when the French commander offers terms for surrender Washington signs the soggy document unable to read French he relies on a Dutch officer to translate it turns out that Jumonville brother is taking a sweet revenge Washington doesn't learn until later that the document includes a confession to the assassination of instant Jumonville [Music] the morning after the battle the victorious French allowed Washington to retreat towards Virginia with his wounded and tattered troops word of his defeat spread quickly this was not the kind of fame the young Washington had been seeking the date oddly enough was the fourth of July 1754 the defeat at Fort Necessity proves disastrous for the half King as well any clout he has among the region's Indians has now evaporated [Music] within months the half king is dead a Delaware chief described the uncertain situation in the Ohio country that fall of 1754 things seemed to take another turn he said and a high wind is rising [Music] as war clouds gathered the powerful Iroquois League Ponder's its strategy [Music] if they take sides in this white man's war there's a good chance they will find themselves fighting against other Indians but if they remain neutral there's also the chance either France or Britain will take possession of the Ohio country and if that happens the Iroquois could end up with nothing at all [Music] for more than 100 years the native people of the Northeast have deftly played Britain and France against each other but now the swelling imperial ambitions of the Europeans threatened to overwhelm them across the Atlantic and the palace of versaille Louis the 15th and his ministers spend the winter of 1755 preparing to defend their North American interests by the time the ice has melted on the st. Lawrence River 1,800 French troops have been deployed to Canada King George the second and his ministers in Whitehall move even faster 1,000 redcoats sail to Virginia in early spring of 1755 [Music] the British plan is to strike the French in the Ohio country and simultaneously in northern New York and Nova Scotia a three-pronged attack that will drive the French back into Canada war is now inevitable best the troops I have the honor to command will take fort decay and thereby remove the French from the forks of the Ohio second it's an audacious strategy in keeping with the commander-in-chief sent by London to carry it out General Edward Braddock a politically connected career officer with little battlefield experience once we have secured this important post we shall proceed to Niagara if the season will permit and I suppose it will for this to cane can hardly detain me above three or four days fort duquesne Braddock's first objective is held by the French and their Indian allies it stands guard at the crucial forts controlling all traffic through the Ohio country to assault it is an ambitious plan [Music] as I was saying gentlemen but before he even begins the general runs into political problems Braddock expects the colonies to help pay for this military campaign but the governors of the colonies reply that their assemblies would prefer to be asked not ordered fish gentlemen you cannot tell me you have not the power to make these little assemblies do the Kings will the matter is urgent there is no time to be lost I need not remind each of you that this expedition is an expensive enterprise I cannot sufficiently express my indignation against the provinces of Pennsylvania and Maryland or refuse to contribute anything as for the Indians these savages may indeed be a formidable enemy to raw American militia but it is impossible they should make any impression against disciplined troops Braddock's march against Fort Duquesne gets off to a slow start that spring of 1755 the army waits at Fort Cumberland Maryland as in every army of the time female camp followers are a semi-official part of the force close to 200 women served as laundresses cooks and nurses [Music] that when your husband's regiment went into battle you ever frightened for yourself I mean what if the enemy was to come up from the rear to sell never was with the troops in actual battle anything like that here sergeant says that we outnumber the froggies and as for them Indians but everyone know they can't fight any manner that will prevail a-rod train some music sergeant says General Braddock don't even want them savages fartin on our side that talon ii thinks of him don't talk to me about general pratik you did here to Djibouti he's ordered all of us women going up country with the army to be examined for disease by the surgeons to see if we're clean enough to march well it's an insult for certain I'm a married woman not a [ __ ] the men they should be looking at [Music] I have to say General Braddock names George Washington one of his chief aides though it's not an official British Commission Washington jumps at the opportunity to serve alongside the highest-ranking British officer on the continent and men are looking very good indeed [Music] the general orders daily parade ground exercises to keep discipline sharp Jojo [Music] but about 1/3 of Braddock's army are American provincials untrained enlistees from Virginia Maryland and Pennsylvania Braddock pronounces them very indifferent men it isn't only the drilling that's unfamiliar to the Americans severe punishments for even small infractions provide a closer look into the army under King George then many Americans have seen before [Applause] [Music] at night the Indians living in the fort put on demonstrations for the British and Americans dances that suggest the fighting style of the Warriors the soldiers now know what the famous Indian War whoop actually sounds like [Music] the Americans encourage Braddock to court Indian allies but the general scorn shows all but seven warriors go home [Music] [Music] in June of 1755 Braddock's March to the Ohio country finally gets underway a long thin column of wagons artillery horses and camp followers four miles long [Music] 300 ax men clear the way it's a logistical feat that only the British would attempt marching an army through 100 miles of dense forests steep mountains and muddy river crossings after a week they have gone only 22 miles frustrated by the slow progress Braddock splitsies force and takes an advance column of 1400 men ahead it is Washington's third adventure into the Ohio Valley this time he hopes to finally drive the French out the main body of the army escapes any direct attacks others aren't always so lucky English messenger James Smith is captured far from the column and taken to the French fort duquesne running the gauntlet is customary for all Indian captives Smith is turned over to the French he'll wait to see whether the English will ever arrive at the fort [Music] after three grueling weeks the British Army finally approaches the Monongahela River just a few miles south of fort became morale is high General Braddock has led his army nearly 100 miles his engineers built log roads to cross the swamps a company of sailors rigged block-and-tackle to hoist the heavy cannon over the hills the worst is behind them [Music] once they reach the fort nothing can stand in their way [Music] it is my hope that this evening we will be drinking a toast at Fort Duquesne [Music] Braddock has succeeded in transporting a modern army and its artillery deep into the wilderness Washington is impressed this is the kind of British officer the young Virginian aspires to be Indian scouts working with the French keep a close watch on the approaching army [Music] when word reaches fort duquesne of the advancing British column the French realize their only hope is to ambush the British as they cross the Monongahela River but their Indian allies balk unwilling to take on the large enemy force [Music] the French captain Leonardo bozo Dawn's Indian war dress and paints his face a gesture of solidarity the British would never consider the Indians agree to join the fight [Music] at the front of the British column George Crone a Pennsylvania trader leads the seven remaining Indian scouts moving quickly the last few miles toward Fort Duquesne captain Bo's use force of nearly 900 Indians Canadians and French regulars moves just as fast toward Braddock's column still hoping to catch them at the river crossing [Music] it's impossible to say who is more surprised when they encounter each other deep woods right [Music] the elite British grenadiers move forward [Music] [Music] bozo leads the warriors and Canadians into the woods he'll fight the battle the Indian Way in the beginning it looks as if the highly disciplined British will prevail their volleys proved deadly immediately bozo is one of the first to fall but once the Indians and Canadians slip into the hills on either side of the British everything changes [Music] Washington and the other officers struggle to keep their men in formation the French regulars are deployed in front of the British column blocking any forward movement while the Indians and Canadians snipe at them from both sides the British start to fall back but on the narrow forest road they collide with the troops behind them chaos ensues deadly tangles of redcoats mashed together making pathetically easy targets the artillery proves useless in the dense woods [Music] [Music] right [Music] permit Virginians to fight as the enemy does we know the indian mode is actually not so mind your place [Music] [Music] the generals been hit [Music] it doesn't take long for the attackers to reach the rear of the British column [Music] it is said that of the 54 women who marched with Braddock's army that day only four returned [Music] some of the missing would turn up in Canada ransom from the Indians by the French [Music] after three harrowing hours it's over the French and Indians have lost only 21 dead while nearly a thousand British and provincial soldiers are killed or wounded Washington has had several horses shot out from under him but is unhurt what's left of Braddock's army makes a desperate retreat the shocking scenes which presented themselves in this night's March are not to be described the dead the dying the wounded the groans the lamentation the cries of the wounded for help along the road were enough to pierce a heart of adamant the folly and consequence of opposing compact bodies against the manner of the Indians fighting in the woods which had in a manner been predicted were now so clearly verified word of the great Indian and French victory reaches fort duquesne by the end of the day British prisoner James Smith reported the moment of the warriors return at sundown I beheld a small party coming in with about a dozen prisoners I stood on the fourth wall until I beheld them begin to burn one of these men they had him tied to a stake and kept touching him with fire burns Smith is sure he'll meet the same fate instead he will be adopted by an Indian family to replace kin who have died in battle he will spend the next six years living among the Indians [Music] the French know they owe this victory to their native allies the Indians gathered the honors of battle to bring home evidence of their great feat [Music] in European warfare the victors might have pursued the fleeing British to crush them altogether but here in North America the native peoples have different aims they're not fighting to secure an empire they're just trying to drive the invaders from their land for now anyway the battle is over five days into the retreat General Braddock dies of his wounds at an encampment near the Great Meadows the brave but unfortunate General Braddock breathed his last [Music] he was interred with the honor of war and it was left to me to see that performed he was deposited in the road over which the army wagons and all past to hide every trace lest the entombment be discovered [Music] George Washington would admire Braddock's battlefield bravery for the rest of his life the generals brass barrel pistol and bloodied sash would hold a place of honor at Mount Vernon [Music] four years after the Battle of the Monongahela visitors here would come across the unburied bones of British and American soldiers but empires don't come cheap both Britain and France would pay dearly in blood to win a prize as huge as North America this was just the beginning neither side had any idea how costly this war would be or how many battles there were still to lose [Music] next time on the war that made America Britain must overcome a devastating defeat while young George Washington defends a violent frontier for France victory is in sight if they can keep their Hindi and allies the war that made America it's not the war you think it is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] for more information about the series an interactive timeline of the War historians commentaries and classroom activities visit our website at pbs.org this program was made possible by Richard King mellon foundation the Heinz and Donuts Eden Hall foundation National Endowment for the Humanities and the following [Music] you

Oh [Music] [Music] this program is made possible by Richard King mellon foundation the Heinz endowments Eden Hall Foundation National Endowment for the Humanities and the following [Music] [Music] [Music] gentlemen a declaration by the representatives of the United States of America when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another we hold these truths to be self-evident that heart rate is equal they are endowed by their creator [Music] liberty and the pursuit of happiness that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolve for the support of this declaration it's one of the great ironies of American history the man who led the revolution nearly lost his life fighting for that same British Empire 20 years before on the eve of battle George Washington couldn't help but recollect that earlier war I did not let the anniversary of this month pass without a grateful remembrance of the escape we had at the meadows [Music] and on the banks of the Monongahela [Music] that was the war that made him the leader he was the French and Indian War but the day it all began there was nothing heroic about the father of his country [Music] to be fair Washington is only 22 ambitious and a little naive he doesn't realize he's about to become a pawn in a chess game he doesn't understand [Music] Washington's borders are to drive the French from this contested part of the frontier with force if necessary he doesn't know these French soldiers are on a diplomatic mission [Music] the eager young major doesn't take the time to find out what the French are after [Music] it's George Washington's first taste of battle and he likes it I can with truth assure you that I heard the bullets whistle believe me there was something charming in the south with the [Music] stop the retreat cut off by Washington's Indian allies the French surrendered with inmates their officer sets wounded this is in center Joseph Kudo and Amelia Duchamp on Villa Illinois if the letter from his commander under the protocol of the day Washington is responsible for the well-being of the wounded Frenchman but he soon realizes that this deep in the woods different rules apply [Music] it turns out this Indian leader known as the half King has his own agenda within minutes the half Kings Warriors under the French camp scalping the dead and wounded before they leave the massacre is not an outcome Washington expected nor could have foreseen the consequences this incident will trigger an all-out war for North America that soon spreads around the world we call it the French and Indian War this is the story of a war that helped create a new nation no one could ever have predicted this is the story of the war that made America [Music] to understand how young George Washington could set such momentous events in the motion we have to go back in time before he blundered into battle and see how the stage had already been set for war [Music] [Music] spring 1750 to two years before George Washington's battle in the woods speculators from Washington's native Virginia are coming to Pennsylvania to negotiate with the region's Indians for land they're after a foothold in one of the most contested regions of North America in the 1750s Britain holds the East Coast while Canada and the Mississippi Valley are dominated by the French between those two empires lies a giant prize called the Ohio country a region the size of France that is largely empty and up for grabs both France and Britain set their sights on one spot in particular [Music] a strategic River Junction called the forks of the Ohio where Pittsburgh stands today [Music] but the fort's of the Ohio isn't theirs for the taking the native people consider this their land and not something that can be traded or sold [Music] but there is one Indian leader in the region who is willing to talk the half King the same man who will play such an important role in George Washington's life two years later they don't Jake don't ever forget that any sign of friendship that we make to the English will not escape the French with the French seem weak while the English traders give us Goods when our hunters bring the skin in native tradition women elders provide counsel for important decisions for the half King the stakes in this upcoming negotiation couldn't be higher most of the region's Indians prefer the French but if the British offer him generous trade goods to distribute among these people an alliance with Britain could put him in a position of power it's a dangerous gamble but the half king has few options his people are refugees who have been driven out of their homelands in the east by tribal wars and European settlers diseases have devastated their numbers now 3000 of them have made the Ohio country their new homeland they guard it jealously but with the fringe encroaching from the north and the English from the east the half King knows he must make some kind of accommodation why are they firing is their way of welcome when they fire their guns at the end of the party that you need to worry parlays between Indians and whites are a fact of frontier life and the rules are well-established trade goods grease the wheels the Virginians have brought a small fortune the items are more than just gifts native people rely on European goods for their survival [Music] providing a steady supply of these necessities will go far towards securing Indian allies and then there is wampum crucial to any parley intricately woven belts and strings encoded with messages of war peace and friendship until there is a ceremonial passing of the wampum no negotiation would be complete when it came to winning favor with the Ohio Valley Indians the British had some catching up to do years of land swindles had left native peoples suspicious of British motives the French on the other hand had traded with the Indian nations and fought beside Indian warriors for more than a century so for the visiting Virginians this parlay was more than just closing a land deal it was about winning these people over [Music] the half king is playing a delicate diplomatic game between the British and the French and to make it more complicated he's not altogether he's own master in this negotiation the half king and his people are one of many Indian groups and they are far from the most powerful the dominant force in the Northeast is the Iroquois League a coalition of Six Nations spread across northern New York the Iroquois claimed sovereignty over the Ohio country and all the Indians who lived there [Music] technically they haven't authorized the half King to make an agreement with the British so if he goes ahead and does it anyway he'll be asserting his independence from the Iroquois League in fact he's called the half King because of his limited Authority but if he can strike a good deal with the British at this parley it could make him a leader to be reckoned with brethren be assured that the king our Father in purchasing your lands had never any and why is it taking so long the way it is with aliens will be much talk and even more giving of gifts before the meat of the matter is addressed kindly accept this belt as a symbol of our two peoples living together as one the talking goes on for more than a week finally the half King agrees to let the Virginians build a small trading post at the forks with the two European empires encroaching on the Ohio country the half King has chosen what seems the best of two bad options [Music] the French claim all the land on one side of the river an English claim everything on the other if that be the case I ask where does the Indian land lie we live in a country between and therefore the land belongs to neither one go to the iron the great being above allowed it to be a place of residence for us Philip how do we say farewell neewa better Alysha la fois nous a petit her left Sheila POIs so the Virginians leave the parlay having secured the half king's support he will back the English over the French and he will allow the Virginians to return the following year to build their post at the forks of the Ohio River the full effects of the half kings decision won't be felt for years to come and one thing is certain the French are not about to give up the forks without a fight one look at the map shows why the French already control Canada and the Great Lakes region by building a string of outposts through the Ohio country they could link their French forts in Canada with their Louisiana colony and keep the British bottled up on the East Coast a memorandum by the Marquis de la Gillian air governor of New France urges action cannot be because if the rapid progress of the English colonies be not arrested they will possess in a short time formidable armaments on the continent of America and if that happens warns the Marquis then all the other French colonies will fall to the British as well [Music] Lagaan lawson year was a visionary he saw that the struggle for North America had global implications if the French lost France would be weakened in Europe as well for Britain the stakes were just as high if it allowed France to dominate the Ohio country the British colonies could never expand westward so British authorities sent an expedition to order the French to withdraw from the Ohio country the man they picked to lead it none other than the 21 year old Virginian George Washington [Music] Washington is a natural choice brimming with ambition imposingly tall he is well-connected and eager to make a name for himself Washington draws his own map of the journey that will take him past the forks of the Ohio to Fort LeBouf near Lake Erie a 500-mile journey that gets underway just as winter sets in [Music] along the route Washington comes to a French base the officer in charge gives a warm welcome to the young Virginian but the French make it very clear they won't give in to he's ultimatum that night he invited us to sup with them soon the wine which they dosed themselves with freely loosen their tongues [Music] with utmost charm the officer let's see know the sentiment among the French in the region they told us that it was their absolute design to take possession of the Ohio and by God they would do it for though the English could raise two men to their one they knew our actions were too slow to prevent any undertaking of theirs brushed off by the French Washington starts back to Virginia in December 1753 his report on the mission goes all the way to London where King George the second hears of the young Virginian who had done his best but failed to persuade the French to leave the Ohio Valley the following spring the Virginians take up the half kings offer to build a trading post at the forks of the Ohio but it's not to be almost immediately French troops forced the Virginians to surrender the forks and abandon their unfinished building the half king is furious by taking the fort's the French have humiliated him and the inability of the English to fight back makes him look like he's backed the losing side he calculates how to get even it's the young George Washington who unwittingly offers him that chance that's how Washington came to ambush the French his first taste of battle that same spring of 1754 Washington is on his way back to the forks with orders to help the Virginians finish their trading post when he learns he is too late he makes plans to confront the French and take the forts back the half King agrees to be his ally but Washington doesn't realize that the Indian leader has a complicated agenda of his own if the half king orchestrates a confrontation between the British and the French it will strengthen his own hand in the region but why does the half king go further and kill the wounded Frenchman it's an act of revenge for his humiliation at the forks and a message to the French to back off and he knows the blame will fall on George Washington not himself you know bear [Music] you are not dead yet my father says the half king an ironic twist to the respectful term the Indians usually use for their French allies Washington skirmish alone probably would not have triggered a larger war but the cold-blooded murder of their wounded officer the French couldn't possibly let that go without a response within weeks the brother of the slain ensign Jumonville sets off in pursuit [Music] while Washington has withdrawn his men to a large medal they build a crude stockade that the Virginians O'Reilly named Fort Necessity Washington expects the half king to help defend the fort but the indian leader has lost confidence in the young major as Washington is a good-natured man but he has no experience always driving us to fight by his direction now he wants us to make a stand with him against the French [Music] that little thing upon the meadow Washington's only Indian allied leaves you have no choice we will make our stand here the French have no such problems with their native allies they arrive accompanied by 100 Shawnee Mingo and Delaware warriors about 9 o'clock on the 3rd of July the enemy advanced with shouts and dismal Indian Galison Washington intends to fight face-to-face in the field european-style but the French and their Indian allies don't cooperate [Music] they then from every little rise in tree Bush stump and stone kept up a Golding constant fire which we returned as best we could till late in the afternoon when there fell the most tremendous rain that can be conceived [Music] it filled our trenches with water and went not only the ammunition and the fire locks but also the few stores that we had leaving us only a few bayonets for defense [Music] by nightfall the situation is hopeless when the French commander offers terms for surrender Washington signs the soggy document unable to read French he relies on a Dutch officer to translate it turns out that Jumonville brother is taking a sweet revenge Washington doesn't learn until later that the document includes a confession to the assassination of instant Jumonville [Music] the morning after the battle the victorious French allowed Washington to retreat towards Virginia with his wounded and tattered troops word of his defeat spread quickly this was not the kind of fame the young Washington had been seeking the date oddly enough was the fourth of July 1754 the defeat at Fort Necessity proves disastrous for the half King as well any clout he has among the region's Indians has now evaporated [Music] within months the half king is dead a Delaware chief described the uncertain situation in the Ohio country that fall of 1754 things seemed to take another turn he said and a high wind is rising [Music] as war clouds gathered the powerful Iroquois League Ponder's its strategy [Music] if they take sides in this white man's war there's a good chance they will find themselves fighting against other Indians but if they remain neutral there's also the chance either France or Britain will take possession of the Ohio country and if that happens the Iroquois could end up with nothing at all [Music] for more than 100 years the native people of the Northeast have deftly played Britain and France against each other but now the swelling imperial ambitions of the Europeans threatened to overwhelm them across the Atlantic and the palace of versaille Louis the 15th and his ministers spend the winter of 1755 preparing to defend their North American interests by the time the ice has melted on the st. Lawrence River 1,800 French troops have been deployed to Canada King George the second and his ministers in Whitehall move even faster 1,000 redcoats sail to Virginia in early spring of 1755 [Music] the British plan is to strike the French in the Ohio country and simultaneously in northern New York and Nova Scotia a three-pronged attack that will drive the French back into Canada war is now inevitable best the troops I have the honor to command will take fort decay and thereby remove the French from the forks of the Ohio second it's an audacious strategy in keeping with the commander-in-chief sent by London to carry it out General Edward Braddock a politically connected career officer with little battlefield experience once we have secured this important post we shall proceed to Niagara if the season will permit and I suppose it will for this to cane can hardly detain me above three or four days fort duquesne Braddock's first objective is held by the French and their Indian allies it stands guard at the crucial forts controlling all traffic through the Ohio country to assault it is an ambitious plan [Music] as I was saying gentlemen but before he even begins the general runs into political problems Braddock expects the colonies to help pay for this military campaign but the governors of the colonies reply that their assemblies would prefer to be asked not ordered fish gentlemen you cannot tell me you have not the power to make these little assemblies do the Kings will the matter is urgent there is no time to be lost I need not remind each of you that this expedition is an expensive enterprise I cannot sufficiently express my indignation against the provinces of Pennsylvania and Maryland or refuse to contribute anything as for the Indians these savages may indeed be a formidable enemy to raw American militia but it is impossible they should make any impression against disciplined troops Braddock's march against Fort Duquesne gets off to a slow start that spring of 1755 the army waits at Fort Cumberland Maryland as in every army of the time female camp followers are a semi-official part of the force close to 200 women served as laundresses cooks and nurses [Music] that when your husband's regiment went into battle you ever frightened for yourself I mean what if the enemy was to come up from the rear to sell never was with the troops in actual battle anything like that here sergeant says that we outnumber the froggies and as for them Indians but everyone know they can't fight any manner that will prevail a-rod train some music sergeant says General Braddock don't even want them savages fartin on our side that talon ii thinks of him don't talk to me about general pratik you did here to Djibouti he's ordered all of us women going up country with the army to be examined for disease by the surgeons to see if we're clean enough to march well it's an insult for certain I'm a married woman not a [ __ ] the men they should be looking at [Music] I have to say General Braddock names George Washington one of his chief aides though it's not an official British Commission Washington jumps at the opportunity to serve alongside the highest-ranking British officer on the continent and men are looking very good indeed [Music] the general orders daily parade ground exercises to keep discipline sharp Jojo [Music] but about 1/3 of Braddock's army are American provincials untrained enlistees from Virginia Maryland and Pennsylvania Braddock pronounces them very indifferent men it isn't only the drilling that's unfamiliar to the Americans severe punishments for even small infractions provide a closer look into the army under King George then many Americans have seen before [Applause] [Music] at night the Indians living in the fort put on demonstrations for the British and Americans dances that suggest the fighting style of the Warriors the soldiers now know what the famous Indian War whoop actually sounds like [Music] the Americans encourage Braddock to court Indian allies but the general scorn shows all but seven warriors go home [Music] [Music] in June of 1755 Braddock's March to the Ohio country finally gets underway a long thin column of wagons artillery horses and camp followers four miles long [Music] 300 ax men clear the way it's a logistical feat that only the British would attempt marching an army through 100 miles of dense forests steep mountains and muddy river crossings after a week they have gone only 22 miles frustrated by the slow progress Braddock splitsies force and takes an advance column of 1400 men ahead it is Washington's third adventure into the Ohio Valley this time he hopes to finally drive the French out the main body of the army escapes any direct attacks others aren't always so lucky English messenger James Smith is captured far from the column and taken to the French fort duquesne running the gauntlet is customary for all Indian captives Smith is turned over to the French he'll wait to see whether the English will ever arrive at the fort [Music] after three grueling weeks the British Army finally approaches the Monongahela River just a few miles south of fort became morale is high General Braddock has led his army nearly 100 miles his engineers built log roads to cross the swamps a company of sailors rigged block-and-tackle to hoist the heavy cannon over the hills the worst is behind them [Music] once they reach the fort nothing can stand in their way [Music] it is my hope that this evening we will be drinking a toast at Fort Duquesne [Music] Braddock has succeeded in transporting a modern army and its artillery deep into the wilderness Washington is impressed this is the kind of British officer the young Virginian aspires to be Indian scouts working with the French keep a close watch on the approaching army [Music] when word reaches fort duquesne of the advancing British column the French realize their only hope is to ambush the British as they cross the Monongahela River but their Indian allies balk unwilling to take on the large enemy force [Music] the French captain Leonardo bozo Dawn's Indian war dress and paints his face a gesture of solidarity the British would never consider the Indians agree to join the fight [Music] at the front of the British column George Crone a Pennsylvania trader leads the seven remaining Indian scouts moving quickly the last few miles toward Fort Duquesne captain Bo's use force of nearly 900 Indians Canadians and French regulars moves just as fast toward Braddock's column still hoping to catch them at the river crossing [Music] it's impossible to say who is more surprised when they encounter each other deep woods right [Music] the elite British grenadiers move forward [Music] [Music] bozo leads the warriors and Canadians into the woods he'll fight the battle the Indian Way in the beginning it looks as if the highly disciplined British will prevail their volleys proved deadly immediately bozo is one of the first to fall but once the Indians and Canadians slip into the hills on either side of the British everything changes [Music] Washington and the other officers struggle to keep their men in formation the French regulars are deployed in front of the British column blocking any forward movement while the Indians and Canadians snipe at them from both sides the British start to fall back but on the narrow forest road they collide with the troops behind them chaos ensues deadly tangles of redcoats mashed together making pathetically easy targets the artillery proves useless in the dense woods [Music] [Music] right [Music] permit Virginians to fight as the enemy does we know the indian mode is actually not so mind your place [Music] [Music] the generals been hit [Music] it doesn't take long for the attackers to reach the rear of the British column [Music] it is said that of the 54 women who marched with Braddock's army that day only four returned [Music] some of the missing would turn up in Canada ransom from the Indians by the French [Music] after three harrowing hours it's over the French and Indians have lost only 21 dead while nearly a thousand British and provincial soldiers are killed or wounded Washington has had several horses shot out from under him but is unhurt what's left of Braddock's army makes a desperate retreat the shocking scenes which presented themselves in this night's March are not to be described the dead the dying the wounded the groans the lamentation the cries of the wounded for help along the road were enough to pierce a heart of adamant the folly and consequence of opposing compact bodies against the manner of the Indians fighting in the woods which had in a manner been predicted were now so clearly verified word of the great Indian and French victory reaches fort duquesne by the end of the day British prisoner James Smith reported the moment of the warriors return at sundown I beheld a small party coming in with about a dozen prisoners I stood on the fourth wall until I beheld them begin to burn one of these men they had him tied to a stake and kept touching him with fire burns Smith is sure he'll meet the same fate instead he will be adopted by an Indian family to replace kin who have died in battle he will spend the next six years living among the Indians [Music] the French know they owe this victory to their native allies the Indians gathered the honors of battle to bring home evidence of their great feat [Music] in European warfare the victors might have pursued the fleeing British to crush them altogether but here in North America the native peoples have different aims they're not fighting to secure an empire they're just trying to drive the invaders from their land for now anyway the battle is over five days into the retreat General Braddock dies of his wounds at an encampment near the Great Meadows the brave but unfortunate General Braddock breathed his last [Music] he was interred with the honor of war and it was left to me to see that performed he was deposited in the road over which the army wagons and all past to hide every trace lest the entombment be discovered [Music] George Washington would admire Braddock's battlefield bravery for the rest of his life the generals brass barrel pistol and bloodied sash would hold a place of honor at Mount Vernon [Music] four years after the Battle of the Monongahela visitors here would come across the unburied bones of British and American soldiers but empires don't come cheap both Britain and France would pay dearly in blood to win a prize as huge as North America this was just the beginning neither side had any idea how costly this war would be or how many battles there were still to lose [Music] next time on the war that made America Britain must overcome a devastating defeat while young George Washington defends a violent frontier for France victory is in sight if they can keep their Hindi and allies the war that made America it's not the war you think it is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] for more information about the series an interactive timeline of the War historians commentaries and classroom activities visit our website at pbs.org this program was made possible by Richard King mellon foundation the Heinz and Donuts Eden Hall foundation National Endowment for the Humanities and the following [Music] you

Transcript for:Understanding the French and Indian War

Transcript for:
Understanding the French and Indian War