The Loss at Fort Necessity
After the assassination of Jumonville, the French and the British had different views of what happened that day. The French thought that Jumonville had been murdered by George Washington and wanted revenge. While Britain said that Jumonville was a spy and George Washington had the right to attack him. After the British Colonies heard of this small battle Washington received two hundred fresh troops for an attack against Fort Duquesne. Along the way to Fort Duquesne Washington picked up more Indian allies. One of his Indian scouts soon told Washington that the French were coming his way. Due to this news Washington retreated to Fort Necessity to fight off the French. To make matters worse he was not able to use a fourth of his army because of illness. The Indians who stayed to fight realized that the British were going to lose this battle and left. Before the battle began, the only thing the British could do was build a trench around the fort to provide some cover. As the French were making their way to Fort Necessity they were being led by Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers, Jumonville's older brother. When the French arrived they had a huge advantage of firing down onto Washington's troops. George Washington lost a hundred men by the time they surrendered. He and his army were allowed to march back to Virginia with all of their possessions intact, butWashington had to agree that he was responsible for the death of Jumonville.