Forbes Expedition

The Forbes Expedition of 1758 was the third and final attempt by the British to control the Ohio Valley, particularly by capturing Fort Duqesne from the French. Located at the intersection of the Ohio River and the Allegheny River in present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the fort served as a staging area for the French to conduct raids on British settlements during the Seven Years’ War (1756-63). The expedition followed British defeats at the Battle of Fort Necessity in 1754 and the Battle of Monongahela in 1755 in which British General Edward Braddock had been killed. The third attempt to take Fort Duquesne was led by General John Forbes, a Scottish doctor turned soldier who was a veteran of the War of Austrian Succession (1740-48) and the Scottish Campaigns from 1745-46. Colonel George Washington commanded the 1st Virginia Regiment in what was his final engagement while serving with the British Army.

Staging the Forbes Expedition

General Forbes commanded upwards of 6,000 men for the expedition, including 2,000 Regulars (mainly Highlanders), as well as Provincial units from Pennsylvania and Virginia, which made up the majority of his force. Pennsylvania and Virginia each had a large stake in the expedition, as both colonies wanted to control the trade from the Ohio River Valley after hostilities had ceased. Members of the Cherokee and Catawba nations also lent their support, though many would desert over tactical disagreements through the course of the expedition.

Instead of marching to Fort Duquesne using Braddock’s route by way of Fort Cumberland, Forbes decided to advance directly west toward the fort. The new route shortened the march by more than thirty-five miles, but it required creating an entirely new road.

George Washington and the Forbes Expedition

On July 2, 1758, Washington garrisoned with his regiment at Fort Cumberland and promptly engaged his men in constructing a road to Raystown, which was thirty-five miles to the northwest. He wrote “bad Roads” delayed him and his men.¹ On July 24, Washington received word of Forbes’s plan to advance directly on Fort Duquesne. Washington disagreed with the plan because of the labor required to construct it. He urged his second and command, Swiss- born Colonel Henry Bouquet, to consider a route using Braddock Road.² Bouquet ordered Washington to not take Braddock Road.³ On August 6, Washington wrote to Bouquet again and explained in excruciating detail why building a new road was militarily unwise. He argued the mountainous landscape created “unfavourable reports” on construction progress.⁴

Washington joined his men after being summoned to Ray’s Town on September 15, just days after the Virginia House of Burgesses voted to limit Virginia's contributions to the campaign until the end of the year, largely due to Washington’s complaints. Washington also feared their failure to control the area would lead native nations to the south withdrawing their support for the British.⁵

British Forces Advance to Fort Duquesne

Forbes soon began a steady advance toward the forks despite supply shortages, disease, and inclement weather. Morale among the Virginians fell after an ill-fated assault by Major James Grant in late September resulted in 300 casualties on the British side, including six Virginia officers. Only the actions of Virginia Captain Thomas Bullitt prevented complete disaster for the British.

On October 12, the French struck Forbes's army at Loyalhanna, which was roughly forty miles from Fort Duquesne, with a force that largely consisted of French Canadians and Natives. The British were forced back into their fortifications, and the French withdrew that night after killing two officers and killing or capturing sixty other soldiers. Two days later, the main British force advanced from Loyalhanna following an order of battle that Washington produced for Forbes.

During the advance, Forbes halted to allow Moravian missionary Christian Frederick Post time to appeal to native nations of the Ohio River Valley such as Delawares to join the British or at least stay neutral. Post succeeded, as many had become frustrated with the French at Fort Duquesne and deserted their wartime ally. Others heeded Post's promise that the British would stay out of the land west of the Appalachians and agreed to remain neutral during the battle.

The last major action of the Forbes Expedition took place on the night of November 12, when a force of thirty French-Canadians and a remaining 140 Native American allies attacked British troops guarding a horse herd. Forbes sent Washington's regiment and then Colonel George Mercer's troops towards the gunfire. Mercer's men moved in an arc behind the French positions as Washington's men advanced. The events of that night are murky, but it is likely that Mercer's advance guard opened fire on Washington's men after mistaking them for the enemy. Washington realized that the colonials were firing on each other and reportedly rode his horse down the line and hit up the muskets of his men with his sword to stop their firing. The incident left thirty-five soldiers and two officers dead.

The French Retreat from Fort Duquesne

The French garrison of Fort Duquesne was in poor condition by late November 1758. Native American allies deserted the French, rations were low, and the walls of the fort were rotting away. Once Forbes caught wind of the French dilemma, he immediately dispatched three brigades to advance on the fort. Washington was to lead one of those brigades. The French, under the command of Captain François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery, would not give the British the satisfaction of taking the fort. On November 24, the French burned down the fort and escaped with roughly 500 men.

Washington and the others discovered the ruins the following day. With the forks in British hands, the loss of their garrison, and the loss of their allies, the French presence in the Ohio River Valley suffered a mortal blow. In the years to follow, the British constructed Fort Pitt at the site. Washington resigned his command of the Virginia Regiment shortly thereafter.

Nick McGrath George Washington University , Revised by Zoie Horecny, Ph.D.

Notes

1. “From George Washington to Henry Bouquet, 3 July 1758,” Founders Online, National Archives.

2. “To George Washington from Henry Bouquet, 24 July 1758,” Founders Online, National Archives.

3. “To George Washington from Henry Bouquet, 27 July 1758,” Founders Online, National Archives.

4. "From George Washington to Henry Bouquet, 6 August 1758,” Founders Online, National Archives.

5. “From George Washington to John Robinson, 1 September 1758,” Founders Online, National Archives.

Bibliography

Cubbison, Douglas R. The British Defeat of the French in Pennsylvania, 1758: A Military History of the Forbes Campaign Against Fort Duquesne. North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc., 2010.

McConnell, Michael. To Risk It All: General Forbes, the Capture of Fort Duquesne, and the Course of Empire in the Ohio Country. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2020.

Nester, William R. The First Global War: Britain, France, and the Fate of North America 1756-1775. Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2000.