In January 1754, George Washington was a twenty-one-year-old major serving in the Virginia militia, just returning to Williamsburg from a 900-mile mission into the Ohio country. Washington wrote a report of his two-and-a-half month trans-Allegheny journey titled The Journal of Major George Washington.1 The narrative stretched from October 31, 1753 until January 16, 1754.
Upon his arrival to Williamsburg, Washington delivered the French Commandant's letter of refusal to abandon the Ohio territory to Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia. With this knowledge, Dinwiddie immediately rushed Washington’s report into print in Williamsburg in order to awaken colonial and British officials to the urgent need to defend the western frontier from French encroachment. The full report included Washington’s journal and an English translation of the French officer’s refusal.
The Journal of Major George Washington provides a first-hand glimpse of frontier diplomacy, the beginnings of the French and Indian War. It also provides early insights into Washington’s views on military matters, diplomacy, and leadership. The first British edition of the journal was printed by Thomas Jefferys, an engraver from England's Board of Trade, and appeared in June 1754 with a map that was not included in the Williamsburg printing.
The Ohio River Valley and its surrounding tributaries were rich and vast, critical to the expansion of both Britain and France. The governor of Virginia championed a united intercolonial front against the French and the strengthening of British alliances with Native American tribes. However, many Virginians were skeptical of his concern over such a remote territory, especially given Dinwiddie's personal interest in the Ohio Company, a private land company that included shareholders such as George Mason and Lawrence and Augustine Washington. By August 28, 1753, the Crown ordered Dinwiddie to investigate foreign incursions into the Ohio country.
A young George Washington volunteered to be Dinwiddie's emissary and assembled a group of explorers and interpreters including Christopher Gist, an experienced frontiersman who would be both his teacher and guide. The group constantly battled excessive rains and vast quantities of snow. Washington recounted his experience crossing an icy river, “when the Rapidity of the Stream through it with so much Violence against the Pole, that it Jirk’d me into 10 Feet Water, but I fortunately saved my Self by catching hold of one of the Raft Logs.”2
The trip was an important lesson for Washington in the complexities of political allegiances. Washington visited Native American nations such as Shawnee and Seneca towns to create British alliances. He met with the Seneca chief, Tanacharison known as Half-King, and his new support of the British was announced in the journal’s publication. They also visited various French fortifications in the wilderness, and learned of the construction of French fortifications throughout the region.
The 1754 journal not only appeared in monograph form, but it was published in several newspapers. The journey and publication of his work provided an opportunity to share his surveying skills to sketch a map of the Ohio territory. Washington had expressed interest in the region, where he would become a major landowner. Washington later commented: "It was an extraordinary circumstance that so young and inexperienced a person be employed on a negotiation with which the subjects of the greatest importance were involved."3 With his first publication, Washington became known both through the colonies and in prominent circles in England.
Revised by Zoie Horecny, Ph.D., 9 May 2025
Notes:
1. “Journey to the French Commandant: Narrative,” Founders Online, National Archives.
2. “Journey to the French Commandant: Narrative,” Founders Online, National Archives.
3. “Remarks, 1787–1788,” Founders Online, National Archives.
Bibliography:
Calloway, Colin G. The Indian World of George Washington: The First President, the First Americans, and the Birth of a Nation. Oxford University Press, 2018.
Hayes, Kevin J. George Washington: A Life in Books. Oxford University Press, 2017.
Washington, George. The Journal of Major George Washington. Eds. James Short and Thaddeus W. Tate. University Press of Virginia, 1963.
Maps
Washington in the French and Indian War
This map shows the locations of George Washington's campaigns, battles, and other key landmarks during the French and Indian War.