Battle of Jumonville Glen
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French and Indian War (Seven Years' War) fought on May 28, 1754 near what is present-day Uniontown in Western Pennsylvania. Along with the Battle of the Great Meadows (Battle of Fort Necessity), it is considered the opening shots of the French and Indian War which would spread to the old world and become the Seven Years' War.
On the morning of May 28, 1754, young Virginia militia officer lieutenant colonel George Washington and the 40 soldiers he commanded attacked the French (Canadian) militia under the command of Ensign Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville. Washington lost control of his troops and they massacred their prisoners, killing all but one of the wounded. After the slaughter, the wounded French commander Jumonville told Washington he had been sent as a peaceful emissary on behalf of Louis XV. The response from Washington's Indian ally, Seneca chief Tanaghrisson, was to cleave open ensign Jumonville's skull with his hatchet saying "Thou are not dead yet my father," and wash his hands in the Frenchman's braincase. Tanaghrisson's act is considered a carefully calculated outrage to ignite war.
It was in reference to the battle at Jumonville Glen that Washington made his now famous statement in a letter to his older brother, "I heard the bullets whistle, and, believe me there is something charming in the sound."
A portion of the battlefield is preserved as a unit of Fort Necessity National Battlefield.
See also
References
- Anderson, Fred 2000. [Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766].
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