George Washington played a critical role in what turned out to be the worst British-American defeat during the French and Indian War. That disaster-- Braddock’s Defeat -- took place less than 10 miles from Pittsburgh’s Point.

In July 1754, young George Washington surrendered the fort he had built near what is now Uniontown to French and Indian forces.

He wrote a description of the battle of Fort Necessity to his brother that suggests more bravado than strategic thinking: “The right wing, where I stood, was exposed to and received all the enemy's fire... heard the bullets whistle, and, believe me, there is something charming in the sound."

Learn more about Washington’s actions and enjoy a virtual tour of the Braddock battlefield.

Tour Host: Until his retirement in 2015, Len Barcousky worked as a reporter and editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He is the author of a Pittsburgh trilogy that describes some of the important, unusual and odd events in southwestern Pennsylvania history.

Len’s three books about the region are “Remembering Pittsburgh: An Eyewitness’ History of the Steel City” (2010); “Civil War Pittsburgh: Forge of the Union” (2013); and “Hidden History of Pittsburgh” (2016). All are published by The History Press.

For 12 years he wrote a bi-weekly “Eyewitness” column for the P-G. In it, he investigated how now historic and not-so-historic events were reported as breaking news in the Post-Gazette and its predecessor publications.