Battle of the Monongahela

Battle of the Monongahela
Part of the French and Indian War

Washington the Soldier by Reǵnier (1834), depicting Lt. Col. Washington on horseback during the battle
DateJuly 9, 1755[1]
Location
near present-day Braddock, Pennsylvania
40°24′13″N 79°52′7″W / 40.40361°N 79.86861°W / 40.40361; -79.86861
Result French-Indian victory
Belligerents
 France
New France New France
Ottawas
Abenaki
Lenni Lenape
Hurons
Potawatomis
Ojibwa
 Great Britain
British America
Commanders and leaders

Kingdom of France Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu 
Kingdom of France Jean-Daniel Dumas
Pontiac (Leader of Ottawa forces)
Shingas (Leader of Lenape forces)

Charles Michel Mouet de Langlade (Leader of Ojibwa Forces)
Kingdom of Great Britain Edward Braddock 
Kingdom of Great Britain Peter Halkett 
George Washington
Kingdom of Great Britain Robert Orme (WIA)
Kingdom of Great Britain Thomas Gage
Kingdom of Great Britain John Fraser
Strength
637 First Nations (the Ottawas, Ojibwa and Potawatomis)
108 troupes de la Marine
146 militia[2]
Total: 891
1,300 regulars and provincial troops.[2]
Casualties and losses
39 killed
57 wounded[3][4]
457 killed[5][2]
450+ wounded[6]

The Battle of the Monongahela (also known as the Battle of Braddock's Field and the Battle of the Wilderness) took place on July 9, 1755, at the beginning of the French and Indian War at Braddock's Field in present-day Braddock, Pennsylvania, 10 miles (16 km) east of Pittsburgh. A British force under General Edward Braddock, moving to take Fort Duquesne, was defeated by a force of French and Canadian troops under Captain Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu with its American Indian allies.

The defeat marked the end of the Braddock Expedition, by which the British had hoped to capture Fort Duquesne and gain control of the strategic Ohio Country. Both Braddock and Beaujeu were killed in action during the battle. Braddock was mortally wounded in the fight and died during the retreat near present-day Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He specifically asked for George Washington, who accompanied him on the march, to oversee his burial. The remainder of the British column retreated south-eastwards. Fort Duquesne and the surrounding region remained in French hands until its capture in 1758.

  1. ^ "The Battle of the Monongahela". World Digital Library. 1755. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Borneman p. 55
  3. ^ Borneman p. 55 – French: 28 killed 28 wounded, Indian: 11 killed 29 wounded
  4. ^ Preston 2015 p. 270
  5. ^ Preston 2015 p. 276
  6. ^ Frank A. Cassell. "The Braddock Expedition of 1755: Catastrophe in the Wilderness". Archived from the original on June 7, 2010.