Fort Duquesne is one of the most important sites associated with The French and Indian War (1754 - 1763). It’s construction by the French in 1754 was a catalyst for that war as the British and French competed for control of the Ohio Valley. It’s capture by the British in 1758 was a turning point, leading to the British invasion of Canada and the eventual removal of the French presence in North America.
Built on the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers where they become the Ohio River, Fort Duquesne was a point of immense strategic importance. It enabled the control of the Ohio Valley and the resources it yielded, as well as control over the new fur supply routes starting in Canada. The French built the fort to gain access to these supply routes, but the British, seeing the advantages it gave them, quickly claimed the territory as theirs, and assembled an army to enforce it. And so began the French and Indian War; a pre-cursor to the global conflict known as the Seven Year War.
There were many early attempts by the British to take Fort Duquesne, but they all failed. In 1754, a young Major George Washington led 300 Virginians towards the fort. They ambushed a campsite of about 30 Frenchmen, but rather than advance onwards, Washington urged his men to build an opposing fort, Fort Necessity. Three months later, French and Indian forces attacked Fort Necessity, resulting in Washington losing thirty men, agreeing to leave Ohio County for a year, and the destruction of Fort Necessity by the French.
