Secret Battlefield Linked to Young George Washington Unearthed in Pennsylvania After Centuries of Mystery
Washington had been ordered to lead a regiment of about 500 Virginians to help a fellow colonel, George Mercer, defend Fort Ligonier against French and Native American troops. But on that night, as Washington and his men walked through a thick fog at dusk, his and Mercer’s troops mistook each other for enemies.
“It being near dusk and the intelligence not having been fully dissiminated among Colo. Mercers Corps, and they taking us, for the enemy who had retreated approaching in another direction commenced a heavy fire upon the releiving party which drew fire in return in spite of all the exertions of the Officers one of whom & several privates were killed and many wounded before a stop could be put to it,” George Washington wrote to his friend, Colonel David Humphreys, for a biography of Washington that Humphreys was writing around 1786.
To stop the men from firing, Washington put his own life in great danger by riding between the two lines of troops and attempting to knock away the muskets with his sword. It was, wrote Humphreys, the most “imminent danger” of Washington’s life, and he had never been in so much “jeopardy… before or since.”
Around 13 men were killed, and dozens more were wounded, but the friendly fire incident was swiftly forgotten. It was, however, historically significant. It led to the capture of several French troops, who in turn revealed the weakness of nearby Fort Duquesne, allowing the British to overtake it. Washington also resigned shortly thereafter. He would not take up arms again until he fought against the British in the American Revolution.
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