Fort Necessity National Battlefield

Fort Necessity was erected by George Washington in 1754 to oppose French incursions into the upper Ohio Valley. Under orders from Gov. Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia, Washington led a small contingent of troops to Fort le Boeuf in 1753 to demand that French troops leave the territory claimed by Virginia and by the Ohio Company. The French rebuffed him and later expelled the Virginians. After the French erected Fort Duquesne at the fork of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers (the site of Pittsburgh), Washington again led troops into the west and defeated a French force at Great Meadows.