The Night Fort Duquesne died
Everything about the existence of forts in the Winchester Va area and old Frederick County VA were all about defending against the French and their Indians using that fort as their base, as the al Qaeda.
The names of these streets in Winchester VA are all about the men whose goal was to destroy that fort. In the parlance of the time, they used the word "reduce."
November 24, 1758
Everyone is on edge. They want to make sure they can identify friendly Indians coming into camp at night. And then there was the issue of the dogs in camp. They kill all the dogs in camp. They're making too much noise.
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In the night, some one calls out, "Johnston?"
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"Is that you Johnston?" .
“The Army to March to morrow morning at 7 OClock, some of the Northern Indians now out upon the Scout to the French Fort, are expected in Camp this night the[y] will be receivd as Friends and known to the Guards and Sentries by calling out Johnston.”
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Nov 24, 1758. See source.
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They are close. Real close.
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So close they had to be quiet. Alert.
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That night they killed all the dogs too.
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“As the number of Dogs that follow the Troops are become a great Neausance in Camp the Provost is therefore to hang all Stray Dogs he Can find.”
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Those were the orders starting on the day of 24 Nov 1758
. In addition to saying Johnston, an earlier order given at the headwaters of Turtle Creek camp, identifies Friendly Indians. This order was given on Nov 20, 1758 : . The Troops are to be informd that any Partys of Indians whom they meet Carrying a red rag at the end of a Pole are to be receivd as friends and likewise any Single Indians wearing a blue and red badge about their Heads as well as a Yellow one.3 .
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But then ….much later in the day leading to dusk . . . Indian Scout reports seeing smoke at Fort Duquesne.
If you've ever hunted, you've heard the report of a shotgun roll over the mountains. Sounds in the woods and mountains have a different feel.
The French destroyed their fort.
They were leaving Fort DuQuesne, the point on the 3 Rivers, later to become Pittsburgh.
In one day, Fort Loudoun Winchester VA won’t be necessary. Nor any of the other 100 or so fort and block houses will be needed.
. Forbes officially dubbs the area Pittsburgh 1 Dec 1758. Fort Pitt is so named later after being further along in its construction.
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In one day, Fort Loudoun Winchester VA won’t be necessary. Nor any of the other 100 or so fort and block houses will be needed. But that won't be true. The war does move on to other areas. But it comes back to this area in a few years, mostly after 1763 when the French quit, leaving their Indian allies who still are under the assault of this westward expansion.
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That's it.
That's our lead story.
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Compiled by Jim Moyer 11/20/2019, updated 11/26/2020, 11/26/2020, 11/24/2022, 11/26/2022
Table of Contents
Loud Explosions - report by Lindenmuth
Smoke Sighted - report by Forbes
when Fort Duquesne got renamed Pittsburgh, and Loyalhanna renamed Fort Ligonier and Reastown renamed Fort Bedford
Loud Explosions
Sergeant Lindenmuth, with the 2nd Pennsylvania Provincials in Bouquet's Brigade, recalled the stirring events of that day from an infantryman in the ranks' perspective:
"Finally, it was decided to march against the enemy with the entire army . . . as the weather was hard and cold, the march proceeded very poorly until finally on the [23rd] we arrived at Bouquet's encampment or Bouquet's Breastwork.
On the morning of the [24th] in a deep snow orders were given the entired army to march, but then a halt was called due to an alarm because our leader or pilot had discovered a corps of Indians who however fled as quickly as they could. Immediately the cavalry with 50 men was sent off under Captain Hambrecht's [this is Captain John Hambright of the 2nd Pennsylvania Provincials, who commanded the Pennsylvania Light Horse] command.
But before the infantry could set off, a
shuddering was heard, that is to say like an earthquake.
We then went in full march.
In came the cavalry, however [they] rode forward very hard to be about 8 miles this side of the fort, where they met a lad of 16 who had run off from them [the Indians], who said that they were occupied in burning everything, which put Captain Hambrecht into such a fervor that he immediately gave orders to set out and they rode with such speed that they still found 7 barrels of powder of which in one magazine one barrel was no further than one London Inch from the fire, and also 8 barrels of pork which were saved. The pork was destroyed for fear it had been poisoned. And otherwise all the building were completely in flames.
That evening in the night the infantry and cavalry arrived at 6 o'clock and took possession of the place in very hard weather and camped on the open field.
The next day [25th] everything was inspected and the pickings were very poor. Everything was burned, and the cannons were all gone. We had the place in our possession but they left us nothing besides a destroyed site."
Source:
Page 172-173 of The British Defeat of the French in Pennsylvania, 1758: A Military History of the Forbes Campaign Against Fort Duquesne: by Douglas R. Cubbison. Cites The Journal of Johann Michael Lindenmuth, pages 35-39.
More sources of the Journal:
Portions of the journal online
Different wording in this interpretation of the German
Smoke Sighted
Bouquet's Reports only Smoke seen, not hearing the Explosion.
The 23 [23 Nov 1758] we took post 12 Miles from hence [Fort Duquesne]
and halted the 24 [ 24 Nov 1758] for Intelligence.
In the Evening
our Indians reported that they had discovered a very thick smoak from the Fort [another transcription uses "Front"] extending in the bottom along the Ohio; a few hours after they sent word that the Enemies had abandoned their Fort after having burnt everything.
Source:
Page 172 of The British Defeat of the French in Pennsylvania, 1758: A Military History of the Forbes Campaign Against Fort Duquesne: by Douglas R. Cubbison. Cites The Papers of Henry Bouquet, 2:610.
Why Johnston Password?
Why did they use that name Johnston for a password?
Was it because that name sounded like the name of the prisoner captured 12 Nov 1758, the night of the Friendly Fire?
Even though the spelling was Johnson for the prisoner's name, often spelling could not be confirmed at the moment of writing.
Letters from Colonel George Washington
24 Nov 1758
20 Nov 1758
Names Changes
From Cubbison's book on the Forbes Expedition:
On December 1 [1758],
Forbes issued those orders that remain today as his most enduring legacy in North America. Specifically, he named the posts upon which he had expended so much labor and effort:
"General Forbes is please to name the different Posts as follows & all Officers serving in the Army are desired to give them their several appelations either in Writing or otherwise;
Late Fort Duquesne = Pittsburgh
Loyal Hannon = Fort Ligonier
Ray's Town = Fort Bedford "
Source:
Page 179, The British Defeat of the French in Pennsylvania, 1758: A Military History of the Forbes Campaign Against Fort Duquesne: by Douglas R. Cubbison. More on this author here. And a review here.
The letters by all the top officers --
all refer to Reastown (Raystown) and to Loyalhanna -- not Fort Bedford, not Fort Ligonier until after the French abandoned Fort Duquesne
Source:
Notes
Older unedited version
Print Version of this Story – FORT DUQUESNE IS DONE
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