The Target was The Point - "Pittsburg" in June 1759
The target was always The Point, and that target was on an area called The Point, otherwise knowns as the 3 Rivers, Ohio, Monongahela, Allegheny. The French called the Ohio and Allegheny as one river: la Belle Riviere, The Beautiful River. And so they took over William Trent's built fort, destroyed it, made a bigger one called Fort Du Quesne in April 1754. They designed it after Fort Frontenac's design - an irony, because in August 1758, Bradstreet raided Fort Frontenac and took away all their supplies and destroyed that pipeline of supplies to Fort Duquesne.
After Braddock's Defeat, 9 July 1755, the Forbes Expedition forced the hand of the French and they abandoned The Point, and destroyed their Fort Duquesne 24 Nov 1758.
Everything about this website about Fort Loudoun Winchester VA is because of this 3 Rivers area, The Point.
All the forts in this area,
were always because of The Point,
because it was a base for terrorism,
an al qaeda,
sending out war parties
far into the White intruders' settlements.
The creation of the Virginia Regiment,
of the Ranger companies,
of the local militias,
the attacks,
the war parties on both sides,
the logistics and taxes
and the state of everyone's lives
of what they were going through
during this time
is The Point.
Winchester VA still has a Braddock Cannon aiming its muzzle towards The Point. You can see it at the corner of Cork and Braddock Streets at the George Washington Office Museum.
So by June 1759 there still was no Fort Pitt.
The fort wasn't built yet. The infrastructure of lodging, sawmills, kilns for making brick, cutting down trees, was the work being done. The actual construction doesn't start until August 1759.
So what's going now at "Pittsburg" in June 1759?
Bullitt's cargo of pork was attacked in May 1759. See that story.
Some of Captain Waggener's men were killed outside the fort from war parties coming from Fort Machault where the French were staging their come back to retake The Point.
A Letter from Col. Byrd , dated Winchester June 4th that several of Capt . Waggoner's Men have been killed at Pittsburg lately —
that the Posts are in a miserable Situation above , for Want both of Men and Provisions that the Regiment is at a low Ebb from the Losses they have sustained , the Small - Pox and Meazles amongst them , and great Desertion
And they were starving.
"It was the middle of June [1759] by time drovers brought the first cows to Pittsburgh, where the soldiers had been eating horses and dogs. When the first cattle arrived, the troops butchered forty of them on the spot and, barely pausing to cook them, devoured the beasts without pausing to distinguish entrails from meat."
Source:
Page 325 Crucible of War, by Fred Anderson, a Borzoi Book published by Alfred A Knopf, a division of Random House, Feb 11, 2000
They were in bad shape in Feb 1759 when Lt Gov of Virginia, Francis Fauquier tells the Council and House of Burgesses these men need Coats made out of blankets now, but they are going to need good new clothing come May 1759.
Barely clothed in June 1759
Lt Gov Fauquier speaking to the Council and House of Burgesses explains the needs of the soldiers.
I should not do Justice to the brave Men
who have hazarded their Lives in defence
of their Country,
and Whose Conduct has done Honor to it,
if l did not represent to you
the naked Condition
in which they are at present:
Out of Commiseration of their wretched State,
I have ordered each of them a Coat
to be made of Blanket,
to protect them,
in same Measure,
from the Inclemencies and Hardships
of a Winter Season:
This is all I thought proper to do,
as they stand provided for
till the First of May only
but if they are continued in Pay
this will he far from sufficient;
they must be entirely new cloathed,
it being now more than two Years
[Since 1757 - See George Mercer talking about how their appearance was judged favorably ]
since their last Cloathing.
Fort Pitt in August 1759
Letters from officers are still datelined at Pittsburg or Pittsburgh during June 1759, but not so often Fort Pitt, because this place was more of a village, more of an encampment than fort.
By mid-August [1759] soldiers and artisans were busily constructing a sawmill, felling and hauling trees, quarrying sandstone, mining coal, burning Lime, making bricks, and shoveling and hauling tens of thousands of cubic yards of dirt necessary to build the fort. On September 10 [1759] , its inner walls began to rise with a wide glacis and moat."
Source:
Page 328 Crucible of War, by Fred Anderson, a Borzoi Book published by Alfred A Knopf, a division of Random House, Feb 11, 2000
Loyalhanna (Fort Ligonier), Raystown (Fort Bedford) and Pittburgh and Fort Pitt.
Title
150 years of unparalleled thrift: Pittsburgh Sesqui-centennial chronicling a development from a frontier camp to a mighty city; official history and programme One hundred fifty years of unparalleled thrift Pittsburgh Sesqui-centennial chronicling a development from a frontier camp to a might city
Contributor
White, Edward , 1851- Lucas, De Witt B. University of Pittsburgh (depositor)
Statement of Responsibility
by Edward White, official editor and publisher for the Executive committee ; De Witt B. Lucas, associate editor ; Issued under authority of the Executive committee of the Sesqui-centennial.Date 1908 Identifier 31735027612708 Extent 59, [5] p. illus., fold. pl., col. port. 28 cm. Place of Publication PittsburghPublisher Edward White] Collection Historic Pittsburgh Book Collection ContributorUniversity of Pittsburgh https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735027612708/viewer#page/8/mode/2up
Loyalhanna (Fort Ligonier), Raystown (Fort Bedford) and Pittburgh and Fort Pitt.
Compiled and authored by Jim Moyer 6/1/23, 6/2/23, 6/3/23, 6/7/23, 6/10/23, 6/11/23, Warm Springs updated morning of 6/12/23, Pittsburgh updated afternoon of 6/12/2023
That's it.
Here's some links.
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