This collapse of native support makes it impossible for the French to hold Fort Duquesne and the Ohio Valley.

When the expedition nears to within a few miles of Fort Duquesne in mid-November, the French abandon and blow up the fort.

Three units of scouts led by Captain Hugh Waddell enter the smoking remnants of the fort under the orders of Colonel George Washington on November 24.

General Forbes, who is ill with dysentery for much of the expedition, only briefly visits the ruins.

He is returned to Philadelphia in a litter, and dies not long afterward.

The collapse of native support and subsequent withdrawal of the French from the Ohio Country helps contribute to the "year of wonders", the string of British 'miraculous' victories also known by the Latin Annus Mirabilis.