Monongahela, Battle of the
Years: 1755 - 1755
The Battle of the Monongahela, (also known as the Battle of Braddock's Field and the Battle of the Wilderness), takes place on July 9, 1755, at the beginning of the French and Indian War, at Braddock's Field in what is now Braddock, Pennsylvania, ten miles (sixteen kilometers) east of Pittsburgh.
A British force under General Edward Braddock, moving to take Fort Duquesne, is defeated by a force of French and Canadian troops under Captain Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu with its American Indian allies.
The defeat marks the end of the Braddock expedition, by which the British had hoped to capture Fort Duquesne and gain control of the strategic Ohio Country.
Braddock is mortally wounded in the battle and dies during the retreat near present-day Uniontown, Pennsylvania.
He specifically asks for George Washington, who has accompanied him on the march, to oversee his burial.
The remainder of the column retreats south-eastwards and the fort, and region, will remain in French hands until its capture in 1758.
