Braddock Expedition - Background

Background

Braddock's expedition was just one of a massive British offensive against the French in North America that summer. As commander-in-chief of the British Army in America, General Braddock led the main thrust against the Ohio Country with a column some 2,100 strong. Braddock's command consisted of two regular line regiments, the 44th and 48th with about 1,350 men with about 500 regular soldiers and militiamen from several British American colonies and artillery and other support troops. With these men Braddock expected to seize Fort Duquesne easily, and then push on to capture a series of French forts, eventually reaching Fort Niagara. George Washington, then just 23, knew the territory and served as a volunteer aide-de-camp to General Braddock. Braddock's Chief of Scouts was Lieutenant John Fraser of the Virginia Regiment, who owned land at Turtle Creek and who had previously served as Second-in-Command at Fort Prince George at the confluence of the Allegheny and Mononghela Rivers, the site of Fort Duquesne by the time of the Braddock Expedition, and who had been at Fort Necessity.

Braddock's attempt to recruit Native American allies from those tribes not yet allied with the French proved mostly unsuccessful; he had but eight Mingo Indians with him, serving as scouts. A number of Indians in the area, notably Delaware leader Shingas, remained neutral. Caught between two powerful European empires at war, the local Indians who were committed to their lands could not afford to be on the side of the loser. Braddock's success or failure would influence their decisions.