The Forbes Expedition
- Our story takes place during the fall of 1758 and is lovely called the Forbes Expedition. It is the third attempt to take over Fort Duquesne, after Fort Necessity in 1754 and the Braddock Expedition in 1755 failed so gloriously.
- Leading all the fun is Scots Brigadier-General John Forbes, who has served in the British Army for over thirty years and doesn't have a particularly high opinion of colonial officers (except Washington, which changes drastically, but more on that later).
- First, a few quick hard facts:
The force at Forbes' disposal was about 6000 men, twice as large as what Edward Braddock had at his disposal three years earlier, including warriors from the Cherokee and Catawba tribes (although it should be noted that a large number of these warriors deserted during the expedition).
Washington was 25 years old when he joined the expedition, presumably because he wanted to repair his wounded pride after the Fort Necessity disaster and the Braddock tragedy. (and this even though he felt a deep disgust for British officers).
Forbes and his deputy commander, Henry Bouquet, welcomed Washington's accession because of the latter's prior experience during the Braddock expedition and because Washington had become very familiar with the Ohio region during his youth.
Washington was given his own Virginian regiment and became the commander of it. He also got the right to dress his soldiers in a completely separate uniform and also had permission to choose his own attack tactics.
Washington got his own will in almost all points, except in one and this one point had it in itself. It was the route the expedition was to take to the fort.
- While Washington wanted to take the route already blazed by the Braddock Expedition (partly because he feared that they would not be helped by the native warriors who served under them, since they would then lack the home advantage), Forbes wanted to take a completely new route across to the west, which would shorten the expedition by about 35 miles, but would require the construction of a new "road".
- Washington was so opposed to this proposal when he learned of it that he suggested a meeting with Forbes' deputy Colonel Henry Bouquet. Bouquet agreed to this meeting but assumed that Washington would finally accept the result no matter how it stood out (The poor man had no idea)
- Washington made understandable and wise arguments, however, Forbes and Bouquet decided against this advice and for the new Pennsylvania route.
- So far, the whole thing doesn't sound really exciting, but the most interesting thing (in my humble opinion) comes now because Washington now showed his complete disgust for British superiors, which had built up since the beginning of his career as a soldier. It can almost be seen as insubordination, but one thing at a time.
- Washington now wrote several letters to various bigwigs (such as Virginia Governor Fauquier or Speaker Robinson) in which he more than vented his anger. He strongly objected to the Pennsylvania route, even going so far as to call the decisions "corrupt."
- He called Forbes an "evil spirit in cahoots with Pennsylvania" and Washington even threatened to go all the way to London to expose this corrupt, politically influenced story and expose Forbes.
- During the following months, while the expedition was starting, Washington continued to write letters criticizing Forbes and Bouquet, calling them incompetent idiots and raging against how the slow pace of the march would make it impossible for them to escape from the snow during the expedition and make it last even longer, even getting them snowed in and stuck in the mountains.
- Washington was so sure about the failure of this Route that he said, Nobody should blame him if it goes wrong. He had told them so!
- The whole thing may sound pretty obvious now, and makes it seem like British officers are being unfair to colonial officers, but that's not quite true. At least not in this story. In fact, it's pretty much the opposite of that.
- First, Forbes and Bouquet were by no means incompetent, as Washington claimed; on the contrary, the two were excellent officers. Second, the decisions Forbes had made during the expedition were not political at all but logistical. The Pennsylvania route, as mentioned earlier, was much shorter than the route Edward Braddock had chosen. Among other reasons, this was important because Forbes was seriously ill and dying. Whether Washington knew about this is not entirely clear, at least it is not written anywhere that way. (But I think he knew. At the very least, it's hard to miss when someone is terminally ill. And Forbes died in 1759, the year after.)
- And even though Washington predicted all along that everything would be doomed, the entire force, including Washington's Virginian regiment, reached Fort Duquesne on time in early November. (Was Washington pissed off about this, nobody knows but I think so :))
- The attack on the fort itself is a complete story unto itself. Forbes called a war council where they were going to discuss strategy. Washington was a part of this war council and was against a direct attack on the fort because nobody knew how well the fort was occupied.
- What no one knew was that the fort was completely undermanned and vulnerable. Information Washington received when his soldiers stumbled upon a reconnaissance patrol of the fort, whereupon a minor skirmish ensued. (Interesting side fact, in the course of this fight, it briefly occurred that Washington's soldiers mistakenly began firing at each other because they could not see it through the musket smoke. Washington stepped in between and began to use his rapier to knock his men's muskets upward to prevent them from all shooting over each other, but with only moderate success. He took heavy casualties and most by muskets of his own men) During the battle, however, they managed to take three prisoners and these reported the fort badly manned.
- Forbes ordered the immediate attack on the fort, giving Washington the right to make the first attack as an advance guard (even though he knew all that Washington had written about him).
- Washington decided on a surprise sneak attack and even had the dogs of his regiment killed for the purpose, but in retrospect, this was completely unnecessary because when they arrived at the fort it was completely deserted. The French had realized that an attack was imminent and left the day before.
- Why did I write this? I'm just fascinated by how different young Washington is from General Washington that everyone has in their minds as soon as they hear the name George Washington. I think many just forget that George Washington was only human and had started somewhere and made his mistakes.
