Monday, August 20, 2018 

From Charlottesville, VA we drove west through the misty and foggy mountains intending to visit Fort Necessity and Braddock's Grave, both in Farmington, PA. We drove over the Appalachian, Allegheny and Shenandoah Mountain ranges. Up and down, up and down through highways, then small towns and fields of corn and standing beef cattle.  We then drove along one of the oldest roads in USA: Braddock's Road, aka Rt 40 and the National Pike Road, a National Historic Road. 

At Ft. Necessity National Battlefield and National Heritage Road Corridor Museum we learned about Lt. Colonel George Washington's first military engagement at age 22 in 1754, creating a world-wide conflict. Washington, under British Major-General Ed. Braddock attacked the French/Indians in a nearby Glen and in retaliation, the French/Indians came and attacked his 300 troops at the hastily built Fort Necessity. Washington signed French surrender documents, unknowingly admitting assassination of the acting French Officer and the soldiers killed at the Glen, thus touching off the 7 Years War aka the French and Indian War. 

From there we drove a few miles down Rt 40 to Braddock's Grave site. In 1755 Major General Edward Braddock was ambushed by the French and Indians. Earlier that year, Benjamin Franklin, as the Philadelphia Postmaster, warned Braddock, "Careful General; they don't fight the way you do."  Famous men involved in this engagement were George, Washington, Daniel Morgan, Horatio Gates and Daniel Boone.

We arrived at our Washington/Pittsburgh KOA at 5:15pm.  Tomorrow we plan to visit Fort Pitt where Lewis had his keelboat constructed and shoved off down the Ohio River to the Mississippi and eventually up to St. Louis, MO to begin the trek.

Note the three markers: Historic Braddock Road 1755, Eastern Legacy-
Lewis and Clark Expedition 1803-1806 and Washington's Trail 1753.

"HERE LIETH THE REMAINS OF MAJOR GENERAL EDWARD BRADDOCK
WHO IN COMMAND OF THE 44TH AND 48TH BRITISH REGULARS WAS
MORTALLY WOUNDED IN AN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE FRENCH AND
INDIANS UNDER THE COMMAND OF CAPTAIN M.DE BEAUJEU AT THE
BATTLE OF THE MONONGAHELA WITHIN 10 MILES OF FORT DUQUESNE,
NOW PITTSBURGH, ON JULY 9, 1755. HE WAS BORNE BACK WITH THE
RETREATING ARMY TO THE OLD ORCHARD CAMP ABOUT ONE FOURTH OF
A MILE WEST OF THIS PARK WHERE HE DIED JULY 13, 1755. LIEUTENANT
COLONEL GEORGE WASHINGTON READ THE BURIAL SERVICE AT THE GRAVE."

"This tablet marks the spot where Major-General Edward Braddock was buried, July 14th, 1755.
 His remains were removed in 1804 to the site of the present monument."

Note Braddock's grave on the left, Braddock's Trail in the middle
(marker where he was killed) and the National Road marker on the right.

Click on the plaque to read "The Old Braddock Road."