Battle of Fort Ligonier | |||||||
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Part of the French and Indian War | |||||||
Plan of Fort Ligonier from an 1896 publication | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
France Colony of Canada | Great Britain British America | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Captain Charles Philippe Aubry [1] | Colonel James Burd | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
440 troupes de la marine and militia 150 Delaware Indians [1] | Over 2,000 regulars and militia [2] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Light [3] | 12 killed 18 wounded 31 missing [4] |
The Battle of Fort Ligonier (also known as the Battle of Loyalhanna or the Battle of Loyal Hannon) was a battle of the French and Indian War. On 12 October 1758, French and Indian forces directed from nearby Fort Duquesne were repulsed in an attack on the British outpost of Fort Ligonier, then still under construction.
Following the British failure to capture French-controlled Fort Duquesne in the disastrous Braddock Expedition early in the French and Indian War, the British in 1758 finally mounted a second expedition under the command of John Forbes to capture that fort, from which the French and their Indian allies had been organizing raids against British colonial frontier settlements. His expedition methodically constructed a road across the Allegheny Mountains, which had reached a safe place known as Loyal Hannon (near present-day Loyalhanna Township, Pennsylvania) by early September. Forbes' advance force, about 1,500 men under the command of Henry Bouquet then began the construction of Fort Ligonier for the purpose of establishing winter quarters. They were subjected to regular harassment by French and Indian raiding parties sent from Fort Duquesne.
To answer these raids, Bouquet authorized James Grant to lead 750 men on a reconnaissance in force of Duquesne. Grant, apparently seeking the glory of a quick victory, attempted the fort's capture on 14 September. Grant had seriously underestimated the size of François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery's French force, which resulted in Grant's capture and nearly half his men killed or wounded. Lignery, who was running low on supplies, and whose supply line had been cut by the British capture of Fort Frontenac, ordered an attack on the British position in the hopes of weakening the British advance and capturing some of their supplies. [5] Lignery sent out virtually his entire garrison, 440 troupes de la marine and 150 Delaware Indians led by Keekyuscung, [6] : 251 under the command of Charles Phillip Aubry (not the "De Vitri" reported in British accounts). [1] [7]
The command at Ligonier was temporarily under Pennsylvania provincial Colonel James Burd, who Bouquet had left in command while he was visiting another post on the army's route. [1] [8] Outside the fort he had stationed a number of men to guard supplies and others to guard the expedition's animals as they grazed, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the fort. These guards, who were widely dispersed, suffered the brunt of the French and Indian attack. When the sounds of gunfire reached the fort, Colonel Burd sent out the Maryland Battalion, about 200 provincials, toward the action. These were quickly driven back to the fort by the larger French force. By this time the entire garrison, numbering about 2,000, was under arms. Burd sent out the 1st Pennsylvania Battalion to assist the Marylanders, but they all retreated into the fortifications as the French and Indians advanced. [2] Three companies of the North Carolina Provincials were also part of this force, led by Maj. Hugh Waddell.
Driven back by active British artillery, the French and Indians retreated, and waited for darkness before renewing the attack. They seemingly made no attempt to block the road; Burd reported the arrival of men during the afternoon. Around 9:00 pm, an assault was attempted on one of the fort's redoubts; it was repulsed by further artillery. The French and Indians remained near the fort through the night, sniping at sentries, probing the defenses, and killing or taking about 200 horses before they withdrew back to Fort Duquesne. [9]
James Smith reported what the French-allied Indians said about the battle: "They met his [Forbes's] army near Fort Ligoneer, and attacked them, but were frustrated in their design. They said that Forbes's men were beginning to learn the art of war, and that there were a great number of American riflemen along with the redcoats, who scattered out, took trees, and were good marks-men; therefore they found they could not accomplish their design, and were obliged to retreat." He wrote further that: "The Indians said if it was only the red-coats they had to do with, they could soon subdue them, but they could not withstand Ashalecoa, or the Great Knife, which was the name they gave the Virginians." [10]
Casualties were relatively light for the attackers. Aubry's superior officer, General Montcalm, reported casualties at two killed and seven wounded, but Burd also reported burying four Frenchmen. [3] British casualties were higher; the French reported taking 100 scalps and seven prisoners, [3] while the British report 12 killed, 18 wounded, and 31 missing. [4] 3 men of the North Carolina Provincials were killed during the fighting. Colonel Bouquet was not happy with the performance of his troops during the battle, writing to Forbes that "[this] enterprise, which should have cost the enemy dearly, shows a great deal of contempt for us, and the behavior of our troops in the woods justifies their idea only too well." [4]
The British continued work on Ligonier, and after General Forbes arrived on 2 November, advanced on Fort Duquesne in force. On 24 November, Lignery destroyed Fort Duquesne, sending his men to other forts to the north and west.
Fort Ligonier continued to see service through Pontiac's Rebellion, after which it was abandoned. It was reconstructed, and the site is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Fort Duquesne was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed as Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Fort Duquesne was destroyed by the French before its British conquest during the Seven Years' War, known as the French and Indian War on the North American front. The British replaced it, building Fort Pitt between 1759 and 1761. The site of both forts is now occupied by Point State Park, where the outlines of the two forts have been laid in brick.
John Forbes was a Scottish professional soldier who served in the British Army from 1729 until his death in 1759.
Henry Bouquet was a Swiss mercenary who rose to prominence in British service during the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War. He is best known for his victory over a Native American force at the Battle of Bushy Run, lifting the siege of Fort Pitt during Pontiac's War. During the conflict Bouquet gained lasting infamy in an exchange of letters with his commanding officer, Jeffery Amherst, who suggested a form of biological warfare in the use of blankets infected with smallpox which were to be distributed to Native Americans. Despite this indictment historians have praised Bouquet for leading British forces in several demanding campaigns on the Western Frontier in which they "protected and rescued" settlers from increasingly frequent attacks.
Fort Pitt was a fort built by British forces between 1759 and 1761 during the French and Indian War at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, where the Ohio River is formed in western Pennsylvania. It was near the site of Fort Duquesne, a French colonial fort built in 1754 as tensions increased between Great Britain and France in both Europe and North America. The French destroyed Fort Duquesne in 1758 when they retreated under British attack.
The Kittanning Expedition, also known as the Armstrong Expedition or the Battle of Kittanning, was a raid during the French and Indian War that led to the destruction of the American Indian village of Kittanning, which had served as a staging point for attacks by Lenape warriors against colonists in the British Province of Pennsylvania. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John Armstrong Sr., this raid deep into hostile territory was the only major expedition carried out by Pennsylvanian provincial troops during a brutal backcountry war. Early on September 8, 1756, they launched a surprise attack on the Indian village.
The Battle of the Monongahela took place on July 9, 1755, at the beginning of the French and Indian War at Braddock's Field in present-day Braddock, Pennsylvania, 10 miles (16 km) east of Pittsburgh. A British force under General Edward Braddock, moving to take Fort Duquesne, was defeated by a force of French and Canadian troops under Captain Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu with its American Indian allies.
The Battle of Fort Duquesne was a British assault on the French-controlled Fort Duquesne that was repulsed with heavy losses on 14 September 1758, during the French and Indian War.
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Fort Ligonier is a British fortification from the French and Indian War located in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, United States. The fort served as a staging area for the Forbes Expedition of 1758. During the eight years of its existence as a garrison, Fort Ligonier was never taken by an enemy. It served as a post of passage to the new Fort Pitt, and during Pontiac's War of 1763, was a vital link in the British communication and supply lines. It was attacked twice and besieged by the Native Americans, prior to the decisive victory at Bushy Run in August of that year. The fort was decommissioned from active service in 1766. Today, there is a museum next to the reconstructed fort. Inside the museum there are artifacts from the battle. An individual can take a guided tour of the fort, and on Fort Ligonier Days, the fort's cannons are fired.
Fort Loudoun was a fort in colonial Pennsylvania, one of several forts in colonial America named after John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun. The fort was built in 1756 during the French and Indian War by the Second Battalion of the Pennsylvania Regiment under Colonel John Armstrong, and served as a post on the Forbes Road during the Forbes expedition that successfully drove the French away from Fort Duquesne. The fort remained occupied through Pontiac's War and served as a base for Colonel Henry Bouquet's 1764 campaign. In the 1765 Black Boys Rebellion, Fort Loudoun was assaulted by angry settlers, when their guns were confiscated after they destroyed supplies intended for Native Americans. The garrison retreated to Fort Bedford and the fort was abandoned.
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Ligonier Valley is a valley in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States.
James Burd was a colonial American soldier in the French and Indian War, during which he played an important role in fortifying the Pennsylvania frontier.
The Forbes Expedition was a British military campaign to capture Fort Duquesne, led by Brigadier-General John Forbes in 1758, during the French and Indian War. While advancing to the fort, the expedition built the Forbes Road. The Treaty of Easton served to cause a loss of Native American support for the French, resulting in the French destroying the fort before the expedition could arrive on November 24.
François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery was a colonial military leader in the French province of Canada. Active in the defense of New France during the Seven Years' War, he died of wounds sustained in the 1759 Battle of La Belle-Famille.
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Fort Juniata Crossing, also known as Fort Juniata or simply Juniata Crossing, was a British French and Indian War era fortification located along the Forbes Road, near a strategic ford of the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River about 2.4 miles (3.9 km) west of the current site of Breezewood, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1758 as a fortified supply depot, to support the British Army during the Forbes Expedition. After the campaign, it fell into disrepair and was abandoned in 1763.
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