Braddock's Defeat

Today, July 9th, marks the 260th anniversary of the Battle of the Monongahela (Braddock's Defeat). A statue of a young George Washington stands guard near the Braddock Carnegie Library where he earned quite the reputation for being brave as one of only a few officers to escape unharmed, despite bullet holes in his uniform.

It will be a quiet day in Braddock. For many, the day will pass without a thought of what happened in this region 260 years ago. Before 2011, only a few historic markers existed that alluded to Braddock's Defeat. But how could something so significant be one of the area's best kept secrets?

"It's not a local problem. It's a western Pennsylvania problem," explains Robert Messner, who opened Braddock's Battlefield History Center four years ago. "This area was so rich in natural resources, in industry, that we never had to think about tourism as an industry."

Messner said part of his motivation to open the center was knowing that people were being turned away when they would inquire about any existing battle sites.

"I thought for a community that is flat on its tail because of the decline of the basic steel industry turning away potential tourism, what a waste."

Tourism is the number two industry in the state but Messner says most of the dollars are made in the eastern section of the state near Gettysburg and Hershey. Messner says what our half of Pennsylvania has to offer, between Fort Necessity, Fort Pitt, Braddock's Field and Bushy Run, is a historical gold mine.

"We've got the father of our country running around here as a young man and he's making mistakes all over the place in his earlier years before this battle [of Monongahela.]"

This battle was a turning point for Officer Washington who decided to give a military career one last chance before resigning to a life of farming. He heard that the British general Edward Braddock was coming to throw the French out of Fort Duquesne and thought he could learn something from this well respected figurehead. Braddock wanted Washington on his side due to his valuable knowledge of the terrain, so he made Washington a member of his personal staff to resolve any rank issues between British and colonial troops.

"This was his last major engagement that Washington fights in before he shows up 20 years later in Philadelphia at the Continental Congress wearing his French and Indian War uniform from this battle campaigning to lead the Continental Army in the American Revolution."

Messner says Washington was chosen largely due to the reputation he built during Braddock's Defeat when he pleaded with Braddock to allow the troops to fire from cover like their opponents. This battle was considered an Indian victory and those fighting under Braddock, who survived, were disgraced - everyone except Washington, who many historians say was the indispensable person in American history.

"If it had not been for what happened here, if he had not come on the expedition, if he had not been so brave here, and if people did not spread that truth, God knows what would have happened."

Photo courtesy of Braddock's Battlefield History Center