News

George Washington gave strict instructions to Col. David Humphries, his friend and former military aide, in the matter of the memoirs that Humphries wanted Washington to write about his military career in the French and Indian War.

After penning 11 pages of what Washington called "Remarks," he added the mandate "that the whole of what is here contained be returned to G.W. or committed to the flames." For emphasis, he drew a hand with a finger pointing to those words.

Washington never finished the book. Humphries published only segments of it anonymously, and fortunately for history, he defied Washington's instructions.

The document remained in private collections for 216 years. In 2002, French and Indian War 250 Inc., purchased it at auction with grants from local philanthropists.

A facsimile is now on display as part of "George Washington Remembers: A Reflection of the French and Indian War" at Fort Ligonier, through May 27. It opened simultaneously with The Gallery of French and Indian War Art, a permanent collection of important 18th-century paintings of key figures and events.

The traveling exhibit focuses on the internationally significant French and Indian War, part of which was fought in the region, and the role played by the young officer who became the first president of the United States.

"The exhibition tells the story of Washington's adventures on the Pennsylvania frontier as a young officer of the British Crown," said Martin West, director of Fort Ligonier.

In the mid-1700s, the British and French both laid claim to the frontier of western Pennsylvania, the gateway to the Ohio Country. In 1753, Washington, 21, was sent by Lt. Gov. Robert Dunwiddie to deliver a message to the French at Fort LeBoeuf, south of Erie, demanding that they leave. They did not.

The following year Washington's men killed 13 French soldiers in what is now Jumonville, Fayette County, and hastily built Fort Necessity, which Washington surrendered to the French.

Washington marched with Gen. Edward Braddock's ill-fated expedition to Fort Duquesne, and in 1758, he was commanding colonial troops in Pennsylvania, his largest command before the Revolution.

In the "Remarks" that he wrote in the late 1780s, Washington noted that Braddock was "brave to a fault ... but plain and blunt ... even to rudeness." He described Gen. John Forbes as "a brave and good officer ... so much debilitated by bad health." About a friendly fire incident at Fort Ligonier in 1758, he wrote that it "involved the life of GW in as much jeopardy as it had ever been before or since."

The writings are accompanied by displays of original artifacts, including a shoe excavated from Fort Ligonier, and reproductions, such as a wampum belt.

The fine art in the gallery was located in England, Scotland, France and Canada and was purchased for the fort by private philanthropists. There are portraits of King George III of England, Queen Charlotte, King Louis XV of France, Gen. James Abercromby, Sir John St. Clair and Sir John Ligonier, whose portrait was acquired in 1961 and was the foundation for the collection. Although Braddock was prominent in the war, there are no portraits of him in the gallery because none are known to exist.

"He certainly must have had a portrait done, and it could be in a private collection in the United States or Great Britain," West said. "And if it is, it certainly has not been identified as Braddock.

We don't know much of what the man looked like, except that he was short and stout."

"General Amherst at Fortress Louisbourg," by Robert Edge Pine, has not been previously exhibited to the public. It was painted shortly after Amherst's victory at the fort in 1758, which was a turning point in British fortunes in the war. That makes the painting a unique depiction of an almost-contemporary event, West said.

West's favorite piece is William Penny's "The Death of General Wolfe," which takes place in Quebec at a pivotal battle of the war. His interest in that painting is not just historical. The work inspired artist Benjamin West, a collateral ancestor to West, to paint a larger, more famous interpretation that hangs in a gallery in Ottawa, Canada.

The art collection will be expanded with future acquisitions. The Washington exhibit will return to Fort Ligonier at other times in the season. Call for details.

• Most Read
• Most E-mailed
• Latest News