Battle of Fort Necessity
(July 3, 1754)

What do you know about Battle of Fort Necessity (July 3, 1754)? Try this US Made Easy Quiz.  "Check Your Answers" at the end of the page.

1. The Battle of the Great Meadows, also known as the Battle of Fort Necessity was a battle of the French and Indian War fought on July 3, 1754 near present-day Uniontown, Pennsylvania. It, along with the Battle of Jumonville Glen, are considered the opening shots of the French and Indian War which would spread to the Old World and become the Seven Years' War. It marked George Washington's only military surrender.

• True or False

2. The battle was the culmination of years of boundary disputes between the British and French Empires in North America. Principal among the disputed territories was the Ohio Country, an area that includes portions of the present American states? Beside Ohio, what is NOT one of the Ohio Country?

• Pennsylvania
• West Virginia
• Delaware

3. Virginia Militia officer George Washington and 159 men to aid a building party sent to construct a fort at the Forks of the Ohio River (present Pittsburgh), but the party was surrounded and forced to return to Virginia before Washington arrived. What was the name of the fort the French built at the fork?

• Fort Pitt
• Fort Duquesne
• Fort du Jumon

4. Washington was sent new orders to construct a wagon road from Wills Creek into the Ohio Country and await reinforcements. What is the present location of Wills Creek?

• Hancock, Maryland
• Cumberland, Maryland
• Sharpsburg, Maryland

5. On May 24, 1754, Washington’s party arrived at a marshy clearing at the junction of two streams in what is now Upper Moreland Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania called the Great Meadows. They set up camp at the site and explored possible water routes to the Forks of the Ohio while awaiting reinforcements.

• True or False?

6. The arrival of 100 British reinforcements under Captain James Mackay on June 14 provided as much trouble as relief. Although Mackay brought reinforcements and much needed supplies, Mackay and Washington immediately entered into an argument over command of the garrison. Although Mackay was only a captain, his commission as an officer in the British army technically took precedence over Washington’s militia rank of Lt. Colonel.

• True or False?

7. The bulk of the British garrison had been sent to Gist’s plantation. Washington decided that this outpost was indefensible and gathered all his remaining strength at Fort Necessity. The Gist's Plantation is near what present-day site?

• Mount Braddock, Pennsylvania
• Millersburg, Pennsylvania
• Williamsburg, Pennsylvania

8. The expedition against Fort Necessity was led by Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers, who was the brother of the slain Ensign Joseph Coulon de Jumonville. Captain de Villiers was outraged by the death of his brother, which he considered to be a cold-blooded murder. He was further enraged when he passed Jumonville Glen and discovered that the British had failed to bury the bodies of the slain French soldiers.

• True or False?

9. At about 11:00 on July 3, the French column arrived at the Great Meadows and immediately began a vigorous attack. Washington’s misjudgment of the Great Meadows site quickly proved disastrous. When did Washington ask the French for terms of surrender?

• 18:00 (6 PM)
• 20:00 (8 PM)
• 24:00 (Midnight)

10. What "admission" in the surrender terms, would later be used as propaganda against the British and nearly ruined Washington's reputation?

• Building Fort Necessity
• Joseph Coulon de Jumonville death
• Building the road

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