Fort Necessity National Battlefield - Part I

I had several weeks of vacation that I needed to use up before the end of the fiscal year, so in June we left on a big trip to the East Coast, up to Maine, and across to Niagara Falls.  I decided to maximize the number of national parks that we could visit along the route.

The first sited I wanted to see was one that we had passed years ago while on the way home from seeing Fort McHenry.  Driving through Pennsylvania we saw a sign for Fort Necessity, but had so many miles left to drive in the day that we couldn't justify a stop.  Ever since then it was on my list of sites I wanted to visit.  For this trip we drove through Ohio and Pennsylvania just so we could go by Fort Necessity.

The Opening Battle of a World War.  The battle at Fort Necessity in the summer of 1754 was the opening action of the French and Indian War. This war was a clash of British, French and American Indian cultures. It ended with the removal of French power from North America. The stage was set for the American Revolution.
--from Fort Necessity NB website

I was quite anxious to enter the first National Park site of our three-week long trip.

 A number of exhibits inside the visitor center explain the causes and actions of the war.

As I think I've mentioned before I've always enjoyed models of historical events.
Who killed those cows and horses?

In their opening attack, the French targeted the Virginia Regiment's livestock first, to leave their enemy without food supplies or a quick get-away.
--from exhibit signage

 It was obvious where you were supposed to go to start touring the exhibits.  Straight ahead led to that area while a door to the right of this spot led to the walkway to the recreated fort.

Prelude to War.  Daybreak, May 28, 1754 - After slogging all night through a dense, rain-soaked forest, George Washington, his Indian guides, and 33 fellow British colonial fighters arrive at a narrow glen miles from Fort Necessity.  There, 35 French soldiers are rising from their camp.  The two sides are not at war.  But a battle is about to begin.
--from exhibit signage

These displays were about the various participants in the conflict with a drawing of a representative of the group, a written description, and an audio segment that you could listen to.

 After visiting many Revolutionary War sites in the National Park service it is strange to visit a site where the redcoats are the good guys, ;-).

The French and Indian War (or the Seven Years War) truly was a world war as the conflict raged from Europe, to America, to India, and beyond.

We headed outside after going through the exhibits and stopped by a playground area that included a couple of photo opportunities.  I think they were planning for at least one parent to take pictures because each display had at least one figure without a hole for you to put your face into.

 This wagon looked to be something fun for kids to play on, but it was wet after a recent rain so we didn't let the kids play too much as we didn't want to have to deal with drying them off.

 After leaving the playground we headed on the trail to the fort.  It was a nice asphalt trail that would have been easy to navigate with a stroller if we had been so inclined.

 The forest was very green and lush, especially because of the recent rain.

 After a while we came to a clearing that contained the recreated fort.

These signs around the edge of the clearing were very helpful as they indicated where the treeline had been in the 1750s

 After walking for a while further we got close to the fort.

Once you get this close to the fort you realize how small it is.  And yet several hundred men sheltered in a fortification this size and attempted to fight off the French assault.

 There was a small structure inside the fort.

After we left the fort we headed back to our car to drive to a couple other areas of the park.  I'll post about those next time as I think this post is long enough.

~Matt