Retracing Forbes Road: George Washington in Plum in 1758.

In November of 1758 General John Forbes extremely ill being carried on a litter between two horses lead his army to take Fort Duquesne from the French and Indians at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, at the present day Point, in Pittsburgh.

Part of the original plan on the way to Fort Duquesne was to cut a new road along the way.  Because the journey from Bedford to Loyalhanna  took longer than expected they planned to remain at the Fort Ligonier erected at Loyalhanna for the winter and resume in spring.  Captured prisoners told of the vulnerability of Fort Duquesne.  It was decided to take advantage of the situation and driving forward instead of waiting.  During this journey Forbes' Army was divided into a 3 brigades, lead by Lt. Colonel Henry Bouquet, Colonel Armstrong and Colonel George Washington. There path was mapped by John Potts who accompanied General Forbes who traveled with Colonel Washington's Corp.  On the evening of November 22nd 1758 Colonel Washington stopped at Camp Cross Turtle Creek. The next day all three prongs of the Forbes Army marched on Fort Duquesne, that at about 6:00 PM they arrived within sight of the fort.  Only to find it substantially burned and in ruins, but abandoned.  The area was renamed Pittsbourgh. The fort was renamed Fort Pitt.

Forbes's army sights the abandoned Fort Duquesne in this painting by Ward Hunter.  Highlanders march down the road in the foreground;  Forbes stands on the rock, with his litter behind him. (Fort Ligonier Museum, photograph by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, PA) Taken from American History Illustrated, June 1974, The National Historical Society, Gettysburg, PA 17235

Goals

Further prove that Colonel George Washington spent that night of November 22nd 1758 in what is currently Boyce Park, Plum.

Future plans are to mark the surviving road bed originally created by Washington's Marching Route and later used by early settlers, such as the

 McJunkin and Carpenter Families

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