FOR STARTING A WORLD WAR You have been appointed to serve on a colonial jury for the trial of Virginia Regiment Lieutenant Colonel George Washington. He has been charged with the very serious crime of starting a world war. More specifically, he has been accused of starting the French and Indian War (known in Europe as the Seven Years War). As a member of this jury, you are responsible for examining the evidence and testimonies of witnesses to the events in question. Then, you must decide if Colonel Washington is GUILTY or NOT GUILTY. Background Information of the Case Rivals in North America Rival claims between the French and the English to the vast territory along the Ohio River between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi approached a climax about 1750. [A group of English farmers] had obtained a large grant of 200,000 acres in the upper Ohio River Valley. Meanwhile, the French, who considered the Ohio a vital link between New France (Canada) and Louisiana, advanced southward and westward, from Fort Niagara on Lake Ontario, driving out English traders and claiming the Ohio River Valley for France. In 1753, Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia learned the French had built Fort Presque Isle near Lake Erie and Fort Le Boeuf in that part of the Ohio country claimed by Virginia. He sent an eight-man expedition under George Washington to warn the French to withdraw. Washington the Emissary Washington made the journey as a British emissary in midwinter of 1753-54. French officers politely told Washington they were not obliged to obey his summons, and they were going to stay. Washington returned to Virginia and informed Governor Robert Dinwiddie that the French refused to leave. In January 1754, even before he learned of the French refusal to abandon the Ohio Valley, Governor Dinwiddie sent a small force of Virginia soldiers to build a fort at the forks of the Ohio, where Pittsburgh now stands. The stockade was barely finished when a French force drove off the Virginians and built a larger fort on the site. The French called it Fort Duquesne… In early April, George Washington…started westward from…Virginia. He was…to help defend the English fort on the Ohio [River]… By late May of 1754, Washington had reached a large natural clearing known as the Great Meadows. He made this his base camp… Soon after he arrived, he received word that a party of French soldiers was camped in a ravine not far from his position. On the stormy night of May 27th, 1754, Washington and about 40 men began an all night march to confront the French and learn their intentions. They travelled through woods so dark the men sometimes spent nearly half an hour just trying to find the trail. The Skirmish About dawn, Washington met with a friendly Seneca chief, Half King, [and his warriors] and made plans to contact the French Camp. As the French commander had not posted sentries, Washington and his men easily surrounded the unsuspecting French. A shot was fired, no one really knows by whom, and soon the peaceful glen was filled with the crash of musketry and the…smell of powder. The skirmish lasted about 15 minutes. When it was over, 13 Frenchmen were dead and 21 captured. [The leader of the French soldiers, Ensign Joseph Coulon de Jumonville was also killed]. Washington's casualties were one man killed and two or three wounded. French survivors claimed they had been attacked without cause by Washington. They claimed they were on the same sort of mission Washington himself had been on the winter before. That explained, they said, why they had been so easily surprised and why they had not posted sentries. [They also claimed, because this had been an unprovoked attack, and because France and England were not at war, that their leader, de Jumonville, had been assassinated (murdered) by Washington and his forces (both soldiers and Native American allies). After the skirmish with Jumonville's forces, Washington feared "we might be attacked by considerable forces." During the last two days of May and the first three days of June, he built a circular palisaded fort, which he called Fort Necessity. Reports that a large force of French and Indians was advancing from Fort Duquesne [caused Washington to further strengthen the fortifications]. The next day, they strengthened Fort Necessity by improving the trenches outside the stockade. On the morning of July 3, a force of about 600 French and 100 Indians [attacked the fort]. Rain fell throughout the day, flooding the marshy ground. Both sides suffered casualties, but the British losses were greater than French and Indian losses. The fighting continued sporadically until about 8 p.m. Then Capt. Louis Coulon de Villiers, commander of the French force and brother of Jumonville, requested a truce to discuss the surrender of Washington's command. Washington then surrendered his command to the French. [source: U.S. Park Service] The French and Indian War Had Begun Testimony of Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie In the fall of 1753, I received information that armed French forces were moving into the Ohio River Valley. They were intent on building a string of forts along the river. I was quite alarmed at the situation because these Frenchmen were invading sovereign territory belonging to the British. I directed Colonel George Washington to take a small force of men to the Ohio River Valley to confront the French forces. He was to meet with the Mingo Tribe Chief Half-King and discuss joining forces. Also, he was to present to the French a letter in the name of the King of Great Britain demanding that they leave the territory. Unfortunately, the French refused to leave stating that they had as much right to be in that territory as the English. [source: Dinwiddie letter to Washington, October 30, 1753] A few months later, after hearing about the French Capture of what they now call Fort Duquesne, I ordered Colonel Washington to take a larger force of men along with the Half-King’s Indian Warriors back to the Ohio River Valley and drive the French forces out of the territory. [Dinwiddie letter to Washington, March 15, 1754] As for the death of the French Commander de Jumonville, that was the fault of the Half-King and his Indians. My intention was for the Virginia forces to be on the defensive. Testimony of Lieutenant Colonel George Washington After receiving Governor Dinwiddie’s orders to remove the French forces from the Ohio River Valley, I organized my men and we set out on our mission. As we neared the area where Fort Duquesne was, I learned more information about the French forces now in possession of the fort. At that point, I held a council of war with my officers to determine our next move. [source: Washington letter to Dinwiddie, April 25, 1754] This is my recollection of what happened in the skirmish with the French forces. I met with the Half-King and he informed me that there was a small French force encamped nearby. We decided to move our army closer, but that took a while because it was so rainy and dark. But, once we were in a better fighting position, the Half- King and I decided to attack. The battle lasted only 15 minutes, but we killed 10 French soldiers and took 21 prisoners. One of the French killed was their commander Monsieur de Jumonville. Also, the Half-King’s warriors proceeded to take trophies from the battle: the scalps of the dead French soldiers. The Half-King said this was to send to other tribes as a warning against joining the French. Some of the prisoners we took said that the French force there was on a diplomatic mission. If this were true, why were they hidden like they were planning a surprise attack? Why didn’t they seek us out to talk? Also, as we attacked, they ran for their weapons to fire back. If they were seeking peace, why not surrender? Also, I did not admit to assassinating de Jumonville when I surrendered Fort Necessity. The surrender documents were in French, and I cannot read French. I did not know what it was I was signing. [sources: Washington letter to Dinwiddie, May 29,1754; journal of George Washington] Testimony of Private John Shaw I did not witness the death of Mr. de Jumonville, the French commander, but I did hear about the incident from some soldiers who did. Colonel Washington and his men and the Half-King and his men came upon the French soldiers early in the morning. They were actually still asleep and eating breakfast. But, as soon as they heard the noises of the approaching soldiers, the French forces quickly ran for their weapons. One of the Frenchmen fired, and at that point Colonel Washington gave the word for all his men to fire. Several of the French were killed, and the rest turned to run away. But, they ran into the Indians and quickly turned back to the English and surrendered. After the Indians approached into the French camp, the Half-King took his tomahawk and split the head of the French Captain de Jumonville. The Half-King then took out the captain’s brains, washed his hands in them, and then scalped him. [source: John Shaw sworn deposition, 1754] Testimony of French Commandant sieur de Contrecoeur In May 1754, I ordered Mr. de Jumonville to take a letter to the British ordering them to leave the Ohio River Valley.