General john forbes biography for kids

General john forbes biography for kids pictures General Edward Braddock had tried and failed to capture the fort in , with disastrous consequences for both the British army and Braddock himself, who was mortally wounded in a bloody engagement nine miles short of the objective. Pittsburgh, The Story of an American City 5th edition ed. He saw action in the War of the Austrian Succession. The son of an army officer, Forbes intended to study medicine, but in his second year as a medical student, he decided to become a soldier.

Forbes Expedition facts for kids

Engraving depicting the British arring at the remains of Fort Duquesne

The Forbes Expedition was a British military expedition to capture Fort Duquesne, led by Brigadier-General John Forbes in , during the French and Indian War. While advancing to the fort, the expedition built the now historic trail, the Forbes Road.

The Treaty of Easton served to cause a loss of Native American support for the French, resulting in the French destroying the fort before the expedition could arrive on November

Objective

Similarly to the unsuccessful Braddock Expedition early in the war, the strategic objective was the capture of Fort Duquesne, a French fort that had been constructed at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River in The site is now located in Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle in the downtown area.

Order of battle

Forbes commanded about 6, men, including a contingent of Virginians led by George Washington.

Forbes, very ill, did not keep up with the advance of his army, but entrusted it to his second in command, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Bouquet, a Swiss mercenary officer commanding a battalion of the Royal American Regiment.

Unit	Strength
Division of 1st Battalion, Royal Americans
Highland, or 62nd Foot
Division of 62nd Foot
1st Virginia Regiment
2nd Virginia Regiment
Three companies of North Carolina Provincials
Four companies of Maryland Provincials
1st Battalion, Pennsylvania Regiment
2nd Battalion, Pennsylvania Regiment
3rd Battalion, Pennsylvania Regiment
Lower County Provincials

Forbes Road

The expedition methodically constructed Forbes Road across what is now the southern part of Pennsylvania's Appalachian Plateau region, staging from Carlisle and exploiting the climb up via one of the few southern gaps of the Allegheny through the Allegheny Front, into the disputed territory of the Ohio Country, which was then a largely-depopulated Amerindian tributary territory of the Iroquois Confederation.

The well-organized expedition was in contrast to a similar expedition led by Edward Braddock in , which ended in the disastrous Battle of the Monongahela.

Advance

Map of the route General Forbes' forces took to reach Fort Duquesne in September,

Working for most of the summer on the construction of the road and on periodic fortified supply depots, the expedition did not come within striking distance of Fort Duquesne until September In mid-September, a reconnaissance force was soundly defeated in the Battle of Fort Duquesne when its leader, Major James Grant, attempted to capture the fort instead of gathering information alone.

The French had their supply line from Montreal cut by other British actions and so attacked one of the expedition's forward outposts, Fort Ligonier, in an attempt to drive off the British or to acquire further supplies, but they were repulsed during the Battle of Fort Ligonier.

French strategic collapse

The Treaty of Easton concluded on October 26, , caused the remnants of the Lenape (Delaware), Mingo, and Shawnee tribes in the Ohio Valley to abandon the French and set up the conditions that ultimately forced them to move westward once again.

The collapse of Native American support made it impossible for the French to hold Fort Duquesne and the Ohio Valley.

General john forbes biography for kids He was buried in Christ Churchyard in Philadelphia. John Forbes British Army officer. In the summer of , Forbes began his campaign to capture Fort Duquesne. Forbes had fallen ill during the campaign and in December he returned to Philadelphia, where he died the following March.

When the expedition neared to within a few miles of Fort Duquesne in mid-November, the French abandoned and blew up the fort. Three units of scouts led by Captain Hugh Waddell entered the smoking remnants of the fort under the orders of Colonel George Washington on November General Forbes, who was ill with dysentery for much of the expedition, only briefly visited the ruins.

He was returned to Philadelphia in a litter and died not long afterward. The collapse of Indian support and subsequent withdrawal of the French from the Ohio Country helped contribute to the "year of wonders" the string of British "miraculous" victories also known by the Latin phrase Annus Mirabilis.