2008 Summer/Winter, Volume 25, Issues 1-2

Cumberland County Goes to War: General Forbes' Campaign in 1758

Two hundred and fifty years ago Cumberland County was the focus of one of the three battles in 1758 that would change the outcome of the French and Indian War in North America. Carlisle, the new seat of Cumberland County, was the launching point for the third military expedition to attempt to take Fort Duquesne from the French and open up the Ohio country to English traders. General John Forbes would lead this campaign and succeed where others had failed.

Great Uncertainty: Pennsylvania's Defensive Measures in 1756

In 1754 and 1755, Great Britain suffered two humiliating defeats in North America at the hands of the French. First, Colonel George Washington faced the French at a hastily built fortification in western Pennsylvania named Fort Necessity. After a short skirmish, Washington conceded defeat and surrendered his predominantly provincial command to the combined French and Indian force opposing him.