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.
The following year, Britain committed a regular army under the command of General Edward Braddock to the developing North American struggle. Braddock, like Washington before him, had received orders to gain control of the Forks of the Ohio at present day Pittsburgh. As Braddock's troops marched confidently through the forests and mountains of western Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, Pennsylvanians at home shared the troops' confidence in ultimate success. Philadelphians even launched a campaign to raise funds to purchase fireworks in order to celebrate Braddock's anticipated victory. Benjamin Franklin, in a typical act of caution, refused to contribute, warning that, "[t]he events of war are subject to great uncertainty." Franklin proved more prescient than he knew, for Braddock ultimately marched towards defeat. Like Washington the year before, Braddock also suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the French and their Indian allies. Where Washington's defeat in 1754 had created dismay in the colonies, Braddock's defeat caused panic. Colonists, after all, had considered Braddock's redcoated army invincible against the ragtag French and Indian foe. With the subsequent disintegration of Braddock's army, the colonial frontiers became open to attack.
In a way, the optimism of Philadelphians during the summer of 1755, as demonstrated by their collection of funds for fireworks, reflected the apathy with which Pennsylvania's government treated armed conflict. Most Pennsylvanians, from private citizens to Assembly members, assumed that Braddock would be victorious; the King's Army would deal with the French and Indian problem. When events contradicted popular expectation, the provincial government's previous inattention to their own military needs left many Pennsylvanians almost completely defenseless against the coming onslaught of Indian raiding parties. The colonial government's frantic efforts to create a military from scratch, combined with grassroots militarization on the individual level, ultimately changed the culture of the colony as a whole. Familiarity with firearms and warfare, where it had not been widespread before, became the legacy of frontier warfare in Pennsylvania during the Seven Years' War.
Pennsylvania's military inaction before Braddock's defeat was the legacy of its history and leadership to that point. Quaker leaders, who had traditionally been in positions of power, had long resisted any type of military buildup in the colony. A history of peaceful relations with Indians, inaugurated by proprietor William Penn, meant that there had been little need to develop Pennsylvania's military institutions. And finally, the colony's remoteness from New France to the north and New Spain to the south had effectively buffered it from previous imperial conflicts. As a result, Pennsylvania had not previously felt the need, much less the desire, to create a military.
These conditions left Pennsylvania woefully unprepared for war in 1756. It had no active government fortifications, public armories, or military institutions. As late as King George's War in the 1740s, Pennsylvanians had remained largely indifferent to military preparation. On November 13, 1747, Ohio Indians under the leadership of Scaroudy had arrived in Philadelphia seeking assistance from Pennsylvania against French incursions. They asked Pennsylvania's leaders to "put more Fire under your Kettle." Unlike the Seven Years' War a decade later, many Indians would actually have preferred the English as allies in the 1740s. In response to the Indian request, Pennsylvania provided little more than some material support and several volunteer companies of soldiers.
One of the Hamilton Library's oldest 18th century manuscripts provides a unique glimpse into what life was like for Pennsylvania's soldiers serving in America's French and Indian War, the 250th anniversary of which is now being commemorated.