All language subtitles for The War That Made America P1 - A Country Between ｜ French and Indian War ｜ George Washington ｜ [-VcSY5Plxjk]

This program is made possible by...

Gentlemen, a declaration by the
representatives of the United States of

When, in the course of human events, it
becomes necessary for one people to

dissolve the political bonds which have
connected them with another, we hold

these truths to be self -evident.

That all men are created equal.

That they are endowed by their creator
with certain unalienable rights.

That among these are life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness.

That to secure these rights, governments
are instituted among men.

And that all political connection
between them and the state of Great

is...

It's one of the great ironies of
American history.

The man who led the revolution nearly
lost his life fighting for that same

British empire 20 years before.

On the eve of battle, George
Washington...

couldn't help but recollect that earlier
war.

I did not let the anniversary of this
month pass without a grateful

of the escape we had at the meadows.

And on the banks of

the Monongahela.

That was the war that made him the
leader he was.

The French and Indian War.

But the day it all began, there was
nothing heroic about the father of

his country.

To be fair, Washington is only 22.

Ambitious and a little naive, He doesn't
realize he's about to become a pawn in

a chess game he doesn't understand.

They are here.

Washington's orders are to drive the
French from this contested part of the

frontier with force if necessary.

He doesn't know these French soldiers
are on a diplomatic mission.

The eager young Major doesn't take the
time to find out what the French are

after. Fire!

It's George Washington's first taste of
battle, and he likes it.

I can, with truth, assure you that I
heard the bullet whistle.

Believe me, there was something charming
in the sound.

Their retreat cut off by Washington's
Indian allies, the French surrender

minutes.

Their officer sits wounded.

This is Ensign Joseph Coulon de Villiers
de Jumonville. He's an envoy.

Here's a letter from his commander.

I do not speak French.

Under the protocol of the day,
Washington is responsible for the well

the wounded Frenchman.

But he soon realizes...

that this deep in the woods, different
rules apply.

It turns

out

this Indian leader, known as the Half
King, has his own agenda.

Within minutes, the Half King's warriors
plunder the French camp, scalping the

dead and wounded before they leave.

The massacre is not an outcome
Washington expected, nor could he have

the consequences.

This incident will trigger an all -out
war for North America that soon spreads

around the world.

We call it the French and Indian War.

This is the story of a war that helped
create a new nation no one could ever

have predicted.

This is the story of the war that made
America.

To understand how young George
Washington could set such momentous

motion,

We have to go back in time, before he
blundered into battle, and see how the

stage had already been set for war.

Spring, 1752.

Two years before George Washington's
battle in the woods.

Speculators from Washington's native
Virginia are coming to Pennsylvania to

negotiate with the region's Indians for
land.

They're after a foothold in one of the
most contested regions of North America.

In the 1750s, Britain holds the East
Coast.

while Canada and the Mississippi Valley
are dominated by the French.

Between those two empires lies a giant
prize called the Ohio Country, a region

the size of France that is largely empty
and up for grabs.

Both France and Britain set their sights
on one spot in particular.

A strategic river junction called the
Forks of the Ohio, where Pittsburgh

today.

But the Forks of the Ohio isn't theirs
for the taking.

The native people consider this their
land and not something that can be

or sold.

But there is one Indian leader in the
region who is willing to talk.

The half -king.

The same man who will play such an
important role in George Washington's

two years later.

Don't ever forget that any sign of
friendship that we make to the English

not escape the French.

But the French seem weak.

Well, the English traders give us good
when our hunters bring the skins.

In native tradition, women elders
provide counsel for important decisions.

For the half -king, the stakes in this
upcoming negotiation couldn't be higher.

Most of the region's Indians prefer the
French, but if the British offer him

generous trade goods to distribute among
his people, an alliance with Britain

could put him in a position of power.

It's a dangerous gamble, but the half
-king has few options.

His people are refugees who have been
driven out of their homelands in the

by tribal wars and European settlers.

Diseases have devastated their numbers.

Now 3 ,000 of them have made the Ohio
country their new homeland.

They guard it jealously.

But with the French encroaching from the
north and the English from the east,

The half -king knows he must make some
kind of accommodation.

Why are they firing?

It's their way of welcome.

It's when they fire their guns at the
end of the party that you need to worry.

Parlays between Indians and whites are a
fact of frontier life.

And the rules are well established.

Trade goods grease the wheels.

The Virginians have brought a small
fortune.

The items are more than just gifts.

Native people rely on European goods for
their survival.

Providing a steady supply of these
necessities will go far toward securing

Indian allies.

And then there is wampum, crucial to any
parley.

Intricately woven belts and strings,
encoded with messages of war, peace, and

friendship.

Until there is a ceremonial passing of
the wampum, no negotiation would be

complete.

When it came to winning favor with the
Ohio Valley Indians, the British had

catching up to do.

Years of land swindles had left native
peoples suspicious of British motives.

The French, on the other hand, had
traded with the Indian nations and

beside Indian warriors for more than a
century.

So for the visiting Virginians, this
parlay was more than just closing a land

deal. It was about winning these people
over.

The half -king is playing a delicate
diplomatic game between the British and

French.

And to make it more complicated, He's
not altogether his own master in this

negotiation.

The half -king and his people are one of
many Indian groups, and they are far

from the most powerful.

The dominant force in the Northeast is
the Iroquois League, a coalition of six

nations spread across northern New York.

The Iroquois claimed sovereignty over
the Ohio country and all the Indians who

lived there.

Technically, they haven't authorized the
half -king to make an agreement with

the British.

So if he goes ahead and does it anyway,
he'll be asserting his independence from

the Iroquois League.

In fact, he's called the half -king
because of his limited authority.

But if he can strike a good deal with
the British at this parley, it could

him a leader to be reckoned with.

Brethren, be assured that the king, our
father, in purchasing your lands,

had never any... Why is it taking so
long?

The way it is with the Indians, there
will be much talk and even more giving

gifts before the meat of the matter is
addressed.

Kindly accept this belt as a symbol of
our two peoples

living together as one.

The talking goes on for more than a
week.

Finally, the half -king agrees to let
the Virginians build a small trading

at the forks.

With the two European empires
encroaching on the Ohio country, the

has chosen what seems the best of two
bad options.

The French claim all the land on one
side of the river, and the English claim

everything on the other.

If that be the case, I ask, where does
the Indian land lie?

We live in a country between, and
therefore the land belongs to neither

Not the hour.

The great being above allowed it to be a
place of residence for us.

Philip, how do we say farewell?

So the Virginians leave the parley,
having secured the half -king's support.

He will back the English over the
French, and he will allow the Virginians

return the following year.

to build their post at the forks of the
Ohio River.

The full effects of the half -king's
decision won't be felt for years to

And one thing is certain.

The French are not about to give up the
forks without a fight.

One look at the map shows why.

The French already control Canada and
the Great Lakes region.

By building a string of outposts through
the Ohio country, they could link their

French forts in Canada with their
Louisiana colony and keep the British

up on the East Coast.

A memorandum by the Marquis de la
Galicianere, governor of New France,

action.

If the rapid progress of the English
colonies be not arrested,

they will possess, in a short time,
formidable armaments on the continent of

America.

And if that happens, warns the Marquis,
then all the other French colonies will

fall to the British as well.

Le Galasnier was a visionary.

He saw that the struggle for North
America had global implications.

If the French lost, France would be
weakened in Europe as well.

For Britain, the stakes were just as
high.

If it allowed France to dominate the
Ohio country, the British colonies could

never expand westward.

So British authorities send an
expedition to order the French to

the Ohio country.

The man they pick to lead it?

None other than the 21 -year -old
Virginian, George Washington.

Washington is a natural choice.

Brimming with ambition, imposingly tall,
he is well -connected and eager to make

a name for himself.

Washington draws his own map of the
journey that will take him past the

the Ohio to Fort LaBeouf near Lake Erie,
a 500 -mile journey that gets

underway just as winter sets in.

Along the route, Washington comes to a
French base.

The officer in charge gives a warm
welcome to the young Virginian.

But the French make it very clear they
won't give in to his ultimatum.

That night, he invited us to talk with
them.

Soon... the wine, which they dosed
themselves with freely, loosened their

tongues.

With utmost charm, the officer lets you
know the sentiment among the French in

the region.

They told us that it was their absolute
design to take possession of the Ohio,

and by God, they would do it.

For, though the English could raise two
men to their one, they knew our actions

were too slow to prevent any undertaking
of theirs.

Brushed off by the French, Washington
starts back to Virginia in December

His report on the mission goes all the
way to London.

where King George II hears of the young
Virginian who had done his best, but

failed to persuade the French to leave
the Ohio Valley.

The following spring, the Virginians
take up the half -king's offer to build

trading post at the forks of the Ohio.

But it's not to be.

Almost immediately, French troops force
the Virginians to surrender the forks.

and abandon their unfinished building.

The half -king is furious.

By taking the forts, the French have
humiliated him, and the inability of the

English to fight back makes him look
like he's backed the losing side.

He calculates how to get even.

It's the young George Washington who
unwittingly offers him that chance.

That's how Washington came to ambush the
French, his first taste of battle.

That same spring of 1754, Washington is
on his way back to the forks with orders

to help the Virginians finish their
trading post.

When he learns he is too late, he makes
plans to confront the French.

and take the forks back.

The half -king agrees to be his ally.

But Washington doesn't realize that the
Indian leader has a complicated agenda

of his own.

If the half -king orchestrates a
confrontation between the British and

French, it will strengthen his own hand
in the region.

But why does the half -king go further
and kill the wounded Frenchman?

It's an act of revenge for his
humiliation at the forks.

And a message to the French to back off.

And he knows the blame will fall on
George Washington, not himself.

You are not dead yet, my father, says
the half -king.

An ironic twist to the respectful term
the Indians usually use for their French

allies.

Washington's skirmish alone probably
would not have triggered a larger war.

But the cold -blooded murder of their
wounded officer?

The French couldn't possibly let that go
without a response.

Within weeks, the brother of the slain
Ensign Jumonville sets off in pursuit.

Meanwhile... Washington has withdrawn
his men to a large meadow.

They build a crude stockade that the
Virginians wryly name Fort Necessity.

Washington expects the half -king to
help defend the fort.

But the Indian leader has lost
confidence in the young major.

It's Washington.

He is a good -natured man, but he has no
experience.

Always driving us to fight by his
direction.

And now he wants us to make a stand with
him against the French.

And that little thing upon the meadow.

Washington's only Indian ally leaves.

We have no choice.

We will make our stand here.

The French have no such problems with
their native allies.

They arrive accompanied by 100 Shawnee,
Mingo, and Delaware warriors.

About 9 o 'clock on the 3rd of July, the
enemy advanced with shouts and dismal

Indian yells.

Washington intends to fight face to face
in the field, European style.

But the French and their Indian allies
don't cooperate.

They then, from every little rising
tree, bush, stump, and stone, kept up a

golden constant wire, which we returned
as best we could.

Till late in the afternoon when there
fell the most tremendous rain that can

conceived.

It filled our trenches with water

and wet not only the ammunition and the
firelocks, but also the few stores that

we had, leaving us only a few bayonets
for defense.

By nightfall, the situation is hopeless.

When the French commander offers terms
for surrender, Washington signs the

document.

Unable to read French, he relies on a
Dutch officer to translate.

It turns out that Jumonville's brother
is taking a sweet revenge.

Washington doesn't learn until later
that the document includes a confession

the assassination of Ensign Jumanville.

The morning after the battle, the
victorious French allowed Washington to

retreat towards Virginia with his
wounded and tattered troops.

Word of his defeat spread quickly.

This was not the kind of fame the young
Washington had been seeking.

The date, oddly enough, was the 4th of
July, 1754.

The defeat at Fort Necessity proves
disastrous for the half -king as well.

Any clout he has among the region's
Indians has now evaporated.

Within months, the half -king is dead.

A Delaware chief described the uncertain
situation in the Ohio country that fall

of 1754.

Things seem to take another turn, he
said, and a high wind is rising.

As war clouds gather, the powerful
Iroquois League ponders its strategy.

If they take sides in this white man's
war, there's a good chance they will

themselves fighting against other
Indians.

But if they remain neutral, there's also
the chance either France or Britain

will take possession of the Ohio
country.

And if that happens, the Iroquois could
end up with nothing at all.

For more than 100 years, the native
people of the Northeast have deftly

Britain and France against each other.

But now the swelling imperial ambitions
of the Europeans threaten to overwhelm

them.

Across the Atlantic, in the Palace of
Versailles, Louis XV and his ministers

spend the winter of 1755 preparing to
defend their North American interests.

By the time the Ite has melted on the
St. Lawrence River,

1 ,800 French troops have been deployed
to Canada.

King George II and his ministers in
Whitehall move even faster.

1 ,000 redcoats sail to Virginia in
early spring of 1755.

The British plan is to strike the French
in the Ohio country and simultaneously

in northern New York and Nova Scotia.

A three -pronged attack that will drive
the French back into Canada.

War is now inevitable.

First, the troops I have the honor to
command will take Fort Duquesne and

thereby remove the French from the forks
of the Ohio.

Second... It's an audacious strategy, in
keeping with the commander -in -chief

sent by London to carry it out.

General Edward Braddock, a politically
connected career officer, with little

battlefield experience.

Once we have secured this important
post, we shall proceed to Niagara, if

season will permit.

And I suppose it will, for this Duquesne
can hardly detain me above three or

four days.

Fort Duquesne, Braddock's first
objective, is held by the French and

Indian allies.

It stands guard at the crucial forks,
controlling all traffic through the Ohio

country.

To assault it is an ambitious plan.

But before he even begins, the general
runs into political problems.

Braddock expects the colonies to help
pay for this military campaign.

But the governors of the colonies reply
that their assemblies would prefer to be

asked, not ordered. Ordered.

Pish, gentlemen, you cannot tell me you
have not the power to make these little

assemblies do the king's will. The
matter is urgent. There is no time to be

lost.

I need not remind each of you that this
expedition is an expensive enterprise.

I cannot sufficiently express my
indignation against the provinces of

Pennsylvania and Maryland who refuse to
contribute anything.

As for the Indians...

These savages may indeed be a formidable
enemy to raw American militia, but it

is impossible they should make any
impression against disciplined troops.

Braddock's march against Fort Duquesne
gets off to a slow start that spring of

1755.

The army waits at Fort Cumberland,
Maryland.

As in every army of the time, female
camp followers are a semi -official part

the force.

Close to 200 women serve as laundresses,
cooks, and nurses.

Betsy, when your husband's regiment went
into battle, was you ever frightened?

For yourself, I mean.

What if the enemy was to come up from
the rear?

The truth is, I never was with the
troops in an actual battle.

But I shouldn't worry about anything
like that here.

The sergeant says that we outnumber the
froggies.

And as for them Indians, well, everyone
knows they can't fight in any manner

that will prevail over our trained
soldiers.

The sergeant says General Braddock don't
even want them savages fighting on our

side. That's how little he thinks of
them.

Don't talk to me about General Braddock.

You did hear, didn't you, Betsy?

He's ordered all us women going up
country with the army to be examined for

disease by the surgeons.

To see if we're clean enough to march?

Well, it's an insult for certain.

I'm a married woman, not a whore.

The men they should be looking at.

General Braddock names George Washington
one of his chief aides.

Though it's not an official British
commission, Washington jumps at the

opportunity to serve alongside the
highest -ranking British officer on the

continent. The general orders

daily parade ground exercises to keep
discipline sharp.

George, your bayonet!

Brett, your bayonet!

But about one -third of Braddock's army
are American provincials,

untrained enlistees from Virginia,
Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

Braddock pronounces them very
indifferent men.

It isn't only the drilling that's
unfamiliar to the Americans.

Severe punishments for even small
infractions provide a closer look into

army under King George than many
Americans have seen before.

At night, the Indians living near the
fort put on demonstrations for the

and Americans.

Dances that suggest the fighting style
of the warriors.

The

soldiers

now know what the famous Indian war
whoop actually sounds like.

The Americans encourage Braddock to
court Indian allies, but the general

shows. All but seven warriors go home.

In June of 1755, Braddock's march to the
Ohio country finally gets underway.

A long thin column of wagons, artillery,
horses, and camp followers, four

miles long.

300 axemen clear the way.

It's a logistical feat that only the
British would attempt.

Marching an army through 100 miles of
dense forest, steep mountains, and muddy

river crossings.

After a week, they have gone only 22
miles.

Frustrated by the slow progress,
Braddock splits his force.

and takes an advance column of 1 ,400
men ahead.

It is Washington's third adventure into
the Ohio Valley.

This time, he hopes to finally drive the
French out.

The main body of the army escapes any
direct attacks.

Others aren't always so lucky.

English messenger James Smith is
captured far from the column and taken

French fort Duquesne.

Move as fast as you can.

Running the gauntlet is customary

for all Indian captives.

Smith is turned over to the French.

He'll wait to see whether the English
will ever arrive at the fort.

After three grueling weeks, the British
army finally approaches the Monongahela

River, just a few miles south of Fort
Duquesne.

Morale is high.

General Braddock has led his army nearly
100 miles.

His engineers built log roads to cross
the swamps.

A company of sailors rigged block and
tackle to hoist the heavy cannon over

hills.

The worst is behind them.

Once they reach the fort, nothing can
stand in their way.

It is my hope that this evening we will
be drinking a toast at Fort Duquesne.

Braddock has succeeded in transporting a
modern army and its artillery deep into

the wilderness.

Washington is impressed.

This is the kind of British officer the
young Virginian aspires to be.

Indian scouts working with the French
keep a close watch on the approaching

army.

When word reaches Fort Duquesne of the
advancing British column, the French

realize their only hope is to ambush the
British as they cross the Monongahela

River.

But their Indian allies balk, unwilling
to take on the large enemy force.

The French captain, Léonard de Beaujeu,
dons Indian war dress and paints his

face. A gesture of solidarity the
British would never consider.

The Indians agree to join the fight.

At the front of the British column,
George Croyne, a Pennsylvania trader,

the seven remaining Indian scouts,
moving quickly the last few miles toward

Duquesne.

Captain Beaujeu's force of nearly 900
Indians, Canadians, and French regulars

moves just as fast toward Braddock's
column, still hoping to catch them at

river crossing.

It's impossible to say who is more
surprised when they encounter each other

in the woods.

The elite British grenadiers

move forward.

Beaujeu leads the warriors and Canadians
into the woods.

He'll fight the battle the Indian way.

In the beginning, it looks as if the
highly disciplined British will prevail.

Their volleys prove deadly immediately.

Beaujeu is one of the first to fall.

But once the Indians and Canadians slip
into the hills on either side of the

British, everything changes.

Washington and the other officers
struggle to keep their men in formation.

The French regulars are deployed in
front of the British column, blocking

forward movement.

While the Indians and Canadians snipe at
them from

both sides.

The British start to fall back.

But on the narrow forest road, they
collide with the troops behind them.

Chaos ensues.

Deadly tangles of redcoats mass
together, making pathetically easy

The artillery poods useless in the dense
woods.

Hold your line, men!

Hold your line!

Permit the Virginians to fight as the
enemy does. We know the Indian mode.

Certainly not, sir. Mind your place.

The

general's

been hit!

It doesn't take long for the attackers
to reach the rear of the British column.

It is said that of the 54 women who
marched with Braddock's army that day,

only four returned.

Some of the missing would turn up in
Canada.

Ransom from the Indians by the French.

After three harrowing hours, it's over.

The French and Indians have lost only 21
dead, while nearly a thousand British

and provincial soldiers are killed or
wounded.

Washington has had several horses shot
out from under him, but is unhurt.

What's left of Braddock's army makes a
desperate retreat.

The shocking scenes which presented
themselves in this night's march are not

be described.

The dead, the dying, the wounded, the
groans, the lamentation, the cries of

wounded for help along the road were
enough to pierce a heart of adamant.

The folly and consequence of opposing
compact bodies against the manner

of the Indians fighting in the woods,
which had in a manner been predicted,

were now so clearly verified.

Word of the great Indian and French
victory reaches Fort Duquesne by the end

the day.

British prisoner James Smith reported
the moment of the warriors' return.

At sundown, I beheld a small party
coming in with about a dozen prisoners.

I stood on the fort wall until I beheld
them begin to burn one of these men.

They had him tied to a stake and kept
touching him with firebrands.

Smith is sure he'll meet the same fate.

Instead, he will be adopted by an Indian
family to replace kin who have died in

battle. He will spend the next six years
living among the Indians.

The French know they owe this victory to
their native allies.

The Indians gather the honors of battle
to bring home evidence of their great

feat.

In European warfare, the victors might
have pursued the

fleeing British to crush them
altogether.

But here in North America, The native
peoples have different aims.

They're not fighting to secure an
empire.

They're just trying to drive the
invaders from their land.

For now, anyway, the battle is over.

Five days into the retreat, General
Braddock dies of his wounds.

At an encampment near the Great Meadows,
the brave but unfortunate General

Braddock breathed his last.

He was interred

with the honor of war.

And it was left to me to see that
performed.

He was...

deposited in the road over which the
army wagons and all passed to hide

every trace, lest the entombment be
discovered.

George Washington would admire
Braddock's battlefield bravery for the

his life.

The general's brass -barreled pistol and
bloodied sash would hold a place of

honor at Mount Vernon.

For years after the Battle of the
Monongahela, visitors here would come

the unburied bones of British and
American soldiers.

But empires don't come cheap.

Both Britain and France would pay dearly
in blood to win a prize as huge as

North America.

This was just the beginning.

Neither side had any idea how costly
this war would be or how many battles

were still to lose.

Next time on The War That Made America.

Britain must overcome a devastating
defeat while young George Washington

a violent frontier.

For France, victory is in sight if they
can keep their Indian allies.

The war that made America.

It's not the war you think it is.

For more information about the series,
an interactive timeline of the war,

historians' commentaries, and classroom
activities, visit our website at pbs

.org.

This program was made possible by
Richard King Mellon Foundation, the

Endowments, Eden Hall Foundation,

National Endowment for the Humanities
and the following.