Abstract
In 1755 western Pennsylvania became the setting for a series of transforming events that resonated throughout the colonial world of North America. On July 9, on the banks of the Monongahela River— seven miles from the French stronghold of Fort Duquesne—two regiments of the British army, together with over five companies of colonial militia, suffered a historic mauling at the hands of a smaller force of French marines, Canadian militia, and Great Lakes Indians. With nearly one thousand casualties, the defeat of General Edward Braddock’s command signified the breakdown of British presence on the northern Appalachian frontier. This rout of British-American forces also had an immense effect on the future of Indians in the Ohio Country, particularly the peoples of western Pennsylvania referred to as the Delawares.