George Washington is remembered as a brilliant Revolutionary War strategist who orchestrated several crucial victories for the Continental Army, including the Battle of Trenton and the Siege of Yorktown.
But long before he was memorialized crossing the Delaware River or tabbed as the face of the $1 bill, Washington had to prove his worth in combat—and the results weren’t always good.
The new movie Young Washington highlights this lesser-acclaimed portion of Washington’s military career. Arriving in theaters on Friday, July 3, the biographical drama stars William Franklyn-Miller as Washington in his early years and depicts how battlefield mistakes thrust him “into the center of a global conflict, testing his honor, loyalty, and courage.”
Angel Studios, the distributor of Young Washington, has already teased the Battle of Fort Necessity, which took place on July 3, 1754, as one of the movie’s featured sequences. At this Pennsylvania skirmish, Washington—only in his early 20s—suffered a humiliating defeat that ignited the French and Indian War between France and Great Britain and their Indigenous North American allies. It also offered valuable lessons before the revolution that lay two decades ahead to cement his legacy.
When Did George Washington Begin His Military Career?
Washington was toughened by family loss from childhood, as Biography.com previously reported. His father, Augustine, died when he was only 11 years old, leaving him under the legal protection of his half brother, Lawrence. Washington was engrossed in colonial culture and mastered growing tobacco, raising livestock, and surveying. By 1749, Washington, then around age 17, received an appointment as the official surveyor of Culpeper County.
In 1752, Lawrence died of tuberculosis—leaving Washington as the head of the Mount Vernon estate.
Trusting in his leadership skills, Washington joined the military. In February 1753, the British lieutenant governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie (played in the movie by Ben Kingsley), appointed him a major and adjutant in the Virginia militia. Later that year, Washington was sent as a special envoy to Fort LeBouef, at what is now the northwest corner of Pennsylvania, to instruct French forces to vacate British-claimed land in the Ohio Valley. They politely refused.
Promoted to lieutenant colonel in early 1754, Washington returned and led an attack on the French post at Fort Duquesne that killed commander Joseph Coulon de Jumonville and marked the start of armed conflict in the French and Indian War.
It also set the stage for his infamous showdown at Fort Necessity.
What Was Fort Necessity?
With Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers, the older brother of Jumonville, thirsty for retaliation, Washington and his men retreated to an open grassland called the Great Meadows near what is now Farmington, Pennsylvania. Here, they met up with 100 South Carolina troops led by Captain James Mackay (Jonno Davies) and hastily built a crude fort for protection.
Named Fort Necessity—the impetus for its creation—it featured a circular stockade standing only about 7 feet high and made from upright standing split logs, according to the American Battlefield Trust. A small shed housed ammunition and supplies, and a series of trenches about 4 to 5 feet were dug as an added obstacle.
“We have with Natures assistance made a good Intrenchment and by clearing the Bushes out of these Meadows prepar’d a charming field for an Encounter....” he wrote in a letter to Dinwiddie, according to Mount Vernon.
While the rushed construction certainly didn’t help matters, the project was doomed from the start. The meadow was surrounded by woods, leaving the site vulnerable to enemy gunfire from the trees.
On the morning of July 3, Villiers and his men arrived and the anticipated battle ensued.
How Did George Washington Lose at Fort Necessity?
According to the American Battlefield Trust, heavy rain fell leading up to the battle, turning the trenches around Fort Necessity into a muddy, water-filled mess. Washington had positioned around 50 men in the open field but was quickly forced to pull them back into the overwhelmed stronghold.
Around 600 French and 100 American Indian forces confronted Washington and Mackay’s men, per the National Park Service. While both sides suffered casualties, British losses mounted much more quickly. With ammunition running low—and some of their men even drunk from the alcohol supply inside the fort—Washington agreed to a truce request from Villiers around 8 p.m.
“Washington’s enslaved body servant is killed right next to him, as are many other men,” historian and author Edward G. Lengel told Angel Studios. “It was really a horrible affair, and one that he would never forget, one that he would learn from.”
Unfortunately, Washington’s troubles didn’t end with the cessation of gunfire. A clause in the documents of surrender authored by the French identified him as responsible for the “assassination” of Jumonville days earlier. However, Washington understood the translation as meaning “death” or “killing of” the French leader.
The French used the accidental admission in propaganda painting the British as aggressors, making their response and armed combat in the ensuing French and Indian War justified. The conflict didn’t end until the 1763 Treaty of Paris, which secured significant territorial gains in North America for the British—including all French territory east of the Mississippi River.
What Happened to George Washington After the Battle of Fort Necessity?
The Virginia Regiment was allowed to return home with most of its equipment thanks to the relatively lenient terms, but Washington’s pride was seriously wounded.
“You’d be hard-pressed to find another set of circumstances where someone in Washington’s position could fail more miserably,” Young Washington director Jon Erwin told Angel Studios. “I mean, this is a embarrassing failure, it’s his fault, and I find with some great figures in history that that is in many ways where a journey of transformation begins.”
Washington resigned his military commission in October 1754 in protest of British treatment of colonial officers, but returned the following year as part of an Ohio Valley expedition with General Edward Braddock (Andy Serkis). Braddock was killed in battle, and Washington became commander of Virginia’s forces at age 23.
In 1758, Washington had his measure of revenge by leading a successful capture of Fort Duquesne that gave the British control of the Ohio Valley. However, he grew more frustrated with his experience in the military and retired from the Virginia Regiment by the end of the year. This marked the start of Washington’s political career and shifted him on a path to aligning with the colonists for the Revolutionary War. In June 1775, he was appointed major general of the Continental Army at the urging of fellow Founding Father John Adams.
Young Washington offers a dramatized look at the initial setbacks that preceded his heroic exploits and enduring place in U.S. history.
See Young Washington in Theaters Starting July 3
Young Washington features William Franklyn-Miller as the future U.S. president and releases in theaters Friday, July 3. The movie also stars Ben Kingsley, Kelsey Grammer, Andy Serkis, and Mary Louise Parker.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
