When George Washington Almost Lost His Head

One July 4th proved to be a nightmare morning for George Washington.

The Virginia soldier was just 22 years old when he inadvertently started what is often called the first world war.

The conflict began in what is now called Jumonville Glen in Fayette County.

A few weeks later–on July 4, 1754–Washington was forced to surrender his small army of British and Colonial troops at a hastily built defensive outpost he called Fort Necessity.

Enjoy this story of both sites, as writer Len Barcousky talks about what went wrong 266 years ago in Southwestern Pennsylvania for the man who became father of our country.

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This story was recorded on June 27, 2020.

Your Storyteller

Len Barcousky was a newspaper journalist for 50 years, who retired after almost 30 years as an editor and reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He is the author of three books about Pittsburgh history drawn from his biweekly Eyewitness column.