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Duquesne, Fort
DUQUESNE, FORTDUQUESNE, FORT, a French stronghold at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1753, the Marquis Duquesne de Menneville, governor of New France, moved to seize the Ohio Valley from the British. On the route from Lake Erie to the Allegheny River, forts were erected at Presque Isle, Le Boeuf, and Venango. In the same year, Robert Dinwiddie, British lieutenant-governor, sent George Washington to warn the French to cease encroaching on the Ohio Valley. The French refused to back down. In February 1754, an expedition of 800 Frenchmen left Montreal, and, on 17 April, took possession of the fort being built by the Ohio Company at the confluence of the Ohio River. The French destroyed this work and constructed Fort Duquesne on the site. The rivers protected two sides of the triangle; walls of squared logs and earth twelve feet thick protected its base. Outside the walls was a deep ditch and beyond that a log stockade. Troops left Fort Duquesne to defeat Washington at Great Meadows in 1754 and to rout Gen. Edward Brad-dock's expedition in 1755. After Braddock's defeat, the French held undisputed possession of the Ohio Valley for three years, administering their military occupation from Fort Duquesne and stimulating Indian raids on the frontiers of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas. Finally, on 24 November 1758, when Gen. John Forbes's expedition neared the forks of the Ohio, the French destroyed Fort Duquesne and retreated. The English rebuilt the fort and renamed it Fort Pitt; the protection provided by Fort Pitt allowed Pittsburgh to develop as a city. BIBLIOGRAPHYO'Meara, Walter. Guns at the Forks. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1965; Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1979. Solon J.Buck/a. r. See alsoBraddock's Expedition ; French and Indian War ; Monongahela River ; Pennsylvania . |
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Cite this article
"Duquesne, Fort." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 6 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Duquesne, Fort." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (February 6, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401801292.html "Duquesne, Fort." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Retrieved February 06, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401801292.html |
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Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne , at the junction of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, on the site of Pittsburgh, SW Pa. Because of its strategic location, it was a major objective in the last of the French and Indian Wars . The fort was begun by a group of Virginians in 1754 at the insistence of Gov. Robert Dinwiddie. The French drove the Virginians away on Apr. 17, 1754, and completed the fort; they named it after the Marquis de Duquesne, governor-general of New France. George Washington's Virginia militia had failed to reach the fort before the arrival of the French (see Fort Necessity ). Fort Duquesne was also the goal of an unsuccessful expedition under English Gen. Edward Braddock in 1755. On Nov. 24, 1758, the French abandoned their position without a fight to advancing British troops led by Gen. John Forbes and retreated north after burning Fort Duquesne. The English rebuilt it and renamed it Fort Pitt, around which Pittsburgh grew. |
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Cite this article
"Fort Duquesne." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 6 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Fort Duquesne." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 6, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-FortDuqu.html "Fort Duquesne." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 06, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-FortDuqu.html |
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Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne a fort built at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, on the site of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The fort was begun in 1754 by colonists from Virginia. The French drove the Virginians away and completed the fort, naming it after the governor-general of New France. The French abandoned and burned the fort in 1758. The English rebuilt it and named it Fort Pitt.
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Cite this article
"Fort Duquesne." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 6 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Fort Duquesne." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (February 6, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-FortDuquesne.html "Fort Duquesne." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved February 06, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-FortDuquesne.html |
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Duquesne
Duquesne , city (1990 pop. 8,525), Allegheny co., SW Pa., on the Monongahela River, opposite McKeesport, in a coal region; settled 1789, laid out 1885 by the Duquesne Steel Company, inc. as a city 1917. There is light manufacturing. |
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Cite this article
"Duquesne." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 6 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Duquesne." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 6, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Duquesne.html "Duquesne." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 06, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Duquesne.html |
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