Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH. Previously Fort Pitt. Located west of the Alleghenies at the point where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers join to form the Ohio, the Forks of the Ohio—as the place was first known—was of key strategic importance as soon as white men started pushing into the Ohio Valley. In 1731 a few Frenchmen tried to establish a settlement but were soon driven off by the Shawnees. In 1748 the colonies of Pennsylvania and Virginia, both of which claimed the area, started trading activities that brought them into conflict with the French and led to the last of the colonial wars. In April 1754 a French force began construction of Fort Duquesne and subsequently defeated expeditions under Washington and Braddock to drive it out. The Forbes expedition forced the French to destroy Fort Duquesne, and Bouquet occupied the site on 25 November 1758 on behalf of the British, beginning reconstruction of the fortification under its new name of Fort Pitt.

In October 1772 General Gage ordered Fort Pitt abandoned, and it was partially dismantled. In January 1774 Dr. John Connolly occupied the place with an armed body of Virginia men to defy the Pennsylvania claim to the disputed region. But Connolly turned his attention to the local Indians, launching attacks that led to Dunmore's War in 1774. With the start of the Revolution, Virginia maintained Fort Pitt, using it as the headquarters for its western militia operations. But in 1777 increased attack from British, Indians, and Loyalists led Congress to claim control of the fort, appointing General Edward Hand its commander. During the rest of the Revolution, Pittsburgh was American army headquarters for western operations. Fort Pitt and West Point were the only military fortifications maintained by the U.S. Army after the Revolution.

SEE ALSO Colonial Wars; Connolly, John; Dunmore's (or Cresap's) War; Forbes's Expedition to Fort Duquesne; Western Operations.

                          revised by Michael Bellesiles