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Ceremony honors Fort Necessity’s dead

By Frances Borsodi Zajac 5 min read

FARMINGTON – As dusk approached, the National Park Service took part in a special evening ceremony Monday at Fort Necessity National Battlefield to honor those who had died in combat on the 252nd anniversary of this battle that started the French and Indian War. The ceremony took place shortly after 8 p.m., recalling the capitulation.

“Here about this time, events were unfolding that shaped George Washington and his future,’ said Ken Mabery, superintendent.

Some visitors to the park may not realize the importance of this battle and its effect on the United States. It not only influenced the young Washington, who was taking part in his first battle, but the French and Indian War would ultimately bring about events that led to the American Revolution. Mabery’s remarks made the visitors consider that July 3 is as important a date as July 4 in American history.

He noted, “If the events set in motion on July 3 had a different outcome, I would probably be speaking French. The events that took place on July 3 shaped a nation.’

This small battle, fought in 1754 in a wilderness far away from Britain and France would lead to a world war as the two empires struggled for control of North America.

Col. George Washington’s command of 293 officers and men, reinforced by 100 soldiers of Capt. James Mackay’s Independent Company of British troops from South Carolina were at Great Meadows awaiting the arrival of the French, following a May 28 skirmish in what today is known as Jumonville Glen with a group of French soldiers under the command of Joseph Coulon de Villiers, Sieur de Jumonville. The skirmish resulted in 10 French killed, including Jumonville, one wounded and 21 taken prisoner. One man escaped to Fort Duquesne.

The British quickly built Fort Necessity and on July 3, 1754, were attacked by about 600 French and 100 Indians who fought from positions in the woods. Washington’s men fought from the entrenchments, hampered by rain.

Mabery and park ranger M.J. McFadden set the scene for visitors. Mabery spoke of the rain that affected Washington and his men. McFadden explained that about 8 p.m., the French called out three times to Washington, asking if he wanted a truce.

Washington sent a translator, a Dutchman, to negotiate surrender. Washington signed it without realizing the document said he had assassinated Jumonville. The British left the next day and the French burned the fort.

But McFadden noted the ceremony was not to concentrate on Washington’s embarrassment but to honor those who had died here. The British losses included 30 men dead while the French suffered two dead and one American Indian was also killed. McFadden read the names which are known and mentioned the others whose names “are known only to God.’

The park service lit 33 luminarias along the walkway to the fort to honor these dead while park ranger Brian Reedy and college interns Jerry Rogers of Uniontown, a student at Penn State University, and David Foye of Annapolis, Md., a student at Frostburg State University, twice fired a swivel gun in salute.

Reedy closed the ceremony, thanking the public for visiting, noting, “This is a small fort with a big story that connects all America.’

The memorial service ended a special evening of programming that began with a 7 p.m. presentation on trade beads and wampum by Bob Winters, a leading authority and independent scholar who has been collecting glass trade beads and other glass objects for more than 35 years.

As he showed the first slides of beads in the theater at the Fort Necessity/National Road Interpretive and Education Center, Winters noted, “Looking at them is the way I dream – in Technicolor of beads.’

Winters, of Sparta, Tenn., is a member of the Platform Reservation Remnant Band of the Shawnee Nation. He is one of the few commercial gunflint knappers in the world, producing about 50,000 items annually. He also reproduces pre-contact Indian chipped stone tools.

Before the presentation, Winters displayed pieces of his collection as well as items for sale. During his talk, he showed slides on the different types of trade beads with names such as King Beads, Gooseberry and Mohawk, and wampum, which was used in diplomacy.

“Washington had to understand wampum diplomacy when he came here in 1753 and was trying to win the local tribal people over,’ Winter said.

Beads were made from a variety of materials. American Indians made beads from bird bones and shells. Winters showed one bead that had been made from a fossil.

The Europeans made their own beads from materials, such as glass, and brought them to America to trade. Winters showed beads made by the Italians, French and Dutch. He also explained how various shapes and colors became popular and then faded from fashion. Some came and went on a whim while others had more in-depth reasons. For example, yellow beads are rarely seen in the East but very popular in the West.

Winters explained that in the East, yellow is considered the color of death while in the West, it is prized because the sun is an important part of people’s lives.

“You’re more likely to find yellow beads in the Plain States, Texas and in Mexico than in the original 13 Colonies,’ he noted.

Winters also told how wampum served as “a socio-religious item that was both decorative and meaningful.’

He noted that tribes had wampum keepers with their own apprentices.

“They would recite over the belt what he told them,’ Winters said. “…The bigger the belt, the more important it was.’

The interpretive center features four of Winters’ reproduction wampum belts. For more information on Fort Necessity, visit the Web site at www.nps.gov/fone

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