This was a different July 4 then remembered yesterday . This was July 4 1754 ;22 years before July 4 1776 .

On this July 4 a young Brit office defended a poorly constructed fort in Western Pennsylvania he called Fort Necessity . He had been sent with 160 men to defend Fort Wills Creak from the French . When he got there he found the French had already occupied the fort . So he built Fort Necessity in an open field .

He found out from a native that there was a small French contingent nearby . He took the opportunity to attack it with a handful of his force.
Ten men died, including the leader of the French ,who was scalped.

He then returned to Fort Necessity and awaited what he knew would be a French revenge attack. He did what he could to strengthen his position.

The attack came on July 3 . The French attacked with overwhelming force of several hundred French troops and 100 natives . The French had a clear line of fire at the fort from the tree line . The rains came and wet down the Brit gunpowder .

The Brit officer had no choice but to surrender on July 4.

This was the 1st engagement in what would become a 7 year French v British world war .

The young British officer was George Washington. In the US the war has been called the French and Indian War. This was Washington's first experience in battle .

The Brits won the war . But it led through a series of events to the American Revolution where a more seasoned George Washington led the colonial army to victory and later because the 1st President of the United States . It all began July 4,1754