Previous articleWe talked about Lawrence having tuberculosis, George. Washington accompanied his brother to the West Indies to recuperate, but in the Ohio Valley, the war did not slow down for George's vacation. As the French grew in power, they began to approach the Ohio River Valley and occupied large areas of land that had long been declared a colony of Virginia by the British. Of course, regardless of whether Britain and France claimed possession or actually occupied this land, they would not consider what the actual owners of this land, the Indians, thought, but for the Indians, they did not care who occupied the land at that time, and the social system of all the common ownership made them very incomprehensible about the occupation and development of land, because they thought that all the things on the land were shared by everyone, so why bother to occupy and develop it? Of course, this is why they did not stop Washington from making friends with him when they surveyed the land before.
The extent of the Ohio River
But the English were annoyed by the French's pressing, so the Governor of Virginia urgently needed an envoy to negotiate with the French garrison, and by the way to inquire about the strength and intentions of the French, because of their extraordinary ability and expertise in dealing with the former Indians, George. Washington became the best candidate for the envoy.
George Washington, who received the order, did not go directly to the French garrison, but visited the Indian tribes passing by along the way, and by virtue of the good relations he had established with the Indians in surveying the land, he reached an agreement with the Indian leader "Ya Wang" to coexist in friendship and resist the French invasion together.
Native Americans
One might wonder why, if the Indians didn't care who owned the land, why did they ally with Washington against the French? In fact, it is very simple, because when Washington visited these Indian tribes along the way, he brought many gifts such as knives, glass beads, and rum that were particularly popular with the Indians, and for the sake of the gifts, the Indians did not hesitate to choose to ally with Washington.
Indian tribes
After arriving at the French fortress, Washington submitted a letter from the Governor to the French commander, which clearly stated that he would ask the French to withdraw from the Occupied Ohio region and abolish the fortress, etc. The French would certainly not easily agree, so the French commander shirked that he could not decide the matter himself, and that it must be decided by the French colonial governor, asking Washington to wait here, and he would report the matter to the governor and act accordingly.
Washington knew that the French were deliberately delaying time, because the French would take at least a month to and from the colonial Governor's Palace, even if the trip was smooth, but he took the opportunity to carefully survey the French military deployment, the terrain of the fortress, and the armament, and after everything was clear, he did not wait for the French messenger to return from the Governor,Corp. He directly asked the French commander to write a reply and return to Virginia.
From this we can see Washington's superiority, he knows very well that the French will not agree to withdraw from the Ohio Valley, war is sooner or later and inevitable, so it is the last word to prepare for war in advance.
After returning, Washington submitted a reply letter from the French to the governor and then published the process and results of the mission to the local newspaper without the consent of the governor, and the refusal of the French to retreat completely angered the local British, and the people demanded war against the French in disregard of the governor's consideration of the overall situation, and Washington became a legend because of this mission.
Some people may think that it is inconceivable that a single mission can achieve great prestige, because the Ohio River Valley at that time belonged to an undeveloped primitive wilderness, no road could be passed, even the fortress site established by the French was only a rough range, and the means of transportation were only horses, and even temporary logging was made into rafts when crossing the river; along the way, many hostile Indian tribes, coupled with the hostile behavior of the French, could be attacked and killed. Encountering other dangers on the way is commonplace, and no matter what danger you encounter, you can't expect the police to help you, and in this dangerous and indisputable place, you can only survive it by relying on your own bravery and wisdom and luck.
Hunters in the ohio basin wilderness
Washington's unauthorized announcement of the experience and results of the mission to the public greatly angered the British immigrants in Virginia and became the trigger for the subsequent war.
(All articles on this account are original, mainly introducing the independence of the United States and the history after the founding of the Country, welcome friends to pay attention!) ）