Primary Source Documents
Map, Operations in Virginia, n.d.
Map, Fort Duquesne, 1754
Map, Braddock's Defeat, 1755
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to the Sachems and Warriors of the Six Indian Nations, n.d.
(returns three belts of wampums and declares continued friendship of British)
Maryland Governor Horatio Sharpe to Lord Fairfax, n.d.
(informs him of appointment as governor and states disagreement with boundary of headsprings of the Potomac)
Lord Fairfax to Maryland Governor Horatio Sharpe, September 24, 1753
(insists on new boundary line for his lands)
Deposition concerning Native American attack on home on Sinking Creek in present-day Monroe County, February 2, 1754
Instructions for George Washington, n.d.
(given command of Virginia troops to repel French advances in the Ohio Valley)
Maryland Governor Horatio Sharpe to Frederick Calvert, September 2, 1754
(states French are building forts on Ohio, Monongahela, and Greenbrier, discouraging English settlement)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to the Earl of Halifax, October 25, 1754
(conflict with the French, efforts to gain Native American allies and raise troops, construction of fort near Alleghenies)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to Horace Walpole, October 25, 1754
(regarding settlement west of the Alleghenies, conflict with the French)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to the Earl Granville, October 25, 1754
(construction of fort and magazine near the Allegheny Mountains)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to the Governor James Glen, October 25, 1754
(laments Washington's surrender at Fort Necessity, urges cooperation against French)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to the Sachems and Warriors of the Great Nations of the Cherokees and Catawbas, November 4, 1754
(requests warriors to assist the British in their fight against the French)
Report From Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie on the Present State of Virginia, January 1755
(details boundaries of colony, trade, population, governmental salaries, settlement, and the onset of conflict with the French)
George Washington to William Fairfax, May 5, 1755
(complains of road passing through Maryland instead of Virginia)
Virginia Gazette, May 23, 1755
(notification of requirement to aid army of General Edward Braddock)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to James Patton, July 8, 1755
(orders Rangers to be raised to defend frontier in response to Native American attacks, believes Andrew Lewis is at Greenbrier)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to Lord Fairfax, July 14, 1755
(laments defeat of Braddock's army, hopes Frederick and Hampshire militia will be called out)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to Sir Thomas Robinson, July 23, 1755
(has learned of Braddock's defeat, ordered militia in Frederick and Hampshire to defend frontiers, describes murder and robbery on the frontier by the French and Indians)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to John St. Clair, August 11, 1755
(requests assistance in driving off the French, and in redeeming women and children seized and taken into captivity by Native Americans)
Virginia Gazette, August 19, 1755
(letter from Fredericktown regarding companies of riflemen and militia gathering in the area)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to the Catawba and Cherokee Indians, August 22, 1755
(requests assistance in driving off the French, and in redeeming women and children seized and taken into captivity by Native Americans)
Maryland Governor Horatio Sharpe to General William Shirley, August 29, 1755
(mentions Virginia to raise troops and construct fort near the Alleghenies, flight of settlers from Greenbrier and New River valleys)
Maryland Governor Horatio Sharpe to Lord Baltimore, August 1755
(describes Battle of the Monongahela and flight of settlers from western Virginia)
Maryland Governor Horatio Sharpe to the Lords of Trade, n.d.
(describes arms, available militia, and types of fortifications, recommends construction of fot at conflux of North and South Branches of the Potomac)
Virginia Gazette, September 12, 1755
(informs citizens that arms purchased from deserting soldiers must be returned, and offers amnesty to those soldiers)
Virginia Gazette, September 12, 1755
(proclamation for a fast by Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to Andrew Lewis, September 15, 1755
(expresses regret to learn of deaths of thirteen in Greenbrier County, notes 150 Cherokee warriors expected to winter on the frontier)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to John McNeill, September 27, 1755
(expresses surprise that colonists in fort at Greenbrier did not resist a Native American attack, and dismay that people of Augusta are fleeing rather than fighting)
George Washington to Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie, October 11, 1755
(describes conditions on West Virginia border, Native Americans on South Branch, seventy men killed or missing)
List of Tithables Sent the Lords of Trade, February 23, 1756
(details population by county and race)
George Washington to Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie, April 7, 1756
(states enemy returned in greater numbers and attacked forts in present-day West Virginia)
George Washington to Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie, April 18, 1756
(states that troops ordered to search Warm Springs Mountain, present-day Morgan County, where Native Americans reportedly rendezvous)
George Washington to Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie, April 19, 1756
(states that French and Indians who defeated Virginians at Battle of Great Cacapon, in Hampshire County, were mounted on horseback)
George Washington to Lord Fairfax, April 19, 1756
(urges him to raise militia to repel expected attacks, and relays messenger's report that Fort Edwards is surrounded by Native Americans and expecting attack)
George Washington to Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie, April 22, 1756
(describes attack on fort at mouth of Patterson's Creek, in Hampshire County, by French and Native Americans)
George Washington to Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie, April 24, 1756
(describes conditions on frontier, desolation in Hampshire County)
George Washington to John Robinson, Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses, April 24, 1756
(describes deplorable condition of settlers on the South Branch, Cacapon, and Patterson's Creek, proposed chain of forts)
Instructions of Governor Robert Dinwiddie for Major Andrew Lewis, commander of expedition against the Shawnee, n.d.
(directs him to attack Shawnee villages, notes troops and Cherokee allies ordered to join him)
Minutes of a Court Martial Proceeding, Winchester, May 2, 1756
(sergeant accused of retreating without orders and failing to go to the assistance of a colonial force engaged with Native Americans near Fort Edwards)
George Washington to Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie, May 3, 1756
(encloses scalp discovered at site of Battle of Great Cacapon, near present-day Capon Bridge, in Hampshire County, notes evidence of Native American activity on road over the Alleghenies)
Maryland Governor Horatio Sharpe to Fox, May 3, 1756
(recommends fort be constructed at confluence of North and South Branches of the Potomac, describes battle near Fort Edwards and other military activities of colonists, French and Native Americans)
Maryland Governor Horatio Sharpe to Frederick Calvert, May 5, 1756
(proposes inquiry into conduct of Roman Catholics, describes battle near Fort Edwards, and proposal to build fort to protect families of Cherokee allies)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to the Earl of Halifax, May 24, 1756
(mentions failure of Lewis's expedition, efforts to construct fort for Cherokee allies, continued attacks of French and Indians forcing settlers to flee over the Alleghenies)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to George Washington, June 1756
(instructs him to advise Captain Hogg on location of forts in western Virginia, informs him of effort in Maryland)
George Washington to Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie, August 4, 1756
(describes engagement with Native Americans and defeat of Rutherford's Rangers near Fort Ashby on Patterson's Creek)
George Washington to John Robinson, Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses, August 5, 1756
(recommends Fort Cox on North Branch of Potomac, at mouth of Little Cacapon in Hampshire County, as depot of war supplies, describes hardships faced by soldiers)
George Washington to Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie, August 14, 1756
(informs him of party sent to guard inhabitants of Upper Tract in present-day Pendleton County, and construction of forts on Potomac waters)
George Washington to Captain William Bronaugh, December 17, 1756
(orders commander on South Branch of the Potomac to leave stores at Fort Waggener, present-day Hardy County, and march company to Fort Pearsall, present-day Romney)
George Washington to John Robinson, Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses, December 19, 1756
(protests against proposed abandonment of settlements on the South Branch of the Potomac, except for Waggener's Fort)
George Washington to Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie, December 19, 1756
(reports he has ordered garrisons from South Branch to move to Pearsall's Fort, present-day Romney, discusses disposition and condition of troops)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to George Washington, January 26, 1757
(expresses regret to learn of mutiny in the South Branch region)
Instructions to Colonel George Washington, Commander-In-Chief of the Virginia Regiment, May 16, 1757
(specifies number of men to be stationed at forts, including Maidstone, Edwards, Buttermilk, and Pearsall's)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to Colonel George Washington, June 24, 1757
(approves of removal of Stewart's company from Fort Maidstone, notes failure of Lewis's expedition against the Shawnee villages)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to Mr. Atkin, June 24, 1757
(sent funds to pay for scalps, furnished supplies to Cherokee allies)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to Mr. Boyd, August 13, 1757
(instructions to paymaster, informs him companies on the South Branch of the Potomac are to be paid at Fort Loudoun)
George Washington to Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie, August 27, 1757
(reports letter from Captain Thomas Waggener, commanding on South Branch of the Potomac, in Hampshire County, stating that Native Americans had attacked settlers in the area)
George Washington to Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie, October 5, 1757
(details troops in Hampshire County, and reports twenty Cherokee warriors have gone to the South Branch to aid Virginia garrisons)
George Washington to Colonel John Stanwix, October 8, 1757
(details several Native American attacks on settlers in and around present-day West Virginia)
George Washington to John Robinson, Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses, October 25, 1757
(describes flight of settlers, forts on the South Branch)
George Washington to Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie, November 5, 1757
(bemoans mismanagement of Native American affairs, failure to provide Cherokee allies with supplies)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to Major Andrew Lewis, December 1, 1757
(observes that militia company in the South Branch to be immediately discharged, other militia companies to become Rangers, and citizens profiting from conflict in the region)
Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to Captain Robert Stewart, December 9, 1757
(mentions Waggoner's Fort, and notes that Lord Loudon is at Fort Edwards)
George Washington to Colonel Henry Bouquet, July 9, 1758
(companies posted at Forts Edwards and Pearsall)
George Washington to Robert Stewart, August 13, 1763
(describes consequences of Pontiac's Rebellion)