Three decades before his election as the first president of the United States in 1789, George Washington commanded soldiers in the French and Indian War, gaining experience that would shape his future leadership of the nascent nation.
Now, archaeologists in Pennsylvania have identified the site of an oft-overlooked moment in Washington’s early military career: a 1758 friendly fire incident between Virginian troops. According to a biography written by the president’s friend and aide, Colonel David Humphreys, Washington put a stop to the clash by rushing “between [the] two fires, knocking up with his sword the presented pieces.” Washington “never was in more imminent danger” than at that moment, Humphreys claimed.
Since 2021, a team led by Jonathan Burns, an archaeologist at Juniata College, has been working with students and veterans on private land a few miles from Fort Ligonier, a military fortification built during the French and Indian War, to uncover physical evidence of the battle.
With tools like drones, metal detectors and computer-aided mapping, the team has discovered hundreds of artifacts dated to the 18th century, including musket balls, buttons, nails, buckles, ammunition and even a French watch key, reports the New York Times’ Jennifer Schuessler. The areas where the objects were found align with historical accounts of troop movements during the deadly encounter, allowing experts to pinpoint its exact location.
“This is extremely nationally significant,” Burns tells CBS News’ Christopher DeRose. “It’s not only got a historic event [but also] a historic individual. It doesn’t get any more significant than George Washington here in this county.”
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