[38]

French and Indian War
Main articles: French and Indian War, George Washington in the French and Indian War, and Seven Years' War
Lieutenant Colonel Washington holds night council during the Battle of Fort Necessity in Fayette County, Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War in 1754.
Washington the Soldier, a portrait depicting Washington on horseback during the Battle of the Monongahela in Braddock, Pennsylvania in 1755 (1834)
In February 1754, Dinwiddie promoted Washington to lieutenant colonel and second-in-command of the 300-strong Virginia Regiment, with orders to confront French forces at the Forks of the Ohio.[39] Washington set out for the Forks with half the regiment in April and soon learned a French force of 1,000 had begun construction of Fort Duquesne there. In May, having set up a defensive position at Great Meadows, he learned that the French had made camp seven miles (11 km) away; he decided to take the offensive.[40]
The French detachment proved to be only about 50 men, so Washington advanced on May 28 with a small force of Virginians and Indian allies to ambush them.