[51] His conduct under fire redeemed his reputation among critics of his command in the Battle of Fort Necessity,[52] but he was not included by the succeeding commander (Colonel Thomas Dunbar) in planning subsequent operations.[53]
The Virginia Regiment was reconstituted in August 1755, and Dinwiddie appointed Washington its commander, again with the rank of colonel. Washington clashed over seniority almost immediately, this time with John Dagworthy, another captain of superior royal rank, who commanded a detachment of Marylanders at the regiment's headquarters in Fort Cumberland.[54] Washington, impatient for an offensive against Fort Duquesne, was convinced Braddock would have granted him a royal commission and pressed his case in February 1756 with Braddock's successor as Commander-in-Chief, William Shirley, and again in January 1757 with Shirley's successor, Lord Loudoun. Shirley ruled in Washington's favor only in the matter of Dagworthy; Loudoun humiliated Washington, refused him a royal commission and agreed only to relieve him of the responsibility of manning Fort Cumberland.[55]
In 1758, the Virginia Regiment was assigned to the British Forbes Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne.[56][g] Washington disagreed with General John Forbes' tactics and chosen route.