Fort Duquesne (1)

Fort Duquesne (1) (1754-1758) - First established in 1754 during the French & Indian War by French forces in present day Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Named after the Marquis Duquesne, then governor-general of New France. Abandoned and destroyed by the French in 1758. Fort Duquesne Bastion Tracery Fort Duquesne Central Medalion Fort Duquesne Tracery French & Indian War (1754–1763) Fort Duquesne was built by the French in 1754 just before the start of the French & Indian War on the site of a previous British fortification, Fort Prince George (1). The fort was strategically located at the junction of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River where they become the Ohio River. The British had just completed construction of Fort Prince George (1) at the Forks of the Ohio on 16 Apr 1754 when a large French force appeared and convinced them to leave which they did on 18 Apr 1754. The French under Captain Claude-Pierre Pecaudy, sieur de Contrecoeur, had come from Fort Niagara to build a fort and occupy the Forks of the Ohio. The fort would be at the end of a chain of four forts stretching from the Ohio to Lake Erie. The fort was initially constructed over the British fort with some of the materials the British had prepared for their fort. The French built it out as an 80 foot square with bastions at each corner. An expansion was constructed east of the fort in 1758. A large British force of 6, 000 men under the command of General John Forbes advanced from Fort Ligonier toward Fort Duquesne in November 1758 along what became known as the Forbes Road. The outnumbered French garrison blew up the magazine with 50 barrels of powder, destroying the fort. When the British force arrived on 25 Nov 1758, all that was left were charred remains. The British then constructed the temporary Mercer's Fort while they set out to build a more substantial Fort Pitt (1). Current Status Part of Point State Park, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Located further out on the point from Fort Pitt (1). {"selectable":false,"width":"500"} Location: Point State Park, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Maps & Images Lat: 40.441611 Long: -80.010944 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: ' Recent Blog Posts U.S. Forts - Fort Pitt - Fort Duquesne Visit U.S. Forting - Fort Ligonier Pennsylvania Sources: Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 670-680 Links: North American Forts - Fort Pitt Wikipedia - Fort Duquesne Visited: 15 Aug 2012