John Forbes (General)

John Forbes (5 September 1707 – March 11, 1759) was a British general in the French and Indian War.

Related Topics:
5 September - 1707 - March 11 - 1759 - French and Indian War

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In late 1758, Brigadier General Forbes led the Forbes Expedition that captured the French outpost at Fort Duquesne. He renamed the site Fort Pitt, the location of modern Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Related Topics:
1758 - Forbes Expedition - French - Fort Duquesne - Fort Pitt - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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Forbes was born in Pittencrief, Fife, Scotland in 1707. The son of an army officer,

Related Topics:
Pittencrief - Fife - Scotland

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Forbes intended to study medicine, but in his second year as a medical student, he

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decided to become a soldier. He was accepted and commissioned in 1735 as a lieutenant

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in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. He saw action in the War of the Austrian Succession.

Related Topics:
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards - War of the Austrian Succession

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He later served in the Scots Greys and served under the Duke of Cumberland as acting quartermaster-general.

Related Topics:
Scots Greys - Duke of Cumberland

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When the French and Indian War (called the Seven Years War in Europe) broke out,

Related Topics:
French and Indian War - Seven Years War

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Forbes was sent to the fighting in the new world. His first action in North America came in

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1757 when he was dispatched to reinforce an attack on the French fortress of Louisburg in what is now Nova Scotia.

Related Topics:
Louisburg - Nova Scotia

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In December 1757, he was promoted to brigadier general and assigned to command an

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expedition to capture the French outpost of Fort Duquesne (present day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) which guarded the vital forks of the Ohio River. General Edward Braddock had tried and failed to capture the fort in 1755, with disastrous consequences for both the British army and Braddock himself, who was mortally wounded in an ambush. Forbes chose Lt. Colonel George Washington, who had been a member of Braddock?s campaign, to be his aide. A Swiss-born colonel of the Royal American Regiment, Henry Bouquet, also served with Forbes.

Related Topics:
Ohio River - Edward Braddock - George Washington - Henry Bouquet

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In the summer of 1758, Forbes began his campaign to capture Fort Duquesne. Forbes's plan was to complete slow and methodical march to Fort Duquesne, taking great pains to secure his lines of supply and communication with a string of forts along a newly constructed road from the Pennsylvania frontier. Rather than move on Fort Duquesne via Braddock?s road, which began in western Maryland, Forbes began his march in eastern Pennsylvania. This decision led to major political infighting among the Pennsylvania and Virginia colonial councils. Both colonies claimed the Ohio River country.. Forbes was able to quell the dissent by agreeing to improve Braddock's original road, but travel the route through Pennsylvania, which was longer but required fewer river crossings. This also gave the tactical advantage of forcing the French to divide their assets and defend both approaches.

Related Topics:
Maryland - Pennsylvania

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With 7,000 regular and provincial troops, Forbes began his push from his main stores in Carlisle, Pennsylvania into the trackless wilderness of western Pennsylvania. West of Raystown (now Bedford, Pennsylvania) he cut a wagon road over the Allegheny Mountains, later known as Forbes? Road, building a series of fortifications such as the fort at Raystown and Fort Ligonier to serve as supply depots.

Related Topics:
Carlisle, Pennsylvania - Bedford, Pennsylvania - Allegheny Mountains

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An advance column under Major James Grant was repulsed by the French on the night of Sept. 13-14, 1758 while making a reconnaissance in force. With this defeat, Forbes decided to wait until spring to attack. Soon after this, however, word was received that the French garrison at Fort Frontenac had fallen and the majority of the troops of Fort Duquesne had been evacuated. Forbes devised a plan to launch an immediate attack on the weakened fort. Forbes divided his command into three columns in preparation to make the final assault on the fortress. But the French, who were now hopelessly outnumbered, abandoned and razed Fort Duquesne before the British arrived. Forbes occupied the burned fort on November 25, 1758. He immediately ordered the construction of a new fortification to be named Fort Pitt, after British Secretary of State William Pitt the Elder.

Related Topics:
Repulsed by the French - Fort Pitt - William Pitt the Elder

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Forbes?s health, which had been poor for much of the campaign, began a rapid decline during his occupation of Fort Pitt. On December 3, 1758, now gravely ill, Forbes began the arduous journey back to Philadelphia, leaving Colonel Hugh Mercer in command of Fort Pitt. General Forbes died in Philadelphia on March 11, 1759. He was buried in Christ Churchyard in Philadelphia.

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