During the summer of 1758 the Redcoats won at Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Frontenac, opening their route into New France. The Inidians signed the Treaty of Easton with the British in October - severing their allegiance to the French in exchange for no European settlements west of the Allegheny Mountains in the Ohio Country. Despite Major Grant's blunder, Forbes now had all the strategic objectives he wanted. Still it was winter and the fighting season was over. On November 11, 1758, Forbes decided to wait until Spring to finally move on Fort Duquesne.
The very next day Virgnia Colonel George Mercer and a small unit chased another raiding party into the fog across the Laurel Ridge. George Washngton followed with another Virginia squad. Mercer’s unit swung around to flank the enemy - putting them right in front of Washington’s rifles (who assumed they were French). Virginians on both sides of the line fired on each other. Washington - realizing what was actually happening - raced across on horseback and pushed muskets into the air with his sword. Forty Virginia soldiers died in that Friendly Fire Incident.
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