Fort Duquesne

Fort Duquesne, constructed in April 1754, was the most important French post built in the Ohio Country. This fort controlled "the Forks," present-day Pittsburgh, where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet and form the Ohio. The Fort was named for Ange de Menneville, Marquis de Duquesne, the Governor-General of New France.

Expeditions in 1754 and 1755, by George Washington and Edward Braddock, respectively, failed to remove the French from "the Forks." In the following three years Fort Duquesne was gathering place and headquarters for French-sponsored Indian attacks the Pennsylvania and Virginia frontiers.

Fort Duquesne fell to the British during the French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Years War. A British naval blockade on the St. Lawrence River cut off France's supply line, and the Quebec government couldn't maintain forces in Ohio Country. On November 23, 1758, the British army, commanded by General John Forbes, cut its way through heavily forested Pennsylvania to "the Forks." In response to the impending attack, the French commander of Fort Duquesne blew up the post and retreated north to Fort Machault. The British heard the explosion 10 miles away, and although they were unable to capture the post, they still gained control of the land at the Forks, and began building their own fort where Fort Duquesne once stood.

The Fort Duquesne marker was dedicated on Friday, May 8, 1959. It reads: "Begin here April, 1754, by French after taking Virginia's fort. Key French position on the Ohio and base for raids on frontier after 1755. Burned by French before Forbes' army occupuied it, November 1758."