Braddock Expedition

The Braddock expedition, also called Braddock's campaign or (more commonly) Braddock's Defeat, was a British military expedition which attempted to capture Fort Duquesne (established in 1754, located in what is now downtown Pittsburgh) from the French in the summer of 1755, during the French and Indian War of 1754 to 1763. The British troops suffered defeat at the Battle of the Monongahela on July 9, 1755, and the survivors retreated. The expedition takes its name from General Edward Braddock (1695–1755), who led the British forces and died in the effort. Braddock's defeat was a major setback for the British in the early stages of the war with France; John Mack Faragher characterises it as one of the most disastrous defeats for the British in the 18th century.