What were some of George Washingtons failures?
George Washington was thought to be very inept as a soldier in his first trip into the Ohio territory to
represent the English, a 22 year old lieutenant colonel and second in command of this expedition. They were to hold the Ohio counbtry by reinforcing a British fort on the Monongahela River.
Rumors reached him that the French had already overrun the British garrison on the Monongahela, the the Iroquois tribesmen aont the route encouraged Washington to keep going. The twenty thousand warriors of the Six Nations Iroquois confederation held the balance between the French and the English, and for more than a century they had allied themselves with the British. Washington pushed on.
Early one morning Washington’s men and a dozen Iroquois braves caught a group of Frenchmen
making breakfast. Washinton led his men to fire on the group, killing 10 Frenchmen. His first taste of battle exhilarated him. He learned belatedly from the prisoners he took that the French party were only diplomats. Washington was promoted on the spot to full colonel and made commander of the entire Virginia contingent. The Indians concluded that Washington was good-natured but appallingly inexperienced and unwilling to take advice. Making several more bad decisions during the trip, the Iroquois warriors began to fade away. The ‘Half-King’ leader of the Iroquois’ had termed the Americans "fools" and before Washington reached home, many of the tribes were turning away from
the English and by the year’s end their warriors had either joined with the French or were staying neutral. Among the British military officers, Geroge Washington’n name was becoming famous – as a byword for ‘colonial incompetence’. And there are more failures that Washington would endure and learn from.
Washington had a dozen Iroquois braves with him when they came upon thirty Frenchmen. as they were making breakfast. Washington’s troups opened fire on them and killed ten of the Frenchmen. He was
