The Ohio Country located between Britain's Thirteen Colonies and France's New France saw France and Britain clash. In 1753 the French sent an expedition south from Montreal that began constructing forts in the upper reaches of the Ohio River. In 1754 the Province of Virginia sent the Virginia Regiment led by George Washington to the area to assist in the construction of a British fort at present-day Pittsburgh, but the larger French force had driven away a smaller British advance party and built Fort Duquesne. Washington and some native allies ambushed a company of French scouts at the Battle of Jumonville Glen in late May 1754. In the skirmish the French envoy Joseph Coulon de Jumonville was left dead leading to a diplomatic incident. The French responded in force from Fort Duquesne, and in July Washington was forced to surrender at the Battle of Fort Necessity. Despite the conflict between them, the two nations were not yet formally at war.