By June, 1753, Thomas Burney was operating a blacksmith's forge at Logstown. On 28 March 1754, he enlisted as a private in George Washington's regiment in the Virginia Militia and was employed briefly as a messenger. He served under Captain Andrew Lewis at the Battle of Fort Necessity in July, 1754 and in November he applied for an officer's commission, which was denied. In a letter of November 13, 1754 from Governor Robert Dinwiddie to Maryland Governor Horatio Sharpe, Dinwiddie mentions that "The bearer hereof, Thos. Burney, lived some years among the Twightees [Miami], as a blacksmith." Burney was killed at the Battle of the Monongahela on 9 July 1755.