Battle of Fort Ligonier The Battle of Fort Ligonier ( also known as the Battle of Loyalhanna or the Battle of Loyal Hannon ) was a battle of the French and Indian War . On 12 October 1758 , French and Indian forces directed from nearby Fort Duquesne were repulsed in an attack on the British outpost of Fort Ligonier , then still under construction . Background . Following the British failure to capture French - controlled Fort Duquesne in the disastrous Braddock Expedition early in the French and Indian War , the British in 1758 finally mounted a second expedition under the command of John Forbes to capture that fort , from which the French and their Indian allies had been organizing raids against British colonial frontier settlements . His expedition methodically constructed a road across the Allegheny Mountains , which had reached a place known as Loyal Hannon ( near present - day Loyalhanna Township , Pennsylvania ) by early September . Forbes ' advance force , about 1 , 500 men under the command of Henry Bouquet then began the construction of Fort Ligonier for the purpose of establishing winter quarters . They were subjected to regular harassment by French and Indian raiding parties sent from Fort Duquesne . To answer these raids , Bouquet authorized James Grant to lead 750 men on a reconnaissance in force of Duquesne . Grant , apparently seeking the glory of a quick victory , attempted the fort ' s capture on 14 September . Duquesne ' s commander , François - Marie Le Marchand de Lignery , set a trap for him , resulting in Grant ' s capture and nearly half his men killed or wounded . Lignery , who was running low on supplies , and whose supply line had been cut by the British capture of Fort Frontenac , ordered an attack on the British position in the hopes of weakening the British advance and capturing some of their supplies . Lignery sent out virtually his entire garrison , 440 troupes de la marine and 150 Delaware Indians , under the command of Charles Phillip Aubry ( not the " De Vitri " reported in British accounts ) . Battle . The command at Ligonier was temporarily under Pennsylvania provincial Colonel James Burd , who Bouquet had left in command while he was visiting another post on the army ' s route . Outside the fort he had stationed a number of men to guard supplies and others to guard the expedition ' s animals as they grazed , about from the fort . These guards , who were widely dispersed , suffered the brunt of the French and Indian attack . When the sounds of gunfire reached the fort , Colonel Burd sent out the Maryland Battalion , about 200 provincials , toward the action . These were quickly driven back to the fort by the larger French force . By this time the entire garrison , numbering about 2 , 000 , was under arms . Burd sent out the 1st Pennsylvania Battalion to assist the Marylanders , but they all retreated into the fortifications as the French and Indians advanced . Three companies of the North Carolina Provincials were also part of this force , led by Maj . Hugh Waddell . Driven back by active British artillery , the French and Indians retreated , and waited for darkness before renewing the attack . They seemingly made no attempt to block the road ; Burd reported the arrival of men during the afternoon . Around 9 : 00 pm , an assault was attempted on one of the fort ' s redoubt s ; it was repulsed by further artillery . The French and Indians remained near the fort through the night , sniping at sentries , probing the defenses , and killing or taking about 200 horses before they withdrew back to Fort Duquesne . Aftermath . Casualties were relatively light for the attackers . Aubry ' s superior officer , General Montcalm , reported casualties at two killed and seven wounded , but Burd also reported burying four Frenchmen . British casualties were higher ; the French reported taking 100 scalps and seven prisoners , while the British report 12 killed , 18 wounded , and 31 missing . 3 men of the North Carolina Provincials were killed during the fighting . Colonel Bouquet was not happy with the performance of his troops during the battle , writing to Forbes that " [ this ] enterprise , which should have cost the enemy dearly , shows a great deal of comtempt for us , and the behavior of our troops in the woods justifies their idea only too well . " The British continued work on Ligonier , and after General Forbes arrived on 2 November , advanced on Fort Duquesne in force . On 24 November , Lignery destroyed Fort Duquesne , sending his men to other forts to the north and west . Fort Ligonier continued to see service through Pontiac ' s Rebellion , after which it was abandoned . It was reconstructed , and the site is now on the National Register of Historic Places .