Fort Necessity National Battlefield Fort Necessity National Battlefield is a National Battlefield Site in Fayette County , Pennsylvania , United States , which preserves the site of the Battle of Fort Necessity . The battle , which took place on July 3 , 1754 , was an early battle of the French and Indian War , and resulted in the surrender of British colonial forces under Colonel George Washington , to the French and Indians , under Louis Coulon de Villiers . The site also includes the Mount Washington Tavern , once one of the inns along the National Road , and in two separate units the grave of the British General Edward Braddock , killed in 1755 , and the site of the Battle of Jumonville Glen . Battle of Fort Necessity ( 1754 ) . After returning to the great meadows in what is now Fayette County , Pennsylvania , George Washington decided it prudent to reinforce his position . Supposedly named by Washington as Fort Necessity or Fort of Necessity , the soldiers constructed a storehouse for supplies such as gunpowder , rum , and flour . The crude palisade they erected was built more to defend supplies in the fort ' s storehouse from Washington ' s own men , whom he described as " loose and idle " , than as a planned defense against a hostile enemy . The sutler of Washington ' s force was John Fraser , who earlier had been second - in - command at Fort Prince George . Later he served as Chief Scout to General Edward Braddock and then Chief Teamster to the Forbes Expedition . By June 13 , 1754 , Washington had under his command 293 colonials and the nominal command of 100 additional regular British army troops from South Carolina . Washington spent the remainder of June 1754 extending the wilderness road further west and down the western slopes of the Allegheny range into the valley of the Monongahela River . He wanted to create a river crossing point roughly near Redstone Creek and Redstone Old Fort . This was a prehistoric Native American earthwork mound on a bluff overlooking the river crossing . The aboriginal mound structure may have once been part of a fortification . Five years later in the war , Fort Burd was constructed at Redstone Old Fort . The area eventually became the site of Nemacolin Castle and Brownsville , Pennsylvaniaan important western jumping - off point for travelers crossing the Alleghenies in the late 18th and early 19th centuries . To reach the Ohio River basins ' navigable waters as soon as possible on the Monongahela River , Washington chose to follow Nemacolin ' s Trail , a Native American trail which had been somewhat improved by colonists , with Nemacolin ' s help . He preferred this to following the ridge - hopping , high - altitude path traversed by the western part of the route that was later chosen for Braddock ' s Road . It jogged to the north near the fort and passed over another notch near Confluence , Pennsylvania into the valley and drainage basin of the Youghiogheny River . The Redstone destination at the terminus of Nemacolin ' s Trail was a natural choice for an advanced base . The location was one of the few known good crossing points where both sides of the wide deep river had low accessible banks ; steep sides were characteristic of the Monongahela River valley . Late in the day on July 3 , Washington did not know the French situation . Believing his situation was impossible , he accepted surrender terms which allowed the peaceful withdrawal of his forces , which he completed on July 4 , 1754 . The French subsequently occupied the fort and then burned it . Washington did not speak French , and stated later that if he had known that he was confessing to the " assassination " of Joseph Coulon de Jumonville , he would not have signed the surrender document . Park formation and structure . During the Great Depression of the 20th century , attempts to preserve the location of Fort Necessity were undertaken . On March 4 , 1931 , Congress declared the location a National Battlefield Site under management of the War Department . Transferred to the National Park Service in 1933 , the park was redesignated a National Battlefield on August 10 , 1961 . As with all historic sites administered by the National Park Service , the battlefield was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15 , 1966 . Subsequent archaeological research helped to uncover the majority of the original fort position , shape and design . A replica of the fort was constructed on site in the 1970s . A new visitor center , which also is home to a National Road interpretive center , opened on October 8 , 2005 . The battlefield and fort are currently being improved . The fort replica is being reconstructed to look more historically accurate , new informative signs being added , and the historic treelines and charge locations are being outlined . Mount Washington Tavern . On a hillside adjacent to the battlefield and within the boundaries of the park is Mount Washington Tavern , a classic example of the many inns once lining the National Road , the United States ' first federally funded highway . The land on which the tavern was built was originally owned by George Washington . In 1770 he purchased the site on which he had commanded his first battle . Around the 1830s , Judge Nathanial Ewing of Uniontown constructed the tavern . James Sampey acquired the tavern in 1840 . It was operated by his family until the railroad construction boom caused the National Road to decline in popularity , rendering the inn unprofitable . In 1855 , it was sold to the Fazenbaker family . They used it as a private home for the next 75 years , until the Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania purchased the property in 1932 . In 1961 the National Park Service purchased the property from the state , making the building a part of Fort Necessity . The Mount Washington Tavern demonstrates the standard features of an early American tavern , including a simple barroom that served as a gathering place , a more refined parlor that was used for relaxation , and bedrooms in which numerous people would crowd to catch up on sleep . General Braddock ' s grave site . In a separate unit of the park , lying about one mile ( 1 . 6 km ) northwest of the battlefield , is the grave of General Edward Braddock . The legendary British commander led a major expedition to the area in 1755 which included the construction of Braddock ' s Road , a useful but inadequate wilderness road through western Pennsylvania . Braddock was severely wounded in the Battle of the Monongahela as the British advanced toward Fort Duquesne . He and his forces fled along the wilderness road to a site near Great Meadows . Braddock died on July 13 , 1755 , and was buried in an elaborate ceremony officiated by George Washington . He was buried under the road in order to hide the location of his grave from the enemy French and Indians . In 1804 Braddock ' s remains were discovered by men making repairs to the wilderness road . A fitting marker was erected in 1913 .