Ligonier Valley is a valley in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States.

History

Around 1727 the first Indian settlement was made in the Ligonier Valley, near the confluence of Mill Creek and Loyalhanna Creek. The village was still relatively new when the first traders came in 1732. In the next quarter-century the great struggle for mid-America developed between the English and the French. The showdown came in what is now known as the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...

. In 1758 the English mounted a full-scale campaign. Gen. John Forbes commanded the expedition which drove through the woods and mountains of Pennsylvania, setting up a series of forts to strengthen his hand for the final blow: the attack on

Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne (, ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed a ...

at the juncture of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers. One of the

forts A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

was named for the commander-in-chief of the British Army, Field Marshal Lord

John Ligonier Field Marshal John Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier, (7 November 168028 April 1770), was a French Huguenot exile, born Jean Louis de Ligonier in Castres, Southern France. He had a long and distinguished career in the British army and was appointed ...

. Alarmed at the approach of the British, the French and their Indian allies decided that the best defense was a good offense. On October 12, 1758, they attacked Fort Ligonier—approaching from the southwest. There were about 1,200 French soldiers and only a few hundred Indians. (Many of the Indians had returned home to prepare for the approaching winter.) The French and Indians who attacked Fort Ligonier were under the command of DeVitri. They began firing at 11:00 am and the battle lasted until 3:00 pm After a spirited encounter, the French and Indians were beaten off with a heavy loss and they fled back to Duquesne. The British troops, under Gen. Forbes and Col.

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, pressed on after the Ligonier victory; when they arrived at Duquesne, they found the fort afire. The victory at Ligonier was the turning point for the British. They established their own fort, named it for Prime Minister William Pitt, thus giving birth to the city of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. Fort Ligonier functioned for a few more years. Arrangements were made with Gen.

Arthur St. Clair Arthur St. Clair ( – August 31, 1818) was a Scottish-American soldier and politician. Born in Thurso, Scotland, he served in the British Army during the French and Indian War before settling in Pennsylvania, where he held local office. During ...

of the British Army, to serve as caretaker of the facility since he lived only a short distance away. Increasing ferocious Indian attacks during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

led to the construction of a second fort in 1777 (sometimes known as Fort Preservation). It was located somewhat east of the original fort and served as a refuge for the settlers. By the end of the Revolution, it had outlived its usefulness and was allowed to fall into disrepair. A few years later it disappeared altogether.

References

External links

History of Ligonier Valley
{{coord, 40.238, -79.230, type:adm3rd_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Pre-statehood history of Pennsylvania Valleys of Pennsylvania Landforms of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania