The Marquis du Quesne de Menneville was appointed governor of Canada, Louisiana, Cape Breton, &c., on the recall of M. de la Jonquière in 1752. He was reputed a man of ability, but was of haughty and austere disposition. Galissonière, who had recommended the appointment, furnished him with every information respecting the colony and the territorial claims of France: thus instructed, he landed at Quebec in August, where he was received with the usual ceremonies.
The orders given to the new governor with regard to the disputed boundaries were such as to leave little doubt on his mind that the sword alone could enable him to secure their execution, and the character of his stubborn though unwarlike rivals promised a determined resistance to his views.[5] His first attention was therefore directed to the military resources of his command. He forthwith organized the militia[6] of Quebec and Montreal under efficient officers, and attached bodies of artillery to the garrison of each city; the militia of the country parishes next underwent a careful inspection, and nothing was neglected to strengthen the efficiency of his army.
In 1753, several French detachments were sent to the banks of the Ohio,[7] with orders to establish forts, and to secure the alliance of the Indians by liberal presents and splendid promises. The wily savages, however, quickly perceived that the rival efforts of the two great European powers would soon lead to a war of which their country must be the scene, and they endeavored, to the utmost of their ability, to rid themselves of both their dangerous visitors. Disregarding these efforts and entreaties, both the English and French advanced nearer to each other, and the latter fortified several posts upon the Allegany and the Ohio. When the hostile designs of France became thus apparent, Mr. Dinwiddie, governor of Virginia,[8] which was the most exposed of the British provinces, undertook to check these aggressions, upon his own responsibility, and formed a regiment of militia for the purpose. A small detachment, raised by the Ohio Company, was immediately sent to protect the traders, and take possession of the Forks of the Ohio and Monongahela, the precise spot where the first efforts of the French would probably be made. They had scarcely begun the erection of a fort, when M. de Contrecoeur, with 1200 men, arrived from Venango in 300 canoes, drove them from the ground,[9] and completed and occupied their fortification: to this since well-known spot he gave the name of Fort du Quesne.[10] In the mean time the Virginia militia marched to the aid of the English, and met them on their retreat at Will's Creek; the colonel of this body had died soon after it took the field, and the command devolved upon the officer next in seniority--GEORGE WASHINGTON, the father of the Great Republic.