Fort Necessity was a small, circular stockade built in the spring of 1754 by a young Virginia militia officer, George Washington.
Located in a clearing known as the Great Meadows in what is now western Pennsylvania, the fort was constructed "of necessity" to defend Washington’s regiment after a skirmish with a French scouting party (the Battle of Jumonville Glen).
This hastily built defensive post became the site of the Battle of Fort Necessity on July 3, 1754. A combined force of French soldiers and their Native American allies attacked the fort during a heavy rainstorm. Outnumbered and with their gunpowder wet, Washington’s forces were compelled to surrender. This battle was a significant opening act of the French and Indian War and marked the only time George Washington ever surrendered in his military career.