tingly, Washington, who signed the articles
and could not read French, inadvertently
agreed that he was responsible for the “assas-
sination” of Jumonville. The Virginians con-
ducted their withdrawal carelessly, and Wash-
ington’s personal papers and baggage were
captured and employed by the French as fur-
ther proof of his complicity. Washington sub-
sequently violated his year-long parole by ac-
companying the ill-fated expedition of Gen.
Edward Braddock against Fort Duquesne that
fall.
Coulon returned to Fort Duquesne in tri-
umph, having fully vindicated French honor.
In 1755, when hostilities erupted into the
French and Indian War, he gained further
renown by waging a guerrilla war along the
westernmost Pennsylvania frontier, capturing
Fort Granville (near Lewistown). As part of
the army under Gen. Louis-Joseph Mont-
calm, he next fought at the captures of Os-
wego and Fort William Henry. Coulon was
widely praised by Governor-General Pierre
de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, who recommended
him for the prestigious Cross of St. Louis be-
cause “the family of the Sieur de Villiers has
always distinguished itself in the service.
There is not one of them who has not died in
action against the enemy.” Unfortunately,
Louis de Coulon de Villiers contracted small-
pox and died at Quebec within hours of re-
ceiving the award on November 2, 1757. “It is
sad,” Vaudreuil reported, “that such an excel-
lent officer should succumb to that malady
after having exposed himself to the greatest
dangers.”Bibliography
Gallup, Andrew, and Donald F. Shaffer. La Marine: The
French Colonial Soldier in Canada, 1745–1761.
Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1992; Martin, Ronald.
“Confrontation at Monongahela: Climax of the
French Drive into the Upper Ohio Region.” Pennsyl-
vania History37 (1970): 133–150; Myers, James P.
“The Fall of Fort Granville: Gallic Wit on the Penn-
sylvania Frontier, 1756.” Pittsburgh History 79
(1996–1997): 154–159; Peyser, Joseph. Ambush and
Revenge: George Washington’s Adversaries in 1754.
Dunbar, PA: Stefano’s Printing, 1999; Stotz, Charles
M.Outposts of the War for Empire: The French and
English in Western Pennsylvania: Their Armies,
Their Forts, Their People.Pittsburgh: University of
Pittsburgh Press, 1985; Webster, Donald B. “The Fort
Necessity Surrender, 1754.” Military Collector and
Historian42, no. 2 (1990): 62–65.COULONDEVILLIERSDEJUMONVILLE, JOSEPH
Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville, Joseph
(September 8, 1718–May 28, 1754)
French Army Officer
Y
oung Jumonville lost his life in an at-
tempt to remove Americans illegally
squatting on French territory in south-
western Pennsylvania. His death hardened at-
titudes on both sides and helped precipitate
the French and Indian War.
Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville
was born in Vercheres, Quebec, the son of an
army officer, one of six brothers to serve in
the military of New France. He apparently en-
tered the service in 1733 as a cadet and was
present at Baie-des-Puants (modern-day
Green Bay, Wisconsin) when his father and
one brother were killed in an attack upon the
Fox Indians. He next completed an unevent-
ful decade of service on the frontier, and it
was not until 1739 that he saw active fighting
in Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville’s
campaign against the Chickasaw Indians. Ju-
monville finally gained his ensign’s commis-