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In 1754 he was promoted as Colonel and placed in command of the entire Virginia militia. Already, the Ohio Company had selected the forks of the river for a trading-post and commenced a stockade fort for their defence. The details of Washington’s march to support these pioneers, the establishment and history of Fort Necessity, are matters of history.

Upon assuming command of the Virginia militia, Washington decided that a more flexible system than that of the European government of troops, was indispensable to success in fighting the combined French and Indian forces, then assuming the aggressive against the border settlements. Thrown into intimate association with General Braddock and assigned to duty as his aid-de-camp and guide, he endeavored to explain to that officer the unwisdom of his assertion that the very appearance of British regulars in imposing array, would vanquish the wild warriors of thicket and woods, without battle. The profitless campaign and needless fate of Braddock are familiar; but Washington gained credit both at home and abroad, youthful as he was, for that sagacity, practical wisdom, knowledge of human nature, and courage, which ever characterized his life.