Historian Addresses Friends of Fort Necessity

Date: July 6, 2010
Contact: Tom Markwardt, 724-329-5811

Friends of Fort Necessity News Release Release 

FARMINGTON, Pa., The Friends of Fort Necessity are getting their new organization under-way by scheduling a Summer Lecture Series. Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 7 o’clock is the date set for the opening series in Fort Necessity’s Visitor Center.

Christian Fearer, our speaker, is a native of Southwestern Pennsylvania and a graduate of West Virginia University. As a senior historian at United States Special Operations Command, he served as the historian for Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan in 2009. A scholar of war and society, Mr. Fearer’s current research pertains to counterinsurgency operations in South Asia. The views and opinions expressed by Mr. Fearer will not necessarily reflect those of United States Special Operations Command or the Department of Defense.    

Mr. Fearer has previously worked for the National Park Service at Fort Necessity National Battlefield, Richmond National Battlefield Park, and Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Skagway, Alaska.    

Major General Edward Braddock is the subject of his talk. Two hundred fifty-five years ago, on July 9, 1755, Braddock’s British and colonial army was soundly defeated seven miles short of its object, the French outpost of Fort Duquesne. The retreat of the remnants of Braddock’s force opened the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania to violent raiding and brutal, irregular warfare. French and Indian tactics sent shockwaves of fear throughout the central British colonies. For Virginia, the burden of defense in a war largely fought through the tactic of terror fell to young Colonel George Washington.    

Mr. Fearer will continue with George Washington and Virginia’s Encounter with a War of Terror. He will explore Virginia’s descent into a terror-centric regional war fought within a much larger global war. It will explore how a colony, its political and military leaderships, and its citizenry confronted the crisis and were transformed by it.

Friends of Fort Necessity please put this date on your calendar and prepare for an interesting evening. These lectures are open to the public and free of charge. Attendees will have an opportunity to find out about the Friends of Fort Necessity and join this fledgling group. For further information please call Fort Necessity at 724 329-5811.    

Fort Necessity is located 11 miles east of Uniontown on U.S. 40, the National Road.

-FoFN-