Customer Reviews

Guns at the Forks (Pitt Paperback ; 152)

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Excellent account of Ft. Pitt /Duquesne and its use in the French and Indian war.

Using written reports from both side and a familarity with the ground O'Meara does a fine job making a vivid picture of the English, French and the Indians (yes I said Indians) in between. You see all three sides in this quest for the control of the waterways vying for position and when possible using each other.

This book was written in the mid 60's and the total lack of political correctness shows to the joy of the reader. It is a pleasure to see an author willing to call the roasting alive of a prisoner what it was , savage! That this is a parallel to some reporting of events to day make it even more relevent.

One final note. The truth of the Fog of war is illustrated as both side seemed to have no true idea of what they were facing and were released from their ignorance only when events or luck overtook them. This is a truth of war that never ends.

Very much worth adding to your home library.

This is a 270 page must-read history of the British, French, and Indian struggle for control of the point where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio River.

The book includes maps, pictures, diagrams, photos, index and bibliography. The author manages to present a balanced approach, and cuts through many long believed myths, with a rational, easy to understand style.

This book dovetails all important historical accounts of the French & Indian war as well as the Revolution. Mr. OMeara brings great men such as, Robert Rogers, Gen. Braddock, Gen. Washington and even Benedict Arnold (when he was a good guy) into play. It is a virtual potpourri of who's who, and how they connect with the current Pittsburgh area. It brings out many small,yet certanily not insignificant, facts about these men and many others. Read about one of George Washingtons first blunders as a leader of an army, and how Gen. Braddock had marched an army in the dead of winter into the harsh wilderness to meet the Marque de Montcalm, and ultimately his fate. Again a must read for those who seek the truth about the Colonial era.

Guns At The Forks tells the story of the five forts that were built at the forks of the Ohio River (modern Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) - Fort Prince George, Fort Duquesne, Mercer's Fort, Fort Pitt and Fort Fayette, and the struggle to control this key bit of real estate that was crucial to the control of the whole inner continent. It keeps a tight focus on the story line of the struggle for this bit of land, and relates only the details of The French and Indian War and Pontiacs Uprising that bear directly on the fate of the forts at the fork.

The fascinating events that surrounded this struggle include George Washington's first entrance onto the world stage as a young man sent on a dangerous winter mission, and the following year bungling his first military mission and precipitating the start of the French and Indian War. Braddock's Massacre, the greatest British military defeat up to that point in history, happened while attempting to wrest the forks from the control of the French and capture Fort Duquesne. The subsequent years of Indian raids that terrorized the Pennsylvanian and Virginian frontiers were all launch from Fort Duquesne, until the relentlessly plodding Forbes expedition finally put an end to French power at the forks. The English then built their greatest North American fortress, Fort Pitt, at the forks, which was one of the only forts on the frontier to withstand the native attacks during Pontiac's Uprising, with an assist from Colonel Bouquet and his highlanders at the Battle of Bushy Run. The book relates all of these riveting stories in fascinating detail.

If you have an interest in The French and Indian War, Pontiac's Uprising, Pennsylvanian regional history, or the colonial frontier, consider this book a must read. It is extremely well written, and reads smoothly while weaving its history as a riveting tale - highly recommended.

Theo Logos

Excellent book concerning the French and Indian War around what is now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Excellent writing about a very exciting time in history.

This is a well done account of the bloody history of the Forks of the Ohio, that little spot of ground where the Monongahela and Alleghany Rivers converge to form the Ohio at the point where Pittsburgh stands today. This area was the scene of a heated dispute which lead ultimately to the outbreak of the French and Indian War as three cultures clashed over control of the Ohio Country.

In 1753, George Washington led a party of men to demand the withdrawl of French forces from this much disputed land. Washington was one of the first to comment on the military and economic value of the site and demonstrated the English willingness to fight for control of this desirable land. The Indians, caught between the clashing French and English armies, sought only to live in peace on their own lands. Washington would go on to fail miserably at Fort Neccessity in 1754, as would General Braddock on the Monongahela a year later. It was only after the Ohio Indians were convinced to abandon their support of the French at Fort Dusquene in 1758 that Forbes' Expedition was able to successfully take the Forks.

Fort Pitt would go on to importance again during the American Revolution but would never possess the strategic value it had in prior days. This book gives an excellent account of the many men and events that helped shaped what would ultimately become the United States.

It is a good read, though people looking for a more scholarly, documented, well-researched study of the campaigns of Braddock and Forbes should use Fred Anderson's Crucible of War.

I found this book to be well-written and interesting. The author keeps the main focus to the history of the fort - Fort Duquesne, later renamed Fort Pitt, amongst other names - and its impact upon American history, as per his writing assignment, and does not stray unless to clarify or amplify important aspects of his text.

For the publishing date of 1965 it is probably a very important work, although later and more inclusive works have appeared since, especially Allan Eckert's wonderful 'Winning of America' series which detail these conflicts and developments in some six volumes - actually seven, but the series officially includes only the six.

Unlike Eckert or other authors, O'Meara provides a modern update on the site of the forts as well as its various periods of decay and rebuilding. It is interesting that the forts site itself is now a beautiful park in Pittsburgh, serving to remind the populace of the momentous events that once transpired there.