The French and Indian War, also better known as the Seven Years' War, took place in 1754. It all began in the early spring of 1754 until 1763, when George Washington and about 160 Virginians and a handful of Mingo Indians began moving when they were concerned about the French military presence in their county. The battle first began when a Mingo chief, the Indian leader who was with George Washington on his campaign, led a unit of soldiers into a small French camp in the woods. It was a very small battle but the fight ended with 14 Frenchmen wounded. While Washington tried to get all available information from their dying French commander to aid their war plans, the Indians killed and scalped the remaining survivors, including the commander. Many suspect they were with Washington only to maximize hatred on both sides. of the battle. They went against Washington's orders not to be the aggressors. Soon large units of British and American soldiers were sent to resolve what were expected to be small battles. The French, however, were ready to fight back and even had Indians as allies to help them in the coming battles. In July, Braddock's army of over 2,000 British soldiers rode west with George Washington and encountered over 250 French soldiers with over 600 Indian allies. Nearly 1,000 British were killed, unlike George Washington who was unharmed during the battle and was soon promoted to commander of the Army of Virginia for his bravery. (Roark 146) The English began to collapse after the next 2 years. Soldiers were sent with inadequate supplies, weapons and food. Shortly thereafter a new prime minister was elected who vowed to send his troops what they needed, his name was William Pitt. Soon... halfway through the paper... out in the harbor. Then, a few years later, in 1775, the soldiers were told that there was an armory in Concord and marched towards it. During the march they came across tiny men who are not soldiers but will fight to protect their homes. The gunshot heard 'round the world occurred in Lexington when they killed 8 settlers. Soon the English retreated to Boston with a long fight. Finally the Declaration of Independence was written in 1776 by Thomas Jefferson. One important thing that came out of this document was that the French would side with the Americans if we separated from Great Britain. Only one state was against it, New York. He listed more than two dozen specific grievances about the king and slavery. On July 4, the declaration of independence was a success and a month later they went to sign the official copy of the parchment. The document was printed and read everywhere with celebration.