ABSTRACT
Governor Dinwiddie was afraid the French were gearing up for war. The average height of a man in 1776 was 5 feet 8 inches, so Washington was 7 inches taller than most of his soldiers. The party set out for Ohio territory, not knowing for certain where they would find the French military or how many soldiers were there. Washington told them about the letter he carried telling them to vacate the land, and the soldiers just laughed. Washington was sure that the French were planning to send their soldiers out to attack any British who were in the territory. The next morning, as Washington left, he noticed a large number of canoes. He quietly counted 50 birch bark and 170 pine canoes, with several more still to be carved out. Washington was sure that the French were planning to send their soldiers out to attack any British who were in the territory.
