As the Declaration of Independence is read to the Continental Army on the eve of the Revolutionary War, General George Washington reflects on his first military experiences more than twenty years before when he was a young officer, fighting for the British to secure the western territories of Pennsylvania and beyond for colonial expansion.

Washington was a pivotal figure in the start of the French and Indian War in 1754, a conflict the pitted England’s goals for empire in the New World against French interests. Caught between were the Indian nations. Their leaders, like the “Half King,” struggled to negotiate between the two European forces to protect their own people’s interests.

After a disastrous skirmish that leaves a French diplomatic envoy dead and a resounding defeat in his first full-scale battle at Fort Necessity, Washington becomes an aide to General Edward Braddock, who was sent from England with a large force to evict the French and gain control of the strategic Forks of the Ohio. By equal measures arrogant and inexperienced, Braddock is overwhelmingly defeated by French forces and their Indian allies and dies of his battlefield wounds. Britain becomes more determined to win the war and sends thousands more troops, setting the stage for the next phase of the war.