The George Washington Gallery
The Moment that Haunted
a Future President
George Washington Gallery • Fort Ligonier
Twenty-six-year-old Colonel George Washington was stationed at Fort Ligonier during the Forbes Expedition against the French. When allied British colonial units — sent to investigate enemy movement about two miles from the fort — mistook each other for the enemy in the fog and fading light, chaos erupted.
Washington rode his horse directly between the two firing lines and used his sword to block the presented muskets, stopping the bloodshed at extraordinary personal risk. Forty soldiers were killed, wounded, or reported missing. It would be the last time Washington came under fire before the American Revolution.
Around 1787, Washington wrote a document known as the “Remarks” for his friend and biographer, David Humphreys. In it, referring to himself as “G.W.,” he reflected on his years on the Pennsylvania frontier and described the Friendly Fire Incident as the moment his life was in the greatest jeopardy.
Beginning in 2022, archaeologist Dr. Jonathan Burns of Juniata College’s Cultural Resource Institute, alongside the Veterans Archaeology Program, led extensive fieldwork on private land approximately two miles from Fort Ligonier.
Using metal detectors and computer-aided mapping across four painstaking summers, the team confirmed the discovery of the actual Friendly Fire Incident site — a lost George Washington battlefield. More than 325 objects were discovered, cataloged, and lab-tested, including lead musket balls, coins, uniform buttons, buckles, firearm parts, horseshoes, wagon parts, and a French watch key.
In July 2025, Fort Ligonier announced the discovery to wide media attention.
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Lead Musket BallsMultiple .69 and .75 caliber balls recovered from the site — direct evidence of the exchange of fire between allied units. -
Shoe Buckle FragmentA personal item unearthed at the site, connecting us to the individual soldiers who were present that fateful night. -
18th-Century CoinsPeriod coins that help date the site and confirm military encampment activity in the area. -
Uniform ButtonsRegimental buttons identifying specific British colonial units involved in the incident. -
French Watch KeyA remarkable find — a small key for winding a pocket watch, likely belonging to a French-allied combatant.
Commissioned to capture the decisive moment, Flash Point was painted by acclaimed artist and sculptor Chas Fagan and unveiled at Fort Ligonier in April 2019. It depicts Washington on horseback, sword drawn, galloping through crossfire to stop his own men from killing each other. On display in the George Washington Gallery, the painting has become a central visual in telling the Friendly Fire story.
The museum’s most treasured artifacts is a pair of “saddle pistols” presented to George Washington from the Marquis de Lafayette during the Revolutionary War. Washington cherished the pistols, and it is believed that he carried them while commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at Valley Forge, Monmouth, and Yorktown. The pistols are an extraordinary symbol of the close friendship between Washington and Lafayette and the vital French support of the American Revolution.
The pistols are a not only a symbol of the critical role Washington played in the American Revolution but in the birth of our democracy.
Walk through the gallery where Washington’s story comes alive — from the “Remarks” in his own hand to the newly discovered battlefield artifacts. Fort Ligonier is just 50 miles east of Pittsburgh.