This helped him gain respect in the ranks. .
In April 1754, on his way to establish a post at the Forks of the Ohio, George found out that the French had already built a fort there. Realizing that the French were coming, he quickly built Fort Necessity in Great Meadows, Pa., and marched to intercept the advancing French. In the fight the ensued, not only was the commander of the approaching French troops killed, but most of the men were captured. Washington then pulled his small army back into Fort Necessity. In which he was attacked (July) by the French. An all-day battle ensued, fought in horrible weather. Surrounded by the French, with his food supply near it's end and his ammunition wet and useless, Washington did the only thing he could by surrendering. The terms of the surrender allowed Washington to take his troops back to Williamsburg. .
Saddened by his defeat and angered by discrimination between British and colonial officers in rank and pay, he quit his position near the end of 1754. The next year, he volunteered to re-join the fight against the French. He joined up with British general Edward Braddock. When Braddock and his troops were ambushed by the French and their Indian allies on the Monongahela River, Washington, even though he was very sick, attempted to rally the Virginia troops. Washington's military reputation was enhanced as a result of this, and in 1755, at a very young 23, he gained the rank of colonel and was made commander in chief of the Virginia troops, with responsibility for defending the frontier. In 1758 he took an major role in the successful attack by Gen. John Forbes against Fort Duquesne.
In 1758 George Washington left the Virginian frontier to return to Mount Vernon, where his estate was. Constructing new buildings, and fixing up his house, and he planted some new crops. Soon after, he entered the political ring. He served from 1759 to 1774 in Virginia's House of Burgesses.
