Construction started on Fort Pitt, Construction started on Fort Pitt, which would be a state of the art fortification. It was built in the popular pentagram shape, with bastions at the star points, by Captain Harry Gordon, a British Engineer in the 60th Royal American Regiment.

Under imminent attack by Gen John Forbes, the French abandoned and burned Fort Duquesne. The fort was in the area named Pittsburgh in honor of William Pitt. The earliest known reference to the new name, Pittsburgh, is in a letter sent on this date from General John Forbes to William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl  … Read more