Dunbar's Camp
This site, nestled in a bend of the Braddock
Road below a high knoll now marked by the "Jumonville Cross," marked
the farthest point reached by Gen. Braddock’s supply train during the
campaign of 1755. While camped here, Col. Thomas Dunbar and his command received
the survivors of Braddock’s Defeat, including the mortally wounded general
himself. Dunbar decided to destroy hundreds of tons of ordnance and supplies
and retreat eastward, back to Fort Cumberland. This decision created one of
the richest archaeological sites in colonial American history. For 200 years
passers-by plucked souvenirs of musket balls and wagon parts from the site.
In recent times, the site of Dunbar’s Camp has been preserved by an agreement
with the Archaeological Conservancy Association until it can be explored by
an archaeological dig.
