Which military road did Braddock's troops build toward Fort Duquesne in 1755?

Braddock’s troops built Braddock Road toward Fort Duquesne in 1755.

The military road was cut through the Appalachian barrier during the Braddock Expedition. Beginning near Fort Cumberland, the route followed and improved parts of Nemacolin’s Path, an older Indigenous trail that George Washington and Christopher Gist had previously surveyed and widened for the Ohio Company. British regulars and Virginia troops cleared trees, graded slopes, and made passages for wagons and artillery.

Road construction was slow and extremely difficult. The expedition had to move heavy equipment through steep, wooded terrain, and some sections advanced only a few miles per day. The resulting route enabled Braddock’s army to reach the Monongahela, but the expedition was defeated before capturing Fort Duquesne.

Braddock Road is not the same as Forbes Road. John Forbes built the latter for the successful 1758 campaign against Fort Duquesne, using a different route farther north. The road’s name therefore identifies Braddock’s 1755 campaign rather than every British route toward the Ohio country.