 General Edward Braddock left Observatory Hill in Georgetown in 1755 on an expedition to capture the French Fort Duquesne during the French and Indian War.Braddock's expedition was surprised on July 9 in the vicinity of present-day Braddock, Pennsylvania, in what is now known as the Battle of the Monongahela.Nearly 900 of Braddock's 1,300 men were killed or wounded, and Braddock himself killed.