<P> James Smith wrote "Notwithstanding their (the Indians') vigilence, colonel Grant with his Highlanders stole a march upon them, and in the night took possession of a hill about eighty rod from Fort DuQuesne ---this hill is on that account called Grant's hill to this day . French and Indians knew not that Grant and his men were there until they beat the drum and played upon the bag - pipes, just at day - light . They then flew to arms, and the Indians ran up under covert of the banks of Allegheny and Monongahela, for some distance, and then sallied out from the banks of the rivers, and took possession of the hill above Grant; and as he was on the point of it in sight of the fort, they immediately surrounded him, and as he had his Highlanders in ranks, and very close order, and the Indians scattered, and concealed behind trees, they defeated him with the loss only of a few warriors ---most of the Highlanders were killed or taken prisoners ." </P> <P> A plaque on the Allegheny County Courthouse, erected in 1901 commemorates the site of the battle, and the hill where the battle was fought is today called Grant Street, in Pittsburgh . </P> <P> Though the French had beaten off the initial British attack, Lignery understood that his force of about 600 could not hold Fort Duquesne against the main British force of more than ten times that number . The French continued to occupy Fort Duquesne until November 26, when the garrison set fire to the fort and left under the cover of darkness . As the British marched up to the smoldering remains, they were confronted with an appalling sight . The Indians had decapitated many of the dead Highlanders and impaled their heads on the sharp stakes on top of the fort walls, with their kilts displayed below . The British and Americans rebuilt Fort Duquesne, naming it Fort Pitt after the British prime minister William Pitt, who had ordered the capture of that strategic location . </P>

Who led the expedition against duquesne in 1755