Captain Penn softly knocked then entered the commander's office. "Sir, Americans and Indians wait at the gate. They asked to see you?" "Nonsense," Legardeur slid his chair away from the fire, "no one's out in this blizzard." Minutes later, the three whites stood by a fireplace allowing snow and ice to melt off their clothes. Captain Legardeur, saw the officer's uniform, "To whom am I addressing?" Standing at attention, "Sir, I am Major George Washington with a letter from our Virginia governor." Removing a waterproof pouch from his waistcoat, "Th's addressed to the French commanding officer." "This is not I ... Governor Duquesne is in Quebec." Removing the letter from the pouch, "I will send this on." Pondering a moment, "May I inquire to its contents?" "You are to remove yourself from the forts south of Lake Erie. You are in Virginia territory." The French received this letter at their fort near the Allegheny River during December 1753. In the spring they began sending additional troops south. The prelude to war began earlier when the French army removed English Indian traders from the Ohio Valley and constructed forts on Ohio River tributaries. Virginia responded, sending a warning letter. A year later England countered with a major general and two regiments; an army destined for destruction near Fort Duquesne. Then another European conflict, the Seven Years War, spread to America as the French and Indian War. Soon Indian raids, many with Canadian militia, stretched from New England to the Carolinas.