[neverdem]

The result is a rich tale of history that also delves deeply into character portrayal - one of which is George Washington, who Stange laughingly described as "a bumbling, over-ambitious 22-year-old" militiaman at the time, who unwittingly started the war with an ambush on an encampment of French soldiers.

How about assault or attack?

ambush wait in hiding to attack
the act of concealing yourself and lying in wait to attack by surprise
still-hunt: hunt (quarry) by stalking and ambushing wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

An ambush is a long established military tactic in which an ambushing force uses concealment to attack an enemy that passes its position. Ambushers strike from concealed positions such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops. The tactic is generally used to gather intelligence or to establish control over an area. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambush

[Pharmboy]

YEs...you are quite correct. It was NOT an ambush at all.