1.
Thomas Davies (British Army officer)
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Thomas Davies FRS FLS was a British Army officer, artist, and naturalist. He was born c. 1737 in Shooters Hill, England and he rose to the rank of Lieutenant-general in the Royal Artillery. He studied drawing and recorded military operations in water-colours during several campaigns in North America. He later became a noted artist and naturalist and he was the first to illustrate and describe the superb lyrebird. His work was not well known until after a 1953 auction from the Earl of Derbys library and his paintings were later shown as part of a major exhibition,2 July –4 September 1972, at the National Gallery of Canada. Very little is known of his early life, in his will, he lists his father as David Davies from Shooters Hill. Davies began military service at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in 1755, there he received training in topographic drawing to provide detailed and accurate drawings for military use. By 1757 he became lieutenant in the Royal Artillery and began service abroad in Canada. His earliest work is a drawing of Halifax during the failed Louisbourg expedition in 1757, the next year, he recorded the military operations during the Siege of Louisbourg, including the Expulsion of the Acadians. Starting in 1759, he was with General Jeffery Amhersts forces, first at the Fort Ticonderoga, in 1760, he fought in the attack against Montreal and commanded a boat in a naval battle, which he also illustrated. After the attack against Montreal, he surveyed the regions surrounding Lake Ontario for several years and he painted a series of waterfalls, including views of Great Seneca Falls and Niagara Falls. His 1762 watercolour of Niagara Falls, An East View of the Great Cataract of Niagara, was the first eyewitness painting, in 1776, Davies returned to North America with General William Howe during the American War for Independence. After the Battle of Long Island in August, he illustrated the British fleet in the harbour, later that year, he continued with General Howe at the Battle of White Plains and the subsequent Battle of Fort Washington, where he illustrated the battle scene. Under the command of General Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Fort Lee, Davies captured the landing at and this work has sometimes been attributed to Lord Francis Rawdon, since he later bought it from Davies. In 1777, he was sent to command Fort Knyphausen, previously known as Fort Washington, in 1780, he returned to England. Battle Illustrations After the war, he received promotions and was assigned to command posts in Gibraltar, the West Indies. In 1799, he was appointed commandant of the Royal Artillery. His last promotion was to the rank of lieutenant-general in 1803, in 1781, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society
2.
Watercolor painting
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Watercolor or watercolour, also aquarelle, a diminutive of the Latin for water, is a painting method in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-based solution. Watercolor refers to both the medium and the resulting artwork, the traditional and most common support—material to which the paint is applied—for watercolor paintings is paper. Other supports include papyrus, bark papers, plastics, vellum, or leather, fabric, wood, Watercolor paper is often made entirely or partially with cotton, which gives a good texture and minimizes distortion when wet. Watercolors are usually translucent, and appear luminous because the pigments are laid down in a form with few fillers obscuring the pigment colors. Watercolors can also be made opaque by adding Chinese white, in East Asia, watercolor painting with inks is referred to as brush painting or scroll painting. In Chinese, Korean, and Japanese painting it has been the dominant medium, india, Ethiopia, and other countries have long watercolor painting traditions as well. Fingerpainting with watercolor paints originated in mainland China, however, its continuous history as an art medium begins with the Renaissance. The German Northern Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer, who painted several fine botanical, wildlife, an important school of watercolor painting in Germany was led by Hans Bol as part of the Dürer Renaissance. Despite this early start, watercolors were used by Baroque easel painters only for sketches, copies or cartoons. Notable early practitioners of watercolor painting were Van Dyck, Claude Lorrain, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, however, botanical illustration and wildlife illustration perhaps form the oldest and most important traditions in watercolor painting. Botanical illustrations became popular during the Renaissance, both as hand-tinted woodblock illustrations in books or broadsheets and as tinted ink drawings on vellum or paper. Wildlife illustration reached its peak in the 19th century with such as John James Audubon. Several factors contributed to the spread of watercolor painting during the 18th century, Watercolor artists were commonly brought with the geological or archaeological expeditions, funded by the Society of Dilettanti, to document discoveries in the Mediterranean, Asia, and the New World. This example popularized watercolors as a form of personal tourist journal, the confluence of these cultural, engineering, scientific, tourist, and amateur interests culminated in the celebration and promotion of watercolor as a distinctly English national art. William Blake published several books of hand-tinted engraved poetry, provided illustrations to Dantes Inferno, from the late 18th century through the 19th century, the market for printed books and domestic art contributed substantially to the growth of the medium. Satirical broadsides by Thomas Rowlandson, many published by Rudolph Ackermann, were extremely popular. Among the important and highly talented contemporaries of Turner and Girtin, were John Varley, John Sell Cotman, Anthony Copley Fielding, Samuel Palmer, William Havell, the Swiss painter Louis Ducros was also widely known for his large format, romantic paintings in watercolor. These societies provided annual exhibitions and buyer referrals for many artists, in particular, the graceful, lapidary, and atmospheric watercolors by Richard Parkes Bonington created an international fad for watercolor painting, especially in England and France in the 1820s
3.
Niagara Falls
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They form the southern end of the Niagara Gorge. From largest to smallest, the three waterfalls are the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls, the Horseshoe Falls lies on the border of the United States and Canada with the American Falls entirely on the American side, separated by Goat Island. The smaller Bridal Veil Falls are also on the American side, the international boundary line was originally drawn through Horseshoe Falls in 1819, but the boundary has long been in dispute due to natural erosion and construction. Located on the Niagara River, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America, as measured by vertical height and flow rate. The falls are 17 miles north-northwest of Buffalo, New York, while not exceptionally high, the Niagara Falls are very wide. More than six cubic feet of water falls over the crest line every minute in high flow. The Niagara Falls are famed both for their beauty and as a source of hydroelectric power. Balancing recreational, commercial, and industrial uses has been a challenge for the stewards of the falls since the 19th century. The Horseshoe Falls drop about 188 feet, while the height of the American Falls varies between 70 and 100 feet because of the presence of giant boulders at its base. The larger Horseshoe Falls are about 2,600 feet wide, the distance between the American extremity of the Niagara Falls and the Canadian extremity is 3,409 feet. The volume of water approaching the falls during peak season may sometimes be as much as 225,000 cubic feet per second. The average annual rate is 85,000 cubic feet per second. Since the flow is a function of the Lake Erie water elevation. This is accomplished by employing a weir – the International Control Dam – with movable gates upstream from the Horseshoe Falls. The falls flow is further halved at night, and, during the low tourist season in the winter, water diversion is regulated by the 1950 Niagara Treaty and is administered by the International Niagara Board of Control. The current rate of erosion is approximately 1 foot per year and it is estimated that 50,000 years from now, even at this reduced rate of erosion, the remaining 20 miles to Lake Erie will have been undermined and the falls will cease to exist. The features that became Niagara Falls were created by the Wisconsin glaciation about 10,000 years ago, the same forces also created the North American Great Lakes and the Niagara River. All were dug by an ice sheet that drove through the area, deepening some river channels to form lakes
4.
Royal Artillery
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The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery, is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name Royal Regiment of Artillery it actually consists of 13 Regular Regiments and 5 Reserve Regiments, the introduction of artillery into the English army came as early as the Battle of Crécy in 1346. Henry VIII made the armys artillery semi-permanent in the sixteenth century, before the 18th century, artillery traynes were raised by royal warrant for specific campaigns and disbanded again when they were over. On 26 May 1716, however, by warrant of George I two regular companies of field artillery, each 100 men strong, were raised at Woolwich. The title Royal Artillery was first used in 1720, in 1741 the Royal Military Academy was formed in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich to provide training for RA and Royal Engineers officers. The regiment expanded rapidly and, by 1757, had 24 companies divided into two battalions, as well as a company formed in 1741. During 1748, the presidential artilleries of Bengal, Madras and Bombay were formed,1756 saw the creation of the Royal Irish Regiment of Artillery. In 1762 the Royal Artillery Band was formed at Minden, by 1771 there were 32 companies in four battalions, as well as two invalid companies comprising older and unfit men employed in garrison duties. During 1782, the regiment moved to the Royal Artillery Barracks on Woolwich Common, in January 1793, two troops of Royal Horse Artillery were raised to provide fire support for the cavalry, augmented by two more in November 1793. The Royal Irish Artillery was absorbed into the RA in 1801, during 1805, the Royal Military Academy moved to Woolwich Common. In 1819, the Rotunda was given to the regiment by the Prince Regent to celebrate end of the Napoleonic Wars, in 1832, the regimental motto, Ubique Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt, was granted. The motto signified that the regiment had seen action in all the conflicts of the British Army. The regiment was under the control of the Board of Ordnance until the board was abolished in 1855, thereafter the regiment came under the War Office along with the rest of the army. The School of Gunnery established at Shoeburyness, Essex in 1859, the third group continued to be titled simply Royal Artillery, and was responsible for ammunition storage and supply. Which branch a gunner belonged to was indicated by metal shoulder titles, the RFA and RHA also dressed as mounted men, whereas the RGA dressed like foot soldiers. In 1920 the rank of Bombardier was instituted in the Royal Artillery, the three sections effectively functioned as separate corps. This arrangement lasted until 1924, when the three amalgamated once more to one regiment. In 1938, RA Brigades were renamed Regiments, during the World War II there were over 1 million men serving in 960 gunner regiments
5.
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
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The Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Signals, RMA Woolwich was commonly known as The Shop because its first building was a converted workshop of the Woolwich Arsenal. Education in the Academy focused at first on mathematics and the principles of gunnery. French was also taught, for a small fee, in the 1760s the Military Academy acquired its Royal title. At the same time the institution was split, younger cadets entered the Lower Academy, if they performed well in examinations they were allowed to proceed to the Upper Academy, where they learned military skills and sciences. The possibility of moving the Royal Military Academy out of the Warren was mooted as early as 1783, Wyatts Academy was built of yellow brick in the Tudor Gothic style. It consisted of a central block flanked by a pair of accommodation blocks, the central block contained classrooms, a library and offices, the accommodation blocks housed officers in the three-storey central sections and cadets in the two-storey wings. Behind the central block Wyatt placed a large dining hall flanked by spacious quadrangles having service buildings around the sides,128 cadets moved to the new Academy, these comprised the four senior years. Of the younger cadets, sixty were kept at the Warren, practical teaching continued to be given in the working context of the Arsenal. In 1810, military cadets of the East India Company, who had previously educated at the Academy, were moved to a new college at Addiscombe. In this way the Academy took on something of the ethos of an English public school and these contained new classrooms, with accommodation provided in similar new blocks behind. Sports facilities were added along with gun batteries for training. In 1873 Wyatts central block had to be rebuilt following a devastating fire. Arguments in favour of a merger gained momentum in the 1920s when the specialist, in 1936 it was decided that the merger should take place, but the Second World War intervened and in 1939 both institutions closed as their cadets were called up for active service. Thereafter, the old Academy site became part of Woolwich Garrison, the central block was taken over by the Royal Artillery Institution and housed a museum, archives and offices. The chapel became the Garrison Church, durkan Group bought the Woolwich site by public tender in 2006 and redevelopment started in 2008. The Woolwich buildings, several of which are grade II listed, are now being converted and extended into 334 houses and apartments, in 2017 the scaffolding around the main facade has been removed and refurbishment is nearing completion. Since 2013 the RMA cricket field, one of the oldest in the UK, is being used again by the 3rd and 4th team of Blackheath Cricket Club
6.
French and Indian War
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The French and Indian War comprised the North American theater of the worldwide Seven Years War of 1754–1763. At the start of the war, the French North American colonies had a population of roughly 60,000 European settlers, the outnumbered French particularly depended on the Indians. Following months of localised conflict, the nations declared war on each other in 1756. The name French and Indian War, used mainly in the United States, British and European historians use the term the Seven Years War, as do English speaking Canadians. French Canadians call it La guerre de la Conquête or the Fourth Intercolonial War, fighting took place primarily along the frontiers between New France and the British colonies, from Virginia in the south to Newfoundland in the north. It began with a dispute over control of the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, called the Forks of the Ohio, and the site of the French Fort Duquesne. The dispute erupted into violence in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in May 1754, in 1755, six colonial governors in North America met with General Edward Braddock, the newly arrived British Army commander, and planned a four-way attack on the French. None succeeded, and the effort by Braddock proved a disaster, he lost the Battle of the Monongahela on July 9,1755. In 1755, the British captured Fort Beauséjour on the border separating Nova Scotia from Acadia, orders for the deportation were given by William Shirley, Commander-in-Chief, North America, without direction from Great Britain. The Acadians, both captured in arms and those who had sworn the loyalty oath to His Britannic Majesty, were expelled. Native Americans were likewise driven off their land to make way for settlers from New England, after the disastrous 1757 British campaigns, the British government fell. France concentrated its forces against Prussia and its allies in the European theatre of the war, between 1758 and 1760, the British military launched a campaign to capture the Colony of Canada. They succeeded in capturing territory in surrounding colonies and ultimately the city of Quebec, though the British later lost the Battle of Sainte-Foy west of Quebec, the French ceded Canada in accordance with the Treaty of Paris. The outcome was one of the most significant developments in a century of Anglo-French conflict, France ceded its territory east of the Mississippi to Great Britain. It ceded French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to its ally Spain, in compensation for Spains loss to Britain of Florida. Frances colonial presence north of the Caribbean was reduced to the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the conflict is known by multiple names. In British America, wars were often named after the sitting British monarch, such as King Williams War or Queen Annes War. As there had already been a King Georges War in the 1740s, British colonists named the war in King Georges reign after their opponents
7.
Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst
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Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst KB served as an officer in the British Army and as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. Amherst is best known as the architect of Britains successful campaign to conquer the territory of New France during the Seven Years War, under his command, British forces captured the cities of Louisbourg, Quebec City and Montreal, as well as several major fortresses. He was also the first British Governor General in the territories that eventually became Canada, numerous places and streets are named for him, in both Canada and the United States. Born the son of Jeffrey Amherst, a Kentish lawyer, and Elizabeth Amherst, Jeffery Amherst was born in Sevenoaks, England and his brothers included Admiral John Amherst and Lieutenant General William Amherst. At an early age, he became a page to the Duke of Dorset, Amherst became an ensign in the Grenadier Guards in 1735. Amherst served in the War of the Austrian Succession becoming an aide to General John Ligonier and participating in the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743, promoted to lieutenant colonel on 25 December 1745, he also saw action at the Battle of Rocoux in October 1746. He then became an aide to the Duke of Cumberland, the commander of the British forces and he was made colonel of the 15th Regiment of Foot on 12 June 1756. In the wake of action, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the British army in North America. Amherst served as the nominal Crown Governor of Virginia from 12 September 1759, half the continent changed hands at the scratch of a pen. The British settlers were relieved and proclaimed a day of thanksgiving, boston newspapers recount how the occasion was celebrated with a parade, a grand dinner in Faneuil Hall, music, bonfires, and firing of cannon. He was appointed Knight of the Order of the Bath on 11 April 1761, the uprising of many Native American tribes in the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes region, commonly referred to as Pontiacs War after one of its most notable leaders, began in early 1763. One of the most infamous and well documented issues during Pontiacs War was the use of warfare against the Native Americans. The suggestion was posed by Amherst himself in letters to Colonel Henry Bouquet and we must on this occasion use every stratagem in our power to reduce them. Bouquet, who was marching to relieve Fort Pitt, agreed with this suggestion in a postscript when he responded to Amherst just days later on 13 July 1763. I will try to inocculate the Indians by means of Blankets that may fall in their hands, as it is pity to oppose good men against them, I wish we could make use of the Spaniards Method, and hunt them with English Dogs. Supported by Rangers, and some Light Horse, who would I think effectively extirpate or remove that Vermine, in response, also in a postscript, Amherst replied, P. S. You will Do well to try to Innoculate the Indians by means of Blankets, I should be very glad your Scheme for Hunting them Down by Dogs could take Effect, but England is at too great a Distance to think of that at present. Historians Elizabeth Fenn and Benedict Kiernan have shown, Fort Pitt had anticipated these orders, reporting on parleys with Delaware chiefs on June 24, a trader wrote, gave them two Blankets and an Handkerchief out of the Small Pox Hospital
8.
Battle of the Thousand Islands
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The Battle of the Thousand Islands during the French and Indian war was fought 16–24 August 1760, in the upper St. The engagement took place at Fort Lévis, Pointe au Baril, the small French garrison at Fort Lévis held the much larger British army at bay for over a week, managing to sink two British warships and to cripple a third. Their resistance delayed the British advance to Montreal from the west, by August 1760, the French were building Fort Lévis at Île Royale in the St. Lawrence River. Captain Pierre Pouchot was assigned its defense, Pouchot had been taken prisoner after the siege of Fort Niagara, but he was later released in a prisoner exchange. Chevalier de Lévis original design for the called for stone walls,200 guns. What Pouchot had was a fort with wooden stockades, five cannon and 200 soldiers. Also under Pouchots command were the corvettes lOutaouaise and lIroquoise, crewed by 200 sailors and voyageurs, lIroquoise, under command of Commodore René Hypolite Pépin dit La Force, was armed with ten 12-pound cannon and swivel guns. LOutaouaise, commanded by Captain Pierre Boucher de LaBroquerie carried ten 12-pounders, one 18-pound gun, after the fall of Quebec in the 1759 Battle of the Plains of Abraham, British Commander-in-Chief General Jeffrey Amherst prepared to launch a three-pronged attack to take Montreal. Columns were to advance along the Saint Lawrence River from Quebec to the northeast, up the Richelieu River from Lake Champlain to the south, the latter force, which Amherst led personally, numbered some 10,000 men and 100 siege guns. La Force had run his corvette lIroquoise aground at Pointe au Baril on 1 August, although lIroquoise was raised, it was deemed too damaged to be put into action. It was beached again under the guns at Fort Lévis, Amhersts force set out from Oswego on 10 August. Captain Joshua Loring, who commanded the British snows Onondaga and Mohawk, had sent ahead of Amhersts force as an advance guard. The Onondaga, had launched at Fort Niagara as the Apollo in 1759. Commanded by Loring, it carried four 9-pound guns, fourteen 6-pounders, the Mohawk, commanded by Lieutenant David Phipps, carried sixteen 6-pounders and a crew of 90 seamen and 30 soldiers. On 7 August, French lookouts sighted the Onondaga and the Mohawk from their outpost at Ile aux Chevreuils, the French withdrew in a row galley, pursued by the Onondaga and the Mohawk. The two British ships got lost in the maze of islands, and did not find their way back to the channel for several days. Amhersts force arrived at Pointe au Baril on 16 August, fearing the remaining French ship might attack his transports, Amherst ordered Colonel George Williamson to capture lOutaouaise the following day. At dawn of 17 August, Williamson set out in a gig, the galleys took shelter fore and aft of lOutaouaise, where they could not be hit by the ships broadsides
9.
Samuel de Champlain
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Samuel de Champlain, The Father of New France, was a French navigator, cartographer, draftsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3,1608 and he is important to Canadian history because he made the first accurate map of the coast and he helped establish the settlements. Born into a family of mariners, Champlain, while still a man, began exploring North America in 1603 under the guidance of François Gravé Du Pont. Then, in 1608, he established the French settlement that is now Quebec City, Champlain was the first European to explore and describe the Great Lakes, and published maps of his journeys and accounts of what he learned from the natives and the French living among the Natives. He formed relationships with local Montagnais and Innu and later with others farther west, with Algonquin and with Huron Wendat, in 1620, Louis XIII of France ordered Champlain to cease exploration, return to Quebec, and devote himself to the administration of the country. In every way but formal title, Samuel de Champlain served as Governor of New France and he established trading companies that sent goods, primarily fur, to France, and oversaw the growth of New France in the St. Lawrence River valley until his death in 1635. The most notable of these is Lake Champlain, which straddles the border between northern New York and Vermont, extending slightly across the border into Canada. Champlain was born to Antoine Champlain and Marguerite Le Roy, in either Hiers-Brouage, or the city of La Rochelle. He was born on or before August 13,1574 according to a recent baptism record found by Jean-Marie Germe, although Léopold Delayant wrote as early as 1867 that Rainguets estimate was wrong, the books of Rainguet and Laverdière have had a significant influence. The 1567 date was carved on numerous monuments dedicated to Champlain and is regarded as accurate. In the first half of the 20th century, some authors disagreed, in 1978 Jean Liebel published groundbreaking research about these estimates of Champlains birth year and concluded, Samuel Champlain was born about 1580 in Brouage, France. Liebel asserts that some authors, including the Catholic priests Rainguet and Laverdière, Champlain claimed to be from Brouage in the title of his 1603 book, and to be Saintongeois in the title of his second book. The exact location of his birth is also not known with certainty. Born into a family of mariners, Samuel Champlain learned to navigate, draw, make nautical charts and his education did not include Ancient Greek or Latin, so he did not read or learn from any ancient literature. During this time he claimed to go on a secret voyage for the king. By 1597 he was a capitaine dune compagnie serving in a garrison near Quimper, in 1598, his uncle-in-law, a navigator whose ship Saint-Julien was chartered to transport Spanish troops to Cádiz pursuant to the Treaty of Vervins, gave Champlain the opportunity to accompany him. After a difficult passage, he spent some time in Cadiz before his uncle, whose ship was chartered to accompany a large Spanish fleet to the West Indies. His uncle, who gave command of the ship to Jeronimo de Valaebrera and this journey lasted two years, and gave Champlain the opportunity to see or hear about Spanish holdings from the Caribbean to Mexico City
