1.
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
2.
Fort Niagara
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Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built to protect the interests of New France in North America. It is located near Youngstown, New York, on the bank of the Niagara River at its mouth. René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle built the first structure, called Fort Conti, in 1687, the Governor of New France, the Marquis de Denonville, constructed a new fort at the former site of Fort Conti. He named it Fort Denonville and posted a hundred men under the command of Capt, pierre de Troyes, Chevalier de Troyes. The winter weather and disease was severe, and all but twelve perished by the time a relief force returned from Montreal and it was decided in September 1688 to abandon the post and the stockade was pulled down. In 1726, a two story Maison a Machicoulis or Machicolated House was constructed on the site by French engineer Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry. It was called the House of Peace or trading post to appease the Haudenosaunee, the name used today, The French Castle was not used until the 19th Century. The fort was expanded to its present size in 1755 due to increased tensions between French and British colonial interests. The fort played a significant part in the French and Indian War, the fort remained in British hands for the next thirty-seven years. Fort Niagara served as the Loyalist base in New York during the American Revolutionary War for Colonel John Butler and his Butlers Rangers, a Tory militia in the command of the British Army. Lt. Col. William Stacy, a officer of the Continental Army, was captured at the attack on Cherry Valley. He was held captive at Fort Niagara during the summer of 1779, Niagara became notorious for drinking, brawling, whoring, and cheating. Crude taverns, stores, and bordellos sprouted on the Bottom, though Fort Niagara was ceded to the United States after the Treaty of Paris ended the American War of Independence in 1783, the region remained effectively under British control for thirteen years. Only after signing of the Jay Treaty did American forces occupy the fort in 1796, during the War of 1812 the forts guns sank the Provincial Marine schooner Seneca on 21 November 1812. British forces captured the fort on the night of 19 December 1813 in retaliation for the burning of Niagara nine days earlier, the British held the fort for the remainder of the war until they relinquished it under the terms of the Treaty of Ghent. It has remained in US custody ever since, nine currently active battalions of the Regular Army are derived from American units that were at Fort Niagara during the War of 1812. 52 Battery Royal Artillery, Royal Scots and a number of other British units that fought at the Capture of Fort Niagara still exist today, a number of other units that served in the Fort in the War of 1812 also endure. The name Old Fort Niagara which is associated with the fort today does not refer to its age, the post-Civil War era saw the building of New Fort Niagara outside the original walls of the fort
3.
Youngstown, New York
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Youngstown is a village in Niagara County, New York, USA. The population was 2,063 at the 2013 census and it is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. Youngstown is on the edge of the town of Porter and is at the international border with Canada. It is north of the city of Niagara Falls, the Youngstown Level Regatta, one of the largest amateurs sailing regattas, is held here annually. Hosted by the Youngstown Yacht Club, the event was started in 1972 by Don Finkle and he wanted to do something a little different where sailboats were raced without using handicaps. The YYC Level Regatta will celebrate its 40th Anniversary in July,2013, the villages early growth was under the protection of Fort Niagara. The village was destroyed by the British in 1813 during the War of 1812, the Village of Youngstown was incorporated in 1854, named after John Young. Youngstown is a village located at the northwestern corner of the state where the Niagara River flows into Lake Ontario. In an area known to the Indians for hundreds of years, the French gained control of the Great Lakes area and by 1727 built the Castle which became the centerpiece of Old Fort Niagara. John Young, who lived across the river, saw opportunities on this side, in 1811, he bought Lots 1 and 2 of the Mile Reserve. These included all the property from what is now the side of Falkner Park and as far south as Campbell Street. Young sold the Falkner Park area to Robert Greensit in March 1812 before the war started between the U. S. and England. By that time, a number of log cabins had been built to shelter for the skilled tradesmen. In 1813, American forces captured Fort George across the river, at Christmas time, they retreated to the American side after burning the Village of Newark, Ontario. In retaliation, British and Indians captured Fort Niagara and burned most of the buildings, rebuilding gradually took place and by the 1840s the village was well established with many fine homes and stores. The moderate climate, the excellent fishing, accessibility by lake boats, the soil proved invaluable for fruit culture which attracted many farmers. This led to the development of such as barrel making, fruit packing and storage. Carpenters, blacksmiths and other tradesmen were needed as lumber and shipbuilding businesses were important for many years, many changes have come about through the years, concrete sidewalks replaced those made of wood
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Kingdom of France
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The Kingdom of France was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Western Europe. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe and a great power since the Late Middle Ages and it was also an early colonial power, with possessions around the world. France originated as West Francia, the half of the Carolingian Empire. A branch of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, the territory remained known as Francia and its ruler as rex Francorum well into the High Middle Ages. The first king calling himself Roi de France was Philip II, France continued to be ruled by the Capetians and their cadet lines—the Valois and Bourbon—until the monarchy was overthrown in 1792 during the French Revolution. France in the Middle Ages was a de-centralised, feudal monarchy, in Brittany and Catalonia the authority of the French king was barely felt. Lorraine and Provence were states of the Holy Roman Empire and not yet a part of France, during the Late Middle Ages, the Kings of England laid claim to the French throne, resulting in a series of conflicts known as the Hundred Years War. Subsequently, France sought to extend its influence into Italy, but was defeated by Spain in the ensuing Italian Wars, religiously France became divided between the Catholic majority and a Protestant minority, the Huguenots, which led to a series of civil wars, the Wars of Religion. France laid claim to large stretches of North America, known collectively as New France, Wars with Great Britain led to the loss of much of this territory by 1763. French intervention in the American Revolutionary War helped secure the independence of the new United States of America, the Kingdom of France adopted a written constitution in 1791, but the Kingdom was abolished a year later and replaced with the First French Republic. The monarchy was restored by the great powers in 1814. During the later years of the elderly Charlemagnes rule, the Vikings made advances along the northern and western perimeters of the Kingdom of the Franks, after Charlemagnes death in 814 his heirs were incapable of maintaining political unity and the empire began to crumble. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three parts, with Charles the Bald ruling over West Francia, the nucleus of what would develop into the kingdom of France. Viking advances were allowed to increase, and their dreaded longboats were sailing up the Loire and Seine rivers and other waterways, wreaking havoc. During the reign of Charles the Simple, Normans under Rollo from Norway, were settled in an area on either side of the River Seine, downstream from Paris, that was to become Normandy. With its offshoots, the houses of Valois and Bourbon, it was to rule France for more than 800 years. Henry II inherited the Duchy of Normandy and the County of Anjou, and married Frances newly divorced ex-queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, after the French victory at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, the English monarchs maintained power only in southwestern Duchy of Guyenne. The death of Charles IV of France in 1328 without male heirs ended the main Capetian line, under Salic law the crown could not pass through a woman, so the throne passed to Philip VI, son of Charles of Valois
6.
New France
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The territory was divided into five colonies, each with its own administration, Canada, Hudsons Bay, Acadia, Newfoundland, and Louisiana. Acadia had a history, with the Great Upheaval, remembered on July 28 each year since 2003. The descendants are dispersed in the Maritime Provinces of Canada, in Maine and Louisiana in the United States, with populations in Chéticamp, Nova Scotia. In the sixteenth century, the lands were used primarily to draw from the wealth of natural resources, in the seventeenth century, successful settlements began in Acadia, and in Quebec by the efforts of Champlain. By 1765, the population of the new Province of Quebec reached approximately 70,000 settlers. In 1763 France had ceded the rest of New France, except the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, to Great Britain and Spain at the Treaty of Paris, in 1800, Spain returned its portion of Louisiana to France under the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso. However, French leader Napoleon Bonaparte in turn sold it to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, New France eventually became part of the United States and Canada, with the only vestige remaining under French rule being the tiny islands Saint Pierre and Miquelon. In the United States, the legacy of New France includes numerous placenames as well as pockets of French-speaking communities. In Canada, institutional bilingualism and strong Francophone identities are arguably the most enduring legacy of New France, the Conquest is viewed differently among Francophone Canadians, and between Anglophone and Francophone Canadians. Around 1523, the Florentine navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano convinced King Francis I, late that year, Verrazzano set sail in Dieppe, crossing the Atlantic on a small caravel with 50 men. After exploring the coast of the present-day Carolinas early the year, he headed north along the coast. The first European to discover the site of present-day New York, he named it Nouvelle-Angoulême in honour of the king, verrazzanos voyage convinced the king to seek to establish a colony in the newly discovered land. Verrazzano gave the names Francesca and Nova Gallia to that land between New Spain and English Newfoundland, in 1534, Jacques Cartier planted a cross in the Gaspé Peninsula and claimed the land in the name of King Francis I. It was the first province of New France, however, initial French attempts at settling the region met with failure. French fishing fleets continued to sail to the Atlantic coast and into the St. Lawrence River, French merchants soon realized the St. Lawrence region was full of valuable fur-bearing animals, especially the beaver, which were becoming rare in Europe. Eventually, the French crown decided to colonize the territory to secure, another early French attempt at settlement in North America took place in 1564 at Fort Caroline, now Jacksonville, Florida. Intended as a haven for Huguenots, Caroline was founded under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière and it was sacked by the Spanish led by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés who then established the settlement of St. Augustine on 20 September 1565. Acadia and Canada were inhabited by indigenous nomadic Algonquian peoples and sedentary Iroquoian peoples and these lands were full of unexploited and valuable natural riches, which attracted all of Europe
7.
Canada (New France)
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Canada was a French colony within New France discovered and named during Jacques Cartier second voyage in 1535. French explorations continued unto the Countreys of Canada, Hochelaga, even though a permanent trading post and habitation was established at Tadoussac in 1600, it was under a trade monopoly and thus not constituted as an official French colonial settlement. As a result, the first official settlement was not established within Canada until the founding of Quebec by Samuel de Champlain in 1608. The other four colonies within New France were Hudsons Bay to the north, Acadia and Newfoundland to the east, Canada, the most developed colony of New France, was divided into three districts, Québec, Trois-Rivières, and Montréal, each with its own government. The governor of the District of Quebec was also the governor-general of all New France, after the Treaty of Paris of 1763, when France ceded Canada to Great Britain, the colony was renamed the Province of Quebec. A1740 survey of the population of the St. Lawrence River valley counted about 44,000 colonists, of those,18,000 lived under the Government of Quebec,4,000 under the Government of Trois-Rivières and 22,000 under the Government of Montreal. The population was rural, Quebec had 4,600 inhabitants, Trois-Rivières had 378. Also, Île Royale had 4,000 inhabitants, and Île Saint-Jean had 500 inhabitants, before 1717, when it ceded territory to the new colony of Louisiana, it stretched as far south as the Illinois Country. North of the Great Lakes, a mission, Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, was established in 1639, following the destruction of the Huron homeland in 1649 by the Iroquois, the French destroyed the mission themselves and left the area. In what are today Ontario and the prairies, various trading posts and forts were built such as Fort Kaministiquia, Fort Frontenac, Fort Saint Pierre, Fort Saint Charles. The mission and trading post at Sault Ste, marie would later be split by the Canada–US border. Today, the term Les Pays-den-Haut refers to a county municipality in the Laurentides region of Quebec, north of Montreal. In its civil law, customs and the aspects of the great majority of its population. The term Canada may also refer to todays Canadian federation created in 1867, or the historical Province of Canada, a British colony comprising southern Ontario and southern Quebec
8.
Kingdom of Great Britain
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The Kingdom of Great Britain, officially Great Britain, was a sovereign state in western Europe from 1 May 1707 to 31 December 1800. It did not include Ireland, which remained a separate realm, the unitary state was governed by a single parliament and government that was based in Westminster. Also after the accession of George I to the throne of Great Britain in 1714, the early years of the unified kingdom were marked by Jacobite risings which ended in defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746. On 1 January 1801, the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom, the name Britain descends from the Latin name for the island of Great Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons via the Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The term Great Britain was first used officially in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Edward IV of Englands daughter Cecily and James III of Scotlands son James. The Treaty of Union and the subsequent Acts of Union state that England and Scotland were to be United into one Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain. However, both the Acts and the Treaty also refer numerous times to the United Kingdom and the longer form, other publications refer to the country as the United Kingdom after 1707 as well. The websites of the UK parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the BBC, additionally, the term United Kingdom was found in informal use during the 18th century to describe the state. The new state created in 1707 included the island of Great Britain, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, both in existence from the 9th century, were separate states until 1707. However, they had come into a union in 1603. Each of the three kingdoms maintained its own parliament and laws and this disposition changed dramatically when the Acts of Union 1707 came into force, with a single unified Crown of Great Britain and a single unified parliament. Ireland remained formally separate, with its own parliament, until the Acts of Union 1800, legislative power was vested in the Parliament of Great Britain, which replaced both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In practice it was a continuation of the English parliament, sitting at the location in Westminster. Newly created peers in the Peerage of Great Britain were given the right to sit in the Lords. Despite the end of a parliament for Scotland, it retained its own laws. As a result of Poynings Law of 1495, the Parliament of Ireland was subordinate to the Parliament of England, the Act was repealed by the Repeal of Act for Securing Dependence of Ireland Act 1782. The same year, the Irish constitution of 1782 produced a period of legislative freedom, the 18th century saw England, and after 1707 Great Britain, rise to become the worlds dominant colonial power, with France its main rival on the imperial stage
9.
British America
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English America, and later British America, were the English, and later British, territories in North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Guyana from 1607 to 1783. After that, British North America was used to describe the remainder of Britains continental North American possessions, the term British North America was first used informally in 1783, but it was uncommon before the Report on the Affairs of British North America, called the Durham Report. British America gained large amounts of new territory following the Treaty of Paris which ended Britains involvement in the Seven Years War, at the start of the American War of Independence in 1775, the British Empire included 20 colonies north and east of New Spain. East and West Florida were ceded to Spain in the Treaty of Paris which ended the American Revolution, all but one of the remaining colonies of British North America apart from the British West Indies united together from 1867 to 1873 forming the Dominion of Canada. The first such permanent settlement was founded at Jamestown by the Virginia Company whose investors expected to reap rewards from their speculative investments, Virginia Native Americans had established settlements long before the English settlers arrived, and there were an estimated 14,000 natives in the region. Native American political leadership sought to resettle the English colonizers from Jamestown to another location, other colonizers, both English and German, did join the Powhatans. The first colonizers were welcomed by the Indians with dancing, feasting, there were twenty British colonies in North America in 1775
10.
Iroquois
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The Iroquois or Haudenosaunee are a historically powerful northeast Native American confederacy. The Iroquois have absorbed many other peoples into their cultures as a result of warfare, adoption of captives, the historic Erie, Susquehannock, Wyandot, and St. Lawrence Iroquoians, all independent peoples, spoke Iroquoian languages. In 2010, more than 45,000 enrolled Six Nations people lived in Canada, the most common name for the confederacy, Iroquois, is of somewhat obscure origin. The first time it appears in writing is in the account of Samuel de Champlain of his journey to Tadoussac in 1603, other spellings occurring in the earliest sources include Erocoise, Hiroquois, Hyroquoise, Irecoies, Iriquois, Iroquaes, Irroquois, and Yroquois. In the French spoken at the time, this would have been pronounced as or. In 1883, Horatio Hale wrote that the Charlevoix etymology was dubious, Hale suggested instead that the term came from Huron, and was cognate with Mohawk ierokwa they who smoke or Cayuga iakwai a bear. Hewitt responded to Hales etymology in 1888 by expressing doubt that either of those words even exist in the respective languages, a more modern etymology is that advocated by Gordon M. Day in 1968, who elaborates upon an earlier etymology given by Charles Arnaud in 1880. Arnaud had claimed that the word came from Montagnais irnokué, meaning terrible man, Day proposes a hypothetical Montagnais phrase irno kwédač, meaning a man, an Iroquois, as the origin of this term. More recently, Peter Bakker has proposed a Basque origin for Iroquois. g and he proposes instead that the word derives from hilokoa, from the Basque roots hil to kill, ko, and a. He also argues that the /l/ was rendered as /r/ since the former is not attested in the inventory of any language in the region. Thus the word according to Bakker is translatable as the killer people, a different term, Haudenosaunee, is the designation more commonly used by the Iroquois to refer to themselves. It is also preferred by scholars of Native American history who consider the name Iroquois to be derogatory in origin. An alternate designation, Ganonsyoni, is encountered as well. More transparently, the Iroquois confederacy is also referred to simply as the Six Nations. The history of the Iroquois Confederacy goes back to its formation by the Peacemaker in 1142, each nation within the Iroquoian family had a distinct language, territory and function in the League. Iroquois influence extended into present-day Canada, westward along the Great Lakes, the League is governed by a Grand Council, an assembly of fifty chiefs or sachems, each representing one of the clans of one of the nations. The original Iroquois League or Five Nations, occupied areas of present-day New York State up to the St. Lawrence River, west of the Hudson River. The League was composed of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, in or close to 1722, the Tuscarora tribe joined the League, having migrated from the Carolinas after being displaced by Anglo-European settlement
11.
Prisoner of war
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A prisoner of war is a person, whether combatant or non-combatant, who is held in custody by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the prisoner of war dates to 1660. The first Roman gladiators were prisoners of war and were named according to their ethnic roots such as Samnite, Thracian, typically, little distinction was made between enemy combatants and enemy civilians, although women and children were more likely to be spared. Sometimes, the purpose of a battle, if not a war, was to capture women, a known as raptio. Typically women had no rights, and were legally as chattel. For this he was eventually canonized, during Childerics siege and blockade of Paris in 464, the nun Geneviève pleaded with the Frankish king for the welfare of prisoners of war and met with a favourable response. Later, Clovis I liberated captives after Genevieve urged him to do so, many French prisoners of war were killed during the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. In the later Middle Ages, a number of religious wars aimed to not only defeat, in Christian Europe, the extermination of heretics was considered desirable. Examples include the 13th century Albigensian Crusade and the Northern Crusades, likewise, the inhabitants of conquered cities were frequently massacred during the Crusades against the Muslims in the 11th and 12th centuries. Noblemen could hope to be ransomed, their families would have to send to their captors large sums of wealth commensurate with the status of the captive. In feudal Japan there was no custom of ransoming prisoners of war, in Termez, on the Oxus, all the people, both men and women, were driven out onto the plain, and divided in accordance with their usual custom, then they were all slain. The Aztecs were constantly at war with neighbouring tribes and groups, for the re-consecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, between 10,000 and 80,400 persons were sacrificed. During the early Muslim conquests, Muslims routinely captured large number of prisoners, aside from those who converted, most were ransomed or enslaved. Christians who were captured during the Crusades, were either killed or sold into slavery if they could not pay a ransom. The freeing of prisoners was highly recommended as a charitable act, there also evolved the right of parole, French for discourse, in which a captured officer surrendered his sword and gave his word as a gentleman in exchange for privileges. If he swore not to escape, he could gain better accommodations, if he swore to cease hostilities against the nation who held him captive, he could be repatriated or exchanged but could not serve against his former captors in a military capacity. Early historical narratives of captured colonial Europeans, including perspectives of literate women captured by the peoples of North America. The writings of Mary Rowlandson, captured in the fighting of King Philips War, are an example
12.
Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet
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Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet was an Anglo-Irish official of the British Empire. Johnson learned the Mohawk language and Iroquois customs, and was appointed the British agent to the Iroquois, because of his success, he was appointed in 1756 as British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the northern colonies. Johnson commanded Iroquois and colonial forces during the French and Indian War. His role in the British victory at the Battle of Lake George in 1755 earned him a baronetcy, serving as the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the northern district from 1756 until his death in 1774, Johnson worked to keep American Indians attached to the British interest. His counterpart for the colonies was John Stuart. William Johnson was born around 1715 in County Meath, in the Kingdom of Ireland and he was the eldest son of Christopher Johnson of Smithstown, Co. Meath and Anne Warren, daughter of Michael Warren of Warrenstown, Meath and Catherine Aylmer, sister of Admiral Matthew Aylmer, 1st Baron Aylmer. His mother Anne was from an Old English Catholic gentry family who had, in previous generations, Christopher Johnson was descended from the ONeill of the Fews dynasty of County Armagh. William Johnsons paternal grandfather was known as William MacShane, but changed his surname to Johnson. Some early biographers portrayed William Johnson as living in poverty in Ireland, although the Johnson family had a history of Jacobitism, William Johnsons uncle Peter Warren was raised as a Protestant to enable him to pursue a career in the British Royal Navy. He achieved considerable success, gaining wealth along the way, as a Catholic, William Johnson had limited opportunities for advancement in the British Empire. Never particularly religious, Johnson converted to Protestantism when offered an opportunity to work for his uncle in British America, Peter Warren had purchased a large tract of undeveloped land along the south side of the Mohawk River in the province of New York. Warren convinced Johnson to lead an effort to establish a settlement there, to be known as Warrensburgh, Johnson arrived in about 1738 with twelve Irish Protestant families and began to clear the land. He purchased African slaves to do the labor of clearance. Warren intended Johnson to become involved in trading with American Indians, acting on his own initiative, in 1739 Johnson bought a house and small farm on the north side of the river, where he built a store and a sawmill. From this location, which he called Mount Johnson, Johnson was able to cut into Albanys Indian trade and he supplied traders with goods who were going to Fort Oswego, and he bought furs from them when they returned downriver. He dealt directly with New York City merchants and cut out the middlemen at Albany. The Albany merchants were irate, and Warren was not pleased that his nephew was becoming independent, Johnson became closely associated with the Mohawk, the easternmost nation of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League
13.
Seven Years' War
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The Seven Years War was a war fought between 1754 and 1763, the main conflict occurring in the seven-year period from 1756 to 1763. It involved every European great power of the time except the Ottoman Empire and spanned five continents, affecting Europe, the Americas, West Africa, India, and the Philippines. The conflict split Europe into two coalitions, led by the Kingdom of Great Britain on one side and the Kingdom of France on the other. Meanwhile, in India, the Mughal Empire, with the support of the French, faced with this sudden turn of events, Britain aligned herself with Prussia, in a series of political manoeuvres known as the Diplomatic Revolution. Conflict between Great Britain and France broke out in 1754–1756 when the British attacked disputed French positions in North America, meanwhile, rising power Prussia was struggling with Austria for dominance within and outside the Holy Roman Empire in central Europe. In 1756, the major powers switched partners, realizing that war was imminent, Prussia preemptively struck Saxony and quickly overran it. The result caused uproar across Europe, because of Austrias alliance with France to recapture Silesia, which had been lost in a previous war, Prussia formed an alliance with Britain. Reluctantly, by following the diet, most of the states of the empire joined Austrias cause. The Anglo-Prussian alliance was joined by smaller German states, Sweden, seeking to re-gain Pomerania joined the coalition, seeing its chance when virtually all of Europe opposed Prussia. Spain, bound by the Pacte de Famille, intervened on behalf of France, the Russian Empire was originally aligned with Austria, fearing Prussias ambition on the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, but switched sides upon the succession of Tsar Peter III in 1762. Naples, Sicily, and Savoy, although sided with the Franco-Spanish alliance, like Sweden, Russia concluded a separate peace with Prussia. The war ended with the Treaty of Paris between France, Spain and Great Britain and the Treaty of Hubertusburg between Saxony, Austria and Prussia, in 1763. The Native American tribes were excluded from the settlement, a subsequent conflict, Prussia emerged as a new European great power. Although Austria failed to retrieve the territory of Silesia from Prussia its military prowess was noted by the other powers. The involvement of Portugal, Spain and Sweden did not return them to their status as great powers. France was deprived of many of its colonies and had saddled itself with heavy war debts that its inefficient financial system could barely handle. Spain lost Florida but gained French Louisiana and regained control of its colonies, e. g. Cuba and the Philippines, France and Spain avenged their defeat in 1778 when the American Revolutionary War broke out, with hopes of destroying Britains dominance once and for all. The Seven Years War was perhaps the first true world war, having taken place almost 160 years before World War I and it was characterized in Europe by sieges and the arson of towns as well as open battles with heavy losses
14.
Battle of Lake George
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The Battle of Lake George was fought on 8 September 1755, in the north of the Province of New York. The battle was part of a campaign by the British to expel the French from North America in the French and his intention was to advance via Lakes George and Champlain to attack French-held Fort St. Frédéric at Crown Point, which was a keystone in the defense of Canada. His aim was to destroy the boats, supplies and artillery that Johnson needed for his campaign. Leaving half his force at Carillon, Dieskau led the rest on a route to the Hudson by landing his men at South Bay. But the messenger was intercepted, and soon afterward a supply train was captured, Dieskau, warned by a deserter of Williams approach, blocked the portage road with his French grenadiers and sent his Canadians and Indians to ambush the British from both sides of the road. They lay in wait in a three miles south of the present-day village of Lake George. Williams column marched straight into the trap and were engulfed in a blaze of enemy musketry, in an engagement known as The Bloody Morning Scout, Williams and Hendrick were killed along with many of their troops. At this point, the French regulars, brought forward by Dieskau, the British rearguard were able to inflict substantial casualties on their overconfident pursuers. Pomeroy noted that his men killed great numbers of them, they were seen to drop like pigeons, one of those killed in this phase of the battle was Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, the highly respected commander of Dieskaus Canadian and Indian forces. His fall caused great dismay, particularly to the French Indians, Dieskau ordered his Canadians and Indians to follow up their success with an attack on Johnsons camp. However, with their morale shaken by the loss of their leader, the Caughnawagas did not wish to attack an entrenched camp. The Abenakis would not go forward without the Caughnawagas, and neither would the Canadians, once the grenadiers were out in the open ground, the British gunners, crewing Johnsons three cannons, loaded up with grapeshot and cut lanes, streets and alleys through the French ranks. When Johnson was wounded and forced to retire to his tent for treatment, when Dieskau went down with a serious wound, the French attack was abandoned. After the French withdrawal, the British found about 20 severely wounded Frenchmen who were lying too close to the field of fire of Johnsons artillery for their comrades to retrieve them. They included Baron Dieskau, who had paid the price of leading from the front with a shot through the bladder, about four oclock in the afternoon, some 300 of the French army appeared in sight. They had rallied, and retreating in tolerable order, capt. Folsom posted his men among the trees, and as the enemy approached, they poured in upon them a well directed and galling fire. He continued the attack in this manner till prevented by darkness, killing many of the enemy, taking some of them prisoners and he then collected his own wounded, and securing them with many of the enemys packs, he brought his prisoners and booty safe into camp. The next day the rest of the baggage was brought in, thus securing the entire baggage, in this brilliant affair, Folsom lost only six men, but McGennis was mortally wounded, and died soon after
15.
Battle of Fort Bull
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The Battle of Fort Bull was a French attack on the British-held Fort Bull on 27 March 1756, early in the French and Indian War. The fort was built to defend a portion of the waterway connecting Albany, lt. Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry led his command consisting of forces from the Troupes de la Marine, Canadien militia, and Indian allies on an attack against Fort Bull on 27 March 1756. Shielded by trees they sneaked up to within 100 yards of the fort, Léry ordered a charge at the fort with bayonets. They stuck their muskets into the openings in the fort. Léry repeatedly asked for their surrender, finally, the gate was crashed in and the French and Indians swarmed in, killing everyone they saw. The French soldiers looted what they could and set the powder magazines on fire, the fort was burned to the ground. The largest garrison was left at Fort Oswego, at the end of the chain, two forts along the Oneida Carry were a key element of this supply chain. The Oneida Carry traversed an unnavigable section between Rome, New York and Wood Creek that was one and six miles long, depending on seasonal water levels. Fort Williams, on the Mohawk, was the larger of the two, while Fort Bull, several miles north of Fort Williams on Wood Creek, was more than a palisade surrounding storehouses. In early 1756 French military leaders in Canada decided to send an expedition to attack Oswegos supply line. On March 12, a company of men left Fort de La Présentation, after nearly two weeks of difficult winter travel, they arrived near the carry on March 24. Early on March 27, Lérys men captured twelve British men near Fort Bull, while others escaped capture, learning from the prisoners of Bulls minimal defenses, he decided to immediately attack. As he had no field pieces, the possibility was to attempt storming the fort by surprise. The forts defenders managed to get its gate closed just before the French force arrived, the attackers managed to fire through loopholes in the forts walls to distract the garrison, which responded by throwing rocks and grenades over the walls. After Bull refused several calls to surrender, the gate was taken down by the use of axes, and the attackers stormed into the fort. Nearly all of the garrison was killed and scalped, according to a report by Sir William Johnson. Lérys men set fire to the works, which included 45,000 pounds of gunpowder, the resulting conflagration destroyed the wooden fort. A star-shaped wood stockade with four buildings was built in May–August 1756 as Fort Wood Creek
16.
Battle of Fort Oswego (1756)
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The Battle of Fort Oswego was one in a series of early French victories in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War won in spite of New Frances military vulnerability. In addition to 1,700 prisoners, Montcalms force seized the forts 121 cannons, the fall of Fort Oswego effectively interrupted the British presence on Lake Ontario and removed it as a threat to the nearby French-controlled Fort Frontenac. The battle was notable for demonstrating that traditional European siege tactics were viable in North America when applied properly in the right circumstances, part of the British plans for 1755 included an expedition to take Fort Niagara at the western end of Lake Ontario. The planned route for this expedition followed the Oswego River to the lake, the planned expedition to Fort Niagara never took place due to logistical difficulties, and the fortifications around Oswego were manned during the winter of 1755–56. The French in 1755 had the large naval vessels on Lake Ontario. In March 1756 they launched an attack on Fort Bull on Wood Creek. Fort Bull was a key depot on the line for the Oswego forts. In the successful attack, they destroyed many provisions intended for the Oswego garrison, general Louis-Joseph de Montcalm arrived in Montreal in May 1756 to lead the French army troops. He and Governor Vaudreuil took a dislike to one another. Concerned over the massing of British troops at the end of Lake George. Vaudreuil meanwhile began massing troops at Fort Frontenac for an assault on Oswego. Following favorable reports from the parties, Montcalm and Vaudreuil decided to make the attempt. Governor Shirley received word in March 1756 that he was to be replaced by John Campbell, Shirley also hired 2,000 armed battoemen, men experienced in sailing and shipbuilding. When Loudoun arrived in Albany in late July, he immediately cancelled Shirleys plans for an Oswego-based expedition, the complex of defenses at Oswego consisted of three separate forts. On the east side of the Oswego River lay Fort Ontario and it was garrisoned by 370 men from Pepperrells Regiment, and was in fairly good repair. Fort Oswego was on the west side of the river, and had a structure of stone and clay surrounded by earthworks to the south and west. A recently constructed Fort George consisted of a wooden palisade fort that lacked even loopholes through which defenders could fire. The latter two forts did not have very much shelter for the garrison, and there were only a few cannon for the entire complex of defenses
17.
Battle on Snowshoes (1757)
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The 1757 Battle on Snowshoes was a skirmish fought between Rogers Rangers and French and Indian troops during the French and Indian War on January 21,1757. The battle was given name because the British combatants were wearing snowshoes. The fighting ended when darkness set in, with significant casualties on both sides, the French in their reports claimed the British had a distinct advantage due to their snowshoes. The French and Indian War broke out in 1754 between British and French colonists over territorial disputes along their colonial frontiers, and escalated the following year to include regular troops, by 1756, the French had enjoyed successes in most of their frontier battles against the British. Their only notable failure occurred when the British stopped their advance from Lake Champlain in the 1755 Battle of Lake George. From bases at Fort St. Frédéric and Fort Carillon, the French and their Indian allies continued to scout and probe the British defenses on Lake George, the British, who had fewer Indian allies, resorted to companies of rangers for their scouting and reconnaissance activities. The ranger companies were organized and directed by Robert Rogers, in the winter of 1757, Rogers and several companies of his rangers were stationed at Fort William Henry at the southern end of Lake George and at Fort Edward on the upper Hudson. These forts were garrisoned by elements of the 44th and 48th Regiments. Captain Rogers led an expedition from Fort Edward on January 15, stopping at Fort William Henry to acquire provisions, snowshoes. The company left Fort William Henry on January 17 with 86 men, the next day twelve men turned back because of injuries. The remaining men continued north, reaching Lake Champlain at a point between Fort Carillon and Fort St. Frédéric on January 21 and they spotted a sled moving on the lake toward Fort St. Frédéric, so Rogers sent Lieutenant John Stark and some men to intercept it. However, more sleds were spotted, and Starks men were seen before they could retreat back into the woods, the sleds turned back toward Carillon. The British gave chase, but most of the French escaped, Rogers succeeded in taking seven prisoners. Rogers learned from questioning the prisoners that a French and Indian war party had just arrived at Carillon, concerned that the escaped sleds would raise the alarm, Rogers immediately ordered a return to their last camp. His council disapproved of the return by the route, but he overruled them, citing the need for speed. By early afternoon they had returned to their camp, rested, M. de Rouilly, the leader of the supply convoy Rogers had intercepted, returned to Carillon and alerted Paul-Louis de Lusignan, the forts commander. The Indians were primarily Ottawa under the command of Charles Michel de Langlade, Rogers men then walked into an ambush, according to his estimate, by 250 French and Indians. The British were fortunate that many of the French muskets misfired due to wet gunpowder, as they retreated Rogers ordered his captives slain so that his men might move more freely
18.
Siege of Fort William Henry
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The Siege of Fort William Henry was conducted in August 1757 by French General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm against the British-held Fort William Henry. After several days of bombardment, Monro surrendered to Montcalm, whose force included nearly 2,000 Indians from a number of tribes. The terms of surrender included the withdrawal of the garrison to Fort Edward and they killed and scalped many soldiers, took as captives women, children, servants, and slaves, and slaughtered sick and wounded prisoners. Early accounts of the events called it a massacre, and implied that as many as 1,500 people were killed, the memory of the killings influenced the actions of British military leaders, especially those of British General Jeffery Amherst, for the remainder of the war. The French and Indian War started in 1754 over territorial disputes between the North American colonies of France and Great Britain in areas that are now western Pennsylvania, the first few years of the war had not gone particularly well for the British. A major expedition by General Edward Braddock in 1755 ended in disaster, in a major setback, a French and Indian army led by General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm captured the garrison and destroyed fortifications in the Battle of Fort Oswego in August 1756. In July 1756 the Earl of Loudoun arrived to command of the British forces in North America, replacing William Shirley. Loudouns plan for the 1757 campaign was submitted to the government in London in September 1756, and was focused on an expedition aimed at the heart of New France. It called for a purely defensive postures along the frontier with New France, including the corridor of the Hudson River. The area between William Henry and Carillon was a wilderness dominated by Lake George that historian Ian Steele described as a waterway that left opposing cannons only a few days apart. Loudoun consequently did not receive any feedback from London on his campaign until March 1757. When William Pitts instructions finally reached Loudoun in March 1757, they called for the expedition to first target Louisbourg on the Atlantic coast of Île Royale, although this did not materially affect the planning of the expedition, it was to have significant consequences on the frontier. The French forces on the Saint Lawrence would be too far from Louisbourg to support it, Loudoun assigned his best troops to the Louisbourg expedition, and placed Brigadier General Daniel Webb in command of the New York frontier. He was given about 2,000 regulars, primarily from the 35th and 60th Regiments, the provinces were to supply Webb with about 5,000 militia. He was initially hesitant to commit his limited resources against Fort William Henry without knowing more about the disposition of British forces, intelligence provided by spies in London arrived in the spring, indicating that the British target was probably Louisbourg. This suggested that troop levels on the British side of the frontier might be low enough to make an attack on Fort William Henry feasible. As early as December 1756, New Frances governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, fueled by stories circulated by Indian participants in the capture of Oswego, this drive was highly successful, drawing nearly 1,000 warriors from the Pays den Haut to Montreal by June 1757. Another 800 Indians were recruited from tribes that lived closer to the Saint Lawrence and its walls were 30 feet thick, with log facings surrounding an earthen filling
19.
Battle on Snowshoes
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The 1758 Battle on Snowshoes occurred on March 13,1758, during the French and Indian War. It was fought by members of British Ranger companies led by Robert Rogers against French troops, the battle took place near Lake George, now in northern New York, but then in the frontier area between the British province of New York and the French province of Canada. The battle was given its name because the British combatants were wearing snowshoes, Rogers led a band of about 180 rangers and regulars out to scout French positions. The French commander at Fort Carillon had been alerted to their movement, in fierce fighting, the British troop was nearly destroyed, with more than 120 casualties. The French believed that Rogers was killed in action, as he was forced to abandon his regimental jacket. This battle gave rise to the tale that Rogers escaped capture by sliding 400 feet down a rockface to the surface of Lake George. That rock is now known as Rogers Rock or Rogers Slide, the French and Indian War broke out in 1754 between British and French colonists over territorial disputes along their colonial frontiers, and escalated the following year to include regular troops. By 1756, the French had enjoyed successes in most of their battles against the British. Their only notable failure occurred when the British stopped their advance from Lake Champlain in the 1755 Battle of Lake George. From bases at Fort St. Frédéric and Fort Carillon, the French and their Indian allies continued to scout and probe the British defenses on Lake George, the British, who had fewer Indian allies, resorted to companies of colonial rangers for their scouting and reconnaissance activities. The ranger companies were organized and directed by Robert Rogers, Captain Rogers was sent on a reconnaissance mission from Fort Edward northwards toward Fort Carillon on March 10,1758. The French had captured a man from an expedition by Israel Putnams Connecticut rangers. Putnams reconnaissance revealed that there were an estimated 600 Indians encamped near Fort Carillon, the expedition was composed mostly of men from Rogers ranger companies, but it also included a few volunteer soldiers from the 27th Regiment. On March 13, they wore snowshoes as they marched through snow four feet deep, with a rivulet to their left and they had stopped for a three-hour break when their advance guard spotted what Rogers reported as ninety-six, chiefly Indians. On March 12, Captain Louis-Philippe Le Dossu d’Hébécourt, the French commander at Fort Carillon and he sent Ensign Durantaye with a company of 200 Nipissing Indians and about 20 Canadians in response to these reports, but they found nothing. The next day two Indian scouts reported that they had found tracks of an enemy party, around noon on March 13, Durantaye led 100 men out of the fort. These were followed shortly after by 200 Indians under Ensign de Langy, although the two French groups joined forces, Durantayes company was about 100 yards ahead of Langys when they were spotted by Rogers men. Rogers’ men immediately set up an ambush, when Durantayes men came within range at 14,00, the British opened fire, killing above forty Indians, according to Rogers
20.
Battle of Carillon
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The Battle of Carillon, also known as the 1758 Battle of Ticonderoga, was fought on July 8,1758, during the French and Indian War. It was fought near Fort Carillon on the shore of Lake Champlain in the area between the British colony of New York and the French colony of New France. The battle was the bloodiest of the war, with over 3,000 casualties suffered, French losses were about 400, while more than 2,000 were British. Many military historians have cited the Battle of Carillon as a example of tactical military incompetence. Abercrombie, confident of a victory, ignored several viable military options, such as flanking the French breastworks, waiting for his artillery. Montcalm, while concerned about the military position of the fort. The fort, abandoned by its garrison, was captured by the British the following year and this battle gave the fort a reputation for impregnability that had an effect on future military operations in the area. Despite several large-scale military movements through the area, in both the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War, this was the major battle fought near the forts location. The fort was sited with Lake Champlain to the east, with Mount Independence rising on the far side, immediately to the south of the fort lay the mouth of the La Chute River, which drains Lake George. The river was largely non-navigable, and there was a trail from the northern end of Lake George to the location of a sawmill the French had built to assist in the forts construction. The trail crossed the La Chute twice, once about 2 miles from Lake George, and again at the sawmill, to the north of the fort was a road going to Fort St. Frédéric. To the west was a low rise of land, beyond which lay Mount Hope, a rise that commanded part of the portage trail, but was too far from the fort to pose it any danger. The most serious defect in the forts location was Mount Defiance. This 900 foot hill, which was steep and densely forested, provided an excellent firing position for cannon aimed at the fort. Nicolas Sarrebource de Pontleroy, Montcalms chief engineer, said of the site, Were I to be entrusted with the siege of it, I should require only six mortars. Prior to 1758, the French and Indian War had gone very poorly for the British, whose military met few of its objectives. Embarking on a strategy that emphasized defense in Europe, where France was strong, and offense in North America, large-scale campaigns were planned to capture Fort Duquesne on the Pennsylvania frontier and the fortress at Louisbourg. The third campaign, assigned to General James Abercrombie, was to launch an attack against Canada through the Champlain Valley, Howe was appointed a brigadier general, and placed as Abercrombies second in command
21.
Battle of Fort Frontenac
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The Battle of Fort Frontenac took place on August 26–28,1758 during the Seven Years War between France and Great Britain. British Lieutenant Colonel John Bradstreet led an army of over 3,000 men, of whom about 150 were regulars, the British captured goods worth 800,000 livres from the trading post. The British military campaigns for the French and Indian War in 1758 contained three primary objectives, two of these objectives, captures of Fort Louisbourg and Fort Duquesne met with success. Following that failure, many of Abercrombies underlings sought to distance themselves from any responsibility for the disaster. Bradstreet assembled an army at Schenectady consisting of just 135 regular army troops and about 3,500 militia, drawn from the provinces of New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. By the time his army reached the ruins of Fort Oswego on August 21, Bradstreet had lost 600 men, Bradstreets flotilla of bateaux crossed Lake Ontario, landing without opposition about one mile from Fort Frontenac on August 25. Fort Frontenac was an important trading center for Indian and French fur traders, Noyan was alerted to the expeditions advance when Indian scouts took some prisoners, and authorities in Montreal organized reinforcements. However, these forces would not arrive before the British, the night after landing, Bradstreets men established gun batteries and began to dig trenches toward the old fort. They also attempted, without success to two of the French ships anchored before the fort. On the morning of August 26, the British guns opened fire, the French garrison returned fire with cannons and muskets, but made little impression on the British. The two sides continued to fire on the 27th, with the British establishing gun batteries northwest of the fort. On the morning of the 28th, two French ships attempted to escape the harbor, but ran aground after persistent British fire against them, following a brief council of war, Noyan raised the white flag. With the capture of Frontenac, the British intercepted significant supplies destined for French forts in the Ohio Country, more than 60 cannons were found, as were hundreds of barrels of provisions. To the many provincials in Bradstreets army, the biggest prizes were bales of furs destined for shipment downstream to Montreal, in all, the value of the captured goods was estimated to be 800,000 French livres. Bradstreet released the French prisoners after Noyan promised to gain the release of a number of British prisoners. They were met by the force from Montreal. The French established Fort de La Présentation as a base for supply, Fort Frontenac was again lightly garrisoned in 1759, but was no longer a site of importance in the war, which ended with the fall of Montreal in September 1760. New Frances governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, took responsibility for the French loss
22.
Battle of Ticonderoga (1759)
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The 1759 Battle of Ticonderoga was a minor confrontation at Fort Carillon on July 26 and 27,1759, during the French and Indian War. The forts powder magazine was destroyed, but its walls were not severely damaged, the British then occupied the fort, which was afterwards known by the name Fort Ticonderoga. They embarked on a series of improvements to the area and began construction of a fleet to conduct operations on Lake Champlain. The French tactics were sufficient to prevent Amhersts army from joining James Wolfe at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, however, they also tied up 3,000 of their own troops that were not able to assist in Quebecs defense. The capture of the fort, which had repulsed a large British army a year earlier. The British were successful in capturing Louisbourg and Fort Frontenac in 1758, the only significant French victory in 1758 came when a large British army commanded by James Abercrombie was defeated by a smaller French force in the Battle of Carillon. Instructions were sent to the governors of the Thirteen Colonies to raise up 20,000 provincial militia for these campaigns, about 8,000 provincial men were raised and sent to Albany by provinces as far south as Pennsylvania and New Jersey. New York sent 3,000 men and New Jersey sent 1,000, Massachusetts mustered 6,500 men, about 3,500 went to Albany, while the remainder were dispatched for service with Wolfe at Quebec or other service in Nova Scotia. The balance of the men came from the other New England provinces. He sent 2,000 of the provincials west from Albany along with 3,000 regular troops under Brigadier General John Prideaux in May. He led the remainder of the provincials, consisting primarily of Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut men, north to Fort Edward, in the 1759 campaign, French war planners directed most of their war resources into the European theater of the Seven Years War. Belle-Isle impressed on Montcalm the importance of maintaining at least a foothold in North America, Montcalm responded, Unless we have unexpected luck, or stage a diversion elsewhere within North America, Canada will fall during the coming campaign season. The English have 60,000 men, we have 11,000, Montcalm decided to focus French manpower on defending the core territory of Canada, Montreal, the city of Quebec, and the Saint Lawrence River Valley. He knew that this force was too small to hold Carillon against a determined British attack by competent leaders, there were several reasons for the late departure. One was logistical, Prideauxs expedition to forts Oswego and Niagara also departed from Albany, when his troops landed and began advancing on the fort, Amherst was pleased to learn that the French had abandoned the outer defenses. He still proceeded with caution, occupying the old French lines from the 1758 battle on July 22 and his original plan had been to flank the fort, denying the road to Fort St. Frédéric as a means of French escape. In the absence of French resistance outside the fort, he decided instead to focus his attention on the fort itself, for the next three days, the British entrenched and began laying siege lines to establish positions near the fort. This work was complicated by the fact there was little diggable ground near the fort, during this time, the French gun batteries fired, at times quite heavily, on the British positions
23.
Battle of Beauport
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William Pitt continued the aggressive policy in 1759, again organizing large campaigns aimed at the heartland of New France, the Canadien communities of Quebec and Montreal on the St. Lawrence River. For the campaign against Quebec, General James Wolfe was given command of an army of about 7,000 men, Wolfe consequently had to devise a plan involving a landing on some other location of the shore. The search for the best site kept him busy for weeks, Wolfe landed first, leading the Louisbourg grenadiers, who were followed by the brigade commanded by George Townshend. The landing met no opposition from the French, James Murray, at the head of a part of his brigade, joined Wolfe and Townshend on 10 July. A camp was set up near the landing site, Wolfe ordered the construction of a battery to defend the camp, as well as rafts and floating batteries in anticipation of an attack on the French line. After establishing the Montmorency camp, Wolfe explored various plans of attack, the first plan which Wolfe mentioned in his journal and the correspondence with his officers is that of 16 July. At the same time, the commanded by Monckton was to land on the French right. Batteries firing at the British flotilla from the Lower Town of Quebec, the Sutherlands log records that the French cannonballs flew too high to cause serious damage. On 19 July Wolfe was at the Pointe-Lévy camp to reconnoitre the north shore west of Quebec and he moved further west the next day, near the mouth of the Chaudière River, to study the opposite shore between Sillery and Cap Rouge. Wolfe wrote to Monckton with orders for a plan of attack involving a landing near the village of Saint-Michel, something he had already considered in June. However, at 13,00, Wolfe countermanded his orders to Monckton, ordering him instead to wait a few days and remain ready to act quickly, because of some particular circumstances. It is possible that the circumstance he alluded to was a French counteroffensive in which a newly built battery at Samos damaged the Squirrel, Wolfe returned to the Montmorency camp on 26 July. Escorted by two battalions, he walked up the Montmorency river to reconnoitre the French lines, at about five kilometres from the rivers mouth, he observed a ford allowing the easy crossing from the west shore to the east shore. This discovery was followed by a skirmish between British soldiers, attempting to cross, and French soldiers entrenched on the other side. The British reported 45 killed and wounded, on 28 July, Wolfe wrote of an attack on the Beauport line to be executed on 30 July. However, poor winds did not allow for naval movements that day, the plan of attack then contemplated by Wolfe was a variation of the plan he had described to Monckton in his letter of 16 July. Unlike the earlier plan, there was no mention of a landing on the French right. On the morning of 31 July the war vessel Centurion positioned itself by the Montmorency Falls to attack the easternmost French batteries, General Wolfe went on board the Russell, one of the two armed transports that were meant for the attack on the redoubt
24.
Battle of the Plains of Abraham
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The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec, was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years War. The culmination of a siege by the British, the battle lasted about 15 minutes. In the wake of the battle, the French evacuated the city, their military force in Canada. France ceded most of its possessions in eastern North America to Great Britain in the Treaty of Paris, the decisive success of the British forces and the subsequent capture of Quebec City formed part of what became known as the Annus Mirabilis in Great Britain. As the Seven Years War entered its later stages through 1758 and 1759, in 1758 after defeat in July at the Battle of Carillon, the British took Louisbourg in August, causing Atlantic Canada to fall into British hands, and opening the sea route to attack Quebec. Fort Frontenac fell to the British in the month, costing the French supplies for the Ohio Valley campaign. When some of the Indian supporters of the French made peace with the British, French leadership, specifically Governor de Vaudreuil and General Montcalm, were unsettled by the British successes. However, Quebec was still able to protect itself as the British prepared an attack for 1759. James Wolfe expected to lead 12,000 men, but was greeted by only approximately 7,000 regular troops,400 officers, Wolfes troops were supported by a fleet of 49 ships and 140 smaller craft led by Admiral Charles Saunders. In preparation for the approach to Quebec, James Cook surveyed a large portion of the river. Cooks ship was one of the first ships up the river, sounding the channel and guiding the fleet as it moved up, eventually landing Wolfe and his men on the Île dOrléans on 28 June. Despite an air of defeatism among the leadership, the professional French troops, prior to the arrival of the British, a small fleet of supply ships had arrived in Quebec with much needed supplies. Those supplies, along with 500 reinforcements, were likely behind the lengthened siege, in addition, a screen of trees along the Montmorency River made an approach on that route dangerous. On 31 July, the first serious attempt by Wolfes troops to land on the northern shore led to the Battle of Beauport, approximately 3,500 troops, supported by a heavy bombardment, attempted to land, but were caught under fire in the river shallows. Some French officers felt the Montmorency defeat would be the last British attack, Wolfe, I assure you, will make no progress… He contented himself with losing about five hundred of his best soldiers. He predicted another attack would come within days, others in the French camp felt the campaign was over. For the remainder of the summer, Wolfes focus changed, possibly due to frustration with Montcalms tactics and his troops, along with American Rangers, attacked and destroyed small French settlements along the St. Lawrence. An estimated 1,400 stone houses and manors were destroyed, the effort was likely an attempt to force Montcalms army out of its fortifications, but was unsuccessful
25.
St. Francis Raid
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Rogers reported killing as many as 300 people, while French reports placed the number closer to thirty, mainly women and children. One of Rogers men was killed, and seven were wounded, Rogers and his men endured significant hardships to reach the village from the British base at Fort Crown Point in present-day New York, and even more hardship afterwards. Chased by the French and vengeful Indians, and short on rations, Rogers, missteps in caching food stores for the expeditions use led to starvation, and some of Rogers men were reportedly driven to cannibalism in order to survive. About one third of the participants did not return. British colonial reports of the raid were unapologetic, as St, the 1759 summer campaign season in the French and Indian War was a resounding success for the forces of Great Britain. Fort Ticonderoga was captured in July, as was Fort Niagara, although this party successfully traveled the route in both directions, the time taken meant that their news was effectively useless to Amherst due to the lateness of the season. They carried a belt of wampum as part of this offer, the village of St. Francis, which was regarded by many as an Abenaki village, was in fact inhabited by a diverse community. The village consisted of what were then typical European-style homes centered around a church and it had a reputation among British colonists to the south as the launching point for raids into communities as far south as Massachusetts. Robert Rogers was a teenager in New Hampshire at the time of one such raid in 1746, Kennedy and his party left Fort Crown Point on August 8. Word reached Amherst on August 19 that they had successfully reached Missisquoi Bay at the end of the lake in spite of French ships patrolling the area. Bourlamaque immediately sent out patrols and alerted the St. Francis Abenakis to do the same, on August 24 Kennedys party was surrounded and captured by the Abenakis, despite attempts at bribery and negotiation, they were turned over to General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm in Quebec. Amherst learned of this on September 10 when a letter from Montcalm reached him indicating that the two British officers were his prisoners. Montcalm noted that the men were not in uniform, an implication that Montcalm could have treated them as spies and hanged them. Accounts circulated within the British camps that the two officers had been mistreated by the Abenaki, including the possibility of ritual torture. This heightened anger and resentment among the British, and Amherst, apparently upset over the Abenaki behavior, Rogers assembled a company of 220 men, drawn in part from his ranger companies but also including men he selected from the regular army. A significant number of his men were Stockbridge Indians bent on freeing their compatriots, take your revenge, but dont forget. It is my orders that no women or children are killed or hurt, the expedition left Crown Point on the night of September 13. Its departure was not a secret, although Rogers and Amherst were the only ones to know its actual destination
26.
Battle of Sainte-Foy
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The Battle of Sainte-Foy, sometimes called the Battle of Quebec, was fought on April 28,1760 near the British-held town of Quebec in the French province of Canada during the Seven Years War. It was a victory for the French under the Chevalier de Lévis over the British army under General Murray, the battle was notably bloodier than the Battle of the Plains of Abraham of the previous September, with 833 French casualties to 1,124 British casualties. It was the last French victory of the French and Indian War, at first the British had some success, but the advance masked their artillery, while the infantry became bogged down in the mud and melting snowdrifts of the late spring. New France had suffered significant setbacks in the 1758 campaigns of the French and its fortress at Louisbourg was lost in a siege by British forces, and Fort Duquesne was abandoned to another advancing British army. The French army regrouped in Montreal under General Chevalier de Lévis, in April 1760, Lévis returned to Quebec with an army of over 7,000 men, including Canadien militia and First Nations warriors. He hoped to besiege Quebec and force its surrender in the spring, General James Murray, left in command at Quebec, felt that his army was too small to adequately defend the walls of Quebec, which had not been improved since the British capture of the town. He therefore moved some 3,800 men into the field, all he could muster, along with over twenty cannon, rather than waiting for the French to advance, however, he took the gamble of going on the offensive. Lévis commanded 6,910 soldiers, including 3,889 in eight regular battalions, compagnies Franches de la Marine comprised two more battalions. The remainder of his army was made up of Canadien militia, of this force, approximately 5,000 and only three cannons were present on the field of Sainte-Foy. Murrays 3, 886-man force consisted of ten battalions, a converged light infantry battalion. In order to cover the plateau, the battalions were each drawn up in two ranks with three-foot gaps between files, instead of the normal elbow-to-elbow formation. There were 40-yard intervals between battalions, the light infantry covered the right flank. In order, from right to left, were the 48th Foot, 15th Foot, 58th Foot, 2nd battalion of the 60th Foot, 43rd Foot, 47th Foot, 78th Foot, the rangers and some volunteers covered the left flank. In reserve behind the right flank stood the 35th Foot, while the 3rd battalion of the 60th formed the left flank reserve, the infantry were supported by 20 cannons and two howitzers. One sergeant recorded that the British army was a poor pitiful handful of half starved scorbutic skeletons, observing that the French army was still deploying, Murray resolved to strike his enemies before they were ready. As the British advanced, Lévis pulled his three formed right wing brigades back into the Sillery Woods, at this time, the French left wing had not yet deployed. The British light infantry drove some French grenadiers out of a windmill on the right flank, pursuing, they soon ran into trouble. The French left wing troops aggressively attacked and scattered the light infantry, Murray committed the 35th Foot from his reserve and restored the right flank of the British line
27.
Battle of Neuville
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A relief force of the British navy having forced a passage down the St Lawrence managed to destroy the French ships under Jean Vauquelin assisting in the siege. This British victory forced the French under Chevalier de Lévis to raise the siege, after the capture of Quebec in 1759, the defeated French forces positioned themselves on the Jacques-Cartier River west of the city. Pack ice had closed the mouth of the forcing the British Navy to leave the St. Lawrence shortly after. The Chevalier de Lévis, General Montcalms successor as French commander, marched his 7,000 troops to Quebec, James Murray, the British commander, had experienced a terrible winter, in which scurvy had reduced his garrison to only 4,000. On 28 April 1760, Lévis forces met and defeated the British at the Battle of Sainte-Foy, immediately west of the city, combined with British improvements to the fortifications and the lack of heavy artillery and ammunition meant that the French were unable to take the city quickly. The success of the French armys offensive against Quebec in the spring of 1760 depended on the dispatch of a French armada, with fresh troops, the British too were anxious to get a fleet into the St Lawrence in the spring before supplies and reinforcements could arrive from France. On 9 May, a ship arrived off Point Levis, the French shouted Vive Le Roi believing the ship to be theirs while the anxious British expected the worst. The ship however turned out to be the HMS Lowestoffe detached from a squadron under Lord Colville who were just outside the Saint Lawrence ready to force the passage themselves, a twenty one gun salute and the hoisting of the Union flag turned British fears into sudden joy. Levis and the French were in despair and Quebec had to be bombarded into submission as quickly as possible before the main British force arrived. The bombardment was heavy causing damage to the walls but casualties were light. Colveilles ships were soon navigating down the Saint Lawrence already made easy by James Cooks mapping the previous year, during the night of May 15 to 16, Lévis was informed of the appearance of two British vessels between Île dOrléans and Pointe-Lévis. Dishearteningly he immediately sent orders to the French vessels transporting the supplies of his army to retire, due to bad weather, his orders to the vessels were delayed. At 5,00 a. m the six French vessels under command of the Captain Jean Vauquelin were setting sail when the British vessels appeared, the French vessels immediately cut their cables, French frigate Pomone in the confusion forced herself too close to shore and ran aground. The two British frigates meanwhile sailed past blasting away at her but instead of stopping they ignored her, atalantes commander seeing that the British frigates were catching up with the French transport vessels, ordered them to beach so that Lévis could salvage the provisions they transported. The Atalante then sailed upstream but was forced to run aground at Pointe-aux-Trembles, Vauquelin had managed to turn Atalante to broadside to fight it out. He nailed his colors to the mast and engaged the two frigates that had pursued him, Vauquelin did not belie his reputation and fought his ship for two hours with persistent bravery till his ammunition was spent. He even refused to strike his flag, and only when his ship was a dismasted hulk was he made prisoner. Meanwhile, the Vanguard did not sail farther than Saint-Michel and returned to Anse-au-Foulon and in so doing enfiladed the French trenches with grapeshot, Vanguard then sailed back to Québec to round up the beached French ships, taking prisoners and their stores
28.
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
29.
Great Lakes
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Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth, containing 21% of the worlds surface fresh water by volume. The total surface is 94,250 square miles, and the volume is 5,439 cubic miles. Due to their sea-like characteristics the five Great Lakes have also long been referred to as inland seas, Lake Superior is the second largest lake in the world by area, and Lake Michigan is the largest lake that is entirely within one country. The southern half of the Great Lakes is bordered by the Great Lakes Megalopolis, the lakes have been a major highway for transportation, migration and trade, and they are home to a large number of aquatic species. Many invasive species have been introduced due to trade, and some threaten the regions biodiversity, though the five lakes reside in separate basins, they form a single, naturally interconnected body of fresh water, within the Great Lakes Basin. The lakes form a chain connecting the interior of North America to the Atlantic Ocean. From the interior to the outlet at the Saint Lawrence River, water flows from Superior to Huron and Michigan, southward to Erie, the lakes drain a large watershed via many rivers, and are studded with approximately 35,000 islands. There are also several smaller lakes, often called inland lakes. The surface area of the five primary lakes combined is roughly equal to the size of the United Kingdom, while the area of the entire basin is about the size of the UK. Lake Michigan is the one of the Great Lakes that is located entirely within the United States. The lakes are divided among the jurisdictions of the Canadian province of Ontario and the U. S. states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Both Ontario and Michigan include in their boundaries portions of four of the lakes, Ontario does not border Lake Michigan, New York and Wisconsins jurisdictions extend into two lakes, and the remaining states into one of the lakes. This designation, however, is not universal and those living on the shore of Lake Superior often refer to all the other lakes as the lower lakes, because they are farther south. This corresponds to thinking of Lakes Erie and Ontario as down south, vessels sailing north on Lake Michigan are considered upbound even though they are sailing toward its effluent current. The Chicago River and Calumet River systems connect the Great Lakes Basin to the Mississippi River System through man-made alterations, the St. Marys River, including the Soo Locks, connects Lake Superior to Lake Huron. The Straits of Mackinac connect Lake Michigan to Lake Huron, the St. Clair River connects Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair. The Detroit River connects Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie, the Niagara River, including Niagara Falls, connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The Welland Canal, bypassing the Falls, connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, the Saint Lawrence River connects Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which connects to the Atlantic Ocean
30.
Ohio River
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The Ohio River, which streams westward from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Cairo, Illinois, is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River in the United States. The 981-mile river flows through or along the border of six states, through its largest tributary, the Tennessee River, the basin includes many of the states of the southeastern U. S. It is the source of drinking water for three million people and it is named in Iroquoian or Seneca, Ohi, yó, lit. Good River or Shawnee, Pelewathiipi and Spelewathiipi, the river had great significance in the history of the Native Americans, as numerous civilizations formed along its valley. For thousands of years, Native Americans used the river as a major transportation, in 1669, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle led a French expedition to the Ohio River, becoming the first Europeans to see it. After European-American settlement, the served as a border between present-day Kentucky and Indian Territories. It was a transportation route for pioneers during the westward expansion of the early U. S. In his Notes on the State of Virginia published in 1781–82, Thomas Jefferson stated and its current gentle, waters clear, and bosom smooth and unbroken by rocks and rapids, a single instance only excepted. During the 19th century, the river was the boundary of the Northwest Territory. Where the river was narrow, it was the way to freedom for thousands of slaves escaping to the North, many helped by free blacks and whites of the Underground Railroad resistance movement. The Ohio River is a transition area, as its water runs along the periphery of the humid subtropical. It is inhabited by fauna and flora of both climates, in winter, it regularly freezes over at Pittsburgh but rarely further south toward Cincinnati and Louisville. At Paducah, Kentucky, in the south, near the Ohios confluence with the Mississippi, Paducah was founded there because it is the northernmost ice-free reach of the Ohio. The Ohio River is formed by the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at Point State Park in Pittsburgh, from there, it flows northwest through Allegheny and Beaver counties, before making an abrupt turn to the south-southwest at the West Virginia–Ohio–Pennsylvania triple-state line. From there, it forms the border between West Virginia and Ohio, upstream of Wheeling, West Virginia, the river then follows a roughly southwest and then west-northwest course until Cincinnati, before bending to a west-southwest course for most of its length. The course forms the borders of West Virginia and Kentucky. The Ohio drains parts of 15 states in four regions, northeast New York, a small area of the southern border along the headwaters of the Allegheny. Pennsylvania, a corridor from the corner to north central border
31.
James Wolfe
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Major General James Wolfe was a British Army Officer, known for his training reforms but remembered chiefly for his victory over the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Canada in 1759. The son of a general, Edward Wolfe, he had received his first commission at a young age. His service in Flanders and in Scotland, where he took part in the suppression of the Jacobite Rebellion, the advancement of his career was halted by the Peace Treaty of 1748 and he spent much of the next eight years on garrison duty in the Scottish Highlands. Already a brigade major at the age of eighteen, he was a lieutenant-colonel by the age of twenty-three, the outbreak of the Seven Years War in 1756 offered Wolfe fresh opportunities for advancement. His part in the raid on Rochefort in 1757 led William Pitt to appoint him second-in-command of an expedition to capture the Fortress of Louisbourg. Following the success of the Siege of Louisbourg he was commander of a force which sailed up the Saint Lawrence River to capture Quebec City. After a long siege Wolfe defeated a French force under Marquis de Montcalm allowing British forces to capture the city, Wolfe was killed at the height of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham due to injuries from three musket balls. Wolfes part in the taking of Quebec in 1759 earned him posthumous fame and he was depicted in the painting The Death of General Wolfe, which became famous around the world. James Wolfe was born at the vicarage on 2 January 1727 at Westerham, Kent. His uncle was Edward Thompson MP, a distinguished politician and his relatively humble birth marked him out from many army officers at the time, who were disproportionately drawn from the aristocracy or gentry. Wolfes childhood home in Westerham, known in his lifetime as Spiers, has preserved in his memory by the National Trust under the name Quebec House. The Wolfes were close to the Warde family, who lived at Squerryes Court in Westerham, Wolfes boyhood friend George Warde would later achieve fame as Commander-in-Chief in Ireland when he crushed the Irish rebellion of 1798, and repelled two attempted French invasions in 1796 and 1798. Around 1738, the moved to Greenwich, in London. From his earliest years, Wolfe was destined for a military career, illness prevented him from taking part in a large expedition against Spanish-held Cartagena in 1740, and his father sent him home a few months later. He was fortunate to miss what proved to be a disaster for the British forces at the Siege of Cartagena during the War of Jenkins Ear with most of the dying from disease. In 1740 the War of the Austrian Succession broke out in Europe, James Wolfe was given his first commission as a second lieutenant in his fathers regiment of Marines in 1741. Early in the year he transferred to the 12th Regiment of Foot, a British Army infantry regiment. Here, Wolfe was promoted to Lieutenant and made adjutant of his battalion and his first year on the continent was a frustrating one as, despite rumours of a British attack on Dunkirk, they remained inactive in Flanders
32.
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
33.
Louis-Joseph de Montcalm
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Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Saint-Veran was a French soldier best known as the commander of the forces in North America during the Seven Years War. Montcalm was born near Nîmes in France to a noble family and he saw service in the War of the Polish Succession and the War of the Austrian Succession, where his distinguished service led to promotion to brigadier general. In 1756 King Louis XV sent him to New France to lead its defence against the British in the Seven Years War, montcalms service in New France was marked by conflict between himself and the Governor General of the colony, Pierre de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnial. These men were the leaders of the war effort in New France during the Seven Years War, Montcalm is a controversial figure among military historians, some of whom have strongly criticized his decisions at Quebec. But he has also been memorialized, especially in France, Quebec. He joined the French Army in 1721 as an ensign in the Régiment dHainault, on the death of his father in 1735, he became the Marquis de Saint-Veran, inheriting the honours, rights, and debts of that position. His finances improved soon after by his marriage to Angelique Louise Talon du Boulay, despite a marriage arranged for money and influence, they were a devoted couple. They made their home at Candiac and had a number of children of whom five survived to adulthood. His father purchased a captaincy for him in 1729 and he served in the War of Polish Succession, seeing action at the 1733 Siege of Kehl, Montcalm and the Chevalier de Lévis were both in the Siege of Prague. He was promoted to Colonel of the Régiment dAuxerrois in 1743 and he was released on parole after several months imprisonment, and promoted to Brigadier for his actions during the 1746 campaign. After prisoner exchanges made possible his return to service, he joined the Italian campaign again in 1747. He was wounded again by a ball in the Battle of Assietta. When Marshal Belle-Isle retired that winter, his army was left under the command of its brigadiers, the war came to an end in 1748 with the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. In 1749 he was awarded an opportunity to raise a new regiment in peacetime. Upon Montcalm’s arrival in Montreal, he was immediately apprised of the situation along the border with British North America, when Montcalm arrived back at Fort Frontenac, he found a force of 3500 men assembled, being regular French troops, Canadian militia, and Native Americans. On August 9, the crossed the lake and rapidly besieged the English fort. By the morning of August 13, the French had set up nine cannons, the English commander was killed during the offensive, and the fort was quickly surrendered soon thereafter. 1700 prisoners were taken, including 80 officers, as well as money, military correspondence, food provisions, guns, and boats, and the fort burnt and razed to the ground
34.
Pierre de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnial
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Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial, Marquis de Vaudreuil was a Canadian-born colonial governor of Canada in North America. He was governor of French Louisiana and in 1755 became the last Governor-General of New France, in 1759 and 1760 the British conquered the colony in the Seven Years War. He was born to the Governor-General of New France, Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil and his wife Louise-Élisabeth, daughter of Pierre de Joybert de Soulanges et de Marson and he was the uncle of Louis-Philippe de Vaudreuil. Vaudreuil-Cavagnial rose quickly through the New France military and civil service, in part owing to his fathers patronage and he moved to France in 1753 before being appointed by King Louis XV as governor of New France in 1755. The two men grew to detest one another, much to the detriment of the French war effort and he was forced to surrender Montreal on 8 September 1760 to Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Amherst. One of several scapegoats for Frances losses in the New World, Vaudreuil was imprisoned in the Bastille on March 30,1762 and he was joined by Bigot, Cadet, Pean, Breard, Varin, Le Mercier, Penisseault, Maurin and Copron amongst others. Of the 21 men brought to trial,10 were condemned, six were acquitted, absent were 34, of whom seven were sentenced in default, and judgement was reserved in the case of the rest. Exonerated in a military tribunal held in December 1763, he was awarded a pension and he died in Paris on 4 August 1778. His nephew Louis-Philippe de Vaudreuil was the second in command of the French naval units supporting the Americans during the American Revolution, Le Grand marquis, Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil et la Louisiane, Montréal, Fides,481 p. Frégault, Guy. La Guerre de la Conquête, Montréal, Fides,514 p. Roy, la Famille de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, Lévis,216 p. 764–767. Lettres du marquis de Vaudreuil au chevalier de Lévis,215 p. Casgrain, extraits des archives des Ministères de la marine et de la guerre à Paris, Canada, Correspondance générale, MM. Duquesne et Vaudreuil, Gouverneurs-generaux, 1755-1760, Québec, L. J. Demers,322 p. Vaudreuil, canadian Military Heritage - Mutual Dislike Between Colonial and Metropolitan Officers. 1759 From the Warpath to the Plains of Abraham
35.
Fort Machault
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Fort Machault was a fort built by the French in 1754 near the confluence of French Creek with the Allegheny River, at present-day Franklin, in northwest Pennsylvania. The fort was part of a line that included Fort Presque Isle, Fort Le Boeuf, the fort was built on a hill,60 yards west of the Allegheny River. The fort was in the form of a parallelogram, about 75 by 105 feet, the curtain was made of hewed timber, stacked lengthwise. The four corners had bastions in the form of polygons, the bastions were built of saplings, eight inches thick, and 13 feet in height. Inside the fort were a magazine, several barracks, with two stories and stone chimneys. The soldiers barracks consisted of 45 buildings outside the fort, Fort Machault was the last stop on the supply route from Canada to Fort Duquesne. His business was an example of the expansion of Pennsylvanias fur trade that prompted the French to fortify the Ohio Country, for fear of losing trade. Captain Philippe-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire finished building Fort Machault in April 1754 and it was named in honor of prominent financier, Jean-Baptiste Machault dArnouville, the French Minister of the Marine at the time of its construction. It was also known as Venango, the name of the nearby Delaware Indian village, in December 1753, George Washington used the Venango Path to reach Fort Machault during his first expedition into the Ohio Country. The French officer at the fort said he did not have the power to negotiate with the British, therefore, he told Washington to go to Fort Le Boeuf instead to meet with a higher-ranking officer. The French and Indian War began on May 28,1754 with the Battle of Jumonville Glen. In 1756, William Johnson, who had escaped from Native Americans, described the fort as a Captains command of about 50 men, the Fort of Stockades, very weak, and scarce of provisions. After abandoning Fort Duquesne in November 1758, the French fell back to Fort Machault, in July 1759, the French began a campaign to capture Fort Pitt. Nearly a thousand French and Canadiens and a thousand Native Americans mustered at Fort Machault, the British, however, began a siege of Fort Niagara. The fall of Fort Niagara in summer 1759, however, made the French presence in the Ohio Country untenable, the assault on Fort Pitt was abandoned, and available forces were sent to relieve Fort Niagara. On July 25,1759, the French surrendered Fort Niagara, in August 1759, the commander of Fort Presque Isle sent word to Fort Le Boeuf and Fort Machault to abandon their forts. The French burned Fort Machault to the ground and retreated to Canada in anticipation of a British expedition north from the Forks of the Ohio, in 1760, the British built Fort Venango near this site. The Frontier Forts of Western Pennsylvania, Albert, George Dallas, C. M. Busch, state printer, Harrisburg,1896
36.
Ohio Country
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The Ohio Country was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie. This area was disputed in the century by France and Great Britain. One of the first frontier regions of the United States, the area encompassed roughly all of present-day Ohio, northwestern West Virginia, western Pennsylvania, and eastern Indiana. After the Revolution and resolution of claims to the territory, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 established the boundaries of the Northwest Territory. The territory included all the land of the United States west of Pennsylvania and it covered all of the modern states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and the northeastern part of Minnesota. The area covered more than 260,000 square miles, in the 17th century, the area north of the Ohio River had been occupied by the Algonquian-speaking Shawnee and some Siouan language-speaking tribes. The Iroquois conquered and absorbed the Erie tribe, who were one of the Iroquoian language family, the Ohio Country remained largely uninhabited for decades, and was used primarily as a hunting ground by the Iroquois. In the 1720s, a number of Native American groups began to migrate to the Ohio Country from the East, by 1724, Delaware Indians had established the village of Kittanning on the Allegheny River in present-day western Pennsylvania. With them came those Shawnee who had settled in the east. Other bands of the scattered Shawnee tribe began to return to the Ohio Country in the decades that followed, a number of Seneca and other Iroquois also migrated to the Ohio Country, moving away from the French and British imperial rivalries south of Lake Ontario. The Seneca were the westernmost of the Iroquois nations based in New York, in the late 1740s and the second half of the 18th century, the British angled for control of the territory. In 1749, the British Crown, via the colonial government of Virginia, with the arrival of the Europeans, both Great Britain and France claimed the area and both sent fur traders into the area to do business with the Ohio Country Indians. The Iroquois League claimed the region by right of conquest, the rivalry between the two European nations, the Iroquois, and the Ohio natives for control of the region played an important part in the French and Indian War from 1754 through 1760. After initially remaining neutral, the Ohio Country Indians largely sided with the French, armed with supplies and guns from the French, they raided via the Kittanning Path against British settlers east of the Alleghenies. After they destroyed Fort Granville in the summer of 1756, the colonial governor John Penn ordered Lt. Colonel John Armstrong to destroy the Shawnee villages west of the Alleghenies, the British defeated the French and their allies. Meanwhile, other British and colonial forces drove the French from Fort Duquesne and building Fort Pitt, in the 1763 Treaty of Paris, France ceded control of the entire Ohio region to Great Britain, without consulting its native allies, who still believed they had territorial claims. Colonies such as Pennsylvania and Virginia claimed some of the lands by their original charters. The British ordered the settlers to leave or get special permission to stay
37.
Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)
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Fort Pitt was a fort built by British colonists during the Seven Years War at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, where the Ohio River is formed in western Pennsylvania. It replaced Fort Duquesne, a French colonial fort built in 1754 as tensions increased between Great Britain and France in both Europe and North America, protection of this area ultimately led to the development of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania by British-American colonists and immigrants. In April 1754, the French began building the fort, Fort Duquesne, on the site of the small British Fort Prince George at the beginning of the French. The Braddock expedition, a 1755 attempt to take Fort Duquesne, met with defeat at the Battle of the Monongahela at present-day Braddock, the French garrison defeated an attacking British regiment in September 1758 at the Battle of Fort Duquesne. French Colonel de Lignery ordered Fort Duquesne destroyed and abandoned at the approach of General John Forbes expedition in late November, the Forbes expedition was successful where the Braddock expedition had failed because the Treaty of Easton of 1758 reduced French alliances with Native American tribes. Chiefs of 13 American Indian nations agreed to peace with the colonial governments of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The Indians wanted a trading post at Fort Duquesne, but they did not want a British army garrison or colonial settlement, the British colonists built a new fort and named it Fort Pitt, after William Pitt the Elder. The fort was built from 1759 to 1761 during the French and Indian War, the Indians siege of Fort Pitt began on June 22,1763, but they found it too well-fortified to be taken by force. In negotiations during the siege, Captain Simeon Ecuyer, the commander of Fort Pitt, the potential of this act to cause an epidemic among the Indians was clearly understood. Commander William Trent wrote that he hoped it will have the desired effect, Colonel Henry Bouquet, leading a relief force, would discuss similar tactics with Commander-in-Chief Jeffery Amherst. During and after Pontiacs War, epidemics of smallpox among Native Americans devastated the tribes of Ohio Valley, on August 1,1763, most of the Indians broke off the siege to intercept the approaching force under Colonel Bouquet. In the Battle of Bushy Run, Bouquet fought off the Indian attack, after Pontiacs War, the British Crown turned it over to the colonists in 1772. At that time, the Pittsburgh area was claimed by the colonies of both Virginia and Pennsylvania, which struggled for power over the region, after Virginians took control of Fort Pitt, they called it Fort Dunmore, in honour of Virginias Governor Lord Dunmore. The fort served as a ground in Dunmores War of 1774. During the American Revolutionary War, Fort Pitt served as a headquarters for the theatre of the war. In present-day Michigan, the British garrisoned Fort Detroit, only a redoubt, a small brick outbuilding called the Blockhouse, remains in Point State Park as the only intact remnant of Fort Pitt. Erected in 1764, it is believed to be the oldest building standing in Pittsburgh. Used for many years as a residence, the blockhouse was purchased and preserved for many years by the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
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British Army
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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany
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Province of New York
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The majority of this land was soon reassigned by the Crown, leaving territory that included the valleys of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers, and Vermont. The territory of western New York was Iroquois land, also disputed between the English colonies and New France, and that of Vermont was disputed with the Province of New Hampshire, the province resulted from the Dutch Republic surrender of Provincie Nieuw-Nederland to the Kingdom of England in 1664. Immediately after, the province was renamed for James, Duke of York, the colony was one of the Middle Colonies, and ruled at first directly from England. British claims on any part of New York ended with the Treaty of Paris of 1783, after the American Revolution, the former colony became the State of New York. This British crown colony was established upon the former Dutch colony of New Netherland, with its core being York Shire, in what today is typically known as Downstate New York. The Province of New York was divided into counties on November 1,1683, by New York Governor Thomas Dongan, Albany County. Also claimed the area, later disputed, that is now Vermont, in addition, as there was no fixed western border to the colony, Albany County technically extended to the Pacific Ocean. Most of this land, which was Indian land for most of the history, has now been ceded to other states. Cornwall County, that part of Maine between the Kennebec River and the St. Croix River from the Atlantic Ocean to the St. Lawrence River, ceded to the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1692. Dukes County, the Elizabeth Islands, Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket Island east of Long Island, Dutchess County, now Dutchess and Putnam counties. Kings County, the current Kings County, Brooklyn, New York County, the current New York County, Manhattan. Orange County, now Orange and Rockland counties, Queens County, now Queens and Nassau counties. Richmond County, the current Richmond County, Staten Island, Suffolk County, the current Suffolk County. Ulster County, now Ulster and Sullivan counties and part of what is now Delaware, Westchester County, now Bronx and Westchester counties. On March 24,1772, Tryon County was formed out of Albany County and it was renamed Montgomery County in 1784, with a later division to Herkimer County around Little Falls. Charlotte County was formed out of Albany County and it was renamed Washington County in 1784. In 1617 officials of the Dutch West India Company in New Netherland created a settlement at present-day Albany, New Amsterdam surrendered to Colonel Richard Nicholls on August 27,1664, he renamed it New York. On September 24 Sir George Carteret accepted the capitulation of the garrison at Fort Orange, the capture was confirmed by the Treaty of Breda in July 1667
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Mohawk River
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The Mohawk River is a 149-mile-long river in the U. S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River, the Mohawk flows into the Hudson in the Capital District, a few miles north of the city of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy and it is a major waterway in north-central New York. The river and its canal, the Erie Canal, connect the Hudson River and port of New York with the Great Lakes at Buffalo. The lower part of the Mohawk River has five permanent dams, nine movable dams, Schoharie Creek and West Canada Creek are the principal tributaries of the Mohawk River. Both of these tributaries have several significant dams including the Hinckley Dam on the West Canada, the Gilboa Dam, which was completed in 1926 as part of the New York City water supply system, is the subject of an active and aggressive rehabilitation project. The Mohawk Valley allowed easier passage than going over the mountains to the north or south of the valley, as a result, it was strategically important during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War, and a number of important battles were fought here. The fertile Mohawk Valley also attracted early settlers, in the early nineteenth century water transport was a vital means of transporting both people and goods. A corporation was formed to build the Erie Canal off the Mohawk River to Lake Erie, the canal cut shipping costs to Lake Erie by 95%. It also simplified and reduced the difficulties of westward settler migration, the Mohawk Valley still plays an important role in transportation. Railroads followed the Water Level Route, as did major east-west roads such as Route 5, the Mohawk River Heritage Corridor Commission was created to preserve and promote the natural and historic assets of the Mohawk River. This commission was created by the NY State Legislature in 1997 to improve historic preservation along the river, the Mohawk watershed drains a large section of the Catskill Mountains, the Mohawk Valley proper, and a section of the southern Adirondack Mountains. All three regions have distinct geology, and the underlying rocks become progressively younger to the south. Overall, this part of New York is represented by lower Paleozoic sedimentary rocks that overlie the Grenville-aged metamorphic rocks of the Adirondacks. In the watershed, these rocks are only significant in the headwaters of the West Canada Creek, much of the main trunk of the Mohawk River sits in Cambro-Ordovician carbonates and Middle Ordovician sandstones and shales. The southern tributaries are underlain by a sequence of Devonian limestones that are overlain by a thick sequence of sandstones and shale of the Catskill Delta. During the Pleistocene, the watershed was extensively modified by continental glaciation, as a result of glacial scour and deposition, the surficial deposits in much of the watershed are poorly sorted boulder- and clay-rich glacial till. During deglaciation, several glacial lakes left varved clay deposits, in the final stages of deglaciation, approximately 13,350 years ago, the catastrophic draining of Glacial Lake Iroquois, a pro-glacial lake, was through what would become the modern Mohawk Valley
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Schenectady, New York
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Schenectady /skᵻˈnɛktədi/ is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135, the name Schenectady is derived from a Mohawk word skahnéhtati meaning beyond the pines. The city was founded on the side of the Mohawk River by Dutch colonists in the 17th century. They were prohibited from the fur trade by the Albany monopoly, residents of the new village developed farms on strip plots along the river. Connected to the west via the Mohawk River and Erie Canal, by 1824 more people worked in manufacturing than agriculture or trade, and the city had a cotton mill, processing cotton from the Deep South. Numerous mills in New York had such ties with the South, the city was part of emerging technologies, with GE collaborating in the production of nuclear-powered submarines and, in the 21st century, working on other forms of renewable energy. The city is in eastern New York, near the confluence of the Mohawk and it is in the same metropolitan area as the state capital, Albany, which is about 19 miles southeast. In December 2014, the announced that the city was one of three sites selected for development of off-reservation casino gambling, under terms of a 2013 state constitutional amendment. The project would redevelop an ALCO brownfield site in the city along the waterfront, with hotels, housing, when first encountered by Europeans, the Mohawk Valley was the territory of the Mohawk nation, one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, or Haudenosaunee. They had occupied territory in the region since at least 1100 AD, in the 1640s, the Mohawk had three major villages, all on the south side of the Mohawk River. The easternmost one was Ossernenon, located about 9 miles west of present-day Auriesville, about 3200 acres of this unique ecosystem are now protected as the Albany Pine Bush. Eventually, this word entered the lexicon of the Dutch settlers, the settlers in Fort Orange used skahnéhtati to refer to the new village at the Mohawk flats, which became known as Schenectady. In 1661 Arent van Curler, a Dutch immigrant bought a big piece of land on the side of the Mohawk River. Other colonists were given grants of land by the government in this portion of the flat fertile river valley. The settlers recognized that these bottomlands had been cultivated for maize by the Mohawk for centuries, Van Curler took the largest piece of land, the remainder was divided into 50-acre plots for the other first fourteen proprietors. As most early colonists were from the Fort Orange area, they may have anticipated working as fur traders, the settlers here turned to farming. Their 50-acre lots were unique for the colony, laid out in strips along the Mohawk River, with the narrow edges fronting the river and they relied on rearing livestock and wheat. From the early days of interaction, early Dutch traders in the valley had unions with Mohawk women and their children were raised within the Mohawk community, which had a matrilineal kinship system, considering children born into the mothers clan
