1.
Perthshire
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Perthshire, officially the County of Perth, is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west and it was a local government county from 1890 to 1930. Perthshire is known as the big county and has a variety of landscapes, from the rich agricultural straths in the east. Perthshire was an administrative county between 1890 and 1975, governed by a county council and this Local Government council was superseded in 1930, when a joint Local Government council was formed with the neighbouring small county of Kinross-shire, linking the two. The parish of Muckhart and Glendevon was made part of Clackmannan District Council, longforgan was included in the City of Dundee District, in Tayside Region Council. The remainder of the council was combined with the council of Kinross, the two-tier system introduced in 1975 was superseded by a system of unitary authorities in 1996. The area of the council is now divided between the Local Government council areas of Clackmannanshire, Perth and Kinross and Stirling. The area included in Dundee in 1975 was transferred to Perth, the coat of arms of the County of Perth appears to have been granted for use on the colours and standards of the volunteer and militia units of the county raised at the end of the eighteenth century. The grant document was discovered in the Lyon Office in 1890, the shield is very similar to the Scottish royal arms, reflecting that Perthshire was the home county of the House of Dunkeld and contains the former royal capital, Scone. Further royal references are made on the canton, which shows Scone Palace surmounted by the Crown of Scotland, the crest is a Highland soldier, reflecting that the famous Black Watch were formed in the county. The supporters are an eagle and a warhorse, the former from the arms of the city of Perth, of the twelve burghs in Perthshire, only Perth was made a large burgh. There were ten small burghs, Blairgowrie and Rattray being united into a single burgh, in 1947 Pitlochry was created a small burgh. In 1894 parish councils were established for the parishes, replacing the previous parochial boards. The parish councils were in turn replaced by district councils in 1930, the Royal Burgh of Perth originally formed part of the Perth burghs constituency along with burghs in Fife and Forfarshire. The Representation of the People Act 1832 made Perth a separate burgh constituency, the remainder of the county returned a single member as the parliamentary county of Perthshire. The parishes of Tulliallan, Culross, Muckhart, and the Perthshire portions of the parishes of Logie and Fossaway were annexed to constituency of Clackmannanshire, in 1885 seats in the House of Commons were redistributed, Perthshire received three seats. Perthshire Eastern Perthshire Western In 1918 there was a further redistribution, in 1950 it was renamed Perth and East Perthshire. These boundaries continued in use until 1983, when new constituencies were formed based on the Local Government regions and districts created in 1975
2.
Battle of Fort Necessity
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The Battle of Fort Necessity took place on July 3,1754, in what is now the mountaintop hamlet of Farmington in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The engagement was one of the first battles of the French and Indian War, the battle, along with the May 28 Battle of Jumonville Glen, contributed to a series of military escalations that resulted in the global Seven Years War. Washington built Fort Necessity on a meadow west of the summit of a pass through the Allegheny Mountains. Authorities in New France became more aggressive in their efforts to expel British traders and colonists from this area, in previous wars, the Québecois had more than held their own against the English colonials. The French action drew the attention of not just the British, the reason for this was that they had to provide them with the goods that the Anglo-American traders had previously supplied, and at similar prices. This proved to be singularly difficult, with the exception of one or two Montreal merchant traders, the Canadians showed a great reluctance to venture into the Ohio country. In particular, Tanacharison, a Mingo chief also known as the Half King, became anti-French as a consequence. In a meeting with Paul Marin de la Malgue, commander of the Canadian construction force, the latter reportedly lost his temper, if the river is blocked up, I have the forces to burst it open and tread under my feet all that oppose me. I despise all the things you have said. He then threw down some wampum that Tanacharison had offered as a good will gesture, Marin died not long after, and command of the operations was turned over to Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre. Saint-Pierre politely informed Washington that he was there pursuant to orders, Washington returned to Williamsburg and informed Governor Dinwiddie that the French refused to leave. Dinwiddie ordered Washington to begin raising a regiment to hold the Forks of the Ohio, in present-day Pittsburgh. The governor also issued a commission to Ohio Company employee William Trent, with instructions to raise a small force. Dinwiddie issued these instructions on his own authority, without asking for funding from the Virginia House of Burgesses until after the fact. Trents company arrived on site in February 1754, and began construction of a storehouse and stockade with the assistance of Tanacharison, in response, the Canadians sent a force of about 500 men, Canadian, French, and Indians under Claude-Pierre Pécaudy de Contrecœur. On April 16, they arrived at the forks, the day, Trents force of 36 men, led by Ensign Edward Ward in Trents absence. The Canadians tore down the British works, and began construction of the fort they called Fort Duquesne, historian Fred Anderson describes Dinwiddies instructions, which were issued without the knowledge or direction of the British government in London, as an invitation to start a war. Washington was ordered to gather as many supplies and paid volunteers as he could along the way, by the time he left for the frontier on April 2, he had gathered 186 men
3.
North America
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North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands
4.
Farmington, Pennsylvania
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Farmington is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Wharton Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located along U. S. Route 40, the National Road, about 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh and it is also home to the 5-star Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. As of the 2010 census the population of Farmington was 767, Farmington is located in northeastern Farmington Township at geographical coordinates 39° 48′ 28″ North, 79° 34′ 1″ West. Via US Route 40, Uniontown, the Fayette County seat, is 12 miles to the northwest, Pittsburgh is 60 miles to the northwest via US40 and Pennsylvania Route 51. The U. S. Postal Service ZIP code for Farmington is 15437
5.
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
6.
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
7.
Major general
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Major general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the rank of sergeant major general. In the Commonwealth, major general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral. In some countries, including much of Eastern Europe, major general is the lowest of the officer ranks. In the old Austro-Hungarian Army, the general was called a Generalmajor. Todays Austrian Federal Army still uses the same term, see also Rank insignias of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces General de Brigade is the lowest rank amongst general officers in the Brazilian Army. AGeneral de Brigada wears two-stars as this is the level for general officers in the Brazilian Army. In tha Brazilian Air Force, the two-star, three-star and four-star rank are known as Brigadeiro, Major-Brigadeiro, see Military ranks of Brazil and Brigadier for more information. In the Canadian Armed Forces, the rank of major-general is both a Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force rank equivalent to the Royal Canadian Navys rank of rear-admiral, a major-general is a general officer, the equivalent of a naval flag officer. The major-general rank is senior to the ranks of brigadier-general and commodore, prior to 1968, the Air Force used the rank of air vice-marshal, instead. In the Canadian Army, the insignia is a wide braid on the cuff. It is worn on the straps of the service dress tunic. On the visor of the cap are two rows of gold oak leaves. Major-generals are initially addressed as general and name, as are all general officers, major-generals are normally entitled to staff cars. In the Estonian military, the general rank is called kindralmajor. The Finnish military equivalent is kenraalimajuri in Finnish, and generalmajor in Swedish and Danish, the French equivalent to the rank of major general is général de division. In the French military, major général is not a rank but an appointment conferred on some generals, usually of général de corps darmée rank, the position of major général can be considered the equivalent of a deputy chief of staff. In the French Army, Major General is a position and the general is normally of the rank of corps general
8.
Coldstream Guards
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The Coldstream Guards is a part of the Guards Division, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It is the oldest regiment in the Regular Army in continuous service, originating in Coldstream. It is one of two regiments of the Household Division that can trace its lineage to the New Model Army, the other being the Blues and Royals. The origin of The Coldstream Guards lies in the English Civil War when Oliver Cromwell gave Colonel George Monck permission to form his own regiment as part of the New Model Army. Monck took men from the regiments of George Fenwick and Sir Arthur Haselrig, five companies each, less than two weeks later, this force took part in the Battle of Dunbar, at which the Roundheads defeated the forces of Charles Stuart. He arrived in London on 2 February and helped in the Restoration of the monarchy, for his help, Monck was given the Order of the Garter and his regiment was assigned to keep order in London. However, the new parliament soon ordered his regiment to be disbanded with the regiments of the New Model Army. Before that could happen, Parliament was forced to rely on the help of the regiment against the rebellion by the Fifth Monarchists led by Thomas Venner on 6 January 1661. The regiment always stands on the left of the line when on parade with the rest of the Foot Guards, when Monck died in 1670, the Earl of Craven took command of the regiment and it adopted a new name, the Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards. The regiment saw service in Flanders and in the Monmouth Rebellion. It fought in the Battle of Walcourt in 1689, the Battle of Landen, in 1760, the 2nd Battalion was sent to Germany to campaign under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick and fought in the Battle of Wilhelmstal and at the Castle of Amöneburg. Three Guards companies of 307 men under Coldstream commander Colonel Edward Mathew fought in the American Revolutionary War, the Coldstream Regiment saw extensive service in the wars against the French Revolution and in the Napoleonic Wars. Under the command of Sir Ralph Abercrombie, it defeated French troops in Egypt, in 1807, it took part in the investment of Copenhagen. In January 1809, it sailed to Portugal to join the forces under Sir Arthur Wellesley, in 1814, it took part in the Battle of Bayonne, in France, where a cemetery keeps their memory. The 2nd Battalion joined the Walcheren Expedition, later, it served as part of the 2nd Guards Brigade in the chateau of Hougoumont on the outskirts of the Battle of Waterloo. The Duke of Wellington himself declared after the battle that the success of the battle turned upon closing the gates at Hougoumont, the regiment was later part of the British occupation forces of Paris until 1816. During the Crimean War, the Coldstream Regiment fought in the battles of Alma, Inkerman, on its return, four men of the regiment were awarded the newly instituted Victoria Cross. The regiment received its current name, The Coldstream Guards, in 1855, in 1882, it was sent to Egypt against the rebels of Ahmed Urabi and in 1885 in the Suakin Campaign
9.
Braddock Expedition
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It was defeated at the Battle of the Monongahela on July 9, and the survivors retreated. The expedition takes its name from General Edward Braddock, who led the British forces and died in the effort. Braddocks defeat was a setback for the British in the early stages of the war with France and has been described as one of the most disastrous defeats for the British in the 18th century. Braddocks expedition was part of a massive British offensive against the French in North America that summer, as commander-in-chief of the British Army in America, General Braddock led the main thrust against the Ohio Country with a column some 2,100 strong. With these men, Braddock expected to seize Fort Duquesne easily, George Washington, then just 23, knew the territory and served as a volunteer aide-de-camp to General Braddock. Braddocks Chief of Scouts was Lieutenant John Fraser of the Virginia Regiment, Fraser owned land at Turtle Creek, had been at Fort Necessity, and had served as Second-in-Command at Fort Prince George, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers. Braddock mostly failed in his attempts to recruit Native American allies from those not yet allied with the French, he had but eight Mingo Indians with him. A number of Indians in the area, notably Delaware leader Shingas, caught between two powerful European empires at war, the local Indians could not afford to be on the side of the loser. They would decide based on Braddocks success or failure, Braddock had received important assistance from Benjamin Franklin, who helped procure wagons and supplies for the expedition. Among the wagoners were two men who would later become legends of American history, Daniel Boone and Daniel Morgan. Other members of the expedition included Ensign William Crawford and Charles Scott, among the British were Thomas Gage, Charles Lee, future American president George Washington, and Horatio Gates. In some cases, the column was able to progress at a rate of two miles a day, creating Braddocks Road—an important legacy of the march—as they went. They passed the ruins of Fort Necessity along the way, where the French, small French and Indian war bands skirmished with Braddocks men during the march. Meanwhile, at Fort Duquesne, the French garrison consisted of only about 250 regulars and Canadian militia, the Indians were from a variety of tribes long associated with the French, including Ottawas, Ojibwas, and Potawatomis. Claude-Pierre Pécaudy de Contrecœur, the Canadian commander, received reports from Indian scouting parties that the British were on their way to besiege the fort. He realised he could not withstand Braddocks cannon, and decided to launch a preemptive strike, by July 8,1755, the Braddock force was on the land owned by the Chief Scout, Lieutenant John Fraser. That evening, the Indians sent a delegation to the British to request a conference, the Indians asked the British to halt their advance so that they could attempt to negotiate a peaceful withdrawal by the French from Fort Duquesne. Both Washington and Fraser recommended this to Braddock but he demurred, on July 9,1755, Braddocks men crossed the Monongahela without opposition, about 10 miles south of Fort Duquesne
10.
War of the Austrian Succession
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The War of the Austrian Succession involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresas succession to the Habsburg Monarchy. The war included King Georges War in British America, the War of Jenkins Ear, the First Carnatic War in India, the Jacobite rising of 1745 in Scotland, and the First and Second Silesian Wars. Austria was supported by Great Britain and the Dutch Republic, the enemies of France, as well as the Kingdom of Sardinia. France and Prussia were allied with the Electorate of Bavaria, the war ended with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, by which Maria Theresa was confirmed as Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary, but Prussia retained control of Silesia. But the peace was soon to be shattered, when Austrias desire to recapture Silesia intertwined with the political changes in Europe. In 1740, after the death of her father, Charles VI, Maria Theresa succeeded him as Queen of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, Archduchess of Austria and Duchess of Parma. The complications involved in a female Habsburg ruler had been long foreseen, problems began when King Frederick II of Prussia violated the Pragmatic Sanction and invaded Silesia on 16 December 1740, using the 1537 Treaty of Brieg as a pretext. For much of the century, France approached its wars in the same way. It would let its colonies defend themselves, or would offer only minimal help, similarly, several long land borders made an effective domestic army imperative for any ruler of France. At the end of the war, France gave back its European conquests, the British—by inclination as well as for pragmatic reasons—had tended to avoid large-scale commitments of troops on the Continent. For the War of the Austrian Succession, the British were allied with Austria, by the time of the Seven Years War, they were allied with its enemy, Prussia. In marked contrast to France, Britain strove to prosecute the war in the colonies once it became involved in the war. The British pursued a strategy of naval blockade and bombardment of enemy ports. They would harass enemy shipping and attack enemy outposts, frequently using colonists from nearby British colonies in the effort and this plan worked better in North America than in Europe, but set the stage for the Seven Years War. Prince Frederick had been only 28 years of age on 31 May 1740 when his father, Frederick William I died, neither Frederick nor his father had ever been fond of Austria and its various snubs against Prussia. Emperor Charles VI had made provision for the succession of his daughter, in support of his invasion of Silesia, Frederick also used a questionable interpretation of a treaty between the Hohenzollerns and the Piasts of Brieg as pretext. In particular, Frederick feared that Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, was preparing to seize Silesia for himself to unite Saxony and Poland. The only recent combat experience of the Prussian Army was their participation in the War of the Polish Succession, accordingly, the Prussian Army had an uninspiring reputation and was counted as one of the many minor armies of the Holy Roman Empire
11.
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
12.
Battle of the Monongahela
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The Battle of the Monongahela, took place on 9 July 1755, at the beginning of the French and Indian War, at Braddocks Field in what is now Braddock, Pennsylvania,10 miles east of Pittsburgh. The defeat marked the end of the Braddock expedition, by which the British had hoped to capture Fort Duquesne, Braddock was mortally wounded in the battle and died during the retreat near present-day Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He specifically asked for George Washington, who accompanied him on the march, the remainder of the column retreated south-eastwards and the fort, and region, remained in French hands until its capture in 1758. Braddock had been dispatched to North America in the new position of Commander-in-Chief and he added to this by recruiting local troops in British America, swelling his forces to roughly 2,200 by the time he set out from Fort Cumberland, Maryland on 29 May. He was accompanied by Virginia Colonel George Washington, who had led the previous expedition to the area. Braddocks expedition was part of an attack on the French in North America. Braddocks orders were to launch an attack into the Ohio Country, disputed by Britain, control of the area was dominated by Fort Duquesne on the forks of the Ohio River. Once it was in his possession, he was to proceed on to Fort Niagara and he soon encountered a number of difficulties. He was scornful of the need to recruit local Native Americans as scouts and he found that the road he was trying to use was slow, and needed constant widening to move artillery and supply wagons along it. Frustrated, he split his force in two, leading a column ahead, with a slower force following with the cannon. The flying column of 1,300 crossed the Monongahela River on 9 July, within 10 miles of their target, Fort Duquesne had been very lightly defended, but had recently received significant reinforcements. Claude-Pierre Pecaudy de Contrecœur, the Canadian commander of the fort, had around 1,600 French troupes de la Marine, Canadian militiamen, concerned by the approach of the British, he dispatched Captain Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu with around 800 troops, to check their advance. The French and Indians arrived too late to set an ambush, as they had delayed. They ran into the British advance guard, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gage, seeing the enemy in the trees, Gage ordered his men to open fire. Despite firing at long range for a smooth-bored musket, their opening volleys succeeded in killing Captain Beaujeu. Unconcerned by the death of Beaujeu, the Indian warriors took up positions to attack and they were fighting on an Indian hunting ground which favored their tactics, with numerous trees and shrubbery separated by wide open spaces. Although roughly a hundred of the Canadians fled back to the fort, the Indian tribes allied with the French, the Ottawas and Potawatomis, used psychological warfare against the British forces. After the Indians killed British soldiers, they would nail their scalps to surrounding trees, during the battle, Indians made a terrifying whoop sound that caused fear and panic to spread in the British infantry
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.
Ohio River Valley
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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
15.
Ensign (rank)
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Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in a regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag. This rank has generally replaced in army ranks by second lieutenant. Ensigns were generally the lowest ranking commissioned officer, except where the rank of subaltern existed. In contrast, the Arab rank of ensign, لواء, liwa, derives from the command of units with an ensign, not the carrier of such a units ensign, and is today the equivalent of a major general. Ensign is enseigne in French, and chorąży in Polish, each of which derives from a term for a flag, the Spanish alférez and Portuguese alferes is a junior officer rank below lieutenant associated with carrying the flag, and so is often translated as ensign. Unlike the rank in other languages, its etymology has nothing to do with flags, in the German Landsknecht armies, the equivalent rank of a Cornet existed for those men who carried the troop standard. It is still used in the artillery and cavalry divisions of the Netherlands, the NATO rank code is OF-1. In Argentina, the rank of ensign is used by both the air force and the gendarmerie and it is, however, used differently in the two services. The air force uses the rank for newly qualified officers, while the gendarmerie uses ensign ranks as an equivalent for the armys lieutenant ranks, the other armed forces of Argentina have ranks equivalent to ensign, subteniente in the army and guardiamarina in the navy. In the army, the most junior sublieutenant in a regiment is also the flag carrier, during the Ancien Régime in France, as in other countries, the ensign was the banner of an infantry regiment. As in other countries, the name began to be used for the officers who carried the ensign and it was renamed sub-lieutenant at the end of the 18th century. The Navy used a rank of ensign, which was the first officer rank. It was briefly renamed ship-of-the-line sub-lieutenant in the end of the 18th century, nowadays, the rank is still used in the Marine Nationale, Ship-of-the-line ensign is the name of the two lowest officer ranks Both ranks of ensign use the style lieutenant. However, French-Canadian sub-lieutenants use the form of enseigne instead of lieutenant. The rank ensign is used to refer to second lieutenants in household regiments of the Canadian Army. Fähnrich which has a parallel etymology to ensign, containing the corresponding German word stem of flag in it, is a German, the word Fähnrich comes from an older German military title, Fahnenträger, and first became a distinct military rank on 1 January 1899. The German Fähnrich is a non-commissioned officer promoted from the rank of Fahnenjunker or Seekadett, Fähnrich is equivalent to Feldwebel, but with additional responsibilities as an officer cadet
16.
Grenadier
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A grenadier was originally a specialized soldier, first established as a distinct role in the mid-to-late 17th century, for the throwing of grenades and sometimes assault operations. At that time grenadiers were chosen from the strongest and largest soldiers, certain countries such as France and Argentina established units of Horse Grenadiers and for a time the British Army had Horse Grenadier Guards. Like their infantry counterparts, these horse-mounted soldiers were chosen for their size. These soldiers operate as part of a fireteam, the concept of throwing grenades may go back to the Ming China, when Chinese soldiers on the Great Wall were reported to be using this weapon. The earliest references to these soldiers in Western armies come from Austria. References also appear in England during the English Civil War, however, it was King Louis XIV of France who made the grenadier an official type of soldier and company during his army reforms late in the 17th century. According to René Chartrand, Lt. Col. Jean Martinet introduced the idea of having men detailed to throw grenades in the Régiment du Roi in 1667 and their clothing being likewise piebald, yellow and red. The first grenades were small iron spheres filled with gunpowder fused with a length of slow-match, understandably, such requirements led to grenadiers being regarded as an elite fighting force. The wide hats with broad brims characteristic of infantry during the late 17th century were discarded and replaced with caps and this was originally to allow the grenadier to sling his musket over his back with greater ease while throwing grenades. Additionally, a brimless hat permitted the greater ease in throwing the grenade overhand. By 1700, grenadiers in the English and other armies had adopted a cap in the shape of a bishops mitre, in addition to grenades, they were equipped with contemporary longarms. The uniform included a tube that held the match for lighting the fuse. Grenade usage declined significantly in the early 18th century, a fact that can be attributed to the effectiveness of massive infantry line tactics. However, the need for assault troops remained, and the existing grenadier companies were used for this purpose. As noted, above average physical size had been considered important for the grenadiers and, in principle, height. In the British regiments of foot during the 18th century the preference was, however, the traditional criterion of size was only resorted to when newly raised regiments required a quick sorting of a mass of new recruits. Transferral to a company generally meant both enhanced status and an increase in subsistence pay. Whether for reasons of appearance or reputation, grenadiers tended to be the showpiece troops of their respective armies, when a regiment was in line formation the grenadiers were always the company which formed on the right flank
17.
Siege of Bergen op Zoom (1747)
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Bergen op Zoom was defended by allies, consisting of the Dutch, Austrians, British, Hanoverians and Hessians, that supported the Pragmatic Sanction. After seven years of war, both sides in this conflict were suffering from weariness of the war. Although tentative peace initiatives had been put forward, neither side was yet willing to make meaningful concessions, the capture of Bergen op Zoom would be a signal defeat for the Dutch and would open the door for an invasion of the Dutch Netherlands. Saxe calculated that his numerically inferior opponents would not be able to defend two fortified cities at once. Bergen op Zoom was a town with a population of some 5,000 people. The circumference of the ramparts was about three miles with ten bastions covered by five hornworks. The intervals contain twenty one ravelins which are covered by stone lunettes, much of the surrounding country was marshland. Because of these lines and some lines to the west, Bergen op Zoom could not be completely invested. The fortress was the work of the great Dutch engineer. It was believed to be impregnable and was considered the strongest fortification in Dutch Brabant, Bergen op Zoom had withstood two previous sieges, the first in 1588 and a second in 1622. It could be supplied with munitions and provision by boats using two navigable canals each defended by its own fort, Bergen op Zoom was well-garrisoned and well-supplied, so the siege by French forces did not cause immediate alarm in the Netherlands. The fortress had access to the sea, and the Dutch navy supplied the fortress without serious interference by the French, the French, since they were the besieging force and controlled much of the surrounding area, were also well-supplied and reinforced. However, the allies had an army under Prince Waldeck nearby which posed a threat to French supply lines. The various bastions, ravelins and lunettes of the fortification were all named and would mount over 230 cannon, the principal effort of the French concentrated on the bastions Coehoorn and Pucelle. Facing the French trench lines, the sides of Coehoorn were flanked on its right by the ravelin Antwerpen, between the bastion and Antwerpen was the lunette Holland and between the bastion and Diden was the lunette Zealand. To the left of Diden was the lunette, Utrecht, and this area would witness the most continuous and fierce combat of the siege. On the night of the 14 July the French opened the trenches using 2,400 workers supported by 10 companies of grenadiers and 5 battalions of infantry. Lowendal used 12,000 of his troops to man the trench lines, the first parallel was laid overnight of the first day,400 paces out from the fortifications
18.
Colonel (United Kingdom)
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Colonel is a rank of the British Army and Royal Marines, ranking below brigadier, and above lieutenant colonel. British colonels are not usually field commanders, typically they serve as staff officers between field commands at battalion and brigade level, the insignia is two diamond-shaped pips below a crown. The crown has varied in the past with different monarchs, the current Queens reign has used St Edwards Crown, the rank is equivalent to captain in the Royal Navy and group captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of colonel was popularized by the tercios that were employed in the Spanish Army during the 16th and 17th centuries, general Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba divided his troops in to coronelías ). These units were led by a coronel and this command structure and its titles were soon adopted as colonello in early modern Italian and in Middle French as coronel. The modern English pronunciation of the word is derived from the French variant, the British Army has historically been organized around the regiment, with each regiment being raised, uniformed, and equipped or either directly by the crown or by a nobleman. By the end of 17th century in Great Britain, the colonel of a regiment was often a person who had been given Royal Assent to raise it for service. As such, he was required to cover all costs of the equipment, uniforms. Until the late 18th century most British regiments were known by the name of the colonelcy. It occasionally raised its own fighting units, such as battoemen, the reforms meant that the British government was now financially responsible for the pay, clothing and equipment of the troops in the service of the British Crown. Colonels were also no longer permitted to directly from the sale of officer commissions in their regiments. A lieutenant-colonel commanded the regiment in battle, by the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, the title colonel of the regiment had become a sinecure appointment for distinguished generals and members of the royal family or British nobility. Despite an individual only being permitted to hold one colonelcy, it was a position as they were in financial charge of their regiments allowance from the government. This meant they could hope to make a profit on the allocated for equipment, supplies. As generals were mostly on half-pay, a colonelcy was a method of providing them with extra income, however it should be noted that many colonels spent large sums of their own money on their regiments. Some of the duties associated with the title Colonel of the Regiment continue to be used in the modern British Army. The ceremonial position is often conferred on retired general officers, brigadiers or colonels who have a link to a particular regiment. Non-military personnel, usually for positions within the Army Reserve may also be appointed to the ceremonial position, when attending functions as Colonel of the Regiment, the titleholder wears the regimental uniform with rank insignia of colonel, regardless of their official rank
19.
West Yorkshire Regiment
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The West Yorkshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was raised by Sir Edward Hales in 1685, by order of King James II, one of the nine new regiments of foot, raised to meet the Monmouth Rebellion it was termed Haless Regiment. The regiment served in Flanders between 1693 and 1696 and gained its first battle honour at Namur in 1695,1715 saw the regiment moved to Scotland to fight the Jacobite risings. In 1727 the regiment played a part in defending Gibraltar against the Spanish. 1745 saw the regiment in Flanders fighting at Fontenoy before being recalled to Scotland by Cumberland to fight the 45 Rebellion, fighting at Falkirk and Culloden, it became the 14th of Foot in 1751. The regiment returned to Gibraltar in 1751 for another 8-year stay, in 1765, when stationed at Windsor, it was granted royal permission for the grenadiers to wear bearskin caps with the White Horse of Hanover signifying the favour of the King. In 1766, the regiment left Portsmouth for North America and was stationed in Nova Scotia, the 14th although at the ready in their barracks did not play a part in the Boston Massacre. Captain Thomas was the officer of the day in charge of the duty detail that faced the crowds outside of the Customs House. The crowd that gathered began taunting the detail until a shot, then volley was fired into the crowd, captain Preston and the detail went to trial and were successfully defended by Lawyer John Adams thus ending tensions between the crown and the citizens of Boston for the time being. The 14th would remain part of the Boston Garrison until 1772, in 1772, the 14th arrived in St Vincent as part of the force to subjugate the maroons. Due to bush fighting and disease the regiment was depleted in numbers, at dawn on 1 January 1776, the fleet opened fire on Norfolk. Between the firing of the buildings and the firing on the town. After the fleet left, the rebels reoccupied what remained of the town, after all was said and done,1,298 buildings were destroyed and the 5th largest city in colonial America ceased to exist. After Norfolk, the left for Turkey Point near Portsmouth where it would base operations. While at Turkey Point there were a series of small raids, the fleet would stay at Turkey point only until late May when it would leave for Gwynns Island. In August, the fleet withdrew from the Chesapeake and headed to New York, the 14th was withdrawn from service, it being severely under strength from disease and battle in both the Caribbean and Virginia. In New York the remaining men of the regiment were used to supplement other regiments in the area, the officers were sent back to Britain to recruit a new regiment. The rifle companies fought well at the battle of Brandywine in Pennsylvania on 11 September, after the experimental rifle companies returned to England they were made the light companies of their respective regiments, thus ended the 14th Regiments participation in the American Revolution
20.
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
21.
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
22.
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
23.
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
24.
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
25.
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
26.
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
27.
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
28.
Battle of Fort Niagara
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The Battle of Fort Niagara was a siege late in the French and Indian War, the North American theatre of the Seven Years War. Amherst chose Brigadier General John Prideaux to lead the expedition, which also included Sir William Johnson, Fort Niagara had been largely constructed under the direction of Captain Pierre Pouchot of the French Army. In early 1759, General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm and New Frances Governor, the forces left to defend Niagara consisted of about 200 men from the regiments of Royal Roussillon, Languedoc, La Sarre, and Béarn,20 artillerymen, and about 300 provincial troops and militia. Prideauxs British Army troops consisted of the 44th and 46th Regiments and he also commanded 2500 provincial militia from New York and 700 from Rhode Island. Delayed by high water on the Mohawk River and the arrival of some of the provincial companies. On 27 June the army arrived at Fort Oswego, where they were joined by Johnson, leaving men behind to garrison Oswego, Prideaux departed on 1 July for Niagara with about 3,500 men. While the French had ships patrolling Lake Ontario for British movements and they arrived at Fort Niagara on 6 July, landed near a marsh out of sight of the fort, and immediately began siege operations. The French had about one hundred Iroquois allies at the Fort who deserted when the British arrived, Captain Pouchot directed a vigorous defense. Prideaux was killed when a fragment from one of his own guns hit him. Johnson was an officer and not in the regular army. The French capitulated on 26 July after a French relief force was defeated at the Battle of La Belle-Famille two miles south of the fort, the capitulation of Fort Niagara occurred on the same day that French troops abandoned Fort Carillon to an overwhelming British army under General Amherst. Fort St. Frédéric was also destroyed as French troops abandoned Lake Champlain to protect the Canadian heartland, most French forces were at Quebec, where Montcalm was leading the defences against Wolfes siege. Quebec fell in September 1759, and all of New France was surrendered in September 1760, the remaining French forts in the Ohio and Illinois Country were eventually turned over to British forces. Siege -1759, The Campaign against Niagara
29.
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
30.
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
31.
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
32.
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
33.
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
34.
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
35.
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
36.
Great Britain in the Seven Years' War
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Great Britain was one of the major participants in the Seven Years War which lasted between 1756 and 1763. The war started poorly for Britain, which suffered many deaths from the plague and scurvy, and at the hands of France in North America during 1754–55, and in the loss of Minorca in 1756. The same year Britains major ally Austria switched sides and aligned itself with France, for the next seven years these two nations were ranged against a growing number of enemy powers led by France. In 1759 Britain enjoyed an Annus Mirabilis with success over the French on the continent, in North America, in 1761 Britain also came into conflict with Spain. The following year British forces captured Havana and Manila, the western and eastern capitals of the Spanish Empire, by this time the Pitt-Newcastle ministry had collapsed, Britain was short of credit and the generous peace terms offered by France and its allies were accepted. Through the crown, Britain was allied to the Electorate of Hanover and Kingdom of Ireland and it also directed the military strategy of its various colonies around the world including British America. In India British possessions were administered by the East India Company, by the early 1750s many saw another major war as imminent, and Austria was preparing its forces for an attempt to retake Silesia from Prussia. The British Prime Minister, the Duke of Newcastle, had acceded to the premiership in 1754 following the death of his brother Henry Pelham. Newcastle had thirty years experience as a Secretary of State and was a figure on the diplomatic scene. Despite enjoying a majority in the House of Commons he was extremely cautious and vulnerable to attacks led by men such as William Pitt. Newcastle fervently believed that peace in Europe was possible so long as the Old System, one of the major concerns for the British government of the era was colonial expansion. During the eighteenth century the British colonies in North America had become more populous, the territory most prized by the new settlers was the Ohio Country, which was also claimed by France. As well as having potential, it was considered strategically key. French control of territory would block British expansion westwards and eventually French territory would surround the British colonies. A number of delegations to London urged the government to take more decisive action in the Ohio dispute. The Ohio country located between Britains Thirteen Colonies and Frances New France saw France and Britain clash, in 1753 the French sent an expedition south from Montreal that began constructing forts in the upper reaches of the Ohio River. Washington and some native allies ambushed a company of French scouts at the Battle of Jumonville Glen in late May 1754, in the skirmish the French envoy Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville was left dead, leading to a diplomatic incident. The French responded in force from Fort Duquesne, and in July Washington was forced to surrender at the Battle of Fort Necessity, despite the conflict between them, the two nations were not yet formally at war
37.
Hampton, Virginia
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Hampton is an independent city in Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 137,436, as one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Since consolidation in 1952, Hampton has included the former Elizabeth City County, in the 20th century, the area became the location of Langley Air Force Base, NASA Langley Research Center, and the Virginia Air and Space Center. Hampton features many miles of waterfront and beaches, for residents and visitors alike, the city features a wide array of business and industrial enterprises, retail and residential areas, and historical sites. Most recently, the new Peninsula Town Center development opened in May 2010 on the site of the former Coliseum Mall. Located in the adjacent to the Hampton Coliseum and the Convention Center. Development of new development and additional public facilities are underway at Buckroe Beach. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel on Interstate 64, expanded in the 1970s, the HRBT remains Virginias busiest and deepest such facility. In December 1606, three ships carrying men and boys left England on a mission sponsored by a proprietary company, headed by Captain Christopher Newport, they sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to North America. After a long voyage, they first landed at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay on the shore at a place they named Cape Henry. During the first few days of exploration, they identified the site of Old Point Comfort as a defensive location at the entrance to the body of water that became known as Hampton Roads. This is formed by the confluence of the Elizabeth, Nansemond, the latter is the longest river in Virginia. Slightly south, near the entrance to Hampton River, the colonists seized the Native American community of Kecoughtan under Virginias Governor, the colonists established their own small town, with a small Anglican church, on July 9,1610. This came to be known as part of Hampton, the area became part of Elizabeth Cittie in 1619, Elizabeth River Shire in 1634, and was included in Elizabeth City County when it was formed in 1643. By 1680, the settlement was known as Hampton, and it was incorporated as a town in 1705, in the latter part of August 1619, an English ship flying a Dutch flag, the White Lion, appeared off shore from Point Comfort. Its cargo included 20 plus Africans captured from the slave ship Sao Joao Bautista and these were the first Africans to come ashore on English-occupied land in what would become the United States. John Rolfe, the widower of Pocahontas, wrote in a letter that he was at Point Comfort, although these first Bantu men from Angola were considered indentured servants, their arrival marked the beginning of slavery in North America. Two of the first Africans to arrive at Old Point Comfort in 1619 were Antoney and their child, the first of African descent born in North America, was born baptized January 1624
38.
Colony of Virginia
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The Colony of Virginia was the first permanently settled English colony in North America. Newfoundland, with settlements, had been established as a colony by Royal Charter in 1583. American archaeologist William Kelso says Virginia is where the British Empire began and this was the first colony in the British Empire. The colony existed briefly during the 16th century, and then continuously from 1607 until the American Revolution, the name Virginia was first applied by Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth I in 1584. In 1607, members of a joint venture called the Virginia Company founded Jamestown, tobacco became Virginias first profitable export, the production of which had a significant impact on the society and settlement patterns. In 1624, the Virginia Companys charter was revoked by King James I, from 1619 to 1776, the legislature of the Virginia was the House of Burgesses, which governed in conjunction with a colonial governor. Jamestown remained the capital of the Virginia colony until 1699, from 1699 until its dissolution the capital was in Williamsburg and it experienced its first major political turmoil with Bacons Rebellion of 1676. The name Virginia is the oldest designation for English claims in North America, the latter word may have inspired the Queen to name the colony Virginia, noting her status as the Virgin Queen. in Carolina Algonquian, and was not the name of the country as previously misunderstood. Virginia was originally a term used to refer to North Americas entire eastern coast from the 34th parallel north to 48th parallel and this area included a large section of Canada and the shores of Acadia. In gratitude for Virginians loyalty to the crown during the English Civil War, Charles II gave it the title of Old Dominion, Virginia maintains Old Dominion as its state nickname. Accordingly, the University of Virginias athletic teams use Cavaliers as one of their nicknames, earlier attempts had been made by the Spanish in what is now Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, and by the French in South Carolina. Farther south, the Spanish colony of Spanish Florida, centered on St. Augustine, was established in 1565, while to the north, in 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh sent his first colonization mission to the island of Roanoke. This was the first English settlement, although it did not survive and it was a military research expedition with a very narrow focus. In 1587, Raleigh sent another group to attempt to establish a permanent settlement. The first English child born in the New World was named Virginia Dare, the expedition leader, John White returned to England for supplies that same year, but was unable to return to the colony due to war between England and Spain. When he finally did return in 1590, he found the colony abandoned, the houses were intact, but the colonists had completely disappeared. Although there are a number of theories about the fate of the colony, Dare County was named in honor of the baby Virginia Dare, who was among those whose fate is unknown. The word Croatoan was found carved into a tree, the name of a tribe on a nearby island, following the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, King James I ascended to the throne
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Congress of Alexandria
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The Congress or Council of Alexandria was a 1755 meeting of Major-General Edward Braddock, commander-in-chief of the British Army in North America and governors of five of the constituent colonies. These were Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia, Horatio Sharpe of Maryland, Robert Hunter Morris of Pennsylvania, William Shirley of Massachusetts, the meeting was held on 15 April 1755 at Carlyle House in Alexandria, Virginia, home of one of that citys prominent figures, John Carlyle. The meeting was an attempt by Braddock to raise funds for a war fund to fight the French in the coming French, the governors rebuffed the request demanding prior funding from the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Congress did, however, agree on a war plan for an attack against New France. Sir William Johnson of New York, who was present at the meeting, was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs. He was tasked with meeting with the Iroquois Confederacy to keep neutral in the war. The Congress of Alexandria is sometimes noted as the beginning of intercolony dialogue, the meeting is reenacted every year at the Carlyle House. Carlyle House - History, Braddock at Carlyle House Historic Park website Richard Henry Spencer, the Carlyle House and its Associations--Braddocks Headquarters--Here the Colonial Governors met in Council, April,1755. William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine
40.
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
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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
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Fort Crown Point
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Erected to secure the region against the French, the fort is in upstate New York near the town of Crown Point and was the largest earthen fortress built in the United States. The forts ruins, a National Historic Landmark, are now administered as part of Crown Point State Historic Site, the French built a fortress at Crown Point in the 1730s with 12-foot thick limestone walls named Fort St. Frederic. British forces targeted it twice during the French and Indian War before the French destroyed it in the summer of 1759, amherst used the construction of the fort as a means of keeping his men working through the winter of 1759 after pushing the French into modern Canada. The fort was never directly assaulted, mostly built after the threat of French invasion had ended, it was used largely for staging rather than as a position in its own right. On April 21,1773, a fire broke out in the soldiers barracks. It quickly spread, burning for days, in May 1774, British military engineer John Montresor described the fort with the following words, the conflagration of the late fort has rendered it an amazing useless mass of earth only. Montresor proposed expanding and improving one of the rather than attempting to repair the main fort. After the French and Indian War, the British left a force at the fort. They quickly yielded to Capt. Seth Warner and 100 Green Mountain Boys, the Americans captured 111 cannons from the British at Crown Point, and transported 29 to Boston for the defense of Boston Harbor. The fort was used as a ground by Benedict Arnold during the Revolution for his navy on Lake Champlain. After the destruction of that navy in 1776 during the Battle of Valcour Island, in 1780 the British abandoned the fort and, following their success in the Revolution, the United States had no need for it, so left it to deteriorate. The large earthen walls of the Fort are still today in the 21st century. The fire of April 1773 had entirely destroyed the log and earth fortress, the stone ruins of two barracks buildings remain at the site and are being preserved. The fort was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1968
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Robert Monckton
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Robert Monckton was an officer of the British army and also a colonial administrator in British North America. He had a military and political career, being second in command to General Wolfe at the battle of Quebec. The city of Moncton, New Brunswick, and Fort Monckton in Port Elgin, Robert Monckton was the second son of Elizabeth Manners and John Monckton and, like many second sons of British aristocrats, he entered military service. He enlisted in 1741 at the age of 15 and received a commission in the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards. He saw action in the War of the Austrian Succession, later staying on in Flanders after the bulk of the British Army had been recalled in 1745 to deal with the Jacobite Rebellion. He rose rapidly through the ranks, eventually becoming lieutenant colonel in charge of the 47th Foot in early 1752, Moncktons father died later that year and he subsequently inherited the family controlled seat of Pontefract in Parliament. Monckton stayed in this posting for less than a year but the experience he gained during this time would prove invaluable to him during subsequent events. Monckton was called to Halifax in 1753 to preside over a court martial but was asked to stay on as a member of the colonial council, Monckton deftly handled a minor uprising by German settlers near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia later that year. This process ultimately led to the beginning of the final French and Indian War, the ships dropped anchor at the mouth of the Missaguash River and the British forces were able to land unopposed. Using Fort Lawrence as an area, Monckton quickly surrounded Fort Beausejour. During this time sappers were used to dig zig-zag offensive trenches until they were enough to the fort to allow for bombardment by 13 inch mortars. The French commander of the fort, Louis Du Pont Duchambon de Vergor, being outnumbered more than four to one, morale in the fort deteriorated considerably once word was received that reinforcements would not be arriving from Fortress Louisbourg. Desertions within the Acadian irregular ranks became a major problem, after one of the British mortar rounds hit the officers mess killing several French soldiers, Vergor decided to capitulate. The British forces then occupied the fort and renamed it Fort Cumberland, following the capitulation, Monckton treated the defeated French generously and offered the garrison passage to Fortress Louisbourg. He also pardoned the Acadian irregulars, the French commander of Fort Gaspareaux, on the opposite side of the Isthmus of Chignecto, was offered the same terms on the following day, thus securing the frontier of Nova Scotia. Fort Gaspareaux was subsequently renamed Fort Monckton and this of course ignored the fact that the vast majority of the Acadians in the fort were from French controlled Acadia and not from British controlled Nova Scotia. The Acadians again refused to comply, the die was thus cast and Lawrence subsequently issued the order to expel the Acadian population from the region. This decision was influenced by the recent conflicts between the British colonial authorities and the Acadians in Nova Scotia during Father Le Loutres War
Great Britain
British Army
