1.
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
2.
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
3.
George II of Great Britain
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George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death. George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain, he was born, after the deaths of Sophia and Anne, Queen of Great Britain, in 1714, his father George I, Elector of Hanover, inherited the British throne. In the first years of his fathers reign as king, George was associated with opposition politicians, as king from 1727, George exercised little control over British domestic policy, which was largely controlled by the Parliament of Great Britain. As elector, he spent twelve summers in Hanover, where he had direct control over government policy. He had a relationship with his eldest son, Frederick. During the War of the Austrian Succession, George participated at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743, Frederick died unexpectedly in 1751, nine years before his father, and so George II was ultimately succeeded by his grandson, George III. For two centuries after George IIs death, history tended to him with disdain, concentrating on his mistresses, short temper. Since then, most scholars have reassessed his legacy and conclude that he held and exercised influence in foreign policy and military appointments. George was born in the city of Hanover in Germany, and was the son of George Louis, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg, both of Georges parents committed adultery, and in 1694 their marriage was dissolved on the pretext that Sophia had abandoned her husband. She was confined to Ahlden House and denied access to her two children, George and his sister Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, who never saw their mother again. George spoke only French, the language of diplomacy and the court, until the age of four, after which he was taught German by one of his tutors, Johann Hilmar Holstein. In addition to French and German, he was schooled in English and Italian. Georges second cousin once removed, Queen Anne, ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1702, consequently, after his grandmother and father, George was third in line to succeed Anne in two of her three realms. England and Scotland united in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, Georges father did not want his son to enter into a loveless arranged marriage as he had, and wanted him to have the opportunity of meeting his bride before any formal arrangements were made. Negotiations from 1702 for the hand of Princess Hedvig Sophia of Sweden, Dowager Duchess and regent of Holstein-Gottorp, the English envoy to Hanover, Edmund Poley, reported that George was so taken by the good character he had of her that he would not think of anybody else. A marriage contract was concluded by the end of July, on 22 August /2 September 1705O. S. /N. S. Caroline arrived in Hanover for her wedding, which was held the evening in the chapel at Herrenhausen. George was keen to participate in the war against France in Flanders, in early 1707, Georges hopes were fulfilled when Caroline gave birth to a son, Frederick
4.
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
5.
Battle of Jumonville Glen
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The British colonial force had been sent to protect a fort under construction under the auspices of the Ohio Company at the location of present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A larger Canadien force had driven off the construction crew. Washington was alerted to Jumonvilles presence by Tanacharison, and they joined forces to surround the Canadian camp, some of the Canadians were killed in the ambush, and most of the others were captured. Jumonville was among the slain, although the circumstances of his death are a subject of historical controversy. Since Britain and France were not then at war, the event had international repercussions, after the action, Washington retreated to Fort Necessity, where Canadian forces from Fort Duquesne compelled his surrender. The terms of Washingtons surrender included a statement admitting that Jumonville was assassinated and this document and others were used by the French and Canadiens to level accusations that Washington had ordered Jumonvilles slaying. Authorities in New France became more aggressive in their efforts to expel British traders and colonists from this area, the French action drew the attention of not just the British, but also the Indian tribes of the area. In particular, Tanacharison, a Mingo chief also known as the Half King, 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. Virginia Royal Governor Robert Dinwiddie sent militia Major George Washington to the Ohio Country as an emissary in December 1753, Washington returned to Williamsburg and informed Governor Dinwiddie that the French refused to leave. 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, when Contrecœur learned of Trents activity, he led a force of about 500 men to drive them off. On April 16, Contrecœurs force arrived at the forks, the day, Trents force of 36 men, led by Ensign Edward Ward in Trents absence. The French then 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 up 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 recruited fewer than 160 men. Along their march through the forests of the frontier, Washington was joined by men at Winchester
6.
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
7.
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
8.
Forbes Expedition
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The Forbes Expedition was a British military expedition led by Brigadier-General John Forbes in 1758, during the latter stages of the French and Indian War. Forbes commanded between 6,000 and 8,000 men, including a contingent of Virginians led by George Washington and this well organized expedition was in contrast to a similar expedition led by Edward Braddock in 1755 that ended in the disastrous Battle of the Monongahela. Working for most of the summer on the construction of the road, periodic fortified supply depots, in mid-September, a reconnaissance force was soundly defeated in the Battle of Fort Duquesne when its leader, Major James Grant, attempted to capture the fort instead of gathering information alone. This collapse of Native American support made it impossible for the French to hold Fort Duquesne, when the expedition neared to within a few miles of Fort Duquesne in mid-November, the French abandoned and blew up the fort. Three units of scouts led by Captain Hugh Waddell entered the smoking remnants of the fort under the orders of Colonel George Washington on November 24, general Forbes, who was ill with dysentery for much of the expedition, only briefly visited the ruins. He was returned to Philadelphia in a litter, and died not long afterward, Forbes Road Braddock Expedition Nemacolins Path Beaver Wars Susquehannock peoples Erie peoples Shawnee Anderson, Fred. Crucible of War, The Seven Years War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, the British Defeat of the French in Pennsylvania,1758, A Military History of the Forbes Campaign Against Fort Duquesne. Fowler, William M. Empires at war, The French and Indian War and the Struggle for North America 1754-1763
9.
George Washington
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George Washington was an American politician and soldier who served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and he is popularly considered the driving force behind the nations establishment and came to be known as the father of the country, both during his lifetime and to this day. Washington was widely admired for his leadership qualities and was unanimously elected president by the Electoral College in the first two national elections. Washingtons incumbency established many precedents still in use today, such as the system, the inaugural address. His retirement from office two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term. The 22nd Amendment now limits the president to two elected terms and he was born into the provincial gentry of Colonial Virginia to a family of wealthy planters who owned tobacco plantations and slaves, which he inherited. In his youth, he became an officer in the colonial militia during the first stages of the French. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress commissioned him as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, in that command, Washington forced the British out of Boston in 1776 but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter, he defeated the British in two battles, retook New Jersey, and restored momentum to the Patriot cause and his strategy enabled Continental forces to capture two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies, after victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism. Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which devised a new form of government for the United States. Following his election as president in 1789, he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation and he supported Alexander Hamiltons programs to satisfy all debts, federal and state, established a permanent seat of government, implemented an effective tax system, and created a national bank. In avoiding war with Great Britain, he guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795 and he remained non-partisan, never joining the Federalist Party, although he largely supported its policies. Washingtons Farewell Address was a primer on civic virtue, warning against partisanship, sectionalism. He retired from the presidency in 1797, returning to his home, upon his death, Washington was eulogized as first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen by Representative Henry Lee III of Virginia. He was revered in life and in death, scholarly and public polling consistently ranks him among the top three presidents in American history and he has been depicted and remembered in monuments, public works, currency, and other dedications to the present day. He was born on February 11,1731, according to the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar was adopted within the British Empire in 1752, and it renders a birth date of February 22,1732. Washington was of primarily English gentry descent, especially from Sulgrave and his great-grandfather John Washington emigrated to Virginia in 1656 and began accumulating land and slaves, as did his son Lawrence and his grandson, Georges father Augustine
10.
Robert Dinwiddie
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Since the governors at that time were largely absentee, he was the de facto head of the colony for much of the time. Dinwiddie was born at Glasgow before 2 October 1692, the son of Robert Dinwiddie of Germiston and he matriculated at the University in 1707 before starting work as a merchant. Joining the British colonial service in 1727, Dinwiddie was appointed collector of the customs for Bermuda, Dinwiddies actions as lieutenant governor are cited by one historian as precipitating the French and Indian War, commonly held to have begun in 1754. In 1753, Dinwiddie learned the French had built Fort Presque Isle near Lake Erie and Fort Le Boeuf, in fact, he considered Winchester, Virginia, to be exposed to the enemy, Cumberland, Maryland, was only to be fortified the next year. Dinwiddie sent an expedition under George Washington to warn the French to withdraw. Washington, then only 21 years old, made the journey in midwinter of 1753–54, Washington arrived at Fort Le Boeuf on 11 December 1753. Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, commandant at Fort Le Boeuf, a veteran of the west, received Washington politely. Jacques Saint-Pierre gave Washington three days hospitality at the fort, and then gave Washington a letter for him to deliver to Dinwiddie. The letter conveyed to Dinwiddie that he would send Dinwiddies on to Marquis de Duquesne in Quebec and would meantime maintain his post while he awaited the latters orders. The French quickly drove off the Virginians and built a fort on the site, calling it Fort Duquesne, in honour of the Marquis de Duquesne. Dinwiddie named Joshua Fry to the position of Commander-in-Chief of colonial forces, Fry was given command of the Virginia Regiment and was ordered to take Fort Duquesne, then held by the French. During the advance into the Ohio Country, Fry suddenly fell off his horse and died from his injuries on 31 May 1754 at Fort Cumberland, in early spring 1754, Dinwiddie sent Washington to build a road to the Monongahela. Here he encountered the French in a skirmish on 3 July 1754 and was forced to surrender, in fact, the friction between the government and the Burgesses would eventually develop into the American Revolution. In January 1758 he left Virginia, to be replaced by Francis Fauquier, Dinwiddie County, Virginia, which lies 30 miles south of Richmond, is named in honor of Robert Dinwiddie. Dinwiddie Hall, since 1972 a dormitory at the College of William & Mary, is named in honor of Robert Dinwiddie. Robert Dinwiddie died on 27 July 1770 and he married some time before 1738 Rebecca Auchinleck, together they had two children Rebecca Dinwiddie and Elizabeth Dinwiddie. His official records, which were compiled by the Virginia Historical Society in 1883, are left in five volumes and they cover the years of his administration of the Virginia colony, from 1751 to 1758. His archival material resides at several places, and some related to the French and he was the subject of the book Robert Dinwiddie, Servant of the Crown
11.
John Forbes (British Army officer)
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John Forbes was a British general in the French and Indian War. Forbes was born on his familys Pittencrieff Estate in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland in 1707, after beginning to study medicine, he decided in his second year as a student to become a soldier and was accepted and commissioned as a lieutenant in the Scots Greys in 1735. He saw action in the War of the Austrian Succession and in the Jacobite rising of 1745 and he was promoted to a Lieutenant-colonelcy in the Scots Greys in 1750 and in 1757 made Colonel of the 17th Regiment of Foot. When the French and Indian War broke out, Forbes was sent to the fighting in the New World and his first action in North America came in 1757 when he was dispatched to reinforce an attack on the French fortress of Louisburg in what is now Nova Scotia. In December 1757, he was promoted to general and assigned to command an expedition to capture Fort Duquesne. Lt. Colonel George Washington, who had been a member of Braddock’s campaign, accompanied the expedition, a Swiss-born colonel of the Royal American Regiment, Henry Bouquet, served as Forbes second-in-command. In the summer of 1758, Forbes began his campaign to capture Fort Duquesne, rather than move on Fort Duquesne via Braddock’s road, which began in western Maryland, Forbes began his march in eastern Pennsylvania. This decision led to political infighting among the Pennsylvanians and Virginians in his expedition. Both colonies claimed the Ohio River country, Forbes was able to quell the dissent by agreeing to improve Braddocks original road, but travel the route through Pennsylvania, which was longer but required fewer river crossings. This also gave the advantage of forcing the French to divide their assets. With just under 7,000 regular and provincial troops, Forbes began his push from his stores in Carlisle. Forbes authorized a reconnaissance in force, with this defeat, Forbes decided to wait until the spring to attack. In the fall of 1758, Conrad Weiser arbitrated a council at Easton, Pennsylvania and this collapse of Native American support was a factor in the French decision to abandon Fort Duquesne. Soon after his decision to wait, Forbes received word that the French garrison at Fort Frontenac had fallen, Forbes decided to launch an immediate attack on the weakened fort. Forbes divided his command into three columns in preparation to make the assault on the fortress. But the French, who were now outnumbered, abandoned and razed Fort Duquesne before the British arrived. Forbes occupied the fort on 25 November 1758. He immediately ordered the construction of a new fortification to be named Fort Pitt and he also named the settlement between the rivers Pittsburgh, which is the location of modern Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
12.
Ohio Country
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The Ohio Country was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie. This area was disputed in the century by France and Great Britain. One of the first frontier regions of the United States, the area encompassed roughly all of present-day Ohio, northwestern West Virginia, western Pennsylvania, and eastern Indiana. After the Revolution and resolution of claims to the territory, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 established the boundaries of the Northwest Territory. The territory included all the land of the United States west of Pennsylvania and it covered all of the modern states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and the northeastern part of Minnesota. The area covered more than 260,000 square miles, in the 17th century, the area north of the Ohio River had been occupied by the Algonquian-speaking Shawnee and some Siouan language-speaking tribes. The Iroquois conquered and absorbed the Erie tribe, who were one of the Iroquoian language family, the Ohio Country remained largely uninhabited for decades, and was used primarily as a hunting ground by the Iroquois. In the 1720s, a number of Native American groups began to migrate to the Ohio Country from the East, by 1724, Delaware Indians had established the village of Kittanning on the Allegheny River in present-day western Pennsylvania. With them came those Shawnee who had settled in the east. Other bands of the scattered Shawnee tribe began to return to the Ohio Country in the decades that followed, a number of Seneca and other Iroquois also migrated to the Ohio Country, moving away from the French and British imperial rivalries south of Lake Ontario. The Seneca were the westernmost of the Iroquois nations based in New York, in the late 1740s and the second half of the 18th century, the British angled for control of the territory. In 1749, the British Crown, via the colonial government of Virginia, with the arrival of the Europeans, both Great Britain and France claimed the area and both sent fur traders into the area to do business with the Ohio Country Indians. The Iroquois League claimed the region by right of conquest, the rivalry between the two European nations, the Iroquois, and the Ohio natives for control of the region played an important part in the French and Indian War from 1754 through 1760. After initially remaining neutral, the Ohio Country Indians largely sided with the French, armed with supplies and guns from the French, they raided via the Kittanning Path against British settlers east of the Alleghenies. After they destroyed Fort Granville in the summer of 1756, the colonial governor John Penn ordered Lt. Colonel John Armstrong to destroy the Shawnee villages west of the Alleghenies, the British defeated the French and their allies. Meanwhile, other British and colonial forces drove the French from Fort Duquesne and building Fort Pitt, in the 1763 Treaty of Paris, France ceded control of the entire Ohio region to Great Britain, without consulting its native allies, who still believed they had territorial claims. Colonies such as Pennsylvania and Virginia claimed some of the lands by their original charters. The British ordered the settlers to leave or get special permission to stay
13.
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
14.
Edward Braddock
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He is generally best remembered for his command of a disastrous expedition against the French-occupied Ohio River Valley then in western Virginia or Pennsylvania in 1755, in which he lost his life. The son of Major-General Edward Braddock of the Coldstream Guards, Braddock was appointed ensign in his fathers regiment on 11 October 1710, on 26 May 1718 he fought a duel in Hyde Park, Hisenburg with a Colonel Waller. He was promoted to captain in 1736, major in 1743 and he participated in the Siege of Bergen op Zoom in 1747. On 17 February 1753 he was appointed colonel of the 14th Regiment of Foot, appointed shortly afterwards to command against the French in America, he landed in Hampton, in the colony of Virginia on 20 February 1755 with two regiments of British regulars. He met with several of the governors at the Congress of Alexandria on 14 April and was persuaded to undertake vigorous actions against the French. A general from Massachusetts would attack at Fort Niagara, General Johnson at Fort Saint-Frédéric at Crown Point and he would lead an Expedition against Fort Duquesne at the Forks of the Ohio. Braddock took some of his men and marched forward, leaving most of his men behind, the column crossed the Monongahela River on 9 July 1755, and shortly afterwards collided head-on with an Indian and French force who were rushing from Fort Duquesne to oppose the river crossing. Braddocks troops reacted poorly and became disordered, the British attempted retreat, but ran into the rest of the British soldiers left behind from earlier. Braddock, rallying his men time after time, fell at last, an article published in the Roanoke Times on April 15,1951 suggests that the general’s death was the result of fratricide perpetuated by a Colonial soldier by the name of Benjamin Bolling. Braddock was borne off the field by Washington and Col. Nicholas Meriwether, before he died Braddock left Washington his ceremonial sash that he wore with his battle uniform and muttered some of his last words, which were Who would have thought. Reportedly, Washington never went anywhere without this sash for the rest of his life and it is still on display today at Washingtons home on the Potomac River, Mount Vernon. He was buried just west of Great Meadows, where the remnants of the column halted on its retreat to reorganize, George Washington presided at the burial service, as the chaplain had been severely wounded. Benjamin Franklins Autobiography includes an account of helping General Braddock garner supplies and carriages for the generals troops, Braddock had in fact taken great precautions against ambuscade, and had crossed the Monongahela an additional time to avoid the narrow Turtle Creek defile. In 1804, human remains believed to be Braddocks were found buried in the roadway about 1.5 miles west of Great Meadows by a crew of road workers, a marble monument was erected over the new grave site in 1913 by the Coldstream Guards. Plus sections of the cut by the British Army is known as Braddocks Road and forms most of eastern U. S. Route 40 in Maryland. General Braddock appears as an antagonist in Assassins Creed III, in which the player, Haytham Kenway and he is however dressed in the uniform of a private soldier and appears much younger than he really was. Great Britain in the Seven Years War explorepahistory. com Fred Anderson, Crucible of War, The Seven Years War, paul Kopperman, Braddock at the Monongahela. Lee McCardell, Ill-Starred General, Braddock of the Coldstream Guards, louis M. Waddell and Bruce D. Bomberger, The French and Indian War in Pennsylvania, Fortification and Struggle During the War for Empire
15.
Fort Duquesne
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Fort Duquesne was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the convergence point of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in what is now downtown Pittsburgh in the U. S. state of Pennsylvania. It was destroyed by the British, and replaced by Fort Pitt in 1758, the site of both forts is now occupied by Point State Park, where the outlines of the two forts have been laid in brick. Englishman William Trent had established a successful trading post at the forks as early as the 1740s. Both the French and the British were keen to gain advantage in the area, as the area was within the drainage basin of the Mississippi River, the French claimed it as theirs. Lieutenant Governor of the Virginia Colony, Robert Dinwiddie, saw this as threatening to the claims to land in the area by Virginians. Washington reached Fort Le Boeuf in December and was rebuffed by the French. Following Washingtons return to Virginia in January 1754, Dinwiddie sent Virginians to build Fort Prince George at the Forks of the Ohio, work began on the fort on February 17. By April 18, a much larger French force of five hundred under the command of Claude-Pierre Pécaudy de Contrecœur arrived at the forks, the French knocked down the tiny British fort and built Fort Duquesne, named in honor of Marquis Duquesne, the governor-general of New France. The fort was built on the model as Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario. Meanwhile, Washington, newly promoted to Colonel of the newly created Virginia Regiment, set out on 2 April 1754 with a force to build a road to. Washington was at Wills Creek in south central Pennsylvania when he received news of the forts surrender, on May 25, Washington assumed command of the expedition upon the death of Colonel Joshua Fry. Two days later, Washington encountered a Canadian scouting party near a place now known as Jumonville Glen, Washington attacked the Canadians killing 10 in the early morning hours, and took 21 prisoners, of whom many were killed by the natives. More importantly for world history, the Battle of Jumonville Glen is widely considered the start of the French and Indian War. Washington then ordered construction of Fort Necessity at a large clearing known as the Great Meadows, on 3 July 1754, the counterattacking French and Canadians forced Washington to surrender Fort Necessity, but allowed Washington and his men to return home without their armaments. Even though Fort Duquesnes location at the forks looked strong on a map—controlling the confluence of three rivers—the reality was rather different, the site was low, swampy, and prone to flooding. In addition, the position was dominated by highlands located directly across the Monongahela River, Pécaudy de Contrecœur was preparing to abandon the fort in the face of Braddocks advance in 1755, and was only saved when the advancing British force was annihilated. The French held Fort Duquesne during the French and Indian War, the French held the fort successfully early in the war, turning back the expedition led by General Edward Braddock during the 1755 Battle of the Monongahela. George Washington served as one of General Braddocks aides, a smaller attack by James Grant in September 1758 was repulsed with heavy losses
16.
Anglo-Cherokee War
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The Anglo–Cherokee War, was also known from the Anglo-European perspective as the Cherokee War, the Cherokee Uprising, or the Cherokee Rebellion. The war was a conflict between British forces in North America and Cherokee Indian tribes during the French and Indian War, the British and the Cherokee had been allies at the start of the war, but each party had suspected the other of betrayals. Tensions between British-American settlers and the Cherokee increased during the 1750s, culminating in open hostilities in 1758 and this action ensured the defeat of the Yamasee. The Cherokee then remained allies of the British until the French, at the 1754 outbreak of the war, the Cherokee were allies of the British, taking part in campaigns against Fort Duquesne and the Shawnee of the Ohio Country. In 1755, a band of Cherokee 130-strong under Ostenaco of Tamali took up residence in a town at the mouth of the Ohio River at the behest of the Iroquois. For several years, French agents from Fort Toulouse had been visiting the Overhill Cherokee on the Hiwassee and Tellico Rivers, the strongest pro-French Cherokee leaders were Mankiller of Talikwa, Old Caesar of Chatuga, and Raven of Ayuhwasi. The First Beloved Man of the nation, Kanagatoga, was very pro-French, as was his nephew, Kunagadoga, who succeeded him at his death in 1760. The former site of the Coosa Chiefdom was reoccupied in 1759 by a Muscogee contingent under Big Mortar in support of the pro-French Cherokee then residing in Great Tellico and this was a step toward his planned alliance of Muscogee, Cherokee, Shawnee, Chickasaw, and Catawba. Although such an alliance did not come into being until the days of Dragging Canoe, Big Mortar still rose to leading chief of the Muscogee after the French and Indian War. The Anglo–Cherokee War broke out in 1758 when Virginia militia attacked Moytoy of Citico in retaliation for the theft of horses by the Cherokee. These events ushered in a war which didnt end until 1761, the Cherokee were led by Aganstata of Chota, Attakullakulla of Tanasi, Ostenaco of Tomotley, Wauhatchie of the Lower Towns, and Round O of the Middle Towns. During the second year of the French and Indian War, the British had sought Cherokee assistance against the French, once the forts were built, the Cherokee raised close to 700 warriors to fight in western Virginia Colony under Ostenaco. Oconostota and Attakullakulla led another group to attack Fort Toulouse. In 1758, the Cherokee participated in the taking of Fort Duquesne However, while traveling through Virginia, on their way home, several Cherokee were murdered by Virginians. The Cherokee had been promised supplies, but misunderstood where they were to get them from, after taking some horses they believed were rightly theirs, several Virginians killed and scalped between 30 and 40 of them. Later, the Virginians claimed the scalps as those of Shawnees, while some Cherokee leaders still called for peace, others led retaliatory raids on outlying pioneer settlements. The Cherokee finally declared war against the British in 1759. A number of Muskogee under Big Mortar moved up to Coosawatie and these people had long been French allies in support of the Cherokee pro-French faction centered in Great Tellico
17.
Pontiac's War
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Warriors from numerous tribes joined the uprising in an effort to drive British soldiers and settlers out of the region. The war is named after the Odawa leader Pontiac, the most prominent of many leaders in the conflict. The war began in May 1763 when Native Americans, offended by the policies of British General Jeffrey Amherst, eight forts were destroyed, and hundreds of colonists were killed or captured, with many more fleeing the region. Hostilities came to an end after British Army expeditions in 1764 led to negotiations over the next two years. Native Americans were unable to drive away the British, but the uprising prompted the British government to modify the policies that had provoked the conflict. Warfare on the North American frontier was brutal, and the killing of prisoners, the targeting of civilians, the ruthlessness and treachery of the conflict was a reflection of a growing divide between the separate populations of the British colonists and Native Americans. This proved unpopular with British colonists, and may have one of the early contributing factors to the American Revolution. The conflict is named after its most famous participant, the Ottawa leader Pontiac, variations include Pontiacs War, Pontiacs Rebellion, an early name for the war was the Kiyasuta and Pontiac War, Kiyasuta being an alternate spelling for Guyasuta, an influential Seneca/Mingo leader. The war became known as Pontiacs Conspiracy after the publication in 1851 of Francis Parkmans The Conspiracy of Pontiac. Parkmans influential book, the account of the war for nearly a century, is still in print. In the 20th century, some argued that Parkman exaggerated the extent of Pontiacs influence in the conflict. Alternate titles for the war have been proposed, but historians continue to refer to the war by the familiar names. Pontiacs Conspiracy is now used by scholars. In the decades before Pontiacs Rebellion, France and Great Britain participated in a series of wars in Europe that also involved the French, the largest of these wars was the worldwide Seven Years War, in which France lost New France in North America to Great Britain. British troops proceeded to occupy the forts in the Ohio Country. Even before the war ended with the Treaty of Paris. While the French had long cultivated alliances among certain of the Native Americans, before long, Native Americans who had been allies of the defeated French found themselves increasingly dissatisfied with the British occupation and the new policies imposed by the victors. Native Americans involved in Pontiacs Rebellion lived in a defined region of New France known as the pays den haut
18.
Board of Trade (Privy Council)
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The Board of Trade, originally the Lords of Trade and Plantations or Lords of Trade, is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. It was first established as a committee of Englands Privy Council to advise on colonial questions in the early 17th century. Between 1696 and 1782 the Board of Trade, in partnership with the secretaries of state over that time, held responsible for colonial affairs. The Home Secretary held colonial responsibility until 1801 when the Secretary of State for War, the committee has been known as the Board of Trade since 1786, but this name was only officially adopted by an act of 1861. The new Boards first functions were consultative like earlier iterations, and its concern with plantations, in such as the approval of colonial laws. This department was merged with the Ministry of Technology in 1970 to form the Department of Trade, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry was also President of the Board of Trade. The full Board has met only once since the mid-20th century, in 2016, the role of President of the Board of Trade was transferred to the Secretary of State for International Trade. This would be followed by a number of committees and councils to regulate the colonies. The Boards formal title remains The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade, in 1634, Charles I appointed a new commission for regulating plantations. Soon after however, the English Civil Wars erupted and initiated a period of political instability in England. Between 1643 and 1648 the Long Parliament would establish a parliamentary Commission for Plantations to take the lead in colonial and commercial affairs and this period also saw the first regulation of Royal tonnage and poundage and begin the modernization of customs and excise as growing sources of government revenue. During the Interregnum and Commonwealth three acts of the Rump Parliament in 1650 and 1651 are notable in the development of Englands commercial and colonial programs. These include the first Commission of Trade to be established by an Act of Parliament on 1 August 1650. It was the Lords of Trade who, in 1675, originated the idea of transforming all of the colonies in America into Royal Colonies for the purpose of securing English trade against the French. In 1696, King William III appointed eight paid commissioners to promote trade in the American plantations, the board carried on this work but also had long periods of inactivity, devolving into chaos after 1761 and dissolved in 1782 by an act of Parliament by the Rockingham Whigs. William Pitt the Younger re-established the committee in 1784, and an Order in Council of 23 August 1786 provided the basis that still remains in force. A secretariat was established included the president, vice president. By 1793, the board remained in its old structure
19.
Colony of Pennsylvania
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The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was founded in English North America by William Penn on March 4,1681 as dictated in a royal charter granted by King Charles II. The name Pennsylvania, which translates roughly as Penns Woods, was created by combining the Penn surname with the Latin word sylvania, the Province of Pennsylvania was one of the two major Restoration colonies, the other being the Province of Carolina. The colonial government, established in 1683 by Penns Frame of Government, consisted of an appointed Governor, the proprietor, a 72-member Provincial Council, and a larger General Assembly. The General Assembly, also known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, was the largest and most representative branch of government, succeeding Frames of Government, also known as the Charter of Privileges, were produced in 1683,1696 and 1701. The fourth Frame remained in effect until the American Revolution and he was an early advocate of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful treaties with the Lenape Indians. Under his direction, the city of Philadelphia was planned and developed, the province was divided first into 5 counties, plus the three lower counties on Delaware Bay. Philadelphia County is present-day Philadelphia City, montgomery County was west of Bucks and northwest of Philadelphia, and extended along the Schuylkill River to the area presently known as Minersville, in Schuylkill County. Chester County extended along the border of Pennsylvania from Marcus Hook to the western border of the province. The remainder of the province, which is now North Central and their borders remain unchanged to this day. William Penn and his fellow Quakers heavily imprinted their religious values on the early Pennsylvanian government, the Charter of Privileges extended religious freedom to everyone monotheists and government was initially open to all Christians. Until the French and Indian War Pennsylvania had no military, few taxes, among the first groups were the Mennonites, who founded Germantown in 1683, and the Amish, who established the Northkill Amish Settlement in 1740. 1751 was an year for the colony. Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the British American colonies, and The Academy and College of Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin founded both of these institutions along with Philadelphias Union Fire Company fifteen years earlier in 1736. Likewise in 1751, the Pennsylvania State House ordered a new bell which would become known as the Liberty Bell for the new tower being built in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. William Penn had mandated fair dealings with Native Americans and this led to significantly better relations with the local Native tribes than most other colonies had. The Quakers had previously treated Indians with respect, bought land from them voluntarily, according to Voltaire, the Shackamaxon Treaty was the only treaty between Indians and Christians that was never sworn to and that was never broken. The Quakers also refused to provide any assistance to New Englands Indian wars, in 1737, the Colony exchanged a great deal of its political goodwill with the native Lenape for more land. This purchase has become known as the Walking Purchase, although the document was most likely a forgery, the Lenape did not realize that
20.
Province of Maryland
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Its first settlement and capital was St. Marys City, in the southern end of St. Marys County, which is a peninsula in the Chesapeake Bay and is also bordered by four tidal rivers. The province began as a colony of the English Lord Baltimore. In 1689, the following the Glorious Revolution, John Coode led a rebellion that removed Lord Baltimore from power in Maryland. Power in the colony was restored to the Baltimore family in 1715 when Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, insisted in public that he was a Protestant. Despite early competition with the colony of Virginia to its south, and the Dutch colony of New Netherland to its north, Maryland received a larger felon quota than any other province. By 1776 the old order had been overthrown, as Maryland citizens signed the Declaration of Independence, the Catholic George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, former Secretary of State to His Majesty, King Charles I, wished to create a haven for English Catholics in the New World. Upon Baltimores death in 1632 the grant was transferred to his eldest son Cecil, on June 20,1632 Charles I of England granted the original charter for Maryland, a proprietary colony of about twelve million acres, to Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. Some historians view this grant as a form of compensation for Calverts fathers having been stripped of his title of Secretary of State upon announcing his Roman Catholicism in 1625. The charter offered no guidelines on religion, although it was assumed that Catholics would not be molested in the new colony. The charter had originally granted to Calverts father, George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore. Whatever the reason for granting the colony specifically to Baltimore, however, the colony of New Netherland begun by Englands great imperial rival in this era, the United Provinces specifically claimed the Delaware River valley and was vague about its border with Virginia. Charles rejected all the Dutch claims on the Atlantic seaboard, but was anxious to bolster English claims by formally occupying the territory, the new colony was named after the devoutly Catholic Henrietta Maria of France, the Queen Consort. Colonial Maryland was considerably larger than the state of Maryland. The original charter granted the Calverts an imprecisely defined territory north of Virginia and south of the 40th parallel, like other aristocratic proprietors, he also hoped to turn a profit on the new colony. The Calvert family recruited Catholic aristocrats and Protestant settlers for Maryland, luring them with land grants. To try to gain settlers, Maryland used what is known as the headright system, settlers were given 50 acres of land for each person they brought into the colony, whether as settler, indentured servant or slave. Of the 200 or so initial settlers who traveled to Maryland on the ships Ark and Dove, Clements Island, off the northern shore of the Potomac River, upstream from its confluence with the Chesapeake Bay and Point Lookout. The new settlers were led by Lord Baltimores younger brother Leonard Calvert and he knew of white men from communication with native tribes to the South and West in Virginia and he was eager to gain technology, such as guns and gunpowder, from the Maryland settlers
21.
Joshua Fry
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Colonel Joshua Fry was a surveyor, adventurer, mapmaker, soldier, and member of the House of Burgesses, the legislature of the colony of Virginia. He is best known for collaborating with Peter Jefferson, the father of future U. S and he was educated at Oxford, and after his arrival from England was made professor of natural philosophy and mathematics at the College of William & Mary. He was afterward a member of the House of Burgesses, and served on the appointed to determine the Virginia. In 1743-1744 Fry and his moved to what is now Albemarle County, Virginia to claim unclaimed plots of land. There he built a house called Viewmont that sat on a 800-acre plantation bordering the Hardware River and he was a colonel of militia and a member of the governors council in 1750, and in 1752 was a commissioner to treat with the Indians at Logtown. Fry, along with member of the Loyal Land Company, Peter Jefferson. During the advance into the Ohio Country, Fry suddenly fell off his horse, a young Virginia officer, George Washington, succeeded Fry in command of the regiment. James Innes of North Carolina briefly succeeded Fry as Commander-in-Chief, the luckless colonel is buried in an unmarked grave within the Rose Hill Cemetery in Cumberland, Maryland. Great Britain in the Seven Years War Albemarle Adventurers, Joshua Fry The Political Graveyard, Fry
22.
American Revolutionary War
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From about 1765 the American Revolution had led to increasing philosophical and political differences between Great Britain and its American colonies. The war represented a culmination of these differences in armed conflict between Patriots and the authority which they increasingly resisted. This resistance became particularly widespread in the New England Colonies, especially in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. On December 16,1773, Massachusetts members of the Patriot group Sons of Liberty destroyed a shipment of tea in Boston Harbor in an event that became known as the Boston Tea Party. Named the Coercive Acts by Parliament, these became known as the Intolerable Acts in America. The Massachusetts colonists responded with the Suffolk Resolves, establishing a government that removed control of the province from the Crown outside of Boston. Twelve colonies formed a Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance, and established committees, British attempts to seize the munitions of Massachusetts colonists in April 1775 led to the first open combat between Crown forces and Massachusetts militia, the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Militia forces proceeded to besiege the British forces in Boston, forcing them to evacuate the city in March 1776, the Continental Congress appointed George Washington to take command of the militia. Concurrent to the Boston campaign, an American attempt to invade Quebec, on July 2,1776, the Continental Congress formally voted for independence, issuing its Declaration on July 4. Sir William Howe began a British counterattack, focussing on recapturing New York City, Howe outmaneuvered and defeated Washington, leaving American confidence at a low ebb. Washington captured a Hessian force at Trenton and drove the British out of New Jersey, in 1777 the British sent a new army under John Burgoyne to move south from Canada and to isolate the New England colonies. However, instead of assisting Burgoyne, Howe took his army on a campaign against the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia. Burgoyne outran his supplies, was surrounded and surrendered at Saratoga in October 1777, the British defeat in the Saratoga Campaign had drastic consequences. Giving up on the North, the British decided to salvage their former colonies in the South, British forces under Lieutenant-General Charles Cornwallis seized Georgia and South Carolina, capturing an American army at Charleston, South Carolina. British strategy depended upon an uprising of large numbers of armed Loyalists, in 1779 Spain joined the war as an ally of France under the Pacte de Famille, intending to capture Gibraltar and British colonies in the Caribbean. Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in December 1780, in 1781, after the British and their allies had suffered two decisive defeats at Kings Mountain and Cowpens, Cornwallis retreated to Virginia, intending on evacuation. A decisive French naval victory in September deprived the British of an escape route, a joint Franco-American army led by Count Rochambeau and Washington, laid siege to the British forces at Yorktown. With no sign of relief and the situation untenable, Cornwallis surrendered in October 1781, Whigs in Britain had long opposed the pro-war Tory majority in Parliament, but the defeat at Yorktown gave the Whigs the upper hand
23.
Virginia Line
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The Virginia Line was a formation within the Continental Army. The term Virginia Line referred to the quota of numbered infantry regiments assigned to Virginia at various times by the Continental Congress and these, together with similar contingents from the other twelve states, formed the Continental Line. The concept was important in relation to the promotion of commissioned officers. Officers of the Continental Army below the rank of brigadier general were ordinarily ineligible for promotion except in the line of their own state, not all Continental infantry regiments raised in a state were part of a state quota, however. On December 27,1776, the Continental Congress gave Washington temporary control over certain decisions that the Congress ordinarily regarded as its own prerogative. These “dictatorial powers” included the authority to raise sixteen additional Continental infantry regiments at large, early in 1777, Washington offered command of one of these additional regiments to Nathaniel Gist of Virginia, who accepted. He also offered command of a regiment to William Grayson of Virginia. In 1776, Grayson had served as one of Washington’s personal aides, finally, Washington offered command of an additional regiment to Charles Mynn Thruston of Virginia, who accepted. Still other Continental infantry regiments and smaller units, also unrelated to a quota, were raised as needed for special or temporary service. The independent companies raised by Virginia in 1777 to garrison Fort Pitt, in August 1775 the Virginia Convention voted to raise fifteen companies to serve one year. The companies were raised in the fall of 1775 and organized into two regiments, the Continental Congress resolved, on November 1,1775, to place these two regiments on the Continental establishment. The regiments were designated the 1st and 2d Virginia Regiments, the 1st Virginia Regiment was commanded by Patrick Henry. The 2d Virginia Regiment was commanded by William Woodford, on December 28,1775, the Continental Congress voted to raise four more regiments in Virginia. The Virginia Convention concurred on January 11,1776, the Convention ordered that an additional 72 companies be raised and that the term of service of the original fifteen companies be extended. The 87 companies were to be organized into nine regiments of ten companies each, the new force was to serve for not exceeding two and a half years. In the course of 1776 the state regiments were placed on the Continental establishment, on September 16,1776, the Continental Congress resolved to raise an army of eighty-eight infantry regiments which were to serve for the duration of the war. Virginia was called upon to contribute fifteen of these regiments, the 1st through 9th Virginia Regiments were reconstituted in the Continental Army as regiments raised to serve for the duration of the war. The cadres for these regiments were drawn from the regiments which Virginia had sent to the field in 1775 and 1776, the remaining six regiments were entirely new
24.
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
Colony of Virginia