*1757 ended badly for the British with the Massacre of Fort William Henry.  However, with a new prime minister whose strategy was to focus on America, things began to change—indeed, William Pitt’s appointment as Prime Minister was, perhaps, the turning point of the French and Indian War.

*Pitt planned a three-pronged attack on New France for 1758.  Louisbourg would be re-taken, Fort Carillon (which the British called Ticonderoga) at the southern end of Lake Champlain would be captured, allowing British forces to move up the lake into Canada, and another British army would march down Braddock’s Road to Fort Duquesne. 

*However, instead of sending two regiments of regulars to America this time and raising a few local militia, Pitt called for 20,000 regulars and 22,000 American militia.  Pitt also had another advantage that he probably did not even know he had:  New France was literally starving, due to its relatively few farms, a short poor growing season, and diminishing support from France.

*The first stage was the attack on Fort Louisbourg.  Not only did the British, particularly the colonists in New England, resent its return at the end of King George’s War, but it posed a constant threat to British shipping and even the colonies, which at times feared direct invasion from Louisbourg.  Furthermore, if the British could control it, the Royal Navy could cut off French shipping down the Saint Lawrence, starving Canada further.

*In June, 1758, about 12,000 British soldiers under the command of Jeffrey Amherst arrived at Cape Breton Island.  The first wave of British boats was led by General James Wolfe, a weaseley-looking, sickly fellow, but bold and daring and possibly insane—legend has it that when King George II was told that Wolfe was mad, he said, ‘I hoped he will bite some of my other generals.’

*The pounding surf below Louisbourg and the French guns destroyed many of the boats, but Wolfe waved his men onwards with his hat (or, according to some historians, tried to wave them off and cancel the attack, but was misunderstood) until a group of Scottish soldiers found a sandy beach to land on and rushed ashore.  Wolfe formed his men up despite being under heavy fire and pushed the French back, allowing the remaining British troops to land.  Soon all the French troops on the island were behind the walls of Louisbourg.

*Louisbourg was an impressive fortification.  Its walls had earthworks on the side to deflect cannonballs, and seven bastions—four towards the land and three defending the coast—made it almost impossible to approach the fort.  However, the British, with over 12,000 soldiers badly outnumbered the 3,500 French soldiers and 3,500 more sailors and marines brought into the fort from the French ships in the harbour (which were trapped by the British Navy).  Furthermore, the defenders soon began to run out of food.

*On 26 July, 1758, the French commander surrendered the fort, and about 6,600 French soldiers surrendered.  They were not given the honours of war—because of the atrocities committed by France’s Indian allies at Fort William Henry and elsewhere, the French had to surrender their regimental colours and their muskets (although one regiment burnt their flags and broke their muskets rather than hand them over), and many of them were very rude to their captors (one French officer reached under a Scottish soldier’s kilt and got his arm cut off in return).

*Fort Louisbourg would now serve as a staging point for attacks down the St Lawrence River on the major cities of Canada:  Quebec and Montreal.  After that campaign had begun, Fort Louisbourg was destroyed by the British Army, just in case they had to give Cape Breton Island back to France again.

*To secure Lake Champlain, Pitt chose General James Abercromby to march on Fort Carillon (which the British called Ticonderoga) at the southern end of Lake Champlain with about 6,000 regulars and  between 9,000 and 12,000 militia and Indians.  The French forces there were commanded by the Marquis de Montcalm, who had captured Fort William Henry the year before, but he only had about 3,600 regulars, militia, and Indians and low supplies.

*Although the British forces had experienced guides, they still had trouble marching through the woods on the way to Fort Carillon, and one of their most respected and energetic officers, Lord Howe, was killed in a skirmish.  According to Captain Joshua Loring, ‘No sooner was his lordship dead, than everything took a different turn and finally ended in confusion and disgrace.’  Abercromby delayed his advance for two days, and Montcalm had time to prepare his defences.

*The French dug earthworks in rough ground outside their fort and built abatis in front of them.  Although Abercromby had brought a long train of artillery with him, it was slow to move and he did not wait for it.  If he had done so, he could have blasted the French abatis and earthworks apart.  Instead, he ordered a frontal assault.

*Most of the soldiers who advanced on the French line were shot dead before reaching the abatis.  Those who reached it got caught in it and were shot dead there.  The very few who made it to the French earthworks were bayoneted attempting to get over them. 

*About 1,000 British soldiers were killed and over 1,500 were wounded.  100 Frenchmen were killed and about 500 wounded.  With over 3,000 men killed or wounded on both sides, this was the bloodiest battle of the French and Indian War, and a great victory for the outnumbered, poorly supplied French.

*The third prong in Pitt’s plan was an attack on Fort Duquesne, to which he assigned 1,400 regulars and 5,000 militia and Indians under the command of General Forbes.  He cut a new road through the forests to Fort Duquesne, but attempted to train his men for fighting in the woods and dealing with ambushes. 

*As Forbes approached Fort Duquesne he sent Major James Grant with a group of regulars (including highlanders) and Pennsylvania and Virginia militia to scout out the fort.  On 14 September, 1758, Grant sent a group of 100 highlanders toward the gate to entice the French out, thinking there were only a few hundred inside.  Instead, about 1,000 French and Indians poured out of the gate and killed or captured about half of Grant’s force—only a company of Virginia militia held them off long enough for some of them to escape.

*Despite this victory, the French realised that their forces could not hold off an army six times their size, and they retreated on 24 November, 1758, burning Fort Duquesne before they left.  After its capture, the fort was rebuilt, and renamed Fort Pitt, and later Pittsburgh.

*Also in 1758, the British burnt Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario along with many supplies.  In 1759 they captured Fort Niagara and Fort Carillon itself which the French had to abandon because so many soldiers had been pulled back to defend Quebec that only 400 French soldiers faced over 11,000 British soldiers under Jeffrey Amherst, who (unlike Abercromby) placed cannon on the high ground around the fort—although the French blew up all the gunpowder in Fort Carillon before they left.

*Having secured the colonial frontier and cut off the Saint Lawrence River with the capture of Louisbourg, the British were ready to strike at the heart of New France:  Quebec.

*The City of Quebec stood on a rocky outcropping where the Saint Charles River runs into the Saint Lawrence.  Three sides of the city were protected by water, and the landward side by a massive wall with six bastions.  Beyond the wall was an open field known as the Plains of Abraham.  The Plains of Abraham fell down steep cliffs to the Saint Lawrence River, making them almost impossible to reach from the water as well.

*In the spring of 1759 the British Navy sailed up the Saint Lawrence and completely blocked Quebec off from any re-supply from Europe.  It also brought General James Wolfe and about 9,000 troops.  They soon put cannon atop the hills across the river from Quebec and began to bombard the city.

*Montcalm had about 14,000 soldiers (including Militia and Indian allies) and spread them out along the river bank about five miles east and five miles west of Quebec.  Wolfe tried to attack the end of this line of guards at its eastern flank on the Montmorency River on 31 July, 1759, but his soldiers were cut down as they tried to land.

*However, the Navy was more effective.  By mid-July, the British were sailing up the river beyond Quebec, cutting it off from communication or supply from Montreal.  Wolfe later sent men to harass the French on that end of their line as well, and managed to destroy some supplies.

*Wolfe spent the month of August waiting for Amherst to move up from Ticonderoga to re-enforce him.  Amherst, though, was not sure if Wolfe could hold Montcalm in place, and did not want to expose his army or the frontier to a French attack.  Finally, Wolfe had to move.

*He considered attacking across the Montmorency River again, or moving up the Montmorency and attacking Quebec from behind, or even landing right on the shore just east of Quebec, but in the end went the other way.  He had discovered a way up the cliffs from the St Lawrence to the Plains of Abraham.

*Although the cliffs were steep, there was a place where they could be climbed called Anse au Foulon, and Wolfe began moving men and supplies upriver to prepare for an attack at this spot.

*Montcalm and his subordinate in charge of the west flank (Bougainville) thought this was just a diversion.  Wolfe had sent men that way before, and the navy had been sailing up the river and then drifting back down it for weeks, with the French often marching up the river and then back down it to follow the moving ships.  Finally, Bougainville had gotten tired of this and had settled down at a point far from the City, and Montcalm already had his headquarters east of the city.

*Under the cover of darkness, Wolfe’s men floated down the river in little boats to Anse au Foulon, where they disembarked at 4 AM on 13 September, 1759, and climbed the cliffs.  By the time Montcalm was made aware of the attack and convinced it was real, Wolfe had over 4,000 men on the Plains of Abraham, while Montcalm was able to muster about 4,500.

*Montcalm sent for reinforcements, but rather than wait for the British to attack on the plains or even withdraw into the fortifications around Quebec, Montcalm chose to attack.  The French regulars and militia advanced towards the British lines, firing as they came, and hitting Wolfe in the wrist.  The British held their fire until the French were within 60 yards or closer, and then all fired at once.  This stopped the French cold.  The British reloaded, fired again, and the French began to run.

*Wolfe ordered a bayonet charge, and was shot twice more, in his chest and his intestines.  Montcalm was also wounded, with his leg and abdomen torn open by grapeshot.  At this point, Bougainville arrived with reinforcements, but seeing he was too late, retreated to safety.  Had Montcalm waited for him, they might have surrounded and trapped Wolfe, but he did not, and the British captured Quebec, capital of New France. 

*Wolfe died on the field of battle.  Montcalm died the next day of his wounds.  The British lost about 60 men killed and 600 wounded, the French lost 200 killed and 1,200 wounded.  Furthermore, although some battles (including some important ones) remained, the war was essentially over.

*Almost exactly a year later, on 8 September, after a few days of negotiation, Governor Vaudreuil surrendered Montreal and all of Canada to Jeffrey Amherst rather than force his people to endure a few weeks or months of starvation to delay an inevitable defeat.

*Although French Canadians were allowed to keep their homes and continue practising the Catholic faith, all French soldiers had to return to Europe, not fight again in Europe or America, and surrender their weapons and colours.  Sadly, the could not turn over their colours, they said, because they had been so worn out over many years of fighting that there was nothing left.

*Some officials back in France were shocked that Montreal had been surrendered without a shot being fired, King Louis XV, more interested in the fighting in Europe anyway, was cheered up by the philosopher Voltaire, who said, ‘After all, Sire, what have we lost—a few acres of snow?’

*The French still held Louisiana though, including forts in what is now Alabama, such as Toulouse and Mobile.  They and their Creek allies still threatened the southern colonies and their principal ally, the Cherokee.

*For protection against the Creek and the French, the Cherokee asked the British to build a fort for their people.  In exchange for promises of assistance against the French, the British agreed, and between 1756 and 1757 built Fort Loudoun on the Little Tennessee River near the mouth of the Tellico River.

*Some of the Cherokee who went to help the British participated in the capture of Fort Duquesne, but did not feel their help was appreciated or rewarded properly, and they went home.  Other Cherokee working alongside Virginia militia ended up fighting with them, and stole some of their horses on the way home and the Virginians killed 15 of the Cherokee in return. 

*In return, the Cherokee attacked white settlements and killed 20 people.  The Governor of South Carolina then arrested a delegation of Cherokee on their way to Charleston to negotiate.  He later released some of them, but kept 24. 

*One of those released, Oconostota, demanded the release of the other hostages, and when he saw that would not happen, lured the commander of the fort, Lieutenant Coytmore, out in the open for a parley and killed him.  This was partly to distract the soldiers in the fort in hopes that the captive Cherokee would be able to break free and partly in revenge for Coytmore and another British officer raping some Cherokee women not long before.  The captive Cherokee were not able to fight back, though, and were killed when the soldiers say Coytmore shot.

*Some leaders, such as Attakullakulla (Little Carpenter), wanted peace, but many more, such at Oconostota (Little Carpenter’s cousin), wanted war and even got some supplies from the French to fight it.  In March 1760, the Cherokee laid siege to Fort Loudoun.  British forces sent to relieve them were turned back.  Finally, on 6 August, 1760, the British surrendered.  The inhabitants (including women) were promised safe passage back to Virginia or South Carolina.

*They left the fort on the 9th and made camp after marching 15 miles.  Early the next morning, the Cherokee attacked.  All the officers except for John Stuart, a personal friend of Attakullakulla (who paid his ransom with his own personal possessions), several private soldiers, and a few women were killed.  The commander, Paul Demere was scalped, forced to dance, beaten with sticks, and finally had his arms and legs chopped off.  As he lay dying, they stuffed his mouth with dirt and said, ‘You English want land, we will give it to you.’

*Amherst sent James Grant (who had survived capture at Duquesne) to slaughter the Cherokee and burn their crops, eventually forcing them to sign a peace treaty.  The Cherokee requested that John Stuart, the only surviving officer of Loudoun, be made the king’s agent to them.

*By 1761 the war was nearly over in America when a new power entered the war.  The old king of Spain had died, and his younger brother had become king.  The old king had remained neutral in the war despite being related to the king of France.  The new king, Charles III however, created the Bourbon Family Compact with King Louis XV of France, agreeing to enter the war on the side of France if the war had not ended by May, 1762 (which it had not—in fact, Britain declared war on Spain even before the time limit was up).

*With Spain suddenly in the war, the British colonies had to worry about attacks on North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and the Caribbean.  However, Spain had to worry about its colonies, too.  The British captured Havana, Cuba, and Manila in the Philippines.  Britain also captured French colonies in the Caribbean.

*Finally, in 1763, the Peace of Paris ended the French and Indian War and the Seven Years’ War. 

*Britain gained Canada from France and Florida from Spain. 

*France got back the sugar islands it lost in the Caribbean (it got to choose between those or Canada).

*France gave New Orleans and Louisiana to Spain to make up for the loss of Florida. 

*Britain also gave Havana and Manila back to Spain.  No borders in Europe changed.

*Britain was now master of North America, but as Britain became more involved in the lives of the American colonists, the effects of the War would drive them apart.

*Although the French had been beaten by 1763, some of their Indian allies feared the loss of their land and fought on.  They were led by Chief Pontiac, an Ottawa chief who lived near the Great Lakes.  However, many tribes, not just the Ottawa were involved.

*They laid siege to Fort Detroit (unsuccessfully) and attacked other forts in the Ohio River Valley and around the Great Lakes.  Although they did not succeed, this and the ‘Cherokee Rebellion’ that had just ended convinced the British that the Indians were still a threat.

*To prevent future wars with the Indians, the new king of Great Britain, George III, issued the Proclamation of 1763, forbidding all settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains.  This infuriated the colonists who thought they had fought for the past nine years to gain those lands.

*Furthermore, Pitt had won his war but had to raise taxes and gone deep into debt to do it.  After the war, some of those taxes were passed on to Americans who were unaccustomed to direct taxation from London.  This in turn led to rebellion and eventually revolution in America.

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