Chapter 65: 1761 part 14
The Carribean
Pitt had long been advocating Caribbean campaigns to take the valuable sugar colonies away from the French. However, with fleet and sailors tied up in the blockade of France and North American operations, and infantry that had been used to reinforce Hanover or sent to support operations in North America to conquer New France, he was unable to obtain the level of resources he required.
Numerous naval actions had been occurring in the Atlantic and the Caribbean since the major operations in which the British recaptured St. Kitts and Nevis from French occupation in 1757. The naval actions primarily consisted of mostly British successes against French merchant ships or small warships of less than 20 guns. However, it did not create any significant change to the balance of power in the region. It did however had the effect of a steady erosion of French trade in the Atlantic. The French, while under British blockade, had been unable to field any significant attempts to reinforce the area either.
In spring of 1760, Pitt presented another Caribbean campaign plan. It was finally approved but took most of the year for resources to be obtained for it to be carried out. Finally a fleet was put en-route to the Caribbean as of late November 1760.
Along the way, the fleet had its first successes against the French when on the Naval Action of January 18th; it captured the French frigates Frippone (24) and Cumberland (24) in the Atlantic as it neared the Caribbean.
The original primary target of the campaign was the capture of Martinique. However when British ships scouting the island determined that the French had managed to reinforce it, those plans were altered. It was decided that an attempt against Martinique would have to wait for more reinforcements.
Fall of St. Barthelemy
On February 10th, the British occupy the French island of St. Barthelemy, no resistance was encountered and the island authorities surrendered to British control.
Invasion of Guadalope
On February 28th, Commodore Moore led a British Fleet to invade Guadalupe after scouting the ideal locations with which to land a 5,000 strong invasion force led by Major-General Peregrine Hopson. The British at first made decent headway, and captured the Fort Saint-Charles and what was left of the town of Basse-Terre (which was heavily damaged and burnt from cannon fire) in the first two days. Afterwards they encountered strong French resistance in mountainous areas or ambushes along the sugar cane fields.
After three weeks of little progress, disease began to take its toll on the British forces, over 25% of the total were sick, including General Hopson, forcing him to delegate to his subordinates. After weeks of slow advancement, having half of his sick sent back to Antigua, Hopson was granted the use of a few hundred fleet marines, how had fared better agains the Yellow Fever, to lend aid to the final attacks.
Battle Results:
British Forces: ~500 casualties, ~1300 sick from disease.
French Forces: ~500 (regular and irregular forces) casualties and captured.
British Victory
On May 30th, the Governor of Guadalupe, Charles François Emmanuel Nadeau du Treil, finally surrendered under the stipulation that the French captured forces be allowed to be sent to Martinique.
Naval Action of June 28th
On June 28th, a scouting force from Martinique sailing out to evaluate Guadalupe, was encountered by the British fleet. In the ensuing encounter, the French ship Malicieuse (32) is sunk, and the Eine (26) is captured by a British fleet in the Caribbean.
Invasion of Dominica
A series of summer storms from May to September had dispersed or prevented the fleets from either side from putting forth for any significant operations. The British wounded and sick meanwhile either recovered or died from the Yellow fever that had wracked them in Guadalupe.
Dominica, a previously neutral island only recently occupied by the French was not particularly rich, but had strategic naval value, especially so after word had arrived of Spain’s entry into the war. It had also become a haven for French privateers, several of which were sheltered in its bay.
On October 15th, The sizable British fleet descended upon a dozen French privateers in battle, sinking or capturing all of them, and losing only the HMS Rye (24) when it struck rocks and was decimated by cannon fire. Its crew, cannons, and store were salvaged by declared un-seaworthy and broken up.
The British were forces to besiege a French battery defending the Governors mansion over seven days which was out of range of their ships.
Battle Results:
British Forces: ~50 casualties
French Forces: ~25 casualties, ~125 captured.
The defending French forces retreated after running out of shot, spiking their cannon, and blowing their remaining powder supply in the night. They then fled to the island’s interior. This forced the British to spend several more days searching the island and elicit the surrender of the remaining inhabitants. The island fully capitulated on October 31st.
The remainder of the year and into early 1762 was spent protecting trade and suppressing French privateering in the area.
North America
Anglo-Cherokee War
On April 5th, Cherokee warriors raid several settlements in western North Carolina over the next few days. Colonials protested the diminished British defense of the area as many troops had previously been shifted northwards to engage Quebec. The problems and tensions would continue as the British, even after the fall of Montreal in August, would shift focus and troops in preparation for further campaigns in the Caribbean.
Treaty of Kahnawake
On August 18th, two weeks after the fall of Montreal, the Treaty of Kahnawake is signed. The Seven Nations of Canada, former allies to France, make peace with the British in a ‘Burying the Hatchet’ ceremony.
Governor of Quebec
In late fall an outbreak of tuberculosis occurred in Quebec, affecting both Quebecois inhabitants and the British garrisons including the recently appointed British governor James Murray. On October 21st, James Murray dies in Montreal from the disease and a combination of chill and injuries received during the battle for Quebec and Montreal. Major General John Mordant is appointed acting governor in his place. Strict quarantine and winter isolation manages to keep the outbreak in check, by by the following spring over 120 individuals had died.
Redistribution of Forces and Policies in North America
By mid November, word returned from London after Amherst had sent news of their success in New France. Parliament continued to insist on an extreme reduction of expenditures and to prepare sending forces south for campaigns in the Caribbean in the coming year against French and now also, Spanish holdings. Amherst who had already cut back on gift presented to the Natives much earlier in the year, then outright termination the policy under Parliamentary pressure. He was also force to increase the burden of costs on the colonials for housing and supporting British garrisons while at the same time shifting them south in preparation for the future Caribbean campaigns. At this, all parties, natives and colonials alike protested, but Amherst hands were tied.
When word arrived of the Cherokee raids in the southern colonies, Amherst could only send a smaller force to assist while advising that the colonial militias form the bulk of any counter-attacking force.
Battle of Echoee
Archibald Montgomerie, who had previously fought the Cherokee in the preceding years, was replaced by James Grant who took 500 British soldiers out with over 1300 volunteer militia from North and South Carolina and Virginia to counter attack the Cherokee. Virginia had contributed their militias on account of threats to southwestern Virginia by the Cherokee raids.
Though initially reluctant after having resigned his post the preceding year, Colonel George Washington was convinced to lead the Virginia detachment against the Cherokee forces. He was joined by General Hugh Waddel and the Carolina militias, and the British troops led by General Hames Grant, who was the official commander.
Cherokee forces of about 2500 warriors led by Cheifs Seroweh, Standing Turkey and Attakullakulla would face off against the 1800 strong British Colonial force.
A series of battle in the skirmishes in the summer and early fall pushed the Cherokee forces back. On September 24th, British-Colonial forces reach the Cherokee town of Echoee, and faced of in the largest battle of the Anglo-Cherokee war.
Battle Results:
Britsh-Colonial Forces: ~120 casualties
Cherokee Forces: ~250 casualties.
British-Colonial Victory
Grant, Washington and Waddell destroyed and burned several Cherokee towns during the summer, as well as raiding or burning Cherokee harvests. These towns were never reoccupied, and disease starvation and losses in battle preented the Cherokee from putting forth any more significant offensives. The Cherokee withdrew to west of the Appalachian Mountains, and sued for peace.
The freeing up of this frontier area brought many colonials from the northern cities in search of land to settle in the area, resulting in a population increase in the western North Carolina and South Carolina and southwestern Virginia during the 1760’s.
Other Events
On July 21st, Princess Joan is born to Queen Maria I and Peter III of Portugal.
June 22nd was the last known sighting of the HMS Poole (44) off the Cape off Good Hope, which was bound for India. It is presumed lost at sea.
Pitt had long been advocating Caribbean campaigns to take the valuable sugar colonies away from the French. However, with fleet and sailors tied up in the blockade of France and North American operations, and infantry that had been used to reinforce Hanover or sent to support operations in North America to conquer New France, he was unable to obtain the level of resources he required.
Numerous naval actions had been occurring in the Atlantic and the Caribbean since the major operations in which the British recaptured St. Kitts and Nevis from French occupation in 1757. The naval actions primarily consisted of mostly British successes against French merchant ships or small warships of less than 20 guns. However, it did not create any significant change to the balance of power in the region. It did however had the effect of a steady erosion of French trade in the Atlantic. The French, while under British blockade, had been unable to field any significant attempts to reinforce the area either.
In spring of 1760, Pitt presented another Caribbean campaign plan. It was finally approved but took most of the year for resources to be obtained for it to be carried out. Finally a fleet was put en-route to the Caribbean as of late November 1760.
Along the way, the fleet had its first successes against the French when on the Naval Action of January 18th; it captured the French frigates Frippone (24) and Cumberland (24) in the Atlantic as it neared the Caribbean.
The original primary target of the campaign was the capture of Martinique. However when British ships scouting the island determined that the French had managed to reinforce it, those plans were altered. It was decided that an attempt against Martinique would have to wait for more reinforcements.
Fall of St. Barthelemy
On February 10th, the British occupy the French island of St. Barthelemy, no resistance was encountered and the island authorities surrendered to British control.
Invasion of Guadalope
On February 28th, Commodore Moore led a British Fleet to invade Guadalupe after scouting the ideal locations with which to land a 5,000 strong invasion force led by Major-General Peregrine Hopson. The British at first made decent headway, and captured the Fort Saint-Charles and what was left of the town of Basse-Terre (which was heavily damaged and burnt from cannon fire) in the first two days. Afterwards they encountered strong French resistance in mountainous areas or ambushes along the sugar cane fields.
After three weeks of little progress, disease began to take its toll on the British forces, over 25% of the total were sick, including General Hopson, forcing him to delegate to his subordinates. After weeks of slow advancement, having half of his sick sent back to Antigua, Hopson was granted the use of a few hundred fleet marines, how had fared better agains the Yellow Fever, to lend aid to the final attacks.
Battle Results:
British Forces: ~500 casualties, ~1300 sick from disease.
French Forces: ~500 (regular and irregular forces) casualties and captured.
British Victory
On May 30th, the Governor of Guadalupe, Charles François Emmanuel Nadeau du Treil, finally surrendered under the stipulation that the French captured forces be allowed to be sent to Martinique.
Naval Action of June 28th
On June 28th, a scouting force from Martinique sailing out to evaluate Guadalupe, was encountered by the British fleet. In the ensuing encounter, the French ship Malicieuse (32) is sunk, and the Eine (26) is captured by a British fleet in the Caribbean.
Invasion of Dominica
A series of summer storms from May to September had dispersed or prevented the fleets from either side from putting forth for any significant operations. The British wounded and sick meanwhile either recovered or died from the Yellow fever that had wracked them in Guadalupe.
Dominica, a previously neutral island only recently occupied by the French was not particularly rich, but had strategic naval value, especially so after word had arrived of Spain’s entry into the war. It had also become a haven for French privateers, several of which were sheltered in its bay.
On October 15th, The sizable British fleet descended upon a dozen French privateers in battle, sinking or capturing all of them, and losing only the HMS Rye (24) when it struck rocks and was decimated by cannon fire. Its crew, cannons, and store were salvaged by declared un-seaworthy and broken up.
The British were forces to besiege a French battery defending the Governors mansion over seven days which was out of range of their ships.
Battle Results:
British Forces: ~50 casualties
French Forces: ~25 casualties, ~125 captured.
The defending French forces retreated after running out of shot, spiking their cannon, and blowing their remaining powder supply in the night. They then fled to the island’s interior. This forced the British to spend several more days searching the island and elicit the surrender of the remaining inhabitants. The island fully capitulated on October 31st.
The remainder of the year and into early 1762 was spent protecting trade and suppressing French privateering in the area.
North America
Anglo-Cherokee War
On April 5th, Cherokee warriors raid several settlements in western North Carolina over the next few days. Colonials protested the diminished British defense of the area as many troops had previously been shifted northwards to engage Quebec. The problems and tensions would continue as the British, even after the fall of Montreal in August, would shift focus and troops in preparation for further campaigns in the Caribbean.
Treaty of Kahnawake
On August 18th, two weeks after the fall of Montreal, the Treaty of Kahnawake is signed. The Seven Nations of Canada, former allies to France, make peace with the British in a ‘Burying the Hatchet’ ceremony.
Governor of Quebec
In late fall an outbreak of tuberculosis occurred in Quebec, affecting both Quebecois inhabitants and the British garrisons including the recently appointed British governor James Murray. On October 21st, James Murray dies in Montreal from the disease and a combination of chill and injuries received during the battle for Quebec and Montreal. Major General John Mordant is appointed acting governor in his place. Strict quarantine and winter isolation manages to keep the outbreak in check, by by the following spring over 120 individuals had died.
Redistribution of Forces and Policies in North America
By mid November, word returned from London after Amherst had sent news of their success in New France. Parliament continued to insist on an extreme reduction of expenditures and to prepare sending forces south for campaigns in the Caribbean in the coming year against French and now also, Spanish holdings. Amherst who had already cut back on gift presented to the Natives much earlier in the year, then outright termination the policy under Parliamentary pressure. He was also force to increase the burden of costs on the colonials for housing and supporting British garrisons while at the same time shifting them south in preparation for the future Caribbean campaigns. At this, all parties, natives and colonials alike protested, but Amherst hands were tied.
When word arrived of the Cherokee raids in the southern colonies, Amherst could only send a smaller force to assist while advising that the colonial militias form the bulk of any counter-attacking force.
Battle of Echoee
Archibald Montgomerie, who had previously fought the Cherokee in the preceding years, was replaced by James Grant who took 500 British soldiers out with over 1300 volunteer militia from North and South Carolina and Virginia to counter attack the Cherokee. Virginia had contributed their militias on account of threats to southwestern Virginia by the Cherokee raids.
Though initially reluctant after having resigned his post the preceding year, Colonel George Washington was convinced to lead the Virginia detachment against the Cherokee forces. He was joined by General Hugh Waddel and the Carolina militias, and the British troops led by General Hames Grant, who was the official commander.
Cherokee forces of about 2500 warriors led by Cheifs Seroweh, Standing Turkey and Attakullakulla would face off against the 1800 strong British Colonial force.
A series of battle in the skirmishes in the summer and early fall pushed the Cherokee forces back. On September 24th, British-Colonial forces reach the Cherokee town of Echoee, and faced of in the largest battle of the Anglo-Cherokee war.
Battle Results:
Britsh-Colonial Forces: ~120 casualties
Cherokee Forces: ~250 casualties.
British-Colonial Victory
Grant, Washington and Waddell destroyed and burned several Cherokee towns during the summer, as well as raiding or burning Cherokee harvests. These towns were never reoccupied, and disease starvation and losses in battle preented the Cherokee from putting forth any more significant offensives. The Cherokee withdrew to west of the Appalachian Mountains, and sued for peace.
The freeing up of this frontier area brought many colonials from the northern cities in search of land to settle in the area, resulting in a population increase in the western North Carolina and South Carolina and southwestern Virginia during the 1760’s.
Other Events
On July 21st, Princess Joan is born to Queen Maria I and Peter III of Portugal.
June 22nd was the last known sighting of the HMS Poole (44) off the Cape off Good Hope, which was bound for India. It is presumed lost at sea.
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