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Us and Them
Historians commonly agree that modern history, as it is recognized today by all humans, began in the 18th century with the Seven Years War. This war was most often recognized as a Pan-European conflict, but it applied to other places as well – namely, the Americas. Here, it was called the
French-Indian War.
We, the citizens of Rhodesia, call it this too, because it was our forefathers who fought and died in the Appalachian Mountains and in the Ohio Valley in the name of the His Majesty and His Majesty’s realm.
In the years leading to the outbreak of war in the European theatre, the French colony of New France was in rapidly escalating conflict with the settlers of the Thirteen Colonies and Rupert’s Land over land rights to certain areas, mostly along the frontier of Rupert’s Land, and the territories such as the Ohio River Valley. But while France disputed it, their colonies were out-populated by the British ones by over 20:1; an incredible difference.
In 1747, the Governor of New France, concerned with growing British mercantile interference in the Ohio Country, tasked Pierre-Joseph Céloron with a number of tasks—to confirm the French claims, survey the amount of British influence in the Ohio Country, and to garner support amongst the Amerindians with a show of force, to discourage any of them from allying with the British.
During the summer of 1749, Céloron and his troops (which consisted of Troupes de la Marine and Amerindian warriors), traversed over 3,000 miles across North America, spending every few miles to bury metal plates indicating the land belonged to the Kingdom of France. When Céloron and his men would encounter a British merchant, he would inform them to leave, and remove them if necessary.
Crossing into what is today Pennsylvania, Céloron encountered a settlement of Natives who refused to heed his warning of staying out of diplomatic relations with Britain, and instead refused -- declaring they would trade with the British freely, and France had no say in the matter as the land they walked on belonged to the tribe, not France.
In a detailed report to the Governor, which arrived in 1750, Céloron wrote on the Logstown natives,
"All I can say is that the Natives of these localities are very badly disposed towards the French, and are entirely devoted to the English. I don't know in what way they could be brought back."
North America in 1750
Ohio Company of Virginia
In 1749, the Governor of the Colony of Virginia, as a representative of the Crown, gave permission for the Ohio Company of Virginia to take up land in the Ohio Country, for the purpose of developing trade and settlements in the region. The grant, however, had the exception that it required 100 families settle the territory, and that a fort be erected for the protection of the settlement.
However, the Ohio Company of Virginia was soon-countered by the Royal Company of Pennsylvania, whose colony
also claimed sovereign right to the Ohio Country. In 1750, Christopher Gist, a Virginian explorer, arrived at the Logstown colony and opened negotiations, looking to make trade agreements with them. (explicitly against the desires of Céloron and New France)
The "King", Tanacharison, and the Haudenosaunee representative, agreed to diplomatic terms that would allow the British to build a "strong house" (fortress) at the mouth of the Monongahela River (modern day Pittsburgh). The Haudenosaunee were kept inclusive into the discussions as by the 17th century, they had claimed most of the Ohio Country for their own hunting grounds, having driven most of the other Native tribes off the land all together.
The negotiations lead into the Treaty of Logstown, which, not only established the "strong house", but favorable trade deals. While the European theatre of war had come to an end in 1748 with the
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, resolving most of the issues in Europe (primarily between the Austrians and Prussians). Continued issues between Britain and France in the colonies, namely frontiers in Nova Scotia and Acadia, as well as fishing rights in the Grand Banks, and the Ohio Country, festered and grew worse into the 1750s. Things came to a head in 1752.
The Pickawillany Slaughter
Governor-General Marquis de la Jonquiére passed away in March 1752, and was replaced by crown-appointed Marquis Duquesne. However, while being transported, his duties were temporarily assumed by Charles le Moyne de Longueuil. Longueuil and Duquesne both aggressively pursued French interests in North America. In 1752, the British activities in Ohio lead to the Governor to dispatch 300 men, under Charles Michel de Langlade, to punish the Miami people for not following the orders of Céloron.
The attack on Pickawillany was catastrophic, with three white traders being captured, and 14 Miami tribals being murdered in cold blood, and ritually cannibalized by the tribals in General de Langlades army. This slaughter went relatively unnoticed in the colonies, but the British military circles became nervous at the displacement of traders from the Pickawillany trading center, and its immediate destruction by the French.
After the French erected a fort in disputed territory, another problem occurred with the rapid souring of relations between British and the Natives, who felt Britain was improperly defending their interests and were fed up with the lukewarm commitments of the crown and her colonial governors. In October 1753, Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia ordered Major George Washington to order/force the French to vacate the fort and leave Virginian territory. After trekking for two months, Washington and his soldiers reached the region in December, accompanied by Jacob Van Braam, a Dutch interpreter, and a few Mingo (Haudenosaunee remnants post-colonial) as native advisors.
The commander of the French fort was a relatively new appointment, as the original one had died on October 29 of the same year. Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, the new commander, invited Washington to a nice dinner, where Washington presented unto him the diplomatic demand by Dinwiddie. The commander of the Fort is historically believed to have scoffed, and informed Washington that, "
As to the Summons you send me to retire, I do not think myself obliged to obey it."
After returning to Williamsburg in January 1754, Washington delivered his report, declaring the French were sweeping further south than expected, and that they were looking to fortify and consolidate control over the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers. This alarmed the British leadership, who were worried of France being able to use greater territorial boundaries to overrun British positions all over North America.
Even before Washington's report had arrived, France and Britain were beginning a dangerous contest to fortify and expand territorial claims into the interior. The British dispatched only 40 men, to France's 500. When France arrived, they permitted the British to leave without incident, but took over the area Britain had deemed necessary for a fortification, and erected their own—henceforth known as Fort Duquesne.
George Washington was then ordered by the Lt. Governor to assist the British party in their work; while en route to his destination, he learned of the British withdrawal from Fort Duquesne, but he continued on the way anyway, meeting up with Amerindian leadership and organizing a strategy to ambush the French. This ambush was successful, and Washington successfully surprised and defeated the French-Canadian exploration party in the area at Jumonville Glen. Most of the Canadian soldiers were killed in battle, including the French commander, whose head was split open by a tomahawk, and presented to George Washington as a battle trophy. Washington declined the trophy, and had all of the French soldiers buried with dignity.
After the ambush, Washington pulled back several miles and erected a new fort -- Fort Necessity. However, without major reinforcements, and proper construction materials, the Fort was essentially useless. On July 3, 1754, Washington surrendered the fort to the French after they attacked it. Washington managed to negotiate a withdrawal under arms, but, the French attempted to go back on their word and Washington narrowly escaped with his life after the French attacked him during his retreat
[1]. With the help of his native advisers, he managed to outwit the French, and withdrew to Virginia under cover.
His native associates had failed in their mission as well—to influence several major groups to side with the British. These groups had all chosen to France in the coming war, much to the dismay written by Major Washington in his notes from the Battle of Jumonville Glen, and the Surrender of Fort Necessity.
The Albany Congress
In 1754, responding to the beginning of hostilities in the Ohio Country, and seeking to avoid potential French invasion, and to assist the crown in her victories against the French, seven of the thirteen colonies in Eastern America summarily attended the
Albany Congress, formed by James DeLancey and Peter Wraxall.
The Congress was, primarily, a pipe-dream for Benjamin Franklin's ideas of confederating most, if not all, of the Thirteen Colonies, into one large colony governed with British assent. This super-colony, he reasoned, would be able to deliver decisive blows to France, and be able to serve the crown better than ever. The colonial legislatures unanimously rejected this idea, primarily motivated by jealousy and unwillingness to surrender local power to an even higher one under tighter British purvey.
However, the Albany Congress did provide for the confederation of the Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island colonies into the Colony of New England. This colony lasted for a very short period of time before the Crown, and British Board of Trade summarily rejected it, returning those colonies back to their original status.
[2]
After the failure of the Albany Congress, Benjamin Franklin was noted for being more skeptical about the ability for the colonies to join together. He released a cartoon the same year, encouraging the colonies to "Join or Die" in the face of French invasion, but wrote in his journal of his "state of discouragement at the future of the American colonies".
"I do not know what the future of the Colonies shall hold, but I shan't be pretty, if the current selfish mindsets rule for generations more. I have such a high state of discouragement at the future of the American colonies, who will likely never form one union to assert freedom and unity against French, and other enemies."
The Failures Are Noticed.
The British war effort in the early stages of the war was pitiful, and downright embarrassing to Britain as a whole. General Braddock, affixing himself to rather poor military strategies that had little effect against entrenched Native forces hiding in trees, lead himself, and Major Washington through Virginia on an expedition to capture Fort Duquesne in July 1755.
The expedition was a disaster for Britain, as French and Indian soldiers, hidden in trees and in other nooks and crannies, decimated the British army. General Braddock was scalped in front of Washington by an Amerindian. Washington narrowly avoided death by ramming his sword into the Native [3], and with the help of his friend, Thomas Gage, ordered a general retreat. Of the 1,500, Two-thirds of the army was decimated in the battle, and retreat. Gage and Washington were both conferred with field promotions and commendations, and were ordered to work and reorganize the colonial army. Washington became one of the youngest Generals in British history, something that has been consistently debated and re-evaluated by historians to this very day.
[4]
The newly minted General Gage, and General Washington went off to do the best they could under the circumstances. However, France gained an upper-hand by managing to get their hands on the British war plans, outlining the military expedition plans of Sir William Johnson and William Shirley. Shirley had been ordered to fortify Fort Oswego on the way to attacking Fort Niagara; Johnson had been ordered to capture Fort St. Frederick (which is a historical site near Crown Point, New York).
However, Shirley's attempts to fortify Ft. Oswego went not according to plan due to logistics errors, and the inexperience of Shirley in commanding large expeditions of soldiers. Before departing to conquer Fort Niagara, he heard wind that France was planning to attack Oswego while he was at Niagara; in order to counter this to a degree, Shirley ordered garrisons to be placed at Oswego, Fort Bull, and Fort Williams.
Johnson, however, had much greater fortunes at his war-making; garnering the attentions of France's colonial governor, Marquis de Vaudreuil. The Governor had, at first, been more concerned with Shirley's expedition, and the problems of supply trains in the Ohio Country, and had paid little mind to Johnson. When he heard of Johnson's measure of success, Vaudreuil reorganized his efforts and ordered Baron Dieskau to go to Fort. St Frederick and deal with the threat "with haste".
Dieskau's first action after arriving at Fort St. Frederick was to attack the British encampment at Fort Edward, at the upper end of the Hudson River's navigable region. However, Johnson had pre-empted this by heavily fortifying the fort, causing Dieskau to cancel the attack after his Indian reinforcements balked at assaulting the fort and facing heavy losses.
Dieskau and Johnson met on the field of battle shortly afterwards, at the Battle of Lake George, between Fort Edward and Fort "William Henry". The battle, was, for the majority of its length, a sordid stalemate, with neither Johnson, nor Dieskau, able to break the others morale. However, Dieskau was fatally wounded by a British rifleman [5], and was killed in battle. His death demoralized the French troops, who went into a rout and withdrew as far as they could. Johnson's army swept without stop through Fort William Henry, and to Ticonderoga Point. When they arrived at Ticonderoga Point, the French managed to stop the rout and kept Johnson from advancing much further. Johnson chose to fortify the Point, leading to the construction of Fort Ticonderoga by 1756.
The British successes were furthered with the success of Colonel Monckton, who had been assigned to capture Fort Beauséjour. In June 1755, he finally captured the Fort, cutting off supplies and any tactical reinforcements to the French fortress at Louisbourg. Despite recommendations to go ahead and deport the Acadians from the area, Governor Charles Lawrence refused to do so, permitting the Acadians to remain in the region, provided they swear oaths of fealty to King George. Many Acadians, seeing this as a preferable alternative to being deported to the swamps of Louisiana, agreed. A number, however, voluntarily undertook the deportation, and went to Louisiana to swear loyalty to the French.
[6]
After Braddock's death, the role he had filled as commander of the British Armies in the Colonies had been left vacant, filled by regional commanders, namely, Johnson, Shirley, Washington and Gage. In November 1755, Sir Johnson was appointed his replacement formally, granting him privy status over Shirley, Washington and Gage.
[7]
The Tide Has Turned!
In December, he summoned all three men to the city of Albany in New York and began to lay out the plans for the immediate future. Gage was left in command of the army in Virginia and was ordered to continue plans to take Fort Duquesne. Washington protested being removed from Virginia, but agreed to the General's offer that he take up command of Shirley's army, which had been consistently bested by French forces during the war.
Shirley was offended, and was loudly overruled by Johnson. Within a matter of months, Johnson had managed to get Shirley completely reassigned; removing him as a possible problem for the colonial armies in the future of the war. Shirley was summarily replaced by Major General James Abercrombie, who himself had not very serious experience in the matters of North American warfare, and was rather laughable in comparison to some of the French military commanders. However, Abercrombie was assigned to the tutelage of Washington, who was reasonably experienced in military matters pertaining to the North American region.
Washington's first test as a major military commander in a serious battle came in March 1756, when the French attacked Fort Oswego. The fort, poorly fortified by Shirley, was not very capable of holding back the French attack, and Washington tactically retreated to Fort Bull. When France came to siege that fort, Washington held his ground against them. The
Battle of Fort Bull is considered the moment George Washington gained the respect of his British counterparts, and the infamy of the French.
When the French arrived, Washington unleashed hell-fire and damnation upon them. Commander Chaussegros de Léry and his 360 soldiers of both Franco-Canadian, and Native origin, were completely decimated by Washington's larger, prepared army. de Léry himself was killed in battle. After the battle, 187 French had died, with 33 captured, while the British had sustained very few casualties.
Washington's victory led to a quick springboard, and the recapture of Oswego without much problem. With this complete, Washington quickly planned his own expedition to capture either Fort Lévis, or Fort Niagara. While Washington carefully planned his next steps, Johnson was busy doing his own business in the war.
Fort Ticonderoga was a prime advantage for Britain, with its close proximity to Fort Saint-Frédéric. The army of Dieskau had retreated to the Fort, and had already well reorganized after the debacle that had led to his death. Johnson began to look into baiting the new French commander, Marquis de Babineaux, was not the prime example of French military officer material. Among his troops and any of those unfortunate enough to be captured, he was duly referred to as the Marquis Dément (aka, "He's crazy!") -- he had a very easily sparked temper, and was known for making risky, breakneck decisions that often times should have had horrific consequences, but he was also extremely lucky to have been able to avoid a catastrophe with his reckless behaviors.
His luck expired after Johnson managed to bait him into assaulting Fort Ticonderoga. The French assault went disastrously, and expended most of the army garrisoning Ft. Saint-Frédéric. When the battle ended, and Babineaux had been killed (like many other commanders in this war, scalped by a Native...) -- Johnson and his army advanced and laid siege to the Fort ahead of them, and in quick order, the Fort capitulated. The fort, Ft. St. Frederick, became an even better advancing point for the British, as they grew even closer to Montréal.
The major setbacks for the French in the North were all great and good -- but the French remained ever pervasive near Virginia, with Gage unsuccessfully rallying and attempting to take Fort Duquesne. However, after trying yet again, he managed to exploit a breach in French defenses, and managed to overwhelm the Fort, forcing its capitulation in early 1757. Gage's victory laid the path open to the West, which meant even more victories were on the horizon.
Washington heard the news of Johnson's advance, and made his mind up to direct his military efforts to Niagara -- Fort Lévis would be Johnson's responsibility, not his. Washington, leaving behind an ample garrison at Oswego, marched for Ft. Niagara. Washington began putting it under siege, intent on capturing it and breaking French power over the area, and advancing into French Canada, capturing it in the name of the Crown.
To make matters worse for the French, continued British naval campaigns had weakened French ability to provide reinforcements and supplies from the motherland into 1758. This was made worse by an awful harvest in 1757, and a rough winter. During this winter, Washington's troops hunkered down in their siege, and made the best of the circumstances they had.
General Washington And His Troops, a romanticist painting, made in 1883.
The Duke of Cumberland, despite the reasonable British victories, was dismissed from the Duke of Newcastle's cabinet in 1759; William Pitt (the Elder) was appointed to assist in military matters that same year; taking over most of the affairs therein; all within his title as Secretary of State for the Southern Department.
When the Spring of 1759 arrived, George Washington successfully drove the French out of Fort Niagara, taking advantage of their greater starvation to do so. The French surrendered, and were treated graciously by Washington, who permitted them to take some of their own rations, and retreat into Canada with them. He confiscated the French garrison commander's sword, and the promise of the soldiers returning home was made—as was expected in the form of warfare at the time.
With Fort Niagara captured, Washington was given orders by Johnson to continue his expedition, but this time, heading southwest into the Ohio Country, to converge on Presque Ile, and Le Boeuf with Gage. Abercrombie, who had been accompanying Washington, was to return to Albany, receive a militia provided, courtesy of the New York colony, and proceed to Oswego to prepare for a military expedition against Fort Lévis.
Johnson himself advanced along the shores of Lake Champlain even further north, slamming full tilt into Fort de I'lle-aux-Noix; capturing it in June 1759.
The remainder of the war, between 1759 and 1765, was just consistent setback for France. France barely won any battles between those four years, as their troops were continually dragged down into the abyss of attrition, desertion and starvation by advancing British soldiers.
However, Britain did not get much respite there, as Spain, in a lazy, belated act to save France from total defeat, and the encroachment of New Spain, declared war on Britain in 1761; after the Fall of Montréal, and the surrender of the majority of France's army in North America.
The British response was quick, and brutal. The remainder of the war was spent conducting operations near and around Spain's territory (namely Florida, Cuba and the West Indies), and mopping up any remaining French forces in Canada.
Treaty of Paris (1765)
The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1765, brought an end to the French and Indian War. This war had been key in many ways -- expanding Britain's power in North America, and laying the groundwork for the birth of Rhodesia, and the mighty Empire that followed.
The Treaty's terms were laid out:
- France and Spain were to immediately return any conquered territories to the victorious powers.
- Britain is to recieve the Colonies of Florida and Cuba from the Spanish Empire.
- Britain will return Martinique, St. Lucia, and Gorée to France.
- France shall formally cede all of Canada, Dominica, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, and any territory in India, to Britain.
- All French territory from the Mississippi River to the east, including the port city of New Orleans, shall be immediately ceded to Britain.
- France shall not send troops to India.
- Britain shall respect the rights of any subjects to practice Catholicism freely.
Proposals for France to retain fishing rights to Newfoundland were rejected by the British, who refused to hand over the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon for French fishing rights. French attempts to get the return of Guadeloupe, a valuable sugar colony, were also rebuffed by Britain and Portugal. At the end of the war, Britain had come away the vast, and unchallenged victor of the war.
Not many French Canadians left the colonies that had been conquered, and were, in many cases, given proper and kind respect by the growing numbers of British settlers that were flooding in. The Acadians spread from Nova Scotia into New Brunswick, becoming a growing number in the region. Today, you can see the bilingualism in the region as a result of the Acadian expansion.
But the British Empire's newly conquered lands would have to be taken seriously; and new faces had risen in the minds of the British. One name carried across many circles in Britain; the heroism of a man named George Washington did not go unnoticed...
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[1] In OTL, the French were men of their word and allowed Washington to withdraw unmolested. However, in ATL, the French did not keep their word and instead attempted to ambush Washington during his retreat. Fortunately, our great hero survived.
[2] The Albany Congress was inconclusive OTL, with no attempts being made by any colonial legislature to unite the colonies together to form one super colony. However, ATL, the New England colonies agreed to unite; but the Crown still said no, so we're right back at square one.
[3] This scene is entirely fictional. Braddock ordered the retreat, not Washington and Gage.
[4] Washington, was, of course, not made a General of the British Army IOTL. That was unheard of, wasn't it? However, under pressing circumstances of the disastrous setbacks, and the recommendations of Gage and other British soldiers, Washington was given commission as a General.
[5] This is a major divergence from OTL. In OTL, Dieskau and Johnson fought each other to a stand-still, but the French tactically withdrew to Ticonderoga Point, setting up a fortification there. However, IATL, Dieskau is killed in battle, and withdraws completely, even further from Ticonderoga Point. This is a major setback for the French.
[6] OTL, we know the Acadians were summarily deported from the region all together, and many of them formed the backbone of the French Creole communities in Louisiana in modern-day America. While most Acadians have stayed in ATL, there is still an Acadian population in Louisiana due to loyalists leaving.
[7] OTL, Shirley was appointed CiC, and was later replaced after his plans were generally dismissed by Johnson and other commanders.
