The American Nation A History of the United States, Combined Volume (14th Edition)

The Great War for the Empire 93

Hussar Fashion, taking the Advantage of every
Tree and Bush.” With an ignorance and arrogance
typical of eighteenth-century colonial administra-
tion, the British mismanaged the war and failed to
make effective use of local resources. For several
years they stumbled from one defeat to another.
General Edward Braddock, a competent but
uninspired soldier, was dispatched to Virginia to take
command. In June 1755 he marched against Fort
Duquesne with 1,400 Redcoats and a smaller number
of colonials, only to be decisively defeated by a much
smaller force of French and Indians. Braddock died
bravely in battle, and only 500 of his men, led by
Colonel Washington, who was serving as his aide-de-
camp, made their way back to Virginia.
Elsewhere Anglo-American arms fared little
better in the early years of the war. Expeditions
against Fort Niagara, key to all French defenses in
the West, and Crown Point, gateway to Montréal,
bogged down. Meanwhile Indians, armed by the
French, bathed the frontier in blood. Venting the
frustration caused by 150 years of white advance,
they attacked defenseless outposts with unre-
strained brutality.
The most feared of the “French” Indians were
the Delaware, a once-peaceful Pennsylvania tribe
that had been harried from their homelands by
English and Iroquois. General Braddock paid his
Indian allies only £5 each for French scalps but
offered £200 for the hair of Shinngass, the
Delaware chieftain.
In 1756 the conflict spread to Europe to
become the Seven Years’ War. Prussia sided with
Great Britain, and Austria with the French. On the
world stage, too, things went badly for the British.
Finally, in 1758, as defeat succeeded defeat, King
George II was forced to allow William Pitt, whom
he detested, to take over leadership of the war effort.

Pitt, grandson of “Diamond” Pitt, a nouveau riche

East India merchant, was an unstable man who

spent much of his life on the verge of madness, but

he was a brilliant strategist and capable of inspiring

the nation in its hour of trial.

Pitt recognized, as few contemporaries did, the

potential value of North America. Instead of relying

on the tightfisted and shortsighted colonial assem-

blies for men and money, he poured regiment after

regiment of British regulars and the full resources of

the British treasury into the contest, mortgaging the

future recklessly to ensure victory over the French.

Grasping the importance of sea power in fighting a

war on the other side of the Atlantic, he used the

British navy to bottle up the enemy fleet and hamper

French communications with Canada. He possessed

a keen eye for military genius, and when he discov-

ered it, he ignored seniority and the outraged feel-

ings of mediocre generals and promoted talented

young officers to top commands. (His greatest find

was James Wolfe, whom he made a brigadier at age

thirty-one.)

In the winter of 1758, as Pitt’s grand strategy

matured, Fort Duquesne fell. It was appropriately

renamed Fort Pitt, the present Pittsburgh. The follow-

ing summer Fort Niagara was overrun. General Jeffrey

Amherst took Crown Point, and Wolfe sailed up the

St. Lawrence to Québec. There General Louis Joseph

de Montcalm had prepared formidable defenses, but

after months of probing and planning, Wolfe found

and exploited a chink in the city’s armor and captured

it. Both he and Montcalm died in the battle. In 1760

Montréal fell and the French abandoned all Canada to

the British. The British also won major victories

against Spanish forces in Cuba and Manila, and against

the French in the West Indies and India.

SeetheMapThe Seven Years’ Waratmyhistorylab.com

Table 3.1 English Wars, 1689–1763

War Date Purpose in North America Outcome

King William’s War 1689–1697 Control of New England and New

York frontier, St. Lawrence Valley

No change

Queen Anne’s War 1702–1713 Control of northern frontier, also

much of Canada

France surrenders Nova Scotia,

Newfoundland, and Hudson Bay to

Great Britain

King George’s War 1744–1748 Control of St. Lawrence River and its

Approaches

Louisbourg fortress captured by British

but returned to France by treaty

Great War for the Empire 1754–1763 Control of New France France cedes nearly all of New France

to Great Britain