small text medium text large text

The French & Indian War (1755-1763)

Overview
Bibliography
    Histories
    Personal Narratives & Journals
    Art and Music
    Compact Discs - Video & DVD
    Fiction
    Crafts, Cookery & Herb Lore
    Weapons & Militia
Recommended Web Sites

Overview

"Sir, I do myself the Honour of acquainting you that it has pleased God to crown His Majesty's Arms with Success over all His Enemies upon the Ohio, by my having obliged the Enemy to burn and abandon Fort DuQuesne, which they effectuated on the 25th, and of which I took possession next day, the Enemy having made their Escape down the River towards the Mississippi in their Boats, being abandoned by their Indians, whom I had previously engaged to leave them, and who now seem all willing and ready to implore His Majesty's most Gracious Protection. …I have used the freedom of giving your name to Fort DuQuesne, as I hope it was in some measure the being actuated by your spirits that now makes us Masters of the place. …"

(Letter from General John Forbes to British Prime Minister William Pitt, dated 27th November 1758)

Thus ended a long and brutal battle between two European superpowers, France and England, for control of the upper Ohio River valley. Fort Duquesne, guardian of the gateway to the west, was renamed Fort Pitt and within two years would become England's mightiest fortification in America. Although the bloody struggle for domination in the New World would not come to an end until the British victory on Quebec's Plains of Abraham and the total defeat of New France, the wheels had been set in motion for the colonies' fight for independence.

The French and Indian War was precipitated through a series of altercations over rights to land in the Upper Ohio Valley. In April 1754, a force of French and Indians traveling down the Allegheny River, with orders from the governor-general of New France to claim this prized territory for France, encountered a small garrison at the forks of the Ohio. This was a strategic location for both the French, who sought unfettered access between their North American settlements on the Great Lakes and Mississippi River, and the British who craved fresh territory for their colonies' expansion. Both coveted the lucrative fur trade with the Indians beyond the Allegheny Mountains. The garrison in question was Fort Prince George, established some months earlier by the young Colonel George Washington while scouting for Virginia's Ohio Land Company. Declaring the area "extremely well-situated for a fort, having command of both rivers," Washington established a British settlement that would eventually develop into the city of Pittsburgh.

Fort Prince George was an unimposing trading post surrounded by a stockade, but it undoubtedly served as an obstacle to the French. Overpowered, the occupants surrendered and were permitted to vacate the fort with their tools and arms intact. The French then set about building their own massive fortification that they named Fort DuQuesne in honor of their governor-general. From this vantage point, they held sway over the Ohio Valley. However, their supremacy would be short-lived.

Tensions escalated as the British returned time and again trying to reclaim the site. Under George Washington's command, a small force engaged and defeated a scouting party of French and Indians near Fort Duquesne. Unable to proceed against the superior French forces in the fort, Washington erected Fort Necessity at nearby Great Meadows. Within a few months, the French countered and the assault forced Washington to surrender Fort Necessity and return to Virginia. This was the first major battle in the French and Indian War. Washington would return the following year, in July 1755, as a volunteer aide-de-camp for General Braddock to again attempt to rouse the French from Fort Duquesne. The battle proved a disaster for the British troops who were unaccustomed to the terrain, the weather, and the guerilla tactics of the Indians. General Braddock was killed in the melee but gave his name to the road his soldiers carved out of the western Pennsylvania wilderness.

On May 15, 1756, with official declaration of hostilities that extended far beyond Pennsylvania, the Seven Years' War began between France and England. Involving all the major European powers, it was the first global conflagration that engulfed all the territories colonized by the French and English from North America to Europe, the West Indies, Africa and India. But the principle struggle remained in North America, where events would not bode well for the English until the elder William Pitt came to power as British Prime Minister in 1756. By the end of 1757, with increased British resources, greater demands on the colonists, and the French facing national bankruptcy, the tide began to turn.

In the summer of 1758, General John Forbes commanded an expedition of nearly 7,000 men over the Alleghenies, carving out a highway that would later be known as Forbes Road. An advance column under Major James Grant made an unsuccessful attempt to take over Fort Duquesne. Aware that Grant's troops were closing in, the French and Indians rushed out from the fort to prevent their advance from the area that is now known as Grant Street in Pittsburgh. Discovering that the French were now in a much weaker position, General Forbes' immense force descended on the fort in mid-November. They met no resistance, as the French had already burned and abandoned Fort Duquesne, and fled on the rivers.

The years 1758-1759 also brought British victories in New France that culminated with the defeat of Quebec. On February 10, 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed by Great Britain, France and Spain, ending hostilities abroad and signaling British domination in North America. By terms of the treaty, France ceded Canada and all its territory east of the Mississippi River to England, and Spain yielded Florida to England. The treaty signified the colonial and maritime supremacy of Great Britain. But that success would prove costly. The British Parliament's attempt to cover its overwhelming war debts and to pay for a continuing military presence in America by direct taxation of the colonists soon caused strained relations with the colonies and presaged the War of Independence.

Bibliography

Histories:


  Return to the top

 

Personal Narratives & Journals:

    Bouquet, Henry. The Papers of Henry Bouquet, Vols. 1-6.
    Harrisburg: The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1972-1994.
    r973.2 B65a

    Bougainville, Louis-Antoine de. Adventure in the wilderness.
    Norman, University of Oklahoma Press [1964].
    971 B653

    Eastburn, Robert. The dangers and sufferings of Robert Eastburn, and his deliverance from Indian captivity.
    [Reprinted from the original ed. of 1758.] Cleveland, The Burrows Brothers Company, 1904.
    r 970.1 E18

    Eckert, Allan W. Wilderness Empire: a narrative.
    Boston: Little, Brown, 1969.
    rE195.E25

    Forbes, John. Forbes-Washington orderly book, Sept. 21-Nov. 24, 1758.
    [Transcribed by Niles Anderson from photostats of the original in the Library of Congress]. qr 974.886 F75fo

    Forbes, John. Writings of General John Forbes relating to his service in North America.
    New York: Arno Press, 1971 [c1938].
    E199.F694 1971

    Hamilton, Charles. Braddock's Defeat; the journal of Captain Robert Cholmley's batman, the journal of a British officer [and] Halkett's orderly book.
    Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959.
    r973.2 H19

    J.C.B. Travels in New France, by J. C. B. [Prepared by Pennsylvania Historical Survey, Frontier Forts and Trails Survey.] Harrisburg, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Dept. of Public Instruction, The Pennsylvania Historical Commission, 1941.
    r973.2 B11

    Rogers, Robert. Journals of Major Robert Rogers.
    [Reprinted from the original ed. of 1765.] New York, Corinth Books [1961]
    973.2 R61a

    Rogers, Robert. Reminiscences of the French war; containing Roger's expeditions with the New-England rangers under his command, as published in London in 1765; with notes and illustrations.
    Concord, N.H., L. Roby, 1831.
    r 973.2 R61r

    Sargent, Winthrop. The history of an expedition against Fort DuQuesne in 1755.
    Edited from the original manuscripts. Lewisburg, PA: Wennawoods Pub., 1997 (Baltimore, MD: Gateway Press).
    rE199.H59 1997

    Temple, Henry Willson. The Battle of Braddock's Field, July 9, 1755.
    Issued under the auspices of the 175th Anniversary Celebration Committee, July 9, 1930.
    rE199.T42

    Washington, George, 1732-1799
    George Washington remembers : reflections on the French and Indian War
    edited by Fred Anderson ; with contributions by Phiander D. Chase ... [et al.].

    Weiser, Reuben. Regina, the German captive; or, True piety among the lowly.
    Philadelphia [General Council of the Lutheran Church] 1856.
    r244 W46


  Return to the top

 

Art & Music:

    A Collection of Easy Marches & Airs from Early America.
    Music score arranged for piano, harpsichord or organ by E. Power Biggs. McAfee Music Corp., 1977.
    The songs and tunes of the mid-18th Century, which would have been familiar to the more educated colonials and military officers of the mid-18th Century, can be found in this keyboard anthology.
    q M32.8 .C653

    Craven, Wayne. American Art History and Culture.
    Abrams, 1994.
    Particularly good coverage of the architecture and decorative arts from 1750-76 and painting after 1750 can be found in the opening chapters of this encyclopedic work.
    qN 6505 .C7 1994bx

    Hamm, Charles. Music in the New World.
    W. W. Norton, 1983.
    While essentially an overview of western musical development in the Americas, the opening chapter "Music of the Native American" offers insight into the manner and custom of Indian music-making and how their oral traditions were maintained in spite of the early colonists' efforts to convert them to European ways.
    ML 200 .H17 1983

    Fowke, Edith and Alan Mills. Singing our History.
    Doubleday Canada Ltd., 1984.
    Here is an excellent source that includes traditional French Canadian folksongs, some dating back to the era of the French and Indian War.
    M 1678 .S58 1984

    Music that Washington Knew, with an Historical Sketch by Williams Arms Fisher.
    Oliver Ditson Company, 1931.
    While the focus of this collection of music (music score arranged for 4-part chorus) is on songs and tunes related to the American revolutionary times, W. A. Fischer's historical sketch provides interesting information on the early musical life of the nation, during Washington's formative years.
    M1659 .W3 F5x

    Native American tunes in three and four part settings…for recorders or flutes.

    Arranged by Gerald Moore. Brasstown, NC: Susato Press, c1991.
    If you want to play a traditional Iroquois melody on flute or recorder, here's the tune book for you!
    q M178.M56 N3 1991x

    Smithsonian Institution Press. The Valiant Hero; Benjamin West and Grand-Style History Painting.

    Discover why America's foremost 18th Century painter - a native Pennsylvanian - lived in London but painted great historical moments in early America, including "The Death of General Wolfe."
    ND 237 .W45 A827 1985


  Return to the top

 

Compact Disc - Video & DVD:

    George Washington: the unknown years George Washington: the unknown years [videorecording] .
    Produced by Epic Camera, Ltd. for The Learning Channel. Bethesda, MD: Distributed by Acorn Media, c1997.
    The reenactments and commentary by historians in this video tell the story of George Washington's coming of age, as he abandoned his comfortable life as a country squire and pursued a career in the military.
    Audiovisual Collection: Documentary Video [VHS]

    George Washington remembers [videorecording]
    produced, written, and directed by Peter Argentine ; executive producer, Laura Fisher

    George Washington's first war; the battles for Fort Duquesne [videorecording]

    The Last of the Mohicans The Last of the Mohicans [videorecording].
    The love of Hawkeye, rugged frontiersman and adopted son of the Mohicans, and Cora Munro, aristocratic daughter of a British colonel, blazes amidst a brutal conflict between the British, the French and Native American allies in colonial America. Based on the novel by James Fenimore Cooper.
    Beverly Hills, CA: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, c1999.
    Audiovisual Collection: Feature Film Videos [DVD & VHS]

    Northwest Passage [videorecording].
    An American historical drama about a group of settlers known as Rogers' Rangers-- led by Major Rogers--and the hardships of survival and battles with hostile Indians, they encounter in trying to settle the upper New York state area for their families in the late 1750s and early 1760s.
    Videocassette release of the motion picture originally produced in 1940 with Spencer Tracy. Culver City, CA: MGM/UA Home Video, c1990.
    Audiovisual Collection: Feature Film Videos [VHS]

    Songs and dances of the Eastern Indians from Medicine Spring & Allegany. [sound recording].
    New World Records, [1993?], p1985.
    Includes ceremonial music of the Seneca tribe.
    COMPACT DISC Fo Het #5161

    When the forest ran red: Washington, Braddock and a doomed army [videorecording].
    Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center in association with the Smithsonian Institution. Pittsburgh, PA: Paladin Communications, c2001.
    Pennsylvania Dept.: Audiovisual Collection [VHS]


  Return to the top

 

Fiction:

    Cooper, James Fenimore. The Deerslayer, or, the first war-path.
    New York: Scribner, 1990.
    CLASSIC Cooper

    Cooper, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans.
    Cutchogue, NY: Buccaneer Books, c1984.
    FICTION Cooper

    Cooper, James Fenimore. The Leatherstocking Tales.
    New York: Literary Classics of the U.S.: Distributed to the trade in the U.S. and Canada by Viking Press, c1985.
    FICTION Cooper

    Coyle, Harold. Savage wilderness.
    New York: Simon & Schuster, c1997.
    FICTION Coyle, H

    Bittner, Rosanne. Into the wilderness: the long hunters.
    New York: Forge, 2002.
    FICTION Bittner

    Bruchac, Joseph. The Winter People.
    New York, NY: Dial Books, c2002.
    FICTION Bruchac

    Houston, James A. Ghost fox.
    New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, c1977.
    FICTION Houston

    Jennings, John. Gentleman ranker.
    New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1942.
    FICTION Jennings

    Keehn, Sally M. I am Regina.
    New York: Puffin Books, 2002.
    PENNA FICTION Keehn

    Moss, Robert. Fire along the sky.
    New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992.
    FICTION Moss, Ro

    Moss, Robert. The firekeeper: a narrative of the eastern frontier.
    New York: Forge, 1995.
    FICTION Moss, Ro

    Roberts, Kenneth. Northwest passage.
    New York: Ballantine Books, 1983, c1937.
    FICTION Roberts

    Swanson, Neil H. The silent drum.
    New York, Toronto: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., c1940.
    FICTION Swanson

    Thackeray, William Makepeace. The Virginians.
    London, J.M. Dent; New York, E.P. Dutton, 1911.
    FICTION Thackeray

    Tottle, Edward Loring. War in the woods: the day the United States began, July 9, 1755: a novel of American freedom.
    Windham, ME: Educational Materials Co., c1991.
    FICTION Tottle


  Return to the top

 

Crafts, Cookery & Herb Lore:

    Bogdonoff, Nancy Dick. Handwoven textiles of early New England: the legacy of a rural people, 1640-1880.
    Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1975.
    (r)TS1323.I5 .B63

    Brown, Alice Cooke. Early American herb recipes.
    Rutland, VT: C. E. Tuttle Co., 1966.
    (r)q581.63 B78

    Caruba, Rebecca. Colonial cooking: a treasury of colonial recipes.
    Maplewood, JN: Hammond Inc., 1975.
    TX715.C32

    Cichoke, Anthony J. Secrets of Native American herbal remedies: a comprehensive guide to the Native American tradition of using herbs and the mind/body/spirit connection for improving health and well-being.
    New York: Avery, c2001.
    RM666.H33 C585 2001

    Gaynor, James M., and Nancy L. Hagedorn. Tools: working wood in eighteenth-century America.
    Williamsburg: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, c1993.
    (r)qTT186.G39 1993

    Hunt, David (editor). Native Indian wild game, fish & wild foods cookbook: recipes from North American native cooks.
    Lancaster, PA: Fox Chapel Pub., c1992.
    TX715.N343 1992x

    Latini, Mary Sue Pagan. At the hearth: early American recipes.
    Baltimore: American Literary Press, c1995.
    TX840.F5 L38 1995

    Minor, Nono and Marz. The American Indian craft book.
    Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1978, c1972.
    TT22.M56 1978

    Perl, Lila. Slumps, grunts, and snickerdoodles: what Colonial America ate and why.
    New York: Seabury Press, 1975.
    TX715.P469

    Plenary Publications International, Inc. The Golden Book of Colonial Crafts: selected from the Family Creative Workshop.
    New York: Golden Press, 1975.
    qTT23.G64

    Svensson, Jon-Erik. Compendium of early American folk remedies, receipts & advice.
    New York: Berkley Pub. Corp., 1977.
    TX652.S98

    Tunis, Edwin. Colonial craftsmen and the beginnings of American industry.
    Cleveland: World Pub. Co., 1965.
    (r)q609.73 T84

    Whitney, Alex. American Indian clothes and how to make them.
    New York: McKay, c1979.
    TT22.W48


  Return to the top

 

Weapons & Militia:

    Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers.
    Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1988.
    rF225.B63 1988

    Brown, M.L. Firearms in colonial America: the impact on history and technology, 1492-1792.
    Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1980.
    (r)qTS533.2 .B76

    Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia colonial militia, 1651-1776.
    Baltimore, Genealogical Pub. Co., 1965.
    r 929.3755 V34c

    Mollo, John. Uniforms of the Seven Years War, 1756-1763, in color.
    New York: Hippocrene Books, c1977.
    rUC480 .M67

    Montgomery, Thomas Lynch (editor). Pennsylvania Archives, 5th Series, Volume 1: Officers and Soldiers in the Service of the Province of Pennsylvania.
    Harrisburg Publishing Co., State printer, 1906.
    r974.8 P399p4

    Richards, Frederick B. The Black Watch at Ticonderoga and Major Duncan Campbell of Inverawe.
    Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1999.
    E199.R51 1999x

    Russell, Carl Parcher. Guns on the early frontiers: a history of firearms from colonial times through the years of the Western fur trade.
    Berkeley: University of California Press, 1957.
    623.409 R91

    Voye, Nancy S. Massachusetts officers in the French and Indian wars, 1748-1763.
    Boston: Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, c1975.
    rE199.V84

    Whisker, James B. The American colonial militia.
    Lewiston, NY: E. Mellen Press, c1997.
    r E181.W59 1997


  Return to the top

 

Recommended Web Sites:

    The Seven Years War:
    http://www.militaryheritage.com/7ywart.htm
    A visually intriguing site containing links to articles on battles, military uniforms, regimental histories, 18th century maps, etc. (Also, watch the video clips.)

    French & Indian War, 250th Anniversary Commemoration:
    http://www.warforempire.org/
    This site is very comprehensive with links to battlefield websites, commemorative events, news, maps, photographs, etc.

    French & Indian War, Mohican History Links:
    http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo08021.html
    Loads of links to battle sites, re-enactment groups, Indian tribal histories, etc. Especially strong on French Canadian, Indian, and New York forts and histories.

    From Revolution to Reconstruction, French and Indian Wars:
    http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/E/7yearswar/fiwxx.htm
    Especially interesting is the concise history of this conflict with links to further information on events and the key people involved.

    Allegheny Land Trust, Scenes from the French & Indian War:
    http://www.alleghenylandtrust.org/FIW/FIWPrintImages.html
    This website showcases and describes paintings by Pittsburgh artist Nat Youngblood of scenes from the French & Indian War.

    Fort Pitt Museum and Bushy Run Battlefield Homepages:
    http://www.bushyrunbattlefield.com/
    Read the short history and description of both the fort and battlefield. The Fort Pitt Museum page has a history of Pittsburgh's "Point."

    Fort Necessity National Battlefield:
    http://www.nps.gov/fone/home.htm
    This website is easy to navigate with links to teacher aids and to other interesting related sites. Also, check coming programs and events.

    Fort Ligonier:
    http://www.fortligonier.org/
    Be sure to take the Virtual Tour of the fort. Also of interest is the reconstruction of the original fort, description of artillery, recent research, and coming events.

Compiled by the staff of the
Pennsylvania Department
September 2003