Changes

Washington's military experiences throughout the Ohio country during the French and Indian War prepared him to effectively manage logistical problems, strategic planning, troop morale and discipline, and ineffectual decisionmaking by elected officials during the [[American Revolution]].  

Washington's military experiences throughout the Ohio country during the French and Indian War prepared him to effectively manage logistical problems, strategic planning, troop morale and discipline, and ineffectual decisionmaking by elected officials during the [[American Revolution]].  

Braddock defeat showed the great disadvantage professional British soldiers had in fighting Indian warriors in the woods. The British adjusted to American conditions by recruiting Indian allies and American backwoodsmen to serve as rangers, and attempting to train British soldiers in American fighting conditions. The number of American rangers steadily expanded during the French and Indian War. Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Gage's 80th Regiment of Light Armed Foot in 1758 began a trend in establishing units better suited for American conditions. In 1759, light companies were formed in all the regular battalions in North America. By the war's end British troops in America had become efficient in irregular warfare and stood apart from other British units.<ref>Steve Brunwell,  "'A Service Truly Critical': The British Army and Warfare with the North American Indians, 1755-1764." ''War in History'' 1998 5(2): 146-175. 0968-3445 </ref>  

Braddock defeat showed the great disadvantage professional British soldiers had in fighting Indian warriors in the woods. The British adjusted to American conditions by recruiting Indian allies and American backwoodsmen to serve as rangers, and attempting to train British soldiers in American fighting conditions. The number of American rangers steadily expanded during the French and Indian War. Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Gage's 80th Regiment of Light Armed Foot in 1758 began a trend in establishing units better suited for American conditions. In 1759, light companies were formed in all the regular battalions in North America. By the war's end British troops in America had become efficient in irregular warfare and stood apart from other British units.<ref>Steve Brunwell,  "'A Service Truly Critical': The British Army and Warfare with the North American Indians, 1755-1764." ''War in History'' 1998 5(2): 146-175. 0968-3445</ref>  

===Massacre===

===Massacre===

The French and their Indian allies forced the surrender of the British at Fort William Henry in upstate New York in 1757. The garrison surrendered to French commander Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon (1712-59) but he  failed to enforce the articles of capitulation that obliged him to protect his prisoners from the wrath of his Indian allies. The Indians massacred most of the prisoners and took home their scalps as trophies.  Several of the prisoners had smallpox, and the scalps infected and killed hundreds of Indians in the following weeks.

The French and their Indian allies forced the surrender of the British at Fort William Henry in upstate New York in 1757. The garrison surrendered to French commander Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon (1712–59) but he  failed to enforce the articles of capitulation that obliged him to protect his prisoners from the wrath of his Indian allies. The Indians massacred most of the prisoners and took home their scalps as trophies.  Several of the prisoners had smallpox, and the scalps infected and killed hundreds of Indians in the following weeks.

===Victory===

===Victory===

[[Image:Quebec1759.jpg|thumb|400px|British forces landing at Quebec in 1759; they outnumbered the French. "A View of the Taking of Quebec, 13 September 1759," by Laurie and Whittle, 1759, shows the three stages of the battle: the British disembarking, scaling the cliff and the battle on the Plains of Abraham]]

[[Image:Quebec1759.jpg|thumb|400px|British forces landing at Quebec in 1759; they outnumbered the French. "A View of the Taking of Quebec, 13 September 1759," by Laurie and Whittle, 1759, shows the three stages of the battle: the British disembarking, scaling the cliff and the battle on the Plains of Abraham]]

==Indians==

==Indians==

Indian warriors' played a major role in alliance with the French to attack the American backcountry of Virginia and Pennsylvania from 1754 to 1758.  The French and Canadians supplied their Indian allies from the Susquehanna and Ohio valleys to neutralize colonial Anglo-American military power during the larger Seven Years' War. But the warriors - chiefly Potawatomis and Ottawas - fought for their own goals and devised tactics for their own aims. Although the Indians depended on French supplies, they were not united as one people under explicit loyalty to French leadership. During 1754-58, the Indians successfully paralyzed the two colonies, and these four years of war present a complex picture of Indian groups. Individual groups of Indians had various motives, used strategies adapted to political aims as well as warfare, and waged battles devised to affect truces and alliances with whites and other Indians. Frontier warfare declined throughout 1758, not because Anglo-American forces defeated Indian war parties or the French, but because the French were unable to supply their Indian allies.<ref> Matthew C. Ward, "Fighting The 'Old Women': Indian Strategy on the Virginia and Pennsylvania Frontier, 1754-1758." ''Virginia Magazine of History and Biography'' 1995 103(3): 297-320. 0042-6636 </ref>  

Indian warriors' played a major role in alliance with the French to attack the American backcountry of Virginia and Pennsylvania from 1754 to 1758.  The French and Canadians supplied their Indian allies from the Susquehanna and Ohio valleys to neutralize colonial Anglo-American military power during the larger Seven Years' War. But the warriors - chiefly Potawatomis and Ottawas - fought for their own goals and devised tactics for their own aims. Although the Indians depended on French supplies, they were not united as one people under explicit loyalty to French leadership. During 1754-58, the Indians successfully paralyzed the two colonies, and these four years of war present a complex picture of Indian groups. Individual groups of Indians had various motives, used strategies adapted to political aims as well as warfare, and waged battles devised to affect truces and alliances with whites and other Indians. Frontier warfare declined throughout 1758, not because Anglo-American forces defeated Indian war parties or the French, but because the French were unable to supply their Indian allies.<ref>Matthew C. Ward, "Fighting The 'Old Women': Indian Strategy on the Virginia and Pennsylvania Frontier, 1754-1758." ''Virginia Magazine of History and Biography'' 1995 103(3): 297-320. 0042-6636</ref>  

==Impact of war==

==Impact of war==

The war also increased a sense of American unity. It brought men from different colonies together for the first time.  British officers trained American ones (most notably [[George Washington]]). Legislatures and officials of the American colonies had to cooperate intensively, for the first time, in pursuit of the continent-wide military effort.

The war also increased a sense of American unity. It brought men from different colonies together for the first time.  British officers trained American ones (most notably [[George Washington]]). Legislatures and officials of the American colonies had to cooperate intensively, for the first time, in pursuit of the continent-wide military effort.

In 2009 Quebec nationalists vetoed plans for a reenactment of the 1759 battle at Quebec, sayting the defeat was a humiliation they did not wish to commemorate.  

In 2009 Quebec nationalists vetoed plans for a reenactment of the 1759 battle at Quebec, sayting the defeat was a humiliation they did not wish to commemorate.  

In his great novel ''The Last of the Mohicans'' (1826), [[James Fenimore Cooper]] used a historical setting and relied heavily on historical documents. Cooper's fiction strayed little from his sources on historical incidents in 1757 during the French and Indian War. He did invent some contextual features. Cooper resorted to artistic judgments when his sources were inadequate, but his porytrayals were highly realistic.<ref> Ian K. Steele, "Cooper and Clio: The Sources for 'A Narrative Of 1757.'"  ''Canadian Review Of American Studies'' 1989 20(3): 121-135. </ref>

In his great novel ''The Last of the Mohicans'' (1826), [[James Fenimore Cooper]] used a historical setting and relied heavily on historical documents. Cooper's fiction strayed little from his sources on historical incidents in 1757 during the French and Indian War. He did invent some contextual features. Cooper resorted to artistic judgments when his sources were inadequate, but his porytrayals were highly realistic.<ref>Ian K. Steele, "Cooper and Clio: The Sources for 'A Narrative Of 1757.'"  ''Canadian Review Of American Studies'' 1989 20(3): 121-135.</ref>

==Further reading==

==Further reading==

[[category:Wars]]

[[Category:Wars]]

[[category:Colonial America]]

[[Category:Colonial America]]

[[category:Canadian History]]

[[Category:Canadian History]]