The Four Points Of War: The French And Indian War

The French and Indians War (1754 to 1763) was an important series of events that helped future American Revolution leader such as George Washington gain valuable military experience that would be later used to combat the British Empire. The French and Indian War was a branch of a three part global war known was the “Seven Years War” fought between the French and English. The war in American branch determined whether the French or British could claim themselves “alpha dog in North America”. They fought for complete control of the land east of the Mississippi river in addition to securing exclusive rights to the rich Ohio Valley fur trade. Both of the countries laid claim to the Ohio Valley which subsequently lead to many land disputes between

the French and British settlers and eventually spawn into a full scale war.
The French had a strong presence in the Great Lakes region. They solidified their dominance by building a fort at Green Bay in 1717. The French settlers lived in “new (Nouvelle) France) in modern day Canada. The French, in effort to find an easy route to Europe from the Great Lakes area, developed a new route along the Maumee, Wabash and Ohio rivers to bypass the western lakes. At this time, the British colonist were growing restless of the overpopulated cities on the coast so electing to move westward in hopes of finding solace. However, instead of finding solace many of the British settlers wondered into French “claimed” territory thus sparking a few minor land conflicts. These small conflicts convinced the French that they needed to improve their stronghold in the area by building a series of forts. The most formidable of these forts was Fort Duquesne, located at a strategic fork in the Ohio River. Actually, in 1754 Colonel George Washington led a Virginia militia force of 105 to build a fort in retaliation to Fort Duquesne- the newly built fort was named Necessity. On May 28th, 1754 Washington engages the French. This mild skirmish ended in a victory for the British resulting in 10 French killed and 21 captured. Despite this small victory the French, under the command of Horge, quickly strike back and capture Fort Necessity on July 4th, 1754.
The French were very strong early on in the war due to factors including a strong leadership in the military, size of the French Army, and the number of Indians who allied themselves with the French. The military leadership was a short term advantage because the colonial British commanders were largely inexperience in battle and with the surround countryside. Also along that line that line, the size of the French was momentarily larger than the British. The French saw the opportunity to employ native Indians to help guide them through rough terrain in addition to launch surprise attacks against the enemy. To this end, the French and British both fiercely vied for the allegiance of the regional Native American nations. The Indians allied themselves with the French in due to their prior experiences trading and trapping.
The British needed to formulate a battle plan in order to effectively combat the strong French.

The British formulated their four points of attack which was designed to attack the French from four different points: British forces in Nova Scotia to attack Ft. Beausejour, British forces under (newly crowned) Colonel William Shirley to attack the French from New York to Niagara, for Edward Braddock and his regiments to capture the infamous Ft. Duquesne, and the British to attack up the Hudson River, from New York to Montreal. Despite the British being a leading world power at the time, they relied heavily on the provincial’s assistance- by 1760 the colonist comprised 40% of the overall North American British

forces.
The first of the British four points, the attack on Fort Beausejour, was a resounding victory for the British.

However, it can be argued that the Fort was under manned therefore an easy victory for the British. Despite the first point, the other three points either ended in a stalemate or an utter defeat for the British. The second and by far the most famous British point was Edward Braddock’s attempt to attack and capture Ft. Duquesne and Necessity. One of the many mishaps Braddock was his long journey to Ft. Duquesne. During this time Braddock spent an inconsiderable amount of time building this road. Subsequently, the French were given extra time to prepare themselves and their defenses. Another mistake that can be argued by Braddock was his lack of employing Indians to help fight and guide the British through the forest. When it came down to actual numbers the British forces numbered near 1,850 and the French defenders numbered 855-essential holding close to a 2:1 advantage. In spite of this numerical advantage, the French forces were able to surround the British resulting in 977 British deaths and a French victory. It is worth noting that a future American Revolution General, George Washington, was a witness to Braddock’s blunder. William Shirley’s attempt to attack Ft. Niagara but he also took a long time forging his way through the forest. With winder fast approaching, Shirley was forced to retire at Fr. Oswego. The fourth and final point was the British attacking up

the Hudson River to Montreal. Despite the early victories in this campaign, the French counter attacked down the Hudson Rover pushing the British forces back to their point of origin, Ft. William Henry. The fort ended up falling to the French onslaught on June 17th, 1755. Interesting enough this French victory sparked future problems with their relationship with the Acadian’s- a powerful Indian nation. During the aftermath of the battle, six to seven thousand British were rounded up and instead of executing them all (which is what the Acadian’s wanted) the French commander released the prisoners. This act infuriated the Acadians which led to them sitting out for the rest of the war.
With these humiliating defeats the British were determined to defeat the French so on May 18th, 1756 officially declared war on the French. The Prime Minister, William Pitt, spearheaded this effort by vowing to win the war against the French. To direct the renewed war efforts, Pitt assigned two ambitious officers, Jeffrey Amherst and James Wolfe. On July 26th, 1758, British forces under the command of the officers, recaptured Louisbourge. The victory effectively cut the French forces in Canada from resupply from France. In addition it also marked a major turning point in the war as the British under the command of Wolfe and Amherst started winning battle against the French thus leading to an increase in relations with regional Indian nations. With this newfound interest accruing, many of the once French allied Indians began jumping ship and joining the winning British. So essentially the early French advantages including strong leadership in the military, size of the French army, and number of Indians allied to the French quickly diminished. In a more a shear desperation the French pulled out of the infamous Fort Duquesne in order to reinforce their garrisons at Quebec and Montreal. In 1758, the British walked into the vacated Fort Duquesne and renamed it Fort Pitt after their charismatic Prime Minister. The retreat of the French forces into Canada allowed to British to consolidated and plan for the invasion of Canada. The French surrendered with little to no resistance the Fort Ticonderoga in the summer of 1759. The British secured another key victory when they took Fort Niagara, an important French outpost. The capture of Quebec by Major General James Wolfe in September of 1759 permanently crippled the French plans in North America. The year 1760 marked the unofficial end to the French and Indians War as the British secured victories at Fort Pontchartrian (later renamed Fort Detroit) and Montreal.
Despite the war of “officially” ending until the signing to the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the British successfully eradicated the French in North America by 1760. The French lost almost all of the claims to North America while the British were granted exclusive rights to the rich fur trade in addition to control of the area west of the 13 colonies to the Mississippi. The French and Indian War allowed future American Revolution leader such as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin to gain valuable experience that would later be used to combat the British.