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The French-Indian Wars
By Hope, 2006; Revised
 Category: North America: Military History
Beginning
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The Battle of the Plains of Abraham is important to mention, since it was the turning point where British troops got the upper hand in Canada. Montreal fell in 1760, thus ending the French and Indian War. The treaty of Paris 1763 ensured the British rights to Canada and most other French holdings in Americas apart from Newfoundland. The French had only one alternative, and that was to give up their claims on Guadaloupe in the Caribbean; an island the French government meant was more valuable than Canada.
In 1754, the frontier land of Ohio River was a skirmish zone between French and British colonialists. Two great Indian nations both claimed control of the area; the Shawnees and the Iroquois. The Shawnees had been driven out by the Iroquois in the late 1600s, but had returned to claim the area. The Iroquois were allied with the British, while the Shawnees and their companions were allies of the French. The Shawnees did so because they had been expelled from Pennsylvania by the British after their escape from Ohio. The Shawnees considered the British untrustworthy, because they had been expelled due to a treaty, which the Shawnees found most unjust. Because of this, both Shawnees and Lenapes raided British settlement, leading to open conflict. French troops attacked and burned Fort Necessity in the summer of 1754. The commander of the British forces was George Washington, aged 22.
The British tried the following year to conquer Fort Duquesne. General Edward Braddock led his troops – consisting of two British regiments and colonial militiamen – to what he expected to be an easy victory at Fort Duquesne. Braddock was wrong. Even though he was an experienced tactician and a saluted officer, he had problems adapting to new ways of war, such as the guerilla tactics of the Indians. Also, fighting in dense forests were totally strange for the British soldiers. Most of all, his problems were caused by his extreme arrogance. He had no faith in the colonial militiamen, whom he considered to be but farmers unable to succeed in battle. Additionally, he badly underestimated the strength of the Native Americans. Even though he had contempt for them as warriors, he tried to forge alliances with the neutral tribes such as the Mingos and the Lenapes – also called Delaware. It was difficult for the Indians to choose side in the conflict. The French were the friendliest, and had normally a great respect and understanding for their allies whom they almost treated as equals. In addition, the French kept a policy of giving gifts; guns, knives, carpets and so on. The British, on the other hand, were brutal and hard against Indians. Because of this, an alliance with them would at least prevent fierce attacks from the redcoats, which was the name of the British soldiers. The Indians wisely wanted to see who emerged victorious, before making a decision. On his expedition, Braddock only had eight Mingo scouts. He had also been promised some reinforcements from the Tuscarora tribe in Virginia, but they never came. Braddock was all but sorry for that.
The travel started May 29, and consisted of 500 militiamen, 1 350 British soldiers – the size of two regiments – and of course numerous of wagons, drivers and a cannon. Their largest problem was how to transport their equipment and men through dense woodland, and they advanced about two miles a day. To make this easier, Braddock divided his troops into two columns. The first consisted of 1500 troops commanded by Braddock himself, while the other was the supply column, only protected by what was left of the soldiers. This proved very unsuccessful. With the latter column badly protected, French and Natives often made small ambushes.