NORTHCOM Battle Knowledge Centers

The French-Indian War was fought in the forests, open plains, and forts of the North American frontier. The French army, supported by North American tribes, was initially more successful than the British Army, who suffered from lack of experience at woodland fighting. This title explains the background to the wars and charts the military development of the British Army and the reforms that led to its eventual superiority. In both skirmishes in the forests of the frontier and great battles such as Louisbourg and Quebec, the British proved they had learnt well from their Native American allies.

In the summer of 1754, deep in the wilderness of western Pennsylvania, a very young George Washington suffered his first military defeat, and a centuries-old feud between Great Britain and France was rekindled. The war that followed would decide the fate of the entire North American continent--not just between Great Britain and France, but for the Spanish and Native Americans as well. Fought across virgin wilderness, from Nova Scotia to the forks of the Ohio River, the French and Indian War is best remembered for dogged frontier campaigns to capture such strategic linchpins as Forts Ticonderoga, Duquesne, and Niagara; legendary treks by Rogers' Rangers; and the momentous battle of Quebec on the Plains of Abraham. Here are the stories of Jeffery Amherst, the loyal soldier who did his king's bidding at the expense of his home and family; the marquis de Montcalm, Canada's champion who had to fight his own governor as well as the British; and William Pitt, the man who brashly proclaimed that only he could save England. We also encounter George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, William Shirley, Edward Braddock, and, of course, Major Robert Rogers, a legend misunderstood who stands both revered and damned. Against the backdrop of Fortress Louisbourg in Nova Scotia, the forests surrounding Lake George in upstate New York, the Caribbean, and the fall of Quebec, Borneman poses interesting what-if questions, examining controversies that continue to this day: Did the dashing Brigadier General James Wolfe frantically wave his hat to signal retreat or to urge his troops onward to victory? What if Spain had come to the aid of France sooner? What if the affable Lord Howe had lived? The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America presents the triumphs and tragedies of this epic struggle for a continent, placing them in the larger context of France and Great Britain's global conflict--what Samuel Eliot Morison called truly the first world war--and emphasizes that the seeds of discord sown in its aftermath would give root to the American Revolution.

Francis Parkman thought ofMontcalm and Wolfe (1884) as his masterpiece, and that estimate has prevailed for more than a century. At its heart lies the gripping story of the struggle between France and England for control of North America, the French and Indian Wars. Parkman marshals facts and anecdotes to make us eyewitnesses to this confrontation on both sides of the Atlantic, from the royal courts to the colonial fields and forests, where war began with the defeat of George Washington's Virginia militia at Fort Necessity in 1754 anddid not end until 1759, on Quebec's Plains of Abraham, with the tragic deaths of the brilliant opposing generals, Louis de Montcalm and James Wolfe. The author masterfully explains the military strategies, giving the reader vivid descriptions of such battles as Louisbourg, Fort Frontenac, and Ticonderoga, the besieged stronghold that Montcalm's greatly outnumbered soldiers defended against Wolfe's troops. Problems of logistics, armament, morale, and corruption all receive close attention, as dothe major participants, both military and political: Montcalm, Wolfe, Amherst, Bigot, Pitt, Madame de Pompadour, Washington, and Franklin.This edition, lavishly illustrated and designed, makes abundantly clear Parkman's insight and skill. The result is history as literature.

Apart from The Last of the Mohicans, most Americans know little of the French and Indian War—also known as the Seven Years’ War—and yet it remains one of the most fascinating periods in our history. In January 2006, PBS will air The War That Made America, a four-part documentary about this epic conflict. Fred Anderson, the award-winning and critically acclaimed historian, has written the official tie-in to this exciting television event.In The War That Made America, Anderson deftly shows how the expansion of the British colonies into French territory in the 1750s and the ongoing Native American struggle for survival would erupt into seven years of bloodshed and unrest spreading from the backwoods of Pennsylvania to the high courts of Europe, eventually overturning the balance of power on two continents and laying the groundwork for the American Revolution. Beautifully illustrated, richly detailed, and utterly compelling, this is the story of how America as we know it today emerged from a series of fractured colonies and warring tribes into a nation ripe for independence—and nobody tells this story better than Fred Anderson.