»That is nothing to me. This river, this soil belongs to our people by virtue of the words of Charles the Second, who says that we may go even to the South Seas, if any such there be.«
»To the South Seas? I who am a greater traveller than you have never seen any such.
All I can tell you is that if I catch you here next year, we shall see who is the strongest.«
»Very well, neighbour.«
The ensuing year, sure enough, Major Washington comes and very civilly kills Captain Jumonville, though clad under the sanction of a flag.
Each party accuses the other of perfidy; God knows who is to blame.
But behold the effects of destiny and one of the freaks of fortune.
This very Major Washington, the murderer of Captain Jumonville, is the idol of the French.
From the banks of Ohio, in a little stockade, behold him there as a major in 1754; and in 1776 behold him again as a generalissimo, the friend and alley of France.
»O Virtue! O Humanity! And thou, O Justice!«
Letters from an American Farmer by J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur.
First published 1782. Penguin 1981. p.340f.
J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, 1735-1813, served as French soldier during the French and Indian War. He took part in the assault on Fort William Henry at Lake George in 1757 and he was wounded in the battle of Quebec. He left the army after the surrender of Quebec, changed his name to the English spelling and landed in New York 16 December 1759 and lived in the Colonies until the American Revolution.
The sources mentioned in notes etc. are preset a number which corresponds to the bibliography at the end of the text.
THE FIRST WORLD WAR
The importance of naval warfare
The Seven Years' War or the Great Imperial War (the War) has been called the First World War - and with a certain right - as it was fought on all oceans and on all known continents. The war encompassed the world from the Philippines and India in the East, over West Africa in the middle to America, in the Western Hemisphere and from the Arctic Ocean to the south of Africa.
In a world wide war the significance of naval power is evident: The battles are fought far from the home country, troops and supplies must be transported over long distances and ships are needed for communication, sieges and blockades. The contribution of the navy becomes essential to the result of a world war, and the citizens followed the naval deeds and defeats with great interest and influenced both the public and political life in England and the Colonies.note 1
Note 1 »The quarrels of Britain, France and Spain in the Old World would involve the subjects of these nations in the New World, for neither then nor later was America isolated from the rest of the Western World«.
[K10p.60]
For America, which calls the war the French and Indian War, the naval warfare was of extreme importance as all proffessional troops and most of the supply were sent across the ocean. It may accordingly be of interest to see what specific difficulties the British forces from home met and to what degree the American colonists supported the home forces. Some of the following chapters will focus on the naval actions in and around the American Continent.
THE BACKGROUND OF THE WAR
Land war in America and on the Continent - British and French allies
The American background of the war was for France foremost the commodities fish and furs and only secondary the agricultural products. The British emphases were grounded on both supplies of raw materials and America as a market for British manufactured trade goods.
[K10 p.63.]
The purpose of the British-French military operations was to gain the supremacy on the oceans because the master of the oceans would be able to develop maritime trades and colonial entreprises in the most secure and profitable way. In the Caribbean area the war was fought for the production and sale of sugar. The French producers were cheaper than the British and the competition in the American Colonies were for the time being in favour of the French.
[K1+K12.p.54]
In America the warfare started several years before the declaration of war was sent from London to Paris. As the British Colonies grew strong and expanded westward from the Appelachian Mountains, they were certain to collide with their neighbours to the north, west and south.
[K10]
The French had advanced from both the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes towards south into the Ohio Valley, and from the Mexican Gulf upstream along the Mississippi. The movements were a kind of pincer movements which locked the British Colonies up between the Atlantic Ocean and the Allegheny Mountains. Even if the colonists for the time being had no intentions of travelling further than the Ohio-Mississippi river system, they were worried of what future movements by the French would be. France had after all always been the rival of Britain - and in addition they were Catholics which must have been a thorn in the flesh of New England's Puritans, the Quakers etc. Very appropriate, the quarrels were also called »the Anglo-Saxon and Latin conflicts«.
[K10 p.60]
One of the earliest contacts between the British and the French forces occurred in 1753 when Georg Washington, then 21 years old and member of the part time organization the Virginia Militia, with an escort of seven men had marched at the Fort le Boeuf and warned the French that they were trespassing. His warning was politely rejected and the French stayed.
George Washington returned the next year, but he was defeated and had to return again. The French claimed the crest of the Alleghenies to be the border between their and the British territories.
[K22 p.155]
These incidents worried American politicians and Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Hutchinson (Mass) called for a Federal Command - one of the first efforts to gather a combined colonial force. It was their intention to use it for two purposes: Firstly to show the French they were unwanted behind the British colonists' backs, and secondly to show London that self-government could be bestowed upon the now grown-up colonies. However, neither the first or the second purpose were fulfilled as the plan was not ratified, none the less did the attempt show a new independent way of thinking in the »States«.Note 2
Note 2 »Nowhere was there any conception of a united English speaking Commonwealth, nowhere even any serious notion of joint action to meet a common danger«.
[ K12 p.54 + K22 p.154:]
While these minor skirmishes occurred along the wilderness frontier in America, the war in Europe saw for the first time an alliance between England and Prussia, ruled by Frederick II = Frederick the Great, against France with its allies Spain and Austria - and later Russia (and Sweden). The war was declared by England on 17 May 1756. The French declaration of war was issued 20 June. At that moment the ratio of sea power between England and and France was 130 to 65 ships of the line.
[K1+K3 p.101]
The war on the Continent opened with Frederick II's attack on Saxony and the Continental battles were subsequently mostly fought between Prussia on the one side and Austria and Russia on the other. The British support was mainly a financial help to Frederick II.
Britain was not really interested in the Continental war except for the trouble it gave France which forced that nation to keep sufficient forces available at home to protect the country. The available forces for the colonial war were naturally fewer.
The distribution of land at the beginning of the war
When the war was declared, France was still one of the main colonial powers of Europe. When it ended seven years later, Britain was the sole ruler of the oceans and ruled the greatest and most important colonies. France was no longer a threat to British colonial developments either in India or in America.
As mentioned, The main American interests of France were the fur trade and the fisheries. There were no dissatisfied groups of French dissenters or adventurous farmers who invaded the virgin land and the French territories were never very much populated compared with the fast developing British Colonies. In 1754 the British Colonies mustered 1.5 million people, while France had less than 100,000 scattered around its territories.
[K10 p.66]
Spain had also possesions in America. Florida and Cuba and many of the smaller islands in the Caribbean belonged together with the Mexican area to Spain. However, both France and Britain were also present in the Caribbean areas. France around the outlet of Mississippi, at that time named Louisiana, and in the Archipelago: Guadeloupe, Martinique and partly Santa Domingo. Britain had settlements in the Bahamas, Jamaica, Lesser Antilles and other smaller islands.
Besides the 13 colonies on the coast of the North American Continent, Britain held the territories north of St. Lawrence, around the Hudson Bay area Nova Scotia, and a part of Newfoundland.
Seen from a logistic point of view the British Colonies occupied a far better strategic area than the French did: the support lines were shorter and direct, they could land supplies on a far longer coast, whereas the French either had to hit the entrance to St. Lawrence or pass through the Windward Passage between Florida and Cuba to reach the Mississippi area. The expeditions from the coast colonies into the wilderness, i.e. the Ohio Valley and Mississippi basin demanded comparatively much shorter distances to be travelled or marched than the French coming down from Montreal or the Great Lakes. On the other hand river transportation was easier for the French positioned along waterways.
[K10 p.66]
THE BRITISH DEFEATS
On land around France
The British loss of Minorca
It can be claimed that the declaration of war came a little late. Already in 1755 an expeditionary fleet under Vice Admiral Edward Boscawennote 3 was sent to Newfoundland in a vain attempt to prevent a French expedition from Brest to reach Canada with supplies. Boscawen took station by Newfoundland, but because of the prevailing fog in the area where the cold Labrador current meets the warm Gulfstream he only saw a few of the French men-of-war and only two 64-gun ships and 1,500 men were taken as prizes. He was soon forced to return because of a great many men on the sick-list.note 4
Note 3Edward Boscawen, 1711-1761. Admiral, nicknamed »Old Dreadnought«. He had a distinctive career in the battles of 1739-1744 and closed his career commanding the British fleet in Lagos Bay 1759. Boscawen was one of the first captains to try to take effective steps to investigate the heavy incidences of disease afloat.
[K21 p.110]
Note 4 The scurvy - and other diseases were an important factor for the readiness of the soldiers and sailors. The Scottish doctor, James Lind, had as late as 1753 advocated the use of citrus fruits as a cure for scurvy. 1754 Lind published »A Treatise on Scurvy«.
[K21 p.120]
The general use of such remedies were yet to come. Captain James Cook used lime juice and lemons on his voyages on the advice of Gilbert Blane.
[K9]
Hawke used and demanded fresh supplies when he lay outside the French coast and saw his men become sick. When Boscawen took over he captured an island on the French coast and ordered sailors to plant seeds, which he himself had purchased, and they grew cabbage and other vegetables and the fleet did really see fewer scurvy patients than normally.
[K20 p.121]
While the first pre-war encounters on the American ground were between minor forces sent out to isolated forts, or attacks on settlers with the aid of Indian tribes, 1755 saw a change when the first centrally ordered action took place. General Braddocknote 5 left Ireland with two regiments of foot soldiers, landed at Alexandria (Va) and marched to the Upper Ohio. Georg Washington was again present as one of Braddock's aides-de-camp.
At Fort Duquesne »the British were shot to pieces« by the French and their Indian allies. Some sources state this incident as an ambush, but it was in fact an attack on the head of the train. The French took sensibly shelter among the trees while the British general ordered his troops to form columns in the open and fire at the woods. A totally senseless way of fighting in the wilderness and presumably the defeat shocked the British colonists.
Washington was naturally much influenced by the disaster and as he was the only unwounded officer it became his job to bring the remainder of the troops back home. This happened the ninth of July.
[K12 p.54 + K22 p.156]
Note 5 General Edward Braddock, 1695-1755, »... a courageous, honest and not particular intelligent officer«
[K22 p.155].
Braddock's army had 150 wagons with each four horses, 1,500 saddle horses for two regiments with 1,000 regulars and 450 VA militiamen. Benjamin Franklin provided the wagons and horses with great trouble because the reluctant colonists did not show any enthusiasm and in order to fulfill his obligations he had to proceed into the neighbour state, Pennsylvania, to get hold of enough horses.
[K20 p.124]
At the beginning of the 1755 campaigns when privateering was profitable , the British navy and privateers captured about 300 French merchant marine ships, mostly in or about the home-waters and kept the 5,000 seamen as prisoners of war - a delicate diplomatic case, as no war was declared between the two countries that year.
[K14 + MM3/94 p.298]
1756 saw the »official« war opened and for some time the battles in Europe and India were of greater significance than the outpost battles in America. But this was to change little by little as the defeats of the British in America were received by the public back in England: The French took Fort Oswego on Lake Ontario, they took Fort William Henry of Lake Champlain - the opposing fort to Ticonderoga - and the loss of the forts left the British colonists with a real and true danger of being run over by the French from north and north-west down into the New York and New England areas.
[K1 + K12 p.4]
However, in the early spring of 1756 the main interest was still attached to the European scene. France had gathered a sufficient amount of forces around the Channel ports to convince the British War Council, that an invasion of England was imminent. However, it was all manoeuvres alone to divert the attention from the real action which was to take place in Toulon. The tenth of April, 1756, 150 transport ships with 15,000 soldiers left Toulon under the command of the Duke of Richelieu.note 6 The operation was escorted by 12 ships of the line mustering 800 guns.note 7 The advise despatches, scouting jobs, and other auxillary operations were carried out by a further six frigates under Admiral La Galissonière.note 8
Note 6 Louis-Francois-Armand de Vignerod du Plessis, duc de Richelieu, 1696-1788. French marechal, nicknamed le Petit Père la Maraude, because of his conduct during his command of the French troops at Hanover 1757-1758.
note 7 Only guns mounted in carriages were counted. Smaller guns fore and aft were not included in the classification number. The classification according to the number of gun was at this time comparatively new. The older system of rating the ships in grade 1 to 6 had gone out of use because so many intermediate types of ships not exactly fitting the old classification had appeared.
note 8 Roland-Michel de la Galissonière, 1693-1756, had earlier been the French administrator in Canada.
A fortnight later the troops were all landed on Minorca and had initiated a siege of the main city, Mahon - »The Key of the Mediterranean«. At that time a British fleet under Vice Admiral John Byng was underways. It had left Spithead 6 April with ten ships of the line, and arrived 19 May; two days after the war was declared. Already the next day a battle was fought between the two fleets. France had twelve ships plus six frigates, while the British force counted thirteen ships. It had been enforced in Gibraltar with three ships and six frigates, together the British had 834 guns.
[K18 p.758]
Naval battles were then still fought according to the Fighting Instructions originating from an earlier war. The Instructions stated that battles were fought with the ships of the line in certain fixed formations, e.g. all a-breast of each other. The line must always be held which meant that the slowest ship set the pace and all initiative was concentrated in the admiral.
Because of the very limiting range of the guns the battles were fought at close quarters. Now, when a formation a-breast came near enough the enemy, the admiral would - depending on the direction of the wind - set signal to turn either one or the other way around to expose the ships' broadsides towards the enemy line and at a distance of 200 to 400 yards the floating gun platforms would open fire according to specific order or sequence as all guns were seldom fired at a time as it could damaged the ship or turn it over.
It is easy to imagine the confusion and the chaotic conditions which prevailed as soon as the first »broadside« had been fired. The smoke made it practically impossible to read further signals sent from the Admiral's ship. And chaotic conditions were evident in the Mediterranean the 20 May: the British ships collided, they were laying in each others way and the whole battle ended indecisively.
What certainly must have worried the British was that equal forces fought and the French did not flee, but at the time France had some advantages. The French ships were in front of the development. The French shipwrights and technology were more advanced. The general opinion was that French naval officers were inferior to the British and that the standing British navy had a more skilled and drilled crew of sailorsnote 9 which could manouevre the ships faster and shoot with greater precision at a greater speed.
The British gun power was also directed at a closer range towards the hulls of the enemy's ships while the French fired earlier and aimed at the rigging and upper decks. However, the crucial difference the 20 May could have been that the 13 ships of the British fleet miss 722 sailors in order to be fully manned. Admiral Byng' flagship, the RAMILLIES of 1086 tons alone missed 220 men.
note 9 The manning problem was hard to solve. From a peace-time demand in 1754 of 10,000 seamen and marines the number increased to a peak of 85,000 in 1760 for again to fall to about 15,000 in 1765. It is difficult to understand how such an increase in number could be managed in such a short time. Where did the Royal Navy find enough able bodied sailors? They could not be taken from the merchant marine which employed about 34,000 men, as it must be anticipated that the transportation tasks were not less than before the war.
[K23 p.149+369]
The statistics of the recruiting of seamen received in 1765 in the House of Commons show that the number of men raised during the war was 188,000 and only 1,512 were actually killed in action and 55,000 remained in service, (but not actually commissioned after the war). A table set up from figures received from five ships shows an average of 15% pressed men, 56% volunteers and 56% turned over men which are men who changed ships to follow a captain they like, or leaving a foundered ship etc.
It is easy to imagine the quality of the enrolled newcomers. The job for the officers to train such numbers of unexperienced men must have been tremendous.
[K23 p.150ff]
A considerable number of boys were enrolled in the navy through the charity organizations. The Marine Society was able to supply the Royal Navy with 10,625 »poverty stricken boys and orphans« during the war, and »only 387 came back for further assistance«. Those boys would naturally also have been unskilled for sea duty.
[K21 p.130f]
The day after the battle a council was kept on board the Admiral's ship and it was decided that Mahon could not be saved as the already landed French troops effectively would hinder a counterattack from the limited British forces. It was decided immediately to go for Gibraltar.
As the British fleet withdrew it became clear for the British garrison in Fort San Felipe, that the case was lost and no enforcement could be expected. The fort surrendered shortly after to the Duke of Richelieu. When the news of the fall of Minorca reached London, England was shocked and the political uproar demanded a scapegoat to be appointed. Admiral John Byng was put at court martial and sentenced to death for the loss.note 10
note 10 John Byng was accused of cowardice and un-seamanlike behaviour, but was in the end only sentences for not having supported Mahon and done too little to stop the enemy by sailing away the day after the initial battle was fought, and for this deed: »At 12 Mr. Byng was shot dead by six Marines and put into his coffin«. The execution happened 14 March 1757.
[K4 p.6-15]
November 1756. Lord Temple, whose sister Pitt had lately married, was placed at the head of the Admiralty trial of Byng [and stated]: He died for an error in judgment...».
Pitt spoke manly for Byng, both in Parliament and in the royal presence. But the King was inexorable. »The House of Commons, Sir«, answered the King, »You have taught me to look for the sense of my people in other places than the House of Commons.«
[K19 p.102]
The political effect of the defeat forced the Newcastle and Fox Government to withdraw and in the wake also the First Admiral of the Fleet, Admiral Lord Georg Anson was forced to resign, but he as well as Lord Newcastle were soon back in their former positions.
In November 1756 the war came to a turning point when William Pittnote 11 became nominally Secretary of State, but virtually acting Prime Minister. Pitt had a clear view of where the importance of the war lay. His vision was a powerful Britain ruling the oceans and neighbouring a beaten and weak France. He was also aware that this war had to be fought and won in the Colonies themselves and he immediately set to work on the despatch of an increased and fastened flow of troops and supplies to America. And the results came quickly in America after this change from a secondary to a primary scene of battle.
note 11 William Pitt the Elder, later Earl of Chatham, 1708-1778. Whig politician. Entered in 1735 Parliament for the family borough, Old Sarum. The borough was one of the smallest »rotten boroughs« with an electorate of less than 20 votes. See here for information on parliamentary organization.
He found it very important to beat the French in Canada and the capture of Quebec and Montreal became one of his main goals. In April 1757 Pitt was dismissed by the King and for three months there was no effective Government, though Pitt gave all the orders and did the day-to-day work. He was recalled in June on the »loud demands of the people« and a stable ministry was formed 6 July 1757, and for the nex four years Pitt was a supreme leader and tactician.
[K16 + K18 p.759 + K19 p.105]
In 1757 the actions on the fronts in Europe gave French-Austrian victories at Hastenbeck and Klosterseven under the command of the Duke of Cumberland. In India the battle of Plassey took place 23 June and the French were beaten by Robert Clive. In America no decisive battles were fought in 1757. The major event was the loss of Fort William Henry. The French commander Montcalm had marched to take Lake Champlain, continued to Lake George and with the Indian allies he captured the Fort. It was during the British garrison's outmarch that the Indian tribes fell upon the British forces and massacred about a hundred men. The gentleman Montcalm did what he could to stop the Indians, but did not dare to use force. »And after this, Remember Fort William Henry became the menacing war-cry of many a subsequent engagement«.
[K22 p.159]
Louisbourg
The route to the Quebec area was blocked by Fort Louisbourg at Cape Breton. To keep France busy all over the front and disabling the enemy to concentrate all his forces in the St. Lawrence area, a second British task force under command of General Prideaux marched on Niagara and attacked and recaptured Fort Oswego, others went on to the forts of Frontenac, Ticonderago and Duquesne while Amherst continued towards Montreal. All these manoeuvres helped to isolate Louisbourg which could not anticipate any reinforcements from neither west nor east and made it possible for Pitt to order two brigades to land on Cape Breton Island and force the surrender of Fort Louisbourg.note12 note12 »Before the end of July the much battered Louisbourg had unconditionally surrendered«. Shortly after the fort was totally demolished and scattered.
[K22 p.163]
In 1995 its finished remodelling was celebrated in USA and Canada.
[JM]
The attack and siege were commanded by Admiral Edward Boscawen and General Amherst.note13 After the fall of the fort, Cape Breton and Prince Edward's Island were occupied by the British forces.
note13Jeffrey Amherst 1st Baron Amherst, 1717-1797. He captured Fort Toconderoga in July 1759 and became Commander-in-Chief of Canade after the fall of Louisbourg 1759. Captured Montreal 1760 and became Governor-general of British America 1760-1763.
Louisbourg surrendered in mid-summer and yet too late in the year to proceed upstreams and advance on the St. Lawrence River that year, whereas the other objective: to prevent the French supply fleet from entering St. Lawrence in the spring of 1759 was fulfilled. A part of the fleet remained in the American waters for the winter and a greater part of the soldiers hibernated in the fort or were quartered in the Colonies, especially round the nearby Halifax.
This was not the first attack by the British aimed on Quebec. In King William's War, 1690, when William Phipps' fleet of 34 ships were fought of by the »ironwilled Govenor Comte de Frontenac«.
[K10 p.65]
Not everywhere the British forces were victorious. At Ticonderoga Abercromby attacked the fort, but his repeated frontal assaults were hopeless but heroic. A stupid fate to no purpose which cost a great many lives.
When the spring of 1759 arrived the French tried to send a reinforcement fleet across the Atlantic, but Admiral Edward Hawke,note14 destroys Aix and disrupts the attempt to dispatch the supporting fleet to recapture Louisbourg.
note14Admiral Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, 1705-1781. Rear admiral 1747. First Lord of the Admiralty 1766-1771. Admiral of the Fleet in 1768.
Quebec
On a map the St. Lawrence River looks wide and easy accessible, but in fact it is a difficult and dangerous waterway. From a point 50 miles downstream from Quebec the shoals and grounds makes it difficult to navigate and during the campaign the French had removed all navigational aids. Such methods did not divert the British determination when the fleet under command of Rear Admiral Charles Saunders in the spring of 1759 sailed upstreams towards Quebec. He commanded a fleet of 22 ships of the line, 13 frigates and 14 other ships. The commander let James,note15 then commander of the 60-guns ship PEMBROKE, take active part in the survey of the river, especially of the most difficult part of the passage, viz. the traverse just east of the Ile d'Orleans where the main ship channel changes from the north to the south bank. The survey started on 8 June and already 14 June the ships of the fleet passed the Traverse and were able to move up close to Quebec.
note15James Cook, 1729-1779 became 23 September after the fall of Quebec master of the 70-gun NORTHUMBERLAND, the flag ship of commander Lord Colvill. During the next two years the ship stayed the winter in the ice-free port of Halifax on Nova Scotia and did further surveys on the St. Lawrence during the summer months. October 1762 NORTHUMBERLAND was home at Spithead again and Lord Colvill was promoted to Rear Admiral and returned to America on board HMS ROMNEY.
The French commander, Montcalm,note16 had looked upon the navigational hazards of the river as one of the most efficient defences, and describes acidly his frustrations in a letter written 25 June »our best seamen or pilots seem to me to be either liars or ignoramuses«.note17 No doubt the boldness of the British forces caught attention and respect in the French camps. From Pitt and down to Wolfe the new signs of resolute action to secure the colonies impressed friend and foe together.
note16Louis Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm Gezan de Saint Véran, 1712-1759. Montcalm commanded the French forces which in 1756 captured Fort Oswego and Fort William Henry; much to his opposition the captured English and Colonists were after the battle massacred by his Indian allies. in 1758 he defended Fort Ticonderoga, but after the loss of Louisbourg and Duquesne in 1758 he fell back to Quebec with 16,000 troops.
note17 Another source puts a similarly saying by Marquis de Vaudreuill, the French Govenor-General, »the enemy have passed sixty ships of war where we dare not risk a vessel of a hundred ton by night or day«.
[K22-p.165]
Admiral Saunders moved up into the basin of Quebec at the beginning of July and began to disembark the troops. It was a very well equipped army which was landed: The total personnel mounted to 27,000 men, 13,000 naval soldiers, merchant marine men about 5,000 and the army counted 9,000 regulars. The figures of the American participants show that 3,000 sailors and 74 sloops etc. with victuals, and transporters were of American origin.note18 The British established headquarters ashore on Isle de Orleans under command of Hardy, on Point Levi on the south riverside under command of Monckton, and on the north bank east of Montcalm's headquarters with 14,000 mennote19 (which was outside the city walls at the Beauport lines), at Montmorenci under command of General Wolfe. On 12 July the batteries near Point Levi began to bombard the town.
note18 The American part of the total naval operations here was much bigger than the 900 American rangers fighting with the English troops. The seamen did their nation more honour than the frontier settlers did.
[K25 p.116]
note19 The figures differ. In [K22 p.191] the numbers are 6,000 men plus Bougainville's 3,000 men.
As the navigational hazards of St. Lawrence had proved ineffective the French tried, as their next attempt to damage or destroy the English forces, to send fireships with the tide towards the fleet at anchor below Quebec. However, the fireships passed the British line without damaging the British ships.
[K17 p.87]
The Quebec Battle
For the rest of July and the whole of August the English tried to provoke Montcalm to come out of his strongholds, but he resisted the temptations, and the English lay idle and frustrated in their camps and General Wolfenote20 sent depeches with a more and more desparate content to Pitt. The General did not know what to decide.
note20General James Wolfe, 1727-1759. Quebec House in Westerham, Kent, stands as a memorial to the general. He has a monument in Westminster Abbey by Joseph Wilton (1722-1803). His two most notable campaigns were the siege of Louisbourg, 1758, and the assault on Quebec 1759.
Wolfe participated also in the Battle of Dettingen 1741, when George II was present. He was then adjudant of 12th Regiment of Foot. In 1745, as a brigade-major under general Wade, he commanded in the actions taken to oppose the young pretender at Culloden where Wolfe is alleged to have fallen into disgrace with the Duke of Cumberland for refusing to shoot a wounded Highlander [other sources are more sceptical towards his moral integrity].
In 1757 Wolfe was Quartermaster-general in Ireland.
Wolfe was twice wounded early in the battle of Quebec, firstly on the wrist and secondly in the groin, before he was mortally wounded in his chest. Wolfe's coffin was transported back to Britain on board HMS ROYAL WILLIAM and he was burried in Greenwich Parish Church of St. Alphage 20/11 1759 - the same day Hawke won the last of the great victories of that year of victories: Minden, Quebec and Quiberon Bay.
Rear Admiral Charles Holmes had led part of the fleet past the guns of Quebec and sailed upstreams, forcing the enemy to follow him ashore, marching up and down and tiring themselves out, while the English comfortably sailed the river. This tactics proved to be the solution to Wolfe's despair. At the beginning of September the French troops under command of Bougainvillenote21 had withdrawn between 30 and 50 miles from Quebec and the heights inland of the Upper-city were virtually let undefended.
note21Louis Antoine de Bougainville, 1729-1811. Mathematician, navigator and serving as aide-de-camp to Montcalm during the siege of Quebec. He later accomplished the first French circumnavigation 1766-69 and was active in the service until the French Revolution.
The General decided to throw his troops into a very hazardous attempt to take the city by surprise during the night by landing troops on a very narrow stripe of shore at the foot of the steep cliffs to the Heights of Abraham.
On the night of 12 September General Wolfe and his troops were on board the SUTHERLAND anchored about three leagues above the intended landing ground and in the dark of the night half of the designated soldiers, the other half to follow a three-quarter of an hour later, were embarked into the boats and under command of Captain Chads, came rowing down in the darkness to land the army at the foot of the Anse du Foulon, leading to the Heights of Abraham. And it was his leadership which inspired the seamen manning the boats not only to carry out their difficult task to perfection but to crown it by forming a living chain up the rocky chasm to help the army up and then to bring up their artillery. More, they manhandled up the cliff a few of the heavy naval 24-pounder guns to add their weight to the army's firepower.
[K21 p.126 + K25 p.120]
At dawn 13 September the soldiers and equipment were transferred to the plains and the 4,500 English troops stood in full colour, »General Wolfe had put on a new conspicuous uniform«, and awaited Montcalm's outfall from the city walls. The soldiers waited until Montcalm's troops were at point-blank range and fired three volleys after which the French retreated in confusion leaving both General Wolfe and Montcalm fatally wounded. The battle upon the Heights of Abraham ended with a total English victory and it is said, that Wolfe »in anticipation of Nelson's famous signal at Trafalgar« in his last order wrote: »The officers and men will remember what their country expect from them!«. The siege went on for another fortnight, but on 28 September the garrison surrendered.
The Role of the American Colonies in the War American Shipbuilding
The American Colonies had never built any bigger ships to the Royal Navy. The yards were small and there was no proper administration set up for such complicated entreprises. However, a number of yards along the New England Coast an down to Virginia built smaller types of vessels for local use. The vessels were often built to a greater speed than the equivalent English types, and they served both official and mercantile purposes; not the least smuggling and privateering. Generally speaking, the American schooners and other smaller vessels avoided official interviews and contacts, but did not in that respect differ much from their European colleagues. During the War the Government enrolled a number of these local vessels in the fleet and used them as transport, survey and victualling vessels.note21
note21 »The naval schooner's usefulness was proved during the St. Lawrence campaign when they performed a range of duties from troop and livestock transport to scouting. One of the purchased schooners, the Grenville, ex SALLY, a 68-ton craft built in Mass in 1754, was James Cook's first independent command, in which for five years he carried out surveys on ... Labrador and Newfoundland coastlines.« [K17 p.76]
The earliest plan of an American built ship is the draught of the 24-gun ship BOSTON, built 1748. Many ships were built without a drawn plan. However, after copper sheathing was introduced plans were necessary in order to measure the surface needed to calculate the demand of copper plates.
[K24 p.43]
The American vessels were of an inferior quality compared with the English vessels. The American shipwright used very fresh timber which decayed quicker than more seasoned timber used in the European yards. Nevertheless the Americans were able to get British Government contracts for vessels, both because of their convenient position at the scene and because of the lower prices. At the end of the 18th century America built ships at 25 GBP a ton, while the British East Indiamen cost 40 GBP a ton. Another source has prices in England at £ 16-5 as cost per ton for a 70-gun ship in 1771.
[K11 p.19 + K14 + MM2/92 p.170]
The American yards were also quick to take up new procedures or techniques as for instance copper sheathing the bottoms of the ships - an invention made operational in the middle of the War. The first Royal Navy ship to be copperbottomed was the ALARM in 1761 (built 1758).
[MM2/92 p.170]
The importance of copperbottoms were speed. The copper prevented the bottoms to be fouled which resulted in a faster ship; and as a side effect the ships could be kept at sea for a longer period before careening, which again meant more ships at sea at a certain time. Careening is the operation where a ship is turned over on her beam ends displaying a greater part of her hull on one side over the water surface and enabling a cleaning to take place often performed by burning the sea weeds and shells away. The process is often called breaming.
The conclusion to the question of how the Americans supplied the English armada with vessels is easy to explain: the Americans had only minor vessels and these served, to a certain extent, the Navy, but except for the river and lake vessels, only a few were commissioned in the yards for the sole purpose of an oceangoing, lifelong naval career. The overall importance lay in the ships of the line, and they all originated from the English Royal Dockyards at Portsmouth, Chatham or a few private English yards.note22
note22 »We are left without definite knowledge of the connection between naval shipbuilding in the colonies in the thirty years preceding the revolution and that for the Continental Navy, ...«. [K24-p.49]
Some names of specific ships built in America and used in the War are known: the schooners VIGILANT, LIVELY and GEORGE built in 1755. The Admiralty also bought the schooner BARBADOES - a Virginia built schooner of 130 t - 15 March 1757.
[K17 p.76]
»From 1755 to the outbreak of the Revolution, the Admiralty built a great many small men-of-war on the Great lakes and on Lake Champlain. The sloops OSWEGO and ONTARIO and the schooners VIGILANT, LIVELY, and GEORGE were built in 1755. In 1756 the brig LONDON, the snow HALIFAX, and the sloop MOHAWK were constructed. In 1759 and 1760 three more snows were built - the MOHAWK, ONANDAGA, and MISSISAGA.« [K-24-p.20] The MOHAWK mentioned twice may be different ships or just amistake.
[JM]
Volume of Cargo
Another indicator of the war could be the volume of cargo handled in the ports in America. A war consumes a tremendous amount of equipment and supplies and the figures from Philadelphia can serve as an example of the increased volume of transferred cargo:
The volume of freight brought into Philadelphia:
1748 48 ships transferring a total of 2225 t.
1750 71 ships 3887 t.
1754 51 ships 2611 t.
1758 70 ships 3619 t.
1762 119 ships 6054 t
1766 85 ships 4202 t.
[K15 + NEP 3/93 p.166ff]
The table shows how the War increased the amount of cargo transferred and how the volume decreased again after the war. The decrease did not extend to prewar level. A suitable explanation - beside a general development in trade - could be that a greater volume was needed for the rebuilding of war damages or the refill of exhausted stocks.
The sailors and the soldiers
In the previous chapter on the battle of Quebec the sailors' role in the operations was mentioned. It was also in the beginning of this essay mentioned that Benjamin Franklin had trouble producing a sufficient number of horses for the troops. It seems as the American help in securing their own future was very limited.
There may be several reasons for their reticence. Firstly, the American Colonies were not inhabited by a homogenous, national group. Most of the inhabitant had come because of persecution in their home country, as merchant adventurers, or to form a congregation according to their own fancy. The slave owning planter in south differed also much from the more internationally orientated merchant in Boston.
Secondly, many of the citizens did not want to be ruled by the central English Government. The American settlers opposed the trade regulations laid down by England - the authorized restrictions to American free trade. Duties and excises on imported goods were also felt as an unreasonable taxation without the local government's sanction - a public evil pressed on the children by the parent nation. The English at war could not count on an America as a new nation willing to sacrifice much and had solely to rely on own resources. The Imperial Forces were equipped from home and only bought their victuals and fresh provisions in an America with very limited manufacturing capacity.
Without a national feeling, a national pride, the politicians and the Government could not expect a positive response to hardship in the groups of individualists. The volunteering soldier was, apart from a minor number of militia men and rangers, not existing. The sailors contributed to the forces with less than 2,000 men directly enrolled in the English ships, but a greater number served in the smaller American vessels, but this was as a part of their profession and not voluntarily and directly employed in the Navy. One of the sources tells that at the siege of Louisbourg a new Hampshire carpenter was in command of 200 carpenters, but it is not specified whether the 200 carpenters were American or English carpenters.
[K24 p.47]
Victories away from America India
On the other side of the World the War was also fought in India. However, that story will have to await its own text as it is a long story describing the complicated grouping of the Indian princes and rulers and their changing alliances with partly the French and partly the British interests in the area. Here, in short, it can be said that like America had its Quebec and Montreal, likewise India had its Plassey and Pondicherry.
The person who took the initiative in India was Clive of Plassey. His name was Robert Clive, later first Lord Clive of Plassey, born 1725, died 1774.
Together with Warren Hastings, 1732-1818, they played the major roles in the transformation of India from a series of small states and into the Crown of the British Colonies. Because of the long voyage home around the southern point of Africa the news about Clive's victory of Plassey 23 June 1757 was not received in England before January 1758.
[K18 p.766.]
Robert Clive was accused of selfishness in Parliament. However, he was later acquitted, but broken and committed suicide 22 November 1774. It is a kind of myth that the cause of his suicide should be his political detour. It is more reasonably to find the cause in his increasing illness which forced his doctor to prescribe opium as a remedy which left him with severe depressions.
[K7 p.239]
After the two major battles, the role of France was finished and the British set to establish a working political system. At the time it was still the East India Company which had the trading patents in India. The local administration set up by Clive during several stays in India in 1765 changed to a direct political control and influence from London.
[K32 p.14]
The 1758 campaigns on the Continent included Frederick II's victory over the French under Soubise at Rossbach. The next year, 1759, brought the victory at Minden. Here Ferdinand of Brunswick with six English battalions fought brilliantly - according to the statements of the winning country. However, the victory was later in the year somewhat shadowed by the defeats at Züllichau 23 July, and at Kunersdorff 12 August, 1759.
[K22 p.160]
Africa
Also in Africa results were achieved. The English expedition against the French slaving settlements reported of the capture of Fort Louis on the Senegal River and later in the year, 29 December, Admiral Keppel took Goree. The two slaving centres were the main French strongholds in Africa and the slave sources for the sugar plantations of their West Indian Colonies.
[K19 p.108 + K22 p.164]
The West Indies
On the West Indian scene of war in 1759 the surrender of Guadeloupe to Hopson and later the taking of the more southerly island of Marie Galante was reported.
[K19 p.108 + K22 p.164]
The High Seas
On the high seas two important battles displayed the British power and the signs of the British supremacy at sea was already evident. The 14 August a French squadron had slipped out of Toulon and sailed out in the Mediterranean and was around Gibraltar chased by Admiral Boscawen. The definitvie engagement was opened in Lagos Bay, in the Atlantic Ocean south of Portugal. The battle cost the British 56 killed and 196 wounded while the French in just one ship had 200 killed men. At the time the British forces could fire broadsides at the rate of 3:1 compared with the French.
[K21 p.127]
Quiberon Bay
The second major naval battle of the year around the coasts of France happened in November at a time when foul weather could be expected any time and when southwesterly gales would threaten the safety of the ships close to the French coast and where a northwesterly wind would send the ships down in the rolling Atlantic waves in the Bay of Biscay.
Throughout the sailing season Admiral Hawke had kept his station around Ile d'Oussant but had now warned the Admiralty that if weather did not permit him to stay, he would seek shelter in Torbay under the English coast as the usual roads in Plymouth Sound could not securely hold such a large fleet as he commanded.
[K25-p.127]
The British forces counted 23 ships of the line, 1,666 guns and two 50-guns frigates and they were all waiting for the French move which they here at the beginning of November had received intelligence of was approaching. In the first instance the weather did not permit Hawke to keep his station and he returned to the lee coast under the English cliffs - or more correctly he blew back to Torbay on the 9 November.
The situation in France was similar to the English. The weather prohibited the fleet to put to sea. The task force consisted of 21 ships of the line with 1,486 guns and four 50-guns frigates. The fleet was commanded by Vice Admiral (and Marshal) de Conflans, born 1689.
The 14 November the wind changed to a northwesterly breeze and Conflans left Brest and set course for Morbihan a hundred miles south on the French coast. After a good start the wind changed to an easterly direction on 16 november when they were halfway to their destination. At the same time Hawke had again left Torbay and was with his fleet hurrying towards Belle Isle expecting to find the enemy here. The intention of the French fleet was to embark 18,000 men. When Admiral Hawke came in sight of the fleet on 20 November the two forces were close to the mouth of Quiberon Bay. The sea was rolling high, and the coast where the French ships lay was rocky with scattered shoals, grounds and navigational hazards en masse.
[K18. p.767]
When the French ships saw Hawke, they tried to enter the Bay hoping that Hawke did not dare to follow, but Hawke did and the »admirable battle was fought under very severe weather conditions in the most dangerous waters. To put to sea in November in the Bay of Biscay with difficult manoeuvrable ships was intriguing and desperate, but the British won their third and last important victory in that year of the contemporaries called Annus Mirabilis - the Year of Victories.
Considering the number of ships on each side it was no wonder that Hawke secured the victory, but othe significant naval differences from Minorca to Quiberon Bay had emerged. Where admiral Byng had stuck to the old Fighting Instructions and lost, Hawke gave signals to individual chases of the enemy. I do not know if he did it on purpose or it was the navigable fairways which made it the only possible practice, but the several smaller fights between single ships surprised the French and in the restricted navigable waters the French losses came to more than the ships taken.note 23
Note 23 »The attack on Conflans' fleet among the shoals of Quiberon Bay in southern Brittany was the first instance of the decisive battle of which the end of the century was to see such fine examples«. Duels more frequently took place between ships of the line in the later years of the Seven Years' War.«
[K9 p.25f + K17 p.178]
The battle was fought in the afternoon and when the winter night fell the ships had to anchor in the uncharted and unknown waters. The French anchored inshore and in a attempt to avoid being boarded or sunk by the British a number of the ships jettisoned their guns and equipment and by help of the occurring spring tide they shifted into the mouth of the River Vilaine - where four of them were destined to break the keel in the shallow waters. The total losses of the French were five ships including two flagships plus the four above mentioned, and about 2,500 men, the greatest majority of whom were drowned. Hawke lost two ships which were wrecked on the rocks and between three and four hundred men were killed or wounded.
[K25 p.160]
Quebec to Montreal
The spring of 1760 saw the British occupants of the Quebec garrison decimated. Of the 7,000 men left for the winter only 3,000 were now alive. The toll of starvation and scurvy was 4,000 lives. The French in Montreal had fared far better and when the spring came with April they marched on Quebec where they met the defenders outside the city walls, when the British did the same mistake that Montcalm had done and were forced to withdrawn as the French superiority was too great.
A siege was begun by the French and the crucial moment was expected with great anxiety: would the European reinforcement, which was expected when the ice sprung in the river mid April, arrive with British or French colours? This question would settle the fate of the two armies. The 9 May the first sails were seen down-stream. When the silhouette wore closer the Union Colours »made the British defenders cry their throats hoarse for an hour on the peripets of the city walls«. The French knew by then how their fate would be and withdraw to Montreal. There, at least, they could defend their honour.
The British forces from Europe and the Quebec stationed soldiers under Murray merged with Amherst coming up from Oswego and Haviland from Lake Champlain and »on 8 September the last French governor of Canada surrendered unconditionally - Amherst remembered the Indian atrocities and refused to allow him the honours of war - and all Canada passed to the British Crown. The future of North America was to be freedom, not despotism.«
[K22 p.170]
The importance of Canada did not lie solely in the soil around St. Lawrence, but in the opening of the continent inland through the waterways of the river. The waterway from Quebec to Montreal and further on to the Great Lakes gives easy access to the inland, but has formidable obstacles to navigation. One of the major difficulties to overcome is the change in height. Lake Superior's surface is 602 feet above sea level, but before a vessel reaches Lake Superior the rapids and eddies of the Lake Lachine, and the shoals, rapids and grounds by the Thousand Islands area must be passed and later come the Niagara falls which have to be bypassed.
At the time of the war only canoes could be used for the traffic on the river upstreams of Montreal and the first lock was not introduced before 1779-80. It was built by Coteau du Lac. However, on the Lakes the settlers had built comparatively substantial vessels and the New Englanders and New Yorkers discussed and planned and eventually built a net of waterways connecting the Great lakes with the Hudson River Valley and others at a great distance south into Pennsylvania. All this still belonged to the future when Canada passed to Britain.
Besides the difficulties of navigation in the water, the winter stopped all traffic on the river. From about 200 nautical miles (nm) from Quebec the ice closes the river from mid-December to April. First around 1960 Montreal could be reached all year round - in the winter season ships had to be assisted by ice breakers.
To give an impression of the distances the ships had to travel: the distance from Liverpool to the Belle Isle Strait north of Newfoundland is 1882 nm, but from here to Duluth at the inner end of Lake Superior is another 2047 nm (Duluth). From Belle Isle to Montreal is 877 nm.
Spain Enters the War
The Caribbean Scene
The war in the Caribbean waters had been fought with the minor groups as for instance the unit commanded by Commander J. Moore and General Hopson who conquered Guadeloupe in 1759. The political affiliations in the Caribbean area interested several imperialist nations besides England and France. From the time of Cortes Spain had maintained a vast supremacy over the Mexican areas, Cuba and many of the smaller islands. Spain's interest in the war was accordingly intense, but the country had until 1761 managed to keep out of direct war actions. The Spanish inclination and sympathies lay with the French cause of both political-tactical and dynastical reasons.
As the war carried on, Spain saw one island after the other give in to the British forces: Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, Grenada and St. Vincent. Spain saw the fall of India, Canada, the West African slave forts and a series of defeats on the European Continent. With this background in the mind, it seems at least a bit unconcerned or careless that Spain formed a tight alliance with a nearly broken France and even strenghtened it and formally signed a treaty in the last years of the war, but to look into the reason for the nation's conduct it is necessary to go back to the beginning of the War.
The Spanish monarchy was rather unstable when in August 1758 Queen Maria Barbara died and the loss depressed King Ferdinand VI or in fact made him insane, and he died shortly after his spouse's death. His halfbrother Charles III, King of Naples, returned to Spain and was declared king 11 September 1759. From Naples he had presumably already interferred with the Spanish Government as there is a remarkable increase in the number of ships launched 1758 and 1759 and he also built up a much stronger force of ships of the line in the Caribbean area. From 4 ships in 1758 to 14 ships by the summer of 1761 and finally before the attack on Cuba to 19 ships of the line. However, these figures must always be compared with the lists of manning as the general situation for all nations was a permanent lack of sufficiently drilled sailors, which again means that not all ships were operationally ready at the same time.
Spain had a demand of about 50,000 sailors to man the fleet, but could only muster 26,000 and accordingly only about two thirdsof the ships were really active and ready for command. The distribution of the men was also uneven. In the New World only a minor part of the available sailors were present. The country had the same long routes for supplies, but it had also constructed more yards and depots in the New World and had a longer tradition for management of tax-paying countries. The annual »treasure fleet« returning to Spain with valuables was a necessary supply of values to the Spanish throne, and the maintenance of those transports was one of the weightiest reasons for joining the war in 1761/62.
The plans and purposes for the increase in the Spanish naval powers were not solely defensive, but had the King had any remembrance of an earlier, easily conquered enemy, the biggest surprise for him must have been the tremendous change in the British navy since the war of Jenkin's Ear in 1739-1748. After the insufficiency that the British naval forces displayed during those years, Lord Anson had taken over the administration of the Royal Navy and improved both the material and the training considerable. William Pitt had then further asigned sufficient funds for the naval build-up and thereby added to the importance of the navy so that at the present time the number of ships, the training of men and especially of the officers were at a peak and the onboard moral was high. The Annus Mirabilis had not passed unnoticed by the man below deck. The fighter and team spirit was felt throughout the enrolled men and transferred to the enemy as awe when standing face to face in battle.
1762 In January 1762 Britain declared war on Spain, which at the time had 50 ships of the line, while the British fleet now counted 120. The British expedition forces sailed under Admiral George Brydges Rodneynote 24 and General Monckton to the West Indies and took up station in the Leeward Islands. from here the new spring season began with the conquering of Martinique, Grenada and St. Lucia. The British forces combined with Admiral G. Pocock and General George, Earl of Albemarle and attacked Havana on Cuba in a surprise attack, partly because of the Spanish Garrison cannot believe the approaching ships to be those of the enemy.
Note 24George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, 1719-1792. He commanded in 1759, as rear admiral, the squadron which bombarded Le Havre and destroyed the flotilla for the invasion of England. 1761 he was appointed commander-in-chief on the Leeward Islands. His later career was equally distinguished.
The British expedition weighed anchor 27 May from Martinique and stood north into the Windward Passage and the Old Bahama Channel. The intentions were to cross south and east of Cuba in stead of the more direct route north of Cuba. This deviation would prevent the islanders passing information about the advancing enemy across the island to Havana. The British fleet comprised 19 ships of the line, three smaller 50-guns ships, and 19 frigates or lesser men-of-war. They escorted a convoy of 160 troop transporters, victuallers, ordnance vessels, and hospital ships, aboard which travelled Albemarle's 12,600 soldiers. The 6 June 1762 the fleet was within sight of Havana Harbour.
[K14 MM3/92 p.292+301 + K34 p.556]
The view from the fortresses around Havana must have been impressive when the Governor and his staff after mass are informed about the approaching ships and ascends the heights at the harbour entrance and see the many ships of the line and smaller vessels closing in with the sun behind their full dress of sails when they are less than four miles from the harbour entrance. It is too late to do anything and except from sinking a couple of ship in order to block the harbour, which had not even the barrier log booms ready for action.
The Spaniards were not beaten, but a sieg and blockade was introduced and after 70 days of bombardment and attacks, and with several of the leading commanders dying, the citadel surrendered and 13 August the British captures 9 ships of the line laying idle in the harbour. To hold out that long was not a cowardicly conduct of the Spanish garrison.
This was the last battle of any importance in the New World. The war ended in the Old World with the fall of manila in the Philippines in October and the peace negotiations could start in Paris.
Peace negotiations Treaty of Paris 1763
When the weapons were silenced and the accounts for the Royal Navy had been made up the British losses of equipment amounted to 20 ships of the line and 41 other ships. 4,000 merchant marine vessels had been captured or destroyed. The French lossees amounted to 45 ships of the line, 55 other ships and 1,500 merchant ships captured.
Spain lost 14 ships of the line, 6 other ships and 400 merchant vessels.
The peace negotiations started in Paris and the Treaty of Paris was signed 10 February 176. Some parts of the World changed national colours after the decisions of the agreement were carried out, but not as many as could have been expected.note 26 France lost Canada and Louisiana and withdrew completely from the American Continent. However, France kept a couple of minor islands, St. Pierre and Miquelon, off the Canadian Atlantic coast as bases for their fisheries. This point was one of the main discrepancies between William Pitt and the Government, but Pitt was out of the cabinet when the treaty was negotiated.
note 26 »Historians have taken a flattering view of a treaty which established Britain as an Imperial Power, but its strategic weakness has been smoothly overlooked. The naval power of France had been left untouched. Spain regained the West Indian port of havana, which controlled the maritime strategy of the Caribbean Sea. She also received back Manila, an important centre for the China trade. In Africa, in spite of Pitt's protests, France got back Goree - a base for privateers on the flank of the East India trade routes. ... The peace was inadequate because the places gained were no equivalent for the places surrendered.
[K16 p.229]
Spain lost Florida and gained Louisiana west of Mississippi from France, but left Florida to England. In the West Indies Britain kept Grenada, St. Vincent, Dominica and Tobago. Martinique and Guadeloupe were returned to France.
With the peace treaty England also got India, or at least got free hands to exploit the area. The French trading posts were returned, but without their hinterlands, and the defence works were also demolished before the return, which made the areas of minimal value to France. The French trade was never again built-up to any substantail volume on the continent.
In Africa England received Senegal, and in Europe Minorca was returned to England and Belle Isle at the French coast to France.
the Importance of North America
North America's main importance for Britain was as a customer for British manufactures. In 1770 Britain exported for £ 2,000,000 but had only had an import worth £ 1,100,000 from North America. From the West Indies the imports were three times as big. Britain's European trade was still much bigger in 1762, but it changed substantially after the War. The overseas trade counted totaly for one-third of the imports and one-eighth of the exports. ten years later, in 1772, when the trade volume had doubled, the overseas share was over 50% for imports and 40% of exports. In India the British was left without serious competition and the trades developed fast after the War.
Britain's opinion about the American Colonies was that it had helped them by removing France from their backdoor and opende up new tracts of fertile land and waterways which gave easy access to the west of the Alleghenies. The land offered all prospects of being developed into a number of wealthy and prospering colonies.
England accordingly found it reasonable to secure a certain part of the war debts covered from the Colonies in North America, and the Parliament passed a series of acts to that purpose. They were all received with resistance in America and the seed to the Colonies' independence which was planted already during the initial skirmishes of the War, was now from the mother country nursed and nurtured.
Canada had now joined the row of American colonies and a British Governorship was set up. Quebec was later treated extraordinary well when the French Catholics were granted a wide base of self-government and many of the local French laws and traditions were maintained. Presumably, the harsh suppression including the deportation of the 7,000 Acadians in 1755 had been reckoned unsuccessfully, and in 1763 the conquerors had a better understanding of how to handle the ethnic and religious task of integrating the French population into the British »Commonwealth«.
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