The French and Indian War
During the French and Indian War, the French commander, General Montcalm, arrived in August with 3,000 men. His force included 3 regiments of regulars, several companies of Canadian militia, and numerous Indians. He first captured Fort Ontario, then began the assault on Fort Oswego. Oswego was the stronger fortification, but it was now downhill from 120 cannons in the abandoned Fort Ontario. Montcalm swept the fort with cannon fire, killing the British commander, Colonel Mercer, in the bombardment. British forces were forced to surrender on August 15, 1756.
Montcalm gave much of the British supplies to his Indian allies, and destroyed the fort. He returned to Quebec in triumph with 1,700 prisoners. His actions made a very strong impression on the Indian allies of the British, and caused the Oneida and the Seneca tribes to switch to the French side.
Read more about this topic: Fort Oswego
Famous quotes containing the words french, indian and/or war:
“Since the French Revolution Englishmen are all intermeasurable one by another, certainly a happy state of agreement to which I for one do not agree.”
—William Blake (1757–1827)
“As the global expansion of Indian and Chinese restaurants suggests, xenophobia is directed against foreign people, not foreign cultural imports.”
—Eric J. Hobsbawm (b. 1917)
“This is a war universe. War all the time. That is its nature. There may be other universes based on all sorts of other principles, but ours seems to be based on war and games.”
—William Burroughs (b. 1914)