Sea Power
and
Maritime Affairs
Lesson 4:
The Seven Years’ War
1756 – 1763
Seven Years’ War (1756-1763)
☼ Geopolitical
significance:
►First
genuine world war
►Fought in German states, Mediterranean, America’s,
Canada, West Indies, India, Africa, and Philippines
►Estimated 900,000 – 1.4 million people died
☼ Strategic
significance:
►Classic
example of conflict between land power
(France) and sea power (England)
 “The Elephant” vs. “the Whale”
►England
emerges as dominant colonial power in the
world. France’s colonial position weakened
Primary Causes
☼ Colonial
struggle between British and French
west of Appalachians
☼ Austria allies herself with France and Russia to
recover Silesia
►Lost in War of Austrian Succession
☼ Frederick of Prussia turns to England to form
Anglo-Prussian defensive alliance
☼ France aggressively open hostilities
►Retribution
for losses suffered in 1713
►Known as “French and Indian War” in America
Battle of Minorca
☼ April
1756: 150 transports land 15,000 French
troops, supported by 12 ships-of-the-line
►Troops
outnumber British 5 to 1
►British retreat to Fort St. Philip
☼ British
send ADM John Byng to raise the siege
►13
ships-of-the-line
►Regiment of fusileers
►Use “all possible means in his power” to lift siege
off Minorca on May 19th sights the French
☼ Dying wind prevents engagement till the 20th
☼ Byng
Battle of Minorca (20 May 1756)
☼ Byng’s
signals confused and he over cautiously
follows formal instructions
►French
inflict heavy damage
 Prevent troops from being landed
►British
garrison surrenders a month later
☼ Byng
shifts his fleet to Gibraltar
☼ Byng court-martialed
►Found
guilty of failing “to do his utmost”
►Executed 14 Mar 1757
►Brings into question inflexible rules of the Permanent
Fighting Instructions
Permanent Fighting Instructions
Van
Center
Rear
Rear
Center
Van
Wind
Pitt’s Plan
☼ Cabinet
reshuffled after loss of Minorca
☼ William Pitt the Elder – Minister of War
☼ “Hitting”
►Draw
off French troops by coastal raids
►Attack overseas colonies of France and Spain
►Increase British empire, trade, wealth, and war chest
☼ “Holding”
►Blockade
French ports and seek destruction of battle
fleet
►Support continental allies with subsidy and token forces
to keep French occupied
French Counter Strategy
☼ Raid
British maritime commerce
☼ Defend
French Colonies
☼ Unite Atlantic
☼ Invade
and Mediterranean fleets
England herself
The British preponderance at sea
made most of these futile efforts
“Conjunct Expeditions”
☼ Amphibious
raids against French ports
►Force
French to retain troops for coastal defense
►Examples of “military assistance” for Prussians
☼ Rochefort
(1757)
►Poorly
planned, but Wolfe learns valuable lessons used
at Quebec
☼ St.
Malo (June 1758)
►13,000
troops land
►Spend a week ashore, burn more than 100 privateers
☼ Cherbourg
►Take
(August 1759)
temporary possession and destroy fortifications
Fleet Actions
☼ Lagos
Bay (1759)
►Toulon
fleet escapes through Strait of Gibraltar to link
up with Brest fleet to cover invasion of England
►British pursue and overwhelm French using general
chase tactics
☼ Quiberon
Bay (1759)
►Brest
fleet takes advantage of British absence due to a
storm and sails when wind moderates
►British intercept and using general chase tactics drive
French into dangerous, reef strewn bay
☼ Effective
blockade and naval victories free bulk
of Royal Navy for employment overseas
American Campaign
☼ N. America
paramount objective in Pitt’s strategy
☼ Ultimate objective = Quebec
►Royal Navy sweeps French
 Stops supplies and reinforcements
►Louisburg
shipping from the Atlantic
taken as base to blockade St Lawrence
(1758)
►1759 British launch three-pronged offensive
 Amherst with 12,000 men (mostly colonists) using Richelieu
River-Lake Champlain route
– Required capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point
 Smaller force to capture Fort Niagara and converge on
Quebec from the west
 Strong amphibious force ascends St Lawrence from the sea
Fall of Quebec
☼ British
fleet anchors just out of cannon shot of Quebec and
disembarks Wolfe’s troops on the Isle of Orleans
☼ French leave walled city and set up camp on northern bank
of the river
► Block
mouth of St Charles River with sunken hulls
► de Bougainville guards shore upstream
☼ Navy
makes a feint while Wolfe plans landing
► Strong
force in flat-bottom boats moves with the tide up river,
followed by de Bougainville
► When tide turns the boats reverse course, tired French soldiers
can’t keep up and the British land at Anse du Foulon
☼ Gen
Montcalm marches out to meet the British and is
defeated before de Bougainville can come to help
► Canada
falls to the British
Campaign in India
☼ French
and British East India companies secure
aid from royal forces in their struggle for India
☼ Three major engagements fought between evenly
matched fleets were tactical draws
►Indecisiveness
☼ French
of Formal Tactics
lose their base at Chandernagore
►Nearest
refitting station is Mauritius (2,000 miles)
☼ Ability
to refit and resupply allows the British to
win a battle of attrition
►Importance
☼ India
of Communications
stays in British hands until after WW II
Operations in the West Indies
☼ West
Indies supply majority of tropical products
►Sugar
planters make a fortune
►Important in the slave trade
☼ Islands
used as bases for privateers that raised
havoc on British commerce
☼ British take the opportunity to expand their
Empire as well as shut down the privateers
►Guadeloupe,
Dominica, Martinique, Grenada, St,
Lucia, and St. Vincent taken from the French
Fall of Havana (1762)
☼ Spain
enters the war in 1762
☼ British immediately plan operation against Havana
with 15,000 troops supported by 50 men-of-war
►ADM
Pocok uses little-used Old Bahamas Channel
►Spanish sink three ships of the line (out of 12) across the
mouth of the channel to prevent entrance
 Also locks fleet in enabling British to not worry about a sortie
►British land troops east of the city, lay siege to El Morro
 Complete a tunnel and explode a mine allowing troops to storm the fortress
►Havana
(and thus Cuba) falls to the British
Other Operations
☼ British
sea power gave them the ability to attack
where AND when they wanted
☼ Also allowed small ventures to:
►Increase
economic power
►Improve bargaining position at the peace table
☼ Examples:
►French
slave-trading stations (1758)
►Belle-Ilê (1760)
►Manila (1762)
 Taken after two week siege and bombardment by East India
Trading Company troops supported by an 8 ship squadron
Treaty of Paris (10 Feb 1763)
☼ British
obtains:
►Canada
►Florida
from Spain (for returning Cuba)
►Senegal and Minorca returned
►Much of India
☼ France
renounces claims between Appalachians
and the Mississippi
☼ Spain gets Cuba and Philippines back, as well as
New Orleans and the Louisiana Territory
☼ British give back Martinique, Guadeloupe, Belle
Ilê, St Lucia and other minor French possessions
Next Time:
Questions?
Chapter 4 – The American Revolution