THE FRENCH AND INDIAN
WAR:
The Last Colonial Battle over
Land and Resources in North
America
From Causes of the French and Indian War (http://frenchandindianwar.info/cause.htm)
“The Schenechtady Massacre,” by Samuel Sexton, 1690
The Leaders
For France:
King Louis XV (1710-1774)
French Colonial Leader:
The Governor General of New France, Louis de Frontenac
For Britain:
King George II (1683-1760)
British Colonial Leader:
George Washington
This 1754 woodcut by Benjamin Franklin warns what
would happen if the colonies did not unite against the
French threat. There was lingering hatred between the
French and English.
Caught in the Middle:
Diverse Native people from hundreds of
independent, sovereign nations living in
North America for thousands of years before
Europeans arrived.
Why did they Fight?
1630 coin of New France,
the livre.
http://frenchandindianwar.info/cause.htm
1630 coin of British colonies, the shlling
How do you get soldiers to fight?
Advertise! Propagandize!
This is the story of Peter Williamson, who was
captured from his farmhouse in 1754. He managed to
escape and fight in many battles in the French and
Indian War. It was one of several best-sellers about
captured and mistreated settlers.
From French and Indian War Information (http://frenchandindianwar.info/cause.htm)
How did they Fight?
1) Hand-to-Hand Combat
1. Hand-to-Hand Combat
Double-headed battle axe. These iron blades would be
attached to a wooden or iron handle.
From http://www.cowanauctions.com/auctions/item.aspx?ItemId=21403
Tomahawks
Swords and Sabers
The gorget was used to protect the
neck from sword wounds.
2. Firearms
“Brown Bess,” the flintlock musket, was the most common gun used
in the Colonial Wars.
The flintlock musket was about 5 feet long and weighed
about 10 pounds. It fired a ball that weighed more than
one ounce. It had only a 75 yard accuracy, but it was
particularly deadly in the hands of infantrymen firing in
tight ranks. A good shot could fire off 3 – 4 shots a
minute. A bayonet was often affixed to the gun’s end to
finish off jobs left undone by the bullets. (From The Colonial Wars, by
A. Carter. Danbury: Grolier, 1992.)
“A soldier carried paper-wrapped
ammunition in a cartridge pouch slung at
his side. To load his musket, he tore the
end of a cartridge with his teeth and
sprinkled gunpowder into the pan of the
firing mechanism, where it would be set off
by a spark when the piece of flint on the
hammer struck the steel latch covering the
pan. He then pushed the rest of the
cartridge into the open end of the barrel and
jammed the powder and lead ball down with
a long steel rod called a ramrod.”
(From The Colonial Wars, by A. Carter. Danbury: Grolier, 1992.)
3. Cannons
British Field Howitzer, produced in the 1740s
From: To the Sound of the Guns: (http://markerhunter.wordpress.com/2010/07/05/18cent-br-how/)
English howitzer; a 6-pounder. The ammunition boxes on each side of the
would hold enough munitions to put the gun into action quickly while the
munition wagon was being brought up to support sustained fire. In the
1600s, caliber was pretty standard. The smallest standard cannon was the
two-pounder, and the largest was the fifty-pounder. (Pounds refers to the
weight of the ball that could be fired.)
From: http://www.americanrevolution.org/artillery.html
Cannon Projectiles
A bomb, or shell. On the right is a cut-away view.
Case shot: filled with balls lethal to a range
of 200-300 yards.
Grape shot ready for loading.
The thousands of balls inside the
canvas bag created a kill range
of 600 yards.
Another Gruesome Unpleasantry
Scalping
The Death of Jane McCrea by John Vanderlyn (1804)
Native Americans could earn
payment from the French by
presenting them with British
scalps. They could also earn
payment from the British for
French scalps.
Indian Scalping or hunting knife excavated near Fort Haldimand, N.Y. This is
the typical utility knife traded by the British to the native Americans 1760-80.
After the scalps were taken, they were attached to the scalper’s belt or carried
on a pole like a flag. Once home, the scalper would clean and dry the scalp and
hang it up as a war trophy decoration.
Some scalping victims survived…
Robert McGee was scalped as a child by Sioux Chief Little
Turtle in 1864.
(Photo from Library of Congress)
Would
YOU???????