Key Events & Battles, French and Indian War

The Death of Wolfe by Benjamin West,1770
(National Gallery of Canada at Ottawa)

Event	Date	Location	Notes/Significance
British defeated at Ft. Duquesne	1755	Western Pennsylvania (present-day Pittsburgh)	Gen. Braddock's force of 1450 men surrounded and defeated by Indian and French-Canadian forces
American colonists refuse to serve under British commander	1757	American colonies	New British commander (Lord Loudoun) closely managed the war effort, demanding exact numbers of recruits and money from colonies. Colonial assemblies began to refuse to cooperate.
French take Ft. Osage	1756	Upstate New York	French commander Montcalm takes fort, but is horrified to discover that his Indian allies kill wounded soldiers, take scalps, and make slaves of captives.
Massacre at Ft. William Henry	1757	Upstate New York	Following surrender of British and colonial garrison to Montcalm (who promised safe passage back to England), Indians killed 185 and took 310 British captive.
William Pitt guides British war effort	1757-1761	London	As Secretary of State, Pitt sought to reduce tension with colonists by promising payment in proportion to support of war effort, giving colonial assemblies control of recruitment, sending thousands more British soldiers, and replacing Lord Loudoun with a more reasonable commander
Louisbourg and Ft. Duquesne captured by British	1758	Quebec & Western Pennsylvania	British-American-Indian forces overwhelm French who abandon Louisbourg and burn Ft. Duquesne before retreating north.
Battle of Quebec	1759	Quebec	Through British commander Gen. Wolfe is killed (along with French commander Montcalm), British forces seize Quebec in dramatic uphill attack.
Battle of Quiberon Bay	1759	Off France	British victory restricted French navy's ability to resupply forces in Canada.
Iroquois join British-American alliance	1760	American colonies	Balance of power tips towards British with this addition
French surrender Montreal	1760	Quebec	Greatly outnumbered French forces are defeated in war's final battle in the Americas.
British capture Havana, Manila from Spain	1762	Cuba, Philippine Islands	As Spain enters the war as a French ally, it suffers defeats from British naval forces.
Treaty of Paris	1763	Paris, France	France gives up claims to all of its North American possessions. All land west of the Mississippi and New Orleans goes to Spain. All land east of the Mississippi River and Canada goes to England.

Major Results of the French & Indian War

1. British territorial claims greatly expanded in America.

2. British debt grew in an attempt to finance an ever-expanding war.

3. Resentment towards American colonists grew in Parliament among those who saw Americans as unwilling to financially support a war on their behalf.

4. American colonists unified for the first time against a common enemy.

5. Colonial militias saw themselves as volunteers or a "people's army" in contrast to the authoritarian and coercive British army.

6. France's influence in development of North American dwindled mightily.