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3. Duty in the Seven Years' War
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C H A P T E R T H R E E Duty in the Seven Years' War When firs t a soldie r . . . I stoo d i n arms . Then , i n Britannia's cause . I dre w m y sword , an d charg' d th e rival Gaul.1 Having borne a share in all the labour of our American wars, and the reduction of Canada. Little did he foresee the scenes which that land had still in reserve for him! Little did those generous Americans, who then stood by his side, think they were assisting to subdue a country, which woul d on e da y b e hel d u p ove r u s a greate r scourge in the hands of friends, tha n ever it was in the hands of enemies!2 The nagging imperial rivalry between Great Britain and France in the seventeent h an d eighteent h centurie s le d ultimatel y t o th e Seven Years' War between these two contending national powers as they struggle d fo r world supremacy . Althoug h global in overall scope, the par t o f the militar y conflic t tha t occurre d i n North Americ a becam e known a s th e Frenc h an d India n wars . Thi s belligerenc y represente d a series o f protracte d colonia l war s betwee n th e Britis h army , augmente d by provincial militia, and French troops, assisted by their Indian allies. Competing Britis h an d Frenc h claim s in the Ohio Valle y on the colonial western frontier touche d of f the final confrontation fo r control of the continent. I n 1747 , a group of prominent Virginian s organize d th e Ohi o Company of Virginia for the purpose of land speculation and fur trading . 17 18 • Duty in the Seven Years' War Two year s later , th e compan y wa s abl e t o influenc e th e Britis h govern ment to grant it some two hundred thousan d acre s in the Ohio Valley . The French , viewin g the British initiative as a direct challenge to their own claims and design s in the region, retaliate d b y buildin g two forts o n the upper Ohi o Rive r an d increasin g their presence in the disputed area . In 1753 , Virgini a Gov . Rober t Dinwiddi e sen t a twenty-one-year-ol d militia officer , Maj . Georg e Washington , t o protest th e Frenc h intrusio n into territory tha t the British claimed a s part of the Virginia colony. Th e French spurne d Washington' s diplomati c grievance when h e presented i t to the militar y authoritie s a t For t L e Boeuf (nea r th e present-da y sit e of Erie, Pennsylvania) . The British-Frenc h contentio n the n focuse d o n a strategic geographi c area identifie d b y th e Fork s o f th e Ohi o (nea r present-da y Pittsburgh) . During Januar y 1754 , a Virgini a militi a compan y bega n wor k o n a stronghold there . O n Apri l 17 , 1754 , a larger Frenc h forc e capture d th e half-completed stockad e an d the n buil t For t Duquesn e o n th e site . Th e Virginia assembl y countere d b y raisin g a n independen t regimen t an d sending a small expedition under Washington against the French. I n May 1754, the young officer (no w a militia lieutenant colonel ) routed a French patrol an d kille d it s commander . Expectin g a n attac k fro m th e mai n French militar y establishmen t a t For t Duquesne , Washingto n retreate d and hastil y constructe d For t Necessit y whil e waitin g fo r th e res t o f th e regiment t o joi n him . O n Jul y 3 , 1754 , a superio r Frenc h an d India n force attacked Fort Necessity, forcing Washington to surrender his untenable position th e next day. Thi s actio n gave France temporary contro l of the entire Ohio region. When new s o f Washington' s defea t reache d London...