Table of Contents

Collection Overview

Contextual History

Scope and Content

Restrictions

Subject Headings

Administrative Information

Related Material

Contents:

I. Enlisted and Impressed Men

II. Finances

III. Orders

IV. Correspondence

V. Journals

French and Indian War Papers

A Guide to the French and Indian War Papers at the Connecticut Historical Society

Contextual History

King George’s War, 1744-1748, (known as the War of Austrian Succession in Europe) was one of a series of 18th century conflicts in which France and England, with their Indian allies, sought to control the continent. The first battle was the French capture of the English town of Canso on Nova Scotia. New England responded by raising 4,000 militia men and laying siege to and capturing Fortress Louisbourg, considered one of the strongest fortresses in French Canada. Louisbourg also served as the home port for privateers that attacked English trading and fishing vessels. Other conflicts in the “war” were little more than border skirmishes, although the death tolls were high on both sides. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle which effectively ended the war in Europe also brought a stop to hostilities in North America, although it resolved nothing. In addition, the terms of the treaty returned Louisbourg to the French. The French and Indian War, 1754-1763, is the name given to the American theater of a massive conflict involving Austria, England, France, Great Britain, Prussia, and Sweden called the Seven Years War. The American conflict was precipitated by the French building Fort Dusquesne on the Ohio River, and area also claimed by the British. In 1754, the governor of Virginia sent twenty-one-year-old George Washington to demand the withdrawal of the French. The French refused and Washington, along with 150 men, tried to force them out, attacking a group of Fenchmen and killing ten of them, sparking the beginning of the French and Indian War. British troops under the command of General Edward Braddock joined George Washington at Fort Duquesne. Though the British outnumbered the French, the French and Indians nevertheless won the battle of Fort Duquesne.

The bulk of the fighting that occurred during the French and Indian War took place along lakes George and Champlain, in the state of New York near the Canadian border.

During 1755 the area of fighting expanded until it covered ground from Fort Dusquesne to Fort Niagara, Lake Champlain and as far as Nova Scotia. In autumn 1755 tensions rose further when the British captured two French ships, the Lys and the Alcide, off the coast of Nova Scotia. Britain and France finally declared war in May 1756, and so began the Seven Years' War.

The French, under the command of the Marquis de Montcalm, captured and razed Britain's only fort on the Great Lakes: Fort Oswego. The French and their Indian allies raided towns and farms in New York and Pennsylvania and the English colonists retaliated by doing the same to Indian settlements in the Ohio Valley. The British did their part setting up a blockade of the French fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island from which point the French guarded the Saint Lawrence River. Meanwhile, at Lake George in New York, the British and their colonists held Fort William Henry throughout the winter of 1756-1757.

But by the latter half of 1757 the outlook was bleak for the British. In August Montcalm returned with a large army and captured and burned Fort William Henry, following which the Indians massacred British and colonial prisoners. In September the British fleet, blockading Louisbourg and the Saint Lawrence River, was dispersed by a hurricane.

But the tide again turned when William Pitt became Britain's Prime Minister. He increased the number of troops in North America and sent in several strong military leaders. Pitt ordered General James Abercromby to lead forces in attacks against Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga, and to send smaller forces against Fort Frontenac and Fort Duquesne. The British suffered severe casualties at Ticonderoga, but were more successful at Frontenac. The French deserted Fort Duquesne as General John Forbes's troops approached.

In the summer of 1759, General James Wolfe and his army scaled the cliffs of New France’s political capital, Quebec, and fought Montcalm's forces on the Plains of Abraham. Both Montcalm and Wolfe were killed in the battle, but it was a victory for the British. The French colonial government fled in May 1760 to the unfortified city of Montreal, where General Jeffrey Amherst arranged to have converge three armies. The French suffered from a lack of supplies and reinforcements caused mostly by a British blockade but in part by the relative apathy of the government in France. On September 8, 1760, Governor de Vaudreuil surrendered Montreal and Canada to Amherst. In the remaining years of the Seven Years' War, there was little military activity in North America.

When the Treaty of Paris was signed on February 8, 1763, Britain was left with all of French Canada, with the exception of two small islands, most of French Louisiana east of the Mississippi River, and a small part of Spanish Florida. The French were allowed to maintain a high degree of autonomy, but the treaty left the British dominant in North America east of the Mississippi River.

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Scope and Content

Although this collection consists primarily of materials created during the French and Indian War, there are in nearly every series some materials from the preceding King George's War. There are enlistments and impressments, muster rolls and account rolls of those serving in the war. of interest are several contracts signed by men who served On the Louisbourg expedition in Cape Breton as well as in later campaigns, authorizing the transfer of their wages to another individual (often Jonathan Trumbull) to pay for provisions and to serve the recipients' speculative interests. There are also several receipts for wages paid by Trumbull. Numerous accounts and receipts provide information about how much money was spent on specific food items and alcohol, guns, blankets, and the shoeing of horses. There are details of military orders; correspondence concerning intelligence (including concern over reports that the French were making snow shoes) and orders as well as letters to family. Finally, there are journals kept by men involved in the French and Indian War, an orderly book from Ticonderoga and a note book with color sketches and examples of various styles of penmanship.

Arrangement

Materials are organized into five series based largely on form: Enlisted Men, Finances, Orders, Correspondence, and Journals.

Series I: Enlisted Men consists of impressments and voluntary enlistments, with a few documents regarding desertion or discharge due to illness or family emergency. More numerous are muster rolls of enlisted and impressed men.

Series II: Finances consists of documents relating to the finances of war: transfers of wages to pay for provisions; account rolls; and accounts and receipts which include prices paid for specific foods as well as for guns, cartridges, blankets, et cetera.

Series III: Orders consists of orders given to march and to provide provisions for active regiments.

Series IV: Correspondence consists of correspondence regarding military intelligence, supplies, and descriptions of skirmishes. Includes some personal letters to family members.

Series V: Journals consists of journals, a notebook, and an orderly book kept by men serving in the French and Indian War, as well as a journal from the 1745 expedition to Louisbourg to Cape Breton.

Collection is arranged chronologically within in each series.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions on access to the collection.

Use Restrictions

Use of the material requires compliance with the Connecticut Historical Society's Research Center regulations.

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Subject Headings

Personal Names

Geographic Names

Genre Forms

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Item, Collection Title, Collection number (Box #, Folder #). Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut.

Processing Details

Original EAD instance compiled by NHPRC project staff, September 1999. Updated to EAD 2002 in December 2010.

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Related Material

An index of catalog cards is available to aid access to this collection and material in other collections. Access is through writer, recipient and date. The card catalog is located in the Research Center reading room.

Microfilm copy available.

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