Summary
The years 1756 and 1757 brought three things: the arrival of Louis-Joseph de
Montcalm, newly appointed commander-in-chief of the French forces in North
America, declarations of war by the two mother countries, and a string of French
victories in forts along the Northeast frontier.
While General Edward Braddock's defeat at Fort Duquesne was offset by
William Johnson's victory at Crown Point, 1756 and 1757 brought nothing but
bad news for the English. With the arrival of Montcalm in March 1756, an
exceptionally talented strategist and warrior, the French forces gained a new
level of professionalism, savvy, and strength. The British, meanwhile, were
disorganized and fighting among themselves. Conflicts between British officers
and colonial militiamen were common, culminating in the summer of 1756, when the
regiments headed to Crown Point were upset by a small "mutiny."
After almost two years of battles, England and France finally declared war on
each other in May 1756. The declaration brought an influx of funding colonies
and the arrival of even more British troops. The Earl of Loundoun was
appointed commander-in-chief of the British troops in America, but he shortly
proved himself as inept as Braddock in the all-important areas of Indian policy
and frontier battle strategy. It was under Loundoun's command that the "mutiny"
of colonial militiamen exploded, and it was under his command that the British
suffered some of the worst defeats of the war.
One of most devastating of these defeats was the fall of Fort Oswego on August
14, 1756. The loss of the fort shocked the British, though in hindsight it's
fall seems unsurprising. The fort was devastated by long periods of neglect.
The surrounding tribes were already hostile to the British, and Montcalm swayed
them further to the French side by spreading a rumor of plunder as a reward for
all Indians who came to fight. The fort offered little resistance, and it fell
to the French easily. This was an important strategic gain for the French, as
it offered them control of Lake Ontario and access to all of the provisions and
equipment that had been painfully transported to the fort.
The "mutiny" at Crown Point was another example of British failure to think
clearly regarding colonial policy. Loundoun humiliated colonial officers by
placing ceilings upon their rank, announcing that a regular British captain
would outrank even the highest-ranking colonial. Loundoun caused further
consternation by ordering that the troops be incorporated into a single body.
His intention was clearly to fortify the colonial troops with British men; the
colonial men did not take kindly to the implicit assumption of their
inferiority. When Loundoun's orders met with resistance, he denounced the
colonials as mutinous and sent many of them home.
Both England and France resisted declaring war on each other for as long
as possible. To the mother countries, war meant expense, and colonies were
meant to be pure profit—a declaration of war would cut into their budgets and
make the colonies less profitable, possibly for years to come. The French and
English were willing to wage an undeclared and even partially neglected war in
North America. However, when Prussia invaded Saxony in 1756, triggering a
European war, called the Seven Year's War in which France, Sweden, Russia, and
Austria-Hungary sided against the Prussians and English, the pressure became too
great: France and England declared war on each other. The Seven Year's War has
been called the first modern world war: it encompassed several continents and
three separate names. There were campaigns not just in North America (The
French and Indian War), but Europe (Seven Year's War), India (Third Carnatic
War), Africa, and the Caribbean. Other European countries, including Austria,
Russia, Prussia, and Spain were also drawn into the conflict.
