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The phrase “cruising war” in the Russian-speaking environment is usually used in relation to the actions of the Vladivostok detachment of cruisers in the Russo-Japanese War, the actions of the Spee squadron and the light cruiser Emden, submarine operations (the know-how of cruising war of the 20th century) in the First and Second World Wars war. But the largest cruising war in history between France and the alliance of England and Holland took place much earlier - at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries.

The largest cruiser wars in history

Cruising operations have always excited the minds of researchers and lovers of naval history. If you browse online forums or read articles in maritime magazines, you will find countless topics that over and over again focus on one question - is it even possible to win a war at sea with the help of raiders?

Moreover, this applies to all eras - from Salamis to Midway, and even to the present day. Cruising warfare is discussed not only by historians and amateurs, but also by the highest ranks of naval headquarters - after all, the chosen concept of warfare determines what ships will be built and what tasks they will perform.

Meanwhile, the topic of the largest cruising war somehow escaped the attention of most admirers of naval history. We are talking about the struggle of French privateers against the maritime trade of England and Holland at the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century. It ended with a crushing defeat for the raiders, even before France was defeated on land. This war, like all wars, had its heroes and its traitors, there were cowards and brave men, scoundrels and money-grubbers. The fighting took place all over the world - from the English Channel to Quebec, from Calcutta to Cape Horn, but, nevertheless, battles in European waters were of decisive importance. It was here that it was decided who would retain sea communications and who could become the “lord of the seas.”

Boarding of an English ship by Jean Bart

After the defeat of the French fleet at La Hogue in 1692, the regular French fleet became widely involved in raiding activities, and this became the culmination of the cruising war. In turn, for the English fleet, the tactics of open battles faded into the background - convoy operations and the hunt for privateers came to the fore. And it was the successful solution of these problems that helped Royal Navy become the best fleet in the world.

Terminology issue

I would like to dwell a little on the very concept of piracy and the categories of pirates of that time. So, actually pirates, buccaneers or filibusters - These are robbers who are thinking about robbery on the seas for the purpose of personal enrichment.

Corsairs (fr.),privateers (English) or privateers (Dutch) could only attack ships of a hostile state. A corsair ship was equipped with the money of a private individual or group of individuals and received a patent (letter) from the government allowing it to conduct military operations against unfriendly ships, and also protected the corsair himself when he met a friendly ship. In case of defeat, the patent provided another advantage - its owner was considered a prisoner of war, while any pirate or buccaneer was simply an outlaw robber and could be strung up without trial.

Dutch warship repels boarding corsairs

The booty brought by a privateer to a friendly port was not his indivisible property: part of it went to the king or government, as well as to the owners of the ship. However, the captain of the corsair ship received a substantial sum from the captured one (a third of the amount), from which the crew was paid prize money, so robbing a ship was no less important for a privateer than for a simple pirate. However, corsairs often fought with ships of the regular fleet, as they operated against guarded convoys, as well as in areas flooded with enemy ships. In addition, they had a concept of honor and glory, and advancement in public service with such a track record went much faster.

Many types of ships used in this article are a thing of the past, and so that the reader does not have any misunderstanding, I would like to dwell on some of them in more detail. Tender is a small single-masted vessel equipped with one straight and one oblique sail, as well as staysails. Flutes - a three-masted cargo ship with a reinforced hull, carrying straight sails on the foremast and mainmast, and oblique sails on the mizzen mast. Pinnace - further development of the flute, a sailing and rowing ship, designed both for the transport of goods and for military operations, with good maneuverability and seaworthiness.

Flutes

Separately, it is worth considering frigates, brigs and battleships. The fact is that a battleship could sometimes carry less weapons than a frigate or even a brig. Moreover, sometimes ships simply changed their classification - depending on the tasks assigned to them. Therefore, I would like to draw the reader’s attention to the fact that a frigate at that time was not a three-masted warship with one lower battery deck, as in the 19th century, and primarily a ship designed for raider or anti-raider operations, armed with a fairly large number of small guns (sometimes up to 48) with a crew of at least 200 people. That is, a battleship could also be reclassified into a frigate depending on its intended tasks.

Battleships and frigates that covered convoys quite often carried less weapons than stated: this is explained by the fact that in the place vacated by guns, it was possible to load supplies for long-distance voyages or take an increased crew, so that in case of boarding they would have a numerical advantage over the corsairs.

In addition, armed ships of the English, Dutch and French East India Companies also sailed, which were sometimes much better armed than the ships of the regular fleet, so it was quite difficult to fight them. However, the jackpot in case of victory was appropriate: after all, they were carrying either gold or goods that were very scarce for Europe.

This article will consider only the actions of privateers and raider operations of squadrons of the regular fleet in the waters of the Bay of Biscay, the English Channel and the North Sea, since they were decisive in the cruising war between the French on the one hand and the British and Dutch on the other.

Ships of the British East India Company

Before the Battle of La Hogue

Richelieu and Colbert also noted in their letters the benefits of privateering operations against competitors. Thus, Colbert writes to the quartermaster of the fleet, M. Hubert, on September 18, 1676:

“His Majesty was very pleased to hear that a privateer from Dunkirk, under the command of Jean Bart, had captured a Dutch warship of 32 guns. Recognizing the utmost importance of encouraging these captains to continue the war they are waging against the Dutch, you, M. Hubert, will find enclosed with this letter a gold chain, which His Majesty wished to present to Captain Jean Bart as a reward for his exploits. His Majesty could receive great benefit from the mentioned Dunkirk captains, if they formed a squadron from their ships... and therefore I command... to carefully find out whether they will agree to obey the flagship of their choice... in case His Majesty supplies them with ships for corsairship... His Majesty especially prohibits You... Mr. Hubert, report everything said here to anyone, so that the will of His Majesty does not spread to the broad masses prematurely.”

However, at that time it was even more a private business than government policy. However, it was during this period that the name of Jean Bart, the most famous French corsair of all time, first thundered. With the outbreak of the War of the League of Augsburg in 1688, the fighting of French privateers continued. However, until 1691, naval warfare was expressed mainly in open confrontation, where fighting was carried out by the regular fleets of the opposing powers.

Monument to Jean Bart in Dunkirk

In 1691, the post of Minister of the Navy of France was taken over by the former controller of finance, Louis Pontchartrain. Since he had to pay a tidy sum of 800 thousand livres for his new position, he stated that he wanted to improve the affairs of one department (financial) at the expense of another (maritime). The new minister decided to move from open battles with the fleets of England and Holland to a privateer war. The main reasons for this decision were not the defeat of the French fleet (on the contrary, at that time the French fleet had won almost the most significant victory in its history at the Battle of Beachy Head), but the opportunity to profit from the robbery of enemy merchant ships.

Pontchartrain wrote that the battles of the regular fleet do not bring direct profit; on the contrary, they are unprofitable. Some ships are killed in battles, some are damaged, ammunition and provisions are consumed, but the monetary benefits from such enterprises are small. On the contrary, continued the Minister of the Navy, privateers are quite often equipped by private individuals (that is, the state does not spend money on building ships, hiring and maintaining a crew, etc.), real money is taken for the issuance of a corsair patent, prizes brought to ports are sold, and a fairly large part of what is sold goes to the king’s treasury and the naval ministry. According to Pontchartrain, the regular fleet should also be involved in privateering in order to pay for the construction and maintenance of ships, but actions aimed at destroying enemy squadrons should be abandoned.

Many experienced sailors disagreed with this opinion, among whom, of course, it would be worth highlighting Admiral Tourville. He, on the contrary, believed that corsairs alone were not able to win a naval confrontation with England and Holland, that cruising actions could only be an auxiliary element in a strategy aimed at gaining naval supremacy. Moreover, said Tourville, corsairship corrupts; where there is profit, there will certainly be dishonest people and their own, local interests that may run counter to the interests of the state.

However, Pontchartrain managed to convince the king to shift the emphasis in actions at sea to privateering, interesting Louis XIV with the huge amount of money that this enterprise promised. The Sun King happily agreed to the proposal, since the holes in France's budget were becoming larger every year, and there was no end to the wars for which funds were so needed.

Louis Philipot, Comte de Pontchartrain, Minister of the Navy to Louis XIV

In connection with the new concept, the regular fleet also had to take part in the defeat of heavily guarded convoys and the capture of prizes. In 1691, Pontchartrain, responding to requests from the fleet commander regarding a new battle, wrote:

"The capture of an enemy convoy worth 30 million livres is of much greater importance than another victory like last year".

Already in the same 1691, Tourville's formation of 55 battleships took part in the defeat of the Smyrna and Jamaican convoys, playing the role of bait, which the Home Fleet successfully pecked at. Taking advantage of the fact that the English commander Russell led the ships in pursuit of Tourville, the French corsairs gloriously battered the English and Dutch convoys left unprotected.

On March 2, Flacourt left Toulon with the battleships Magnanem, Yorieux, Invisible, Superb and Constant to join Tourville's squadron in Brest. Along the way, he captured 2 ships of the Dutch East India Company with coins and jewelry worth 2 million livres.

Having gone to sea on June 27, Jean Bart on the 44-gun Alcyon and Forbin on the 44-gun Comte with 5 frigates collided at Dogger Bank with the English “corsair hunters” (privateers) - the 34-gun Tiger and armed ships "William & Mary" and "Constant Mary". Taking advantage of their numerical advantage, the French boarded the enemy ships after a hot battle. The British escort, consisting of the 32-gun Charles Galley and Mary Galley under the command of Captain Wishart, was put to flight.

Having passed through the Denmark Strait to the western shores of Britain, Bar and Forban near Northern Ireland attacked a large caravan of 200 ships coming from the Baltic, with an escort of 5 English and 8 Dutch frigates, which had from 16 to 40 guns. Having boldly scattered the guards of the convoy, the corsairs captured more than 150 merchant ships, which they brought to the ports of France in August.

Duguay-Trouin put to sea on the 14-gun pinnace "Denikan" and headed to the shores of Ireland, where he took the Dutch flotilla of whaling ships by surprise. He burned some of them, and brought 5 ships to Dunkirk. This was the first time the famous corsair went to sea.

René Duguay-Trouin

On November 4, in the English Channel, Captain Mericourt, on the 66-gun Ecuey, got involved in a battle with the English privateer, the 54-gun Happy Return. Since the sea was quite fresh, the British was unable to bring the heavy guns on the lower side into action and was boarded. This can be seen as a finger of fate - after all, in April, the Happy Return, together with the 50-gun St. Albans, attacked a French convoy and captured 14 of the 22 merchant ships of the caravan, and also sank their escort, a 30-gun frigate.

The privateering war in European waters continued to gain momentum.

In 1692, Captain Desaugiers left Brest with the 54-gun Mor, the 36-gun Poli and Openyatr, and the 26-gun Sedityo. On August 21, in the Channel, he encountered a Dutch convoy, fought the frigate Castricum and boarded it. Since the escort managed to give the convoy the signal “Scatter!”, Desaugiers managed to capture only 8 Dutch merchant ships.

Forben, on two frigates (the 54-gun Pearl and the 48-gun Modera), fought at Texel with a Dutch battleship chartered by the English government for privateering - the 48-gun Maria Elisabeth. Entering from both sides, the French knocked out the gunners on the battleship with grapeshot and went to board. After 30 minutes, the French flag hoisted on the Marie-Elizabeth.

On November 15, Jean Bart with 4 frigates defeated a Dutch convoy of 3 military and 22 merchant ships. The corsair from Saint-Malo, La Villeban-Eon, on a small flute, attacked 3 Spanish cargo ships in the Bay of Biscay with a cargo of half a million pesos in specie. The Spaniards were captured, and the Frenchman donated his rich catch to the king "for the benefit of the fleet."

Duguay-Trouin on the 18-gun Ketkan, teaming up with another corsair on the San Aron (24 guns), attacked an entire caravan of English ships and 2 escort frigates, one of which was 36-gun. As a result of the battle, the French completely captured the entire convoy and boarded both escort ships.

However, the big setback for the corsairs this year was that they were unable to intercept the English convoy of East India Company ships heading to Southeast Asia.

The British response was highly predictable: at the beginning of the war, they tried to block the corsairs' nests - Dunkirk and Saint-Malo, but were unsuccessful. Firstly, having a strong French fleet at hand, the British were afraid to allocate large forces to blockade French ports. The same ships that participated in the patrols of Dunkirk and Saint-Malo often failed to cope with their task - the privateers broke through and went to sea. To do this, a technique was often used, first demonstrated by Jean Bar in 1691: a corsair with full sails wedged between two ships, and they could not open fire for fear of damaging each other, but the privateer, on the contrary, fired from both sides without any -or fear, because there was only an enemy around him. An example of such a maneuver is well described in the famous adventure novel by Raphael Sabbatini, “The Odyssey of Captain Blood.” Remember the fight between “Arabella” and the Spanish “Milagrosa” and “Hidalgo”? Also, privateers quite often used the shallow waters of coastal areas and went to sea, bypassing enemy barriers.

Gradually, the corsairs developed their own, largely unique tactics. The main combat technique of privateers remained boarding, and in this way not only ships that were weak in combat were captured, but also much more powerful ones. This was helped by a military trick, also attributed to Jean Bart: the corsairs who landed on the deck of the enemy ship quickly pushed the sailors who were on the upper deck into the bow of the ship and hammered in all the hatches and doors leading into the holds with large iron nails. In this case, privateers were able to use their numerical advantage and destroy the defenders piece by piece. The raider captains realized that not only the number of guns, but also the size of the team plays a significant role, since the success of the boarding directly depends on this.

England and Holland felt the intensification of the cruising war to the fullest - the losses of ships and valuables were very painful. Largely because of this, the entire Dutch navy in the next year's campaign was intended only to guard convoys.

What the French could not do in open battles, the corsairs did. However, the question of how long privateers could operate in the coastal waters of England and Holland remained open.

Climax of the Cruising War: 1693–1697

After the defeat at La Hogue, the French quickly restored their fleet. 16 ships were built, laid down under the Minister of Naval Senyele, and the Brest squadron reached a strength of 71 combat units.

The British, for whom victory at Barfleur and La Hogue did not come cheaply, feared direct clashes with the French. Admiral Russell, for example, was removed from his position as commander of the fleet at the end of 1692 for refusing to blockade the remnants of the French fleet in Saint-Malo. Instead, the English fleet was led by a triumvirate of admirals Chauvel, Killigrew and Delaval. Since the English and Dutch could field only 76 battle-ready ships in the 1693 campaign, the English trio considered another pitched battle with the French unwise. Queen Mary ordered the Home Fleet to conduct the rich Smyrna convoy to Spanish Cadiz, but at the council the triumvirate decided to accompany it only to a point 90 miles west of Ouessant.

On June 9, a merchant caravan of 400 ships bound for Smyrna headed west from the Isle of Wight. Having received information that Tourville had left Brest with 71 ships, the Home Fleet removed the protection from the convoy, leaving only 20 battleships, 3 frigates, 4 fire ships, 1 brig and 2 bombardiers under the command of Vice Admiral George Rook as escort. The main forces of Royal Navy returned to Torbay, where Shovell Killigrew and Delaval indulged in rampant drunkenness on the flagship Britannia. This binge of the allied fleet went down in history as the “Torbay Sitting”. The Dutch officers got so drunk that they could not stand while reading orders for the squadron. Admiral Ashby tried to compete with the triumvirate in the amount of alcohol he drank, but overestimated his strength and died at the age of 36 from an alcohol overdose.

Meanwhile, off Cape St. Vincent on June 26, Tourville's lead divisions collided with Rooke's escort force. At 14:00 the formations of Gabaret and Pannetier set off in pursuit. Rooke wanted to fight, but the commander of the Dutch forces, Van der Goes, dissuaded him, and the escort took flight. At 18:00 the French opened fire; soon the 64-gun Ardent and the 96-gun Victorieu captured the 64-gun Dutch Zeeland. Gabaret's flagship, the 100-gun Dauphine Royal, forced the Wapen van Medemblik (64 guns) to surrender. Rook, with the remaining escort ships and about 50 merchant ships, took refuge in Madeira, and the French were able to capture and sink about 100 ships carrying goods worth a huge amount.

Many of the ships of the convoy (and it included not only English, but also Dutch, and even Hanseatic sailing ships) were loaded with coins and precious bullion, since extensive purchases of scarce goods like Chinese silk were expected in Smyrna. The total cost of the captured items is estimated at 3 million pounds, which was a lot at that time: the annual budget of England was then 4 million pounds sterling.

The defeat of the Smyrna convoy, 1693

Only on July 27, a month after the capture of the Smyrna convoy, the allies went to sea, however, having spent there uselessly, they returned to Torbay, and on September 8 they left for the winter to the Isle of Wight.

Thus, it can be argued that the main forces of the fleet carried out the most significant corsair operation and achieved exceptional success. The defeat of the Smyrna convoy hit not only the English economy (insurance interest rates skyrocketed), but was also a severe moral blow to the Allied fleets - it seemed that all the fruits of last year's victory were reduced to zero.

In the same year, Jean Bart distinguished himself again: on January 27, he sailed from Dunkirk to Scandinavia with 5 ships. His task was to deliver the French ambassador Bonrepo (former quartermaster of the fleet) to Denmark, and the Count d'Avaux to Sweden. Off Norway, Bar's formation encountered four 40-gun Dutch frigates, but was able to fight them off. On the way back, the famous corsair escorted 44 French ships coming from Danzig and brought them safely to Dunkirk.

The New Year 1694 turned out to be a bad harvest in France. The food problem was very acute - villages simply died out, people ate hay and quinoa, large cities starved. This was a strong blow to the economy of the kingdom of Louis XIV; a huge amount of money was required to purchase grain and provisions, so high hopes were once again placed on privateers.

French corsairs attack enemy ships

Not far from Ostend on May 3, Duguay-Trouin, on the 36-gun Stagecoach, collided with the Flemish frigate Reina de España (48 guns). However, the 50-gun Prince of Orange came to the aid of the Flemish, and the Frenchman had to run away. On May 12, Duguay-Trouin flew into an English squadron consisting of 3 battleships and 3 frigates (60-gun Monk, 62-gun Mary, 60-gun Dunkirk, 48-gun Ruby, 46-gun Dragon " and the 44-gun "Adventure") and recklessly entered the battle. The battle lasted 12 hours, all the masts of the Stagecoach were knocked down, twice Duguay-Trouin tried to board an English ship, however, suppressed by such a huge superiority, he was forced to surrender. The corsair was escorted to England and imprisoned in Plymouth prison. He managed to escape with the help of the jailer’s daughter, who fell in love with him (a Frenchman without women is not a Frenchman at all!), and soon Duguay-Trouin was able to return to France.

Jean Bart with a squadron of 5 ships captured a Dutch convoy of 150 ships loaded with grain. The caravan was traveling from the Baltic ports to Amsterdam. The prize could not have come at a better time - after all, Paris was already starving. So the cargo brought by Jean Bart was greeted by the French with tears. The king, deeply grateful to the corsair for such a service, immediately raised the son of a Dunkirk peasant to hereditary nobles, Bar's son - 14-year-old Francois - received an officer rank, and grateful townspeople built a lifetime bust of the hero.

The nobility of Jean Bart caused certain rumors at the French court. Of course: after all, he was a simple illiterate sailor and had rude manners. There is a well-known historical anecdote: once, invited to Versailles for dinner by King Louis XIV, Bar, tired of waiting, took out his huge pipe, filled it with tobacco and lit it. The courtiers who arrived pointed out to him: you can’t smoke in the king’s chambers! The giant looked at them with complete indifference: “Gentlemen, I’m used to smoking in royal service. It became a need for me. And if so, it seems to me that it would be better not to change existing habits.” The courtiers went to complain to the king, who was just finishing his vestments. After listening to them, the Sun King burst out laughing: “Huge, you say, and a long pipe? So this is Jean Bart! For God's sake, leave him, let him smoke better...”

Meanwhile, the British also became more active. First of all, for particularly important ships they introduced a convoy system with an escort of warships. Another measure against privateering is the creation of search groups, the so-called “raider hunters.” The British themselves considered the surest move against the corsairs to be a naval blockade of their bases, but it was quite difficult to block such ports as Dunkirk, Saint-Malo or Brest with the number of ships that the allies had.

In April, near Ireland, the English privateer "Ruby" (48 guns) captured the large 48-gun "Entreprenin".

In the summer, the British, concerned about the escalation of the cruising war, sent the 60-gun Dunkirk and the 48-gun Weymouth to Saint-Malo as a search and strike group. This measure paid off - on June 17, after a hot 18-hour battle, they captured the large 54-gun ship Invisible, and later three more 28-gun ships and one 24-gun ship. The frigate Comte de Toulouse had difficulty fighting off the British.

Inspired by success, the British decided to blockade Saint-Malo from the sea; Admiral Berkeley's squadron was sent to the French port, but the idea was not successful: during the shelling, the British lost the bombardment ship Dreadful, and two more similar ships were damaged. As a result of a daring attack, the corsairs burned the Dutch frigate Batavir (26 guns).

Formations of privateers, breaking through the blocking squadrons, continued to cause noticeable damage to allied trade: Petit-Renault on the 58-gun Bon captured a 48-gun ship of the English East India Company, loaded with gold and diamonds, off the coast of Wales; Iberville, with two ships, captured several small ships; at the end of the year, Duguay-Trouin, on the 48-gun Francois, boarded the large merchant Feti, which had strayed from the convoy.

British blockade of Dunkirk

In January 1695, Duguay-Trouin had already captured 6 merchant ships, after which he attacked an English convoy escorted by the 42-gun frigate Nonsuch and the privateer Boston (38 guns). During a fierce battle, the Frenchman managed to capture both escort ships. After this, Duguay-Trouin was invited to the squadron of Lieutenant General Nesmond, in which he successfully acted against the British and Spaniards.

Separating from the regular forces, on the way to Dunkirk, the corsair captured three ships of the British East India Company, sailing to India with a large cargo of coins. The prize money turned out to be fabulous - 1 million pounds sterling (about 8 tons of gold).

The French ships leaving Dunkirk - the 34-gun Saint-Esprit and the 36-gun Polastron - clashed with the battleship Dartmouth (50 guns) and damaged it. Then, breaking through to a large Anglo-Dutch caravan, they managed to capture 3 large Dutch privateers - the Prince van Danemark, armed with 38 guns, and two 24-gun frigates Amarante and Prince van Orange.

The tireless Duguay-Trouin on the Francois and Fortune off Spitsbergen got involved in a battle with three warships of the English East India Company, but the battle ended in a draw. Jean Bart with 6 ships grappled with the Dutch convoy and burned 50 ships. For this, the “Pirate of Dunkirk” (as he was nicknamed in the United Provinces) was appointed commander of the fleet.

British ships off the French coast

Returning to Brest, Nesmond's squadron captured two large merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company with rich goods.

Capturing 13% of the enemy's merchant fleet: good, but not enough

The British also dealt painful blows to the corsairs: in 1696, Captain Norris captured the 32-gun Foudroyan on the 70-gun Content Prize. On December 11, the battleship Dover pinned the French 60-gun Fugueux to the shore and forced an artillery duel. As a result, the corsair was forced to run aground, and 315 crew members were captured.

At the end of the year, they were able to regain control of the situation: the blockade of corsair ports was resumed, almost all ships heading to England and Holland were put into convoys, and the caravans received reliable security. The “corsair hunters” also went to sea: at the beginning of 1697, the 60-gun Plymouth and the frigate Rea forced the 14-gun flute Concorde, the 36-gun Nouveau Cherbourg and the 28-gun Dauphine to raise a white flag. "

Privateers, if they managed to leave the ports and discover the caravans, stubbornly attacked them, breaking through the escort barriers. In the Bay of Biscay, René Duguay-Trouin with a squadron consisting of the 48-gun Saint-Jacques de Victor, the 37-gun Sans-Parey, the 16-gun Leonora, the 30-gun Aigle Noir and the 28-gun Falluer fought a Dutch convoy of 15 merchant ships, whose escort included the 50-gun frigates Delft and Hondslaardijk and the 30-gun Schoonoord. The Dutch defended desperately, 63 of the 200 people on the French flagship were killed, but Duguay-Trouin consistently boarded all the warships and captured all the merchant ships. On the Delft, the heated corsairs killed the entire crew. The Saint-Jacques de Victor barely floated and almost sank in a storm, but Rene managed to escort the captured ships to the port.

The tireless Jean Bart was able to break the blockade, boldly passing close to the English ships, happily escaped from all his pursuers and was able to deliver the French pretender to the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Prince Conti, to Poland.

However, the exhaustion of France, caused by the famine of 1693–1695 and the constantly increasing recruitment, reached its limit: in the same 1697, the Peace of Ryswick was concluded, first with England, Holland and Spain, and 10 days later with the German states. The expectations that the king and Pontchartrain had for the privateer war were not justified. Yes, privateers were able to bring great costs into the maritime trade of the Allies, but Tourville’s prediction came true - despite certain successes of the corsairs, the fleet and maritime trade of England only intensified. At the decisive moment, the French squadrons found themselves scattered across the seas of Europe, and the privateers could not provide real opposition to the Royal Nevi.

An English ship pursues a corsair

Our naval theorist Klado noted this fact very accurately:

“The concentration of all French naval assets to attack the maritime trade of the Allies bore fruit: in 1691–97. they captured about 4,000 merchant ships, and although about half of these ships were taken back from them, it was still a loss that weighed heavily on the finances of the allies and had its effect on their inclination towards peace. The famous Jean Bart and Forbin especially stood out for their exploits during these operations. But the main losses were borne by the allies when, after 1692, the French devoted all their resources to the pursuit of trade, and they, still expecting more serious operations from the French fleet, kept their squadrons concentrated and separated very small forces to pursue the French privateers. When the French plan of action finally became clear, and the allies turned to fighting the French trade destroyers, many of them were overfished, and allied trade recovered again, while French maritime trade was completely destroyed, and the French could not counteract this, since they were so strong they no longer had a fleet. Thus, here too it turned out that the persecution of trade achieved real results only with the support of a navy that controlled the sea.”

From 1688 to 1697, a total of more than 30 thousand ships arrived in England and Holland, that is, losses amounted to only 13 percent of the total merchant fleet. The worst years for the Allies were 1691 and 1693, when they lost 15 and 20 percent of their merchant ships, respectively. Thus, we can say that even in the most favorable situation in 1691, when Tourville took the entire Home Fleet with him, the performance of individual corsairs was lower than the regular fleet in the defeat of the Smyrna convoy in 1693. Nevertheless, Pontchartrain believed that in a future war cruising operations would play a decisive role, destroying enemy trade and enriching France. And no one doubted that the current world is only a respite.

Political disputes have become so intense that
that one cannon shot in America
threw all of Europe into the fire of war.
Voltaire

The French and Indian Wars is the generic American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763, which resulted in the extensive conflict known as the Seven Years' War. French Canadians call it La guerre de la Conquête.

The confrontation between the British and the French in the North American colonies continued from the very beginning of the 18th century. These episodes were usually called by the names of the reigning persons - King William's War (during the nine-year war of the League of Augsburg), Queen Anne's War (during the War of the Spanish Succession), King George's War (during the War of the Austrian Succession). During all of these wars, Indians fought on both sides of the conflict. These wars and the one described by American historians are called the Four Colonial Wars.

Situation in 1750

North America east of the Mississippi was almost completely claimed by Great Britain and France. The French population numbered 75,000 and was most concentrated in the St. Lawrence, partly in Acadia (New Brunswick), Ile Royale (Cap Breton Island), and also very little - in New Orleans and small trading posts along the Mississippi - French Louisiana. French fur traders traveled throughout the St. Lawrence and Mississippi, traded with the Indians and married local squaws.

The British colonies numbered 1.5 million and were located along the east coast of the continent from Virginia in the south to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in the north. Many of the oldest colonies had lands that extended uncontrollably to the west, since no one knew the exact extent of the continent. But the rights of the provinces were assigned to the lands, and although their centers were located near the coast, they were rapidly populated. Nova Scotia, conquered from France in 1713, still had a significant number of French settlers. Britain also secured Rupert's Land, in which the Hudson's Bay Company conducted a fur trade with the natives.

In between the French and British possessions there were vast territories inhabited by Indians. In the north, the Mi'kmaq and Abenaki still dominated parts of Nova Scotia, Acadia, and the eastern regions of Canada and today's Maine. The Iroquois Confederacy was represented in present-day New York State and the Ohio Valley, although it later also included the Delaware, Swanee, and Mingo nations. These tribes were under the formal control of the Iroquois and had no right to enter into treaties. The next, southern interval was inhabited by the Catawba, Choctaw, Creek (Muskogee) and Cherokee peoples. When the war began, the French used their trade connections to recruit warriors in the western regions of the Great Lakes Country, home to the Huron, Mississauga, Iowa, Winnipeg, and Potawatomi nations. The British were supported in the war by the Iroquois, as well as the Cherokee, until differences sparked the Anglo-Cherokee War of 1758. In 1758, the Pennsylvania government successfully negotiated the Treaty of Easton, in which 13 nations agreed to be allies of Britain, in exchange for which Pennsylvania and New Jersey recognized their ancestral rights to hunting grounds and camps in the Ohio Country. Many tribes to the north sided with France, their reliable trading partner. The Creek and Cherokee nations remained neutral.

Spanish representation in the east of the continent was limited to Florida; In addition, it held Cuba and other West Indian colonies, which became targets for attacks during the Seven Years' War. Florida's population was small and limited to the settlements of St. Augustine and Pentacola.

At the beginning of the war, there were only a small number of British regular units in North America, and there were no French ones at all. New France was protected by 3,000 marines, companies of colonial troops, and could field irregular militia if necessary. Many British colonies raised militias to fight the Indians, but did not have any troops at all.

Virginia, due to its long border, had many scattered regular units. Colonial governments performed their functions independently of each other and the London metropolis, and this circumstance complicated relations with the Indians, whose lands were sandwiched between different colonies, and with the outbreak of the war, with the command of the British Army, when its commanders tried to impose restrictions and demands on the colonial administrations .

North America in 1750

Causes of the war

Celoron Expedition

In June 1747, concerned about the invasion and the expanding influence of British traders such as George Croghan in Ohio, Roland-Michel Barrin, Marquis de la Galissoniere, Governor General of New France, sent Pierre-Joseph Celoron to lead a military expedition to the area. His task was to establish French rights to the territory, destroy British influence, and stage a show of force in front of the Indians.

Celoron's detachment consisted of 200 marines and 30 Indians. The expedition covered nearly 3,000 miles from June to November 1749, traveling along the northern shore of Lake Ontario, portaging Niagara, and then passing along the southern shore of Lake Erie. At the Chautauqua Crossing, the expedition turned inland to the Allegheny River, which directed them to present-day Pittsburgh, where Celoron buried lead branding plates asserting French rights to this territory. Whenever he encountered English fur traders, Celoron informed them of French rights to this land and ordered them to leave.

When the expedition arrived at Longstown, the Indians of that area told him that they belonged to the Ohio Territory and would trade with the English regardless of the opinion of France. Celoron continued south until his expedition reached the confluence of the Ohio and Miami Rivers, which lies south of the village of Pikawilani, owned by the chief of the Miami people. nicknamed "Old Briton". Celoron informed him of the dire consequences that would soon occur if the elderly leader did not refrain from trading with the English. Old Briton did not heed the warning. In November 1749, Celoron returned to Montreal.

In his report covering the trip in detail, Celoron wrote: “All I know is that the Indians of these places are very ill-disposed towards France and are completely devoted to England. I don’t know of a way to change the situation.” Even before his return to Montreal, reports on the situation in Ohio were sent to London and Paris, along with plans of action. William Shirley, the expansionist governor of Massachusetts, was particularly forceful in declaring that the British colonists would not be safe as long as the French existed.

Negotiation

In 1747, some Virginia colonists created the Ohio Company to develop trade and settlement in the territory of the same name. In 1749, the company received funds from King George II with the condition of settling 100 colonist families in the territory and building a fort to protect them. This land was also claimed by Pennsylvania and a struggle for dominance began between the colonies. In 1750, Christopher Gist, acting on behalf of Virginia and Company itself, explored the Ohio Territory and began negotiations with the Indians at Longstown. This endeavor resulted in the Treaty of Longstown of 1752, in which the Indians, represented by their “half-king” Tanagrisson, in the presence of representatives of the Iroquois, worked out conditions that included permission to build a “fortified house” at the headwaters of the Monongahela River (modern Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).

The War of the Austrian Succession formally ended in 1748 with the signing of the Second Peace of Aachen. The treaty was primarily focused on resolving European issues, and the issues of territorial conflicts between the French and British colonies in North America were left unresolved and returned to the settlement commission. Britain delegated Governor Shirley and the Earl of Albemarle. The Governor of Virginia, whose western border was one of the causes of the conflict, to the commission. Albemarle also served as ambassador to France. Louis XV, for his part, dispatched Galissoniere and other hardliners. The commission met in Paris in the summer of 1750 with a predictable zero result. The borders between Nova Scotia and Acadia to the north and the Ohio Country to the south became a sticking point. The debate extended to the Atlantic, where both sides wanted access to the rich fisheries on the Great Bank of Newfoundland.

Attack on Picavillany

On March 17, 1752, the Governor-General of New France, the Marquis de Jonquière, died and his place was temporarily taken by Charles le Moine de Longueville. This continued until July, when he was replaced in a permanent capacity by the Marquis Ducusnet de Meneville, who arrived in New France and took up his position. Continued British activity in Ohio prompted Longueville to send a further expedition there, under the command of Charles Michel de Langlade, a marine officer. Langlade was given 300 men, including the Ottawa Indians and French Canadians. His task was to punish the Miami people in the village of Picavillany for disobeying Celoron's order to stop trading with the British. On June 21, a French force attacked a trading post at Picavillany, killing 14 Miamians, including Old Breton, who was traditionally said to have been eaten by the Aborigines in the force.

French fort

In the spring of 1753, Pierre-Paul Marina de La Malge was sent with a detachment of 2,000 marines and Indians. His mission was to protect the royal lands in the Ohio Valley from the British. The party followed the route that Celoron had mapped four years earlier, only instead of burying lead tablets, Marina de la Malgee built and fortified forts. He first built Fort Presqueville (Erie, Pennsylvania) on the southern shore of Lake Erie, then founded Fort Leboeuf (Waterfort, Persylvania) to protect the upper reaches of Leboeuf Creek. Moving south, he expelled or captured British residents, alarming both the British and the Iroquois. Thanagrisson, the chief of Mingo, burning with hatred of the French, whom he accused of killing and eating his father, came to Fort Leboeuf and issued an ultimatum, which Marina contemptuously rejected.

The Iroquois sent messengers to the estate of William Johnson, New York. Johnson, known to the Iroquois as "Warrahiggi," meaning "Doer of Great Things," became a respected delegate to the Iroquois Confederacy. In 1746, Johnson became a colonel in the Iroquois, and later a colonel in the Western New York militia. He met in Albany with Governor Clinton and representatives of other colonies. Chief Hendrick insisted that Britain would stick to its commitments and stop French expansion. Having received an unsatisfactory response from Clinton, Hendrick declared that the chain of treaty that had bound Britain and the Iroquois for many years with ties of friendship was now broken.

Virginia's response

Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie finds himself in a difficult position. He was a major investor in the Ohio Company and would have lost money if the French had had their way. To counter the French presence in Ohio, 21-year-old Major George Washington (whose brother was also a major investor in the Company) from the Virginia militia was sent there to invite the French to leave Virginia. Washington left with a small detachment, taking with him the translator Van Der Braam, Christopher Gist, a group of examiners to check the work and several Ming Indians led by Tanaghrisson. On December 12 they reached Fort Leboeuf.

Jacques Legadour de Saint-Pierre, who succeeded Marin de la Malge as French commander after the latter's death on October 29, invited Washington to dinner in the evening. After lunch, Washington acquainted St. Pierre with Dinwiddie's letter demanding the immediate abandonment of the Ohio territory by the French. Saint-Pierre was very polite in his response, saying that “I don’t consider myself obligated to comply with your order to get out.” He explained to Washington that French rights to this territory were stronger than English ones, since Robert Cavelier de la Salle explored it a century ago.

Washington's party departed Leboeuf on December 16 and arrived in Williamsburg a month later, on January 16, 1754. In his report, Washington stated: “The French have captured the south.” In more detail, they took up the fortification of the territory and discovered their intention to strengthen the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers.

Hostilities

Dinwiddie, even before Washington's return, sent a detachment of 40 people with William Trent at the head to the point where, at the beginning of 1754, they undertook the construction of a small fort with a stockade. Governor Duquesne at the same time sent an additional detachment of French under the command of Claude-Pierre Picadie de Conrecourt to help Saint-Pierre, and on April 5 his detachment ran into Trent’s detachment. Considering that there were 500 Frenchmen, is it worth talking about the generosity of Conrecourt when he not only let Trent and his companions go home, but also bought their entrenching tool and began to continue the construction they had begun, thus founding Fort Duquesne.

After Washington's return and receipt of his report, Dinwiddie ordered him to march with a larger force to assist Trent. He soon learned of Trent's expulsion. With Thanagrisson promising support, Washington continued toward Fort Duquesne and met with the Ming chief. Having learned about the encamped group of Canadian scouts, on May 28, Washington with Tanagrisson, 75 British and a dozen Mings silently surrounded their camp and. suddenly attacking, they killed ten people on the spot, and took 30 prisoners. Among those killed was their commander de Jumonville, whom Tanaghrisson scalped.

After the battle, Washington retreated several miles and founded Fort Necesseti, which was attacked by the French at 11 a.m. on July 3. They had 600 Canadians, and 100 Indians, Washington had 300 Virginians, but regular soldiers, protected by a stockade and improvised parapets and with a couple of small canisters. After the skirmish, in which many Indians were wounded, it began to rain and the gunpowder became wet. It seemed. The situation of the Virginians became desperate. But the French commander was aware that another British detachment was approaching to help Washington. Therefore, he decided not to risk it and start negotiations. Washington was asked to surrender the fort and get the hell out, to which he readily agreed. In Virginia, one of Washington's companions reported that the French's companions were the Shawnee, Delaware and Mingo Indians - those who did not submit to Tanagrisson.

When news of the two skirmishes reached Albion in August, the Duke of Newcastle, who was then Prime Minister, after several months of negotiations, decided to send a military expedition to expel the French the following year. Major General Edward Braddock was chosen to lead the expedition. Word of British preparations reached France before Braddock set out for North America, and Louis XV sent six regiments under the command of Baron Descau in 1755. The British intended to blockade the French ports, but the French fleet had already put to sea. Admiral Edward Hawke sent a detachment of fast ships to intercept the French. The next act of British aggression was the attack of Vice Admiral Edward Boscoven's squadron on the 64-gun battleship Elsid, which was captured by the British on June 8, 1755. Throughout 1755, the British captured French ships and sailors, leading to the eventual formal declaration of war in the spring of 1756.

British campaign of 1755.

For 1755, the British developed an ambitious plan of military action. General Braddock was entrusted with the expedition to Fort Duquesne, Governor Shirley of Massachusetts was entrusted with the task of strengthening Fort Oswego and attacking Fort Niagara, Sir William Johnson was to take Fort St. Frederick, and Colonel Mongton was to take Fort Beausajour on the border between Nova Scotia and Acadia.

I intend to subsequently, in another article, examine the causes of Braddock's disaster in the battle on the Monongahela River. Here I will tell you only in general terms. Braddock's army numbered 2,000 regular army soldiers. He divided the army into two groups - the main column of 1,300 people, and the auxiliary column of 800 people. The enemy garrison at Fort Duquesne consisted of only 250 Canadians and 650 Indian allies.

Braddock crossed the Monongahela without encountering resistance. 300 grenadiers with two guns under the command of Thomas Gage formed the vanguard and put to flight a hundred Canadians from the advance detachment. The French commander Boju was killed with the first salvo. It seemed that the battle was developing logically, and Braddock would be successful. But suddenly the Indians attack from an ambush. However, the French themselves assured that there was no ambush, and they were no less surprised than the enemy when they saw the flight of the English vanguard. Rolling away, the vanguard crashed into the ranks of Braddock's main column. In a narrow space, the troops huddled together. Having recovered from their amazement, the Canadians and Indians surrounded the column and began to shoot it. In such a situation, every bullet found a target. In the general confusion, Braddock gave up trying to reorganize the soldiers and began firing cannons into the forest - but this gave absolutely nothing, the Indians were hiding behind trees and bushes. To make matters worse, in the general confusion, the irregular militia soldiers covering the British mistakenly began to fire at their own. In the end, the bullet found Braddock, and Colonel Washington, although he had no authority in this battle, formed cover and helped the British get out of the fire. For this he received the offensive nickname “Hero of Monogahela.” The British lost 456 people killed and 422 wounded. The well-aimed Canadians and Indians skillfully chose targets - out of 86 officers, 26 were killed and 37 were wounded. They even shot almost all the transport girls. The Canadians killed 8, wounded 4, the Indians killed 15, wounded 12. In a word, defeat, as in Fadeev’s novel. The British were so disheartened that they did not realize that even after this lesson they were outnumbered by the enemy. They retreated, and while retreating, they burned their convoy of 150 carts, destroyed the guns, and abandoned part of the ammunition. Thus ended Braddock’s campaign, on which the British had placed so much hope.

Governor Shirley's efforts to fortify Fort Oswego were mired in logistical difficulties and demonstrated Shirley's ineptitude in planning large expeditions. When it became clear that he was unable to establish communication with Fort Ontario, Shirley stationed forces at Oswego, Fort Bull, and Fort Williams. The supplies allocated for the attack on Niagara were sent to Fort Bull.

Johnson's expedition was better organized, and this did not escape the watchful eye of the governor of New France, the Marquis de Vaudrel. He first attended to the support of the line of forts in Ohio, and in addition sent Baron Deskau to lead the defense of Frontenac against the expected attack by Shirley. When Johnson began to pose a greater threat, Vaudreul sent Descau to Fort Saint-Frederic to prepare it for defense. Descau planned to attack the British camp near Fort Edward, but Johnson had heavily fortified the position and the Indians refused to risk it. In the end, the troops finally met in a bloody battle on Lake George on September 8, 1755. Deskau had more than 200 grenadiers, 600 Canadian militia, and 700 Abenaki and Mohawk Indians. Johnson managed, upon learning of the approach of the French, to send for help. Colonel Ephraim Williams with the Connecticut Regiment (1000 people) and 200 Indians opposed the French, who found out about this and blocked his path, and the Indians settled in ambush. The ambush worked perfectly. Williams and Hendrik were killed, as were many of their men. The British fled. However, experienced scouts and Indians covered the retreat, and the pursuit attempt failed - many of the pursuers were killed by well-aimed fire. Among them, Jacques Legadour de Saint-Pierre, who is memorable to us from his dinner with Washington.

The British fled to their camp, and the French set out to build on their success and attacked it. The British, having loaded their three guns with grapeshot, opened murderous fire. The French attack fizzled out when Descau was mortally wounded. As a result, there was a draw in terms of losses, the British lost 262, the French 228 killed. The French retreated and established a foothold in Ticonderoga, where they founded Fort Carillon.

The only British success of the year belonged to Colonel Monckton, who was able to take Fort Beausajour in June 1755, cutting off the French fortress of Louisbourg from its base of reinforcements. To deprive Louisbourg of all support, the Governor of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, ordered the deportation of the French-speaking population from Acadia. The atrocities of the British aroused hatred not only among the French, but also among the local Indians, and there were often serious clashes when trying to deport the French.

French successes 1756-1757

After Braddock's death, William Shirley took command of the troops in North America. At a meeting in Albany in December 1755, he reported on his plans for the following year. In addition to new attempts to take Duquesne, Crown Point, and Niagara, he proposed an attack on Fort Frontenac on the north shore of Lake Ontario, an expedition into the Maine wilderness and down the Chadier River to attack Quebec. Drowned in controversy, and without the support of either William Johnson or Governor Hardee, the plan did not meet with approval, and Shirley was removed and Lord Loudoun was appointed in his place in January 1756, with Major General Abercrombie as his deputy. None of them had a tenth of the experience that the officers sent against them by France had. French replacements for the regular army arrived in New France in May, led by Major General Louis Joseph de Montcalm, Chevalier de Lévis, and Colonel Francis-Charles de Bourlamac, all seasoned veterans of the War of the Austrian Succession.

Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

Governor Vaudreul, who harbored dreams of becoming the French commander-in-chief, acted through the winter before reinforcements arrived. Scouts reported weaknesses in the line of English forts, and he ordered an attack on Shirley's forts. In March, a terrible but predictable disaster occurred - the French and Indians stormed Fort Bull and scalped the garrison, and burned the fort. It must have been a wonderful display of fireworks, considering that it was there that the 45,000 pounds of gunpowder carefully accumulated over the past year by the hapless Shirley were stored, while the supply of gunpowder in Oswego was negligible. The French in the Ohio Valley also became active, intriguing and encouraging the Indians to attack the British frontier settlements. Rumors of this created alarm, which in turn caused local residents to flee to the east.

The new British command did nothing until July. Abercrombie, having arrived in Albany, was afraid to do anything without the approval of Lord Loudoun. Montcalm contrasted his inaction with vigorous activity. Leaving Vaudrel to the task of causing trouble for the Oswego garrison, Montcalm carried out a strategic maneuver, moving his headquarters to Ticonderoga as if he were going to repeat the attack along Lake George, then suddenly turning on Oswego and taking it by August 13th by trenching alone. In Oswego, in addition to 1,700 prisoners, the French also captured 121 guns, carefully delivered here by the generous Shirley. I will tell you more about all these captured forts later. It was here that the Europeans prevented their Indian allies from robbing the prisoners, and the Indians were extremely indignant.

Loudoun, a capable administrator but a cautious commander. I planned only one operation. In 1757 - attack on Quebec. Leaving a significant force at Fort William Henry to distract Montcalm, he began organizing an expedition to Quebec, but suddenly received a directive from William Pitt, Secretary of State for the Colonies, to attack Louisbourg first. After various delays, the expedition finally prepared to sail from Halifax, Nova Scotia, in early August. Meanwhile, the French squadron managed to penetrate the English blockade in Europe and a numerically superior fleet awaited Loudoun in Louisbourg. Afraid of meeting him. Loudoun returned to New York, where news of the massacre at Fort William Henry awaited him.

French regular forces - Canadian scouts and Indians - had been hovering around Fort William Henry since the beginning of the year. In January, they killed half of a detachment of 86 British in a “snowshoe battle”; in February, they crossed a frozen lake on ice, and burned external buildings and warehouses. At the beginning of August, Montcalm with 7,000 troops appeared in front of the fort, which surrendered with the possibility of the garrison and inhabitants leaving. When the column left, the Indians seized the moment and pounced on it, sparing neither men, women, nor children. This massacre may have been the result of rumors of smallpox in remote Indian villages.

British conquests 1758-1760

In 1758, the British blockade of the French coast made itself felt - Vaudrel and Montcalm received practically no reinforcements. The situation in New France was aggravated by a poor harvest in 1757, a harsh winter and, it is believed, the machinations of Francis Bejo, whose schemes to inflate the prices of supplies allowed him and his partners to significantly line their pockets. A massive outbreak of smallpox among the Western Indian tribes put them out of action. In light of all these conditions, Montcalm concentrated his meager forces on the main task of protecting the St. Lawrence, and especially the defense of Carillon, Quebec and Louisbourg, while Vaudrell insisted on continuing raids like those of the previous year.

British failures in North America and the European theater led to the fall of power of the Duke of Newcastle and his chief military adviser, the Duke of Kimberland. Newcastle and Pitt entered into an odd coalition in which Pitt was involved in military planning. As a result, Pitt was not honored with anything other than to take the old Loudoun plan (the latter, by the way, already held the position of commander-in-chief, replacing the indifferent Abercrombie). In addition to the task of attacking Quebec, Pitt found it necessary to attack Duquesne and Louisbourg.

In 1758, Major General John Forbes's 6,000-man force followed Braddock's trail; On September 14, his advance detachment of 800 soldiers under the command of Grant approached Fort Duquesne and was completely defeated by an equal force of Canadians and Indians, Grant himself was captured. However, having learned that more than 5,000 Forbes soldiers were coming at them, the French burned the fort and went home. Arriving at the place, Forbes found the corpses of scalped Scots from his army and the smoking ruins of the fort. The British rebuilt the fort and named it Fort Pitt, and today it is Pittsburgh.

On July 26 of the same year, in the face of a 14,000-strong British army, Louisbourg surrendered after the siege. The road to Quebec was open. But then something happened that no one could have foreseen. 3,600 French were stronger than 18,000 English at the Battle of Carillon. This battle will also be given special attention due to its exclusivity. For now, just briefly about how the most respectful English general to his superiors screwed up his superiors.

British troops landed on the north shore of Lake George on July 6. The advance of the British towards the fort was accompanied by major battles with French troops. At the military council, it was decided to attack the fort on July 8, without waiting for the approach of the three-thousand-strong French detachment of General Levi. The battle began on July 8 with minor skirmishes between the advancing British troops and the French troops remaining in the vicinity of the fort. The English troops, according to the order of the commander-in-chief, lined up in 3 lines and launched a frontal attack on the fortified heights occupied by French troops.

At 12:30 the signal to attack was given. While the British were planning a simultaneous attack along the entire front, the advancing right column broke far ahead, disrupting the usual battle formation. The French had undoubted advantages over the English troops, since they could fire at the British from an advantageous position under the protection of high wooden fortifications. Those few of the English soldiers who managed to climb the rampart died under the blows of the French bayonets. The English troops were literally mowed down by French fire. The bloodbath lasted until the evening, until the defeat of the British became obvious. Abercrombie ordered the troops to retreat back to the crossings. Already on July 9, the remnants of the defeated English army reached a camp near the ruins of Fort William Henry. British losses amounted to about 2,600 people. Abercrombie was replaced by Geoffrey Amherst, who took Louisbourg. The remnants of Abercrombie's reputation were saved by John Bradstreet, who just managed to destroy Fort Frontenac.

This brilliant victory for Montcalm became his swan song. The French completely abandoned the North American War. A completely different plan was born in their heads - an invasion directly into Britain. But instead of an invasion, the British had the good fortune of 1759, which they called Annus Mirabilis of 1759, or the Year of Miracles.

First, Ticonderoga fell, which the French were forced to abandon in front of powerful artillery fire and 11,000 British and retreat. Then the French were forced to leave Corillon. On July 26, Fort Niagara capitulated. Finally, at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham (Battle of Quebec), the remnants of the French were defeated. The British in the battle had 4,800 regular troops, and the French 2,000, and about the same number of militia. Both commanders died - General Wolff for the British and General Montcalm for the French. Quebec surrendered. The French retreated to Montreal.

A year later, the French attempted revenge at the Battle of Sainte-Faux on April 28, 1760. Levi tried to recapture Quebec. He had 2,500 soldiers and as many irregulars with only three guns. The British have 3,800 soldiers and 27 guns. The British had some initial success, but their infantry prevented their own artillery from firing. And she herself got stuck in the mud and snowdrifts of the spring thaw. As a result, realizing that he was facing defeat, the British commander Murray abandoned the guns and withdrew his frustrated troops. This was the last victory of the French. But it did not lead to the return of Quebec. The British took refuge behind its fortifications and help was sent to them. The British lost 1,182 people killed, wounded and captured, the French 833.

After the British moved towards Montreal from three sides, Vaudrel in September 1760 had no choice but to capitulate on honorable terms. Thus ended the war in the North American theater. But for several more years it continued on others.

On February 10, 1763, the Peace of Paris was signed. Under the terms of the peace, France renounced all claims to Canada, Nova Scotia and all the islands of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Together with Canada, France ceded the Ohio Valley and all of its territory on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, with the exception of New Orleans. England's triumph was resounding.

British conquests

In conclusion, a little irony. The Treaty of Paris also gave France fishing rights off the coast of Newfoundland and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which it had previously enjoyed. At the same time, this right was denied to Spain, which demanded it for its fishermen. This concession to France was among those most attacked by the opposition in England. There is some kind of dark irony in the fact that the war that began with cod ended with her. The French defended their demand for fish - at the cost of half the continent...