Ten Years War TL

Been kicking this idea around for about a year. I've got almost 40,000 words so far. This is the first paragraph. Looking for constructive input.

In the wake of the Wars of Spanish and Austrian Succession, the British made advancements and claims into American lands that extended deep into disputed areas between Britain and France, where the border demarcations were already uncertain. The tenuous borders stretching and linking the areas of New France with Louisiana were in jeopardy at the hands of British intruders. Even with natural boundaries, territorial claims remained conflicted, and the added presence of Indian tribes became the crux of international tension. In all areas from the Great Lakes region of upstate New York and western Pennsylvania, to the St. Lawrence River and Lake Champlain, British settlers pushed the united Iroquois tribes and other native nations off their sacred land and into New France. This alienated all native tribes that once lived in the New England and the Northern colonies, and firmly placed Indian loyalty in France’s pocket, in spite of the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht that made the Iroquois British subjects. It was mainly because the Iroquois had been made British subjects that the British felt they could order the Iroquois off their own land. The natives were permitted to live on designated reservations of land in New France, which helped to increase the population in the already-sparsely-inhabited French territory. French traders made regular contact with the tribes, readily exploiting their imperial monopoly of influence over the natives, and the men of each tribe were trained by French soldiers in the use of modern European-style warfare, weaponry, and technique while maintaining their own native fighting style. Conversely, the Iroquois were able to share their own “best practices” of warfare, creating an armed alliance that proved impossible to break. Further encroachment by British colonists into French territory provoked open war with the British on one side and the French and their Indian allies on the other. In the Americas, this was dubbed the “French and Indian War” and served as the American extension of the larger European Ten Years War. In Europe, the geopolitical situation had a ripple effect across the Atlantic and positioned France in such a way that she had a great shot at running away from the war with her empire fully intact, but not without a fight. This was a global war for imperial supremacy between the two dominant European powers of the day that would last a full ten years and cost the lives of millions upon millions of men.
 
The naval forces operating under Marquis Jacques-Pierre de Taffanel de la Jonquiere narrowly escaped capture and destruction at the hands of British Admiral George Anson’s larger force during the War of Austrian Succession at the Battle of Cape Finisterre on May 14, 1747. Rather than engage Anson’s force directly, Jonquiere pursued a course of fighting withdrawal, tricking the British into thinking that he intended to fight a pitched battle on the open sea. He arrived in the American colony of New France with all the ships in his convoy intact. The successful flight of Jonquiere was one more in a long string of tactical blows to British interests in America. His fighting withdrawal strategy was mimicked by other French naval officers and set the French naval posture for the coming war, with mostly high success. On Jonquiere’s convoy, besides a large amount of immense property and riches, also on board were numerous articles and implements destined for the French colonists and Indians who continued to resist British influence in North America. After the War of Austrian Succession ended with the Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle in 1748, animosity between Britain and France was never truly resolved. War preparations rapidly began again when Jonquiere continued in his role of Governor General, ever searching for ways to create a French colonial army so powerful, so disciplined, and so efficient that it would make even the Prussians envious. Jonquiere was considered to be a good administrator, even though he wasn’t the bravest man when it came to politics. The opposite was true of his naval career where his twenty-nine campaigns and nine combat engagements showed a man of great courage and shrewdness. It is widely believed that Jonquiere personally profited from the monopoly which governed the fur trade at the time, even though his administrative and military position should have caused him to abstain from that type of commercial activity. He merged military interests with financial profit, and could easily transition from the role of soldier/sailor to tradesman/merchant, combine the two interests as needed to reach an overall goal, and ignore any accusations of corruption. He used his considerable military skills to build up the military strength of New France in the face of an increasing British threat. Because of his cooperation with French mercantilists, Jonquiere curried favor in the salons and courts of Paris, thereby garnering support for his militarism. Jonquiere knew that New France must remain subservient to the mother country if it was to maintain support, and knew he had to focus on the top priority of building up French defenses in the Americas, as he believed that’s where the bulk of the fighting would occur should war break out in earnest between Britain and France again. Using his partnership with powerful French investors, Jonquiere was able to convince them to offer valuable goods to the Indians, at competitive prices, which siphoned profits away from the British tradesmen, which were then used to fill the coffers of the French army. Jonquiere was able to convince the French throne that to lose New France would mean to lose every other imperial colony that France possessed. When Jonquiere passed away in 1752, the French army in New France had nearly doubled in size under his leadership, with the help of successful migrations of new settlers that slipped past the British navy as well as the Indian tribes that were easily kept loyal to France thanks to British alienation. When Marquis Michel-Ange Duquesne de Menneville assumed the role of Governor General in New France later that same year, he discovered that Jonquiere’s administration of the colony was so effective that he needed to but maintain the same level of growth to hold back the British.
 
By July 1, 1752, Duquesne was in control of New France, courtesy of Jonquiere’s influence and blessing, secured prior to the former governor’s passing. Duquesne, eager to make a lasting impression, issued a decree to the men of New France, calling up the militia in a general draft and making them formal soldiers of the French crown. He planned a late summer offensive into land claimed by the British. The importance of this draft cannot be overstated. Known as the “Grand Assemblee,” it called up one out of every five able-bodied French settlers to serve for an undetermined amount of time as formal regulars in the Troupes de la Terre. To carry out this offensive, Duquesne found talent in Paul Marin de La Malgue, an elderly man whose knowledge of and experience in combat was unmatched by any other officer in New France. In the late summer of 1752, 3,000 men, both French and Iroquois under Marin’s command, built forts at critical positions in the Ohio River Valley and in western Pennsylvania: one at Presque Isle, one at Riviere aux Boeuf, and one at Machault. Near Machault, Marin led a reconnaissance mission into central Pennsylvania and stumbled upon a British trading party, whom the French surrounded and captured. Only a handful escaped French pursuit. All goods were seized and any monies immediately confiscated by the French and distributed as additional bonus payment to Marin’s soldiers, boosting morale substantially. The Indians among them requested a different manner of payment: British blood for British crime. To keep them as allies, the French acquiesced. The Iroquois butchered the British trading party without mercy. The escaped survivors of the Machault Massacre made their way to Albany, New York and reported the event to the Royal Governor at the time, George Clinton. The escapees accused the British of simply not caring about the colonists living on the frontier, closest to the expansionist French and also nearby the bloodthirsty Iroquois. While garrisoned in western Pennsylvania at Machault, Marin sent a resident translator and trader to bribe, trade, and impose military will upon the Lenape and Shawnee tribes living in Ohio and central Pennsylvania, respectively, bringing them safely under French hegemony and securing dominance in the area. Gradually, the French occupied the Ohio River Valley and had no intent on leaving it; they built forts on the fringes of the British colonies of New York and Pennsylvania, gained new alliances with more tribes in addition to the Iroquois Confederation, and inhabited their forts with a total of 5,000 French and Indian men all trained, armed, and ready to fight. By the end of 1752, the French could strike anywhere from central New York all the way down to central Virginia, if they got brave enough. Even with the British outnumbering the French just slightly, the French had speed and terrain on their side, especially with their Indian allies. All these factors created a desperate and extreme crisis for the British colonies in North America. The French were determined to use peacetime to prepare for another eventual war on the horizon with the British. British expansionism outpaced even that of the French, but the French would wisely bide their time, build up defenses, strengthen the colonial economy, and construct over a dozen other forts to demonstrate their prowess to the British. War was in the air.
 
So how is this timeline going to address the fact that the British colonies had a combined population of several million while the French population of New France is only around 70,000?
 
So how is this timeline going to address the fact that the British colonies had a combined population of several million while the French population of New France is only around 70,000?

My POD for this extends back to Marco Polo. I'm just posting this here to see what people think of the overall construction. This is by no means a final draft, but thank you for your input though. I appreciate feedback.
 
I have an interest in reading this. But please, no wall of text. I need paragraphs. Be kind to your readers.

I appreciate the fact that I've grabbed some level of interest. This is a rough rough rough draft. I'm going to paragraph them out a little bit better once I get everything honed down to a finer point. Apologies if it's a bit tough to wade through at this point in development. The "paragraphs" that I'm displaying are more like vignettes within the narrative. I will try to group them out better in future posts.
 
By October of 1753, the Royal Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, decided to take matters in his own hands to halt the French. He drafted a twenty-two year old major named George Washington to deliver a simple letter to the French General Marin at Fort Machault. The letter contained the simple order for his forces to vacate the forts Marin and his men constructed, as the land was under the claim of the Ohio Company, of which Dinwiddie was a main shareholder. Marin was cordial enough to invite Washington to dinner, which Washington accepted. During the dinner, Major Washington informed Marin of the contents of the letter, to which, Marin politely told Washington that he and his forces had invested too much of themselves and of their Indian allies to simply abandon all their efforts, and that they had no intention of rendering all their hard work vain. Dejected, Washington returned to Williamsburg, where he informed Dinwiddie of the French reply on December 20. Dinwiddie, unbeknownst to Washington, had already dispatched 300 soldiers under the command of Captain William Trent, to occupy the forks of the Ohio River, where the Monongahela and the Allegheny come to a head. This fort at the fork of the Ohio would prove to be the only provocation the French would need for an all-out declaration of war against Great Britain.
 
In January 1754, Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre in Pennsylvania and Claude-Pierre Pecaudy de Contrecoeur in Ohio, General Marin’s chief lieutenants in the field, informed Marin of the British presence on the Ohio River and of the threat on their interests in the area surrounding Lake Erie. Marin then sent word to Governor Duquesne in Quebec, apprising him of the situation. Above all else, the mission instructed to Marin was to drive the British out of French land. Both sides claimed the other was invading on the soil of their own respective empires, and this would mean war. Contrecoeur was given command of a combined force of 1,000 French soldiers and Indian warriors, and told to expel Trent’s force of 300. The fort that Trent intended on building was still a work in progress, and therefore, unfinished. When the French arrived on April 16, Trent’s forces immediately surrendered the grounds to Contrecoeur, packed up, and left to return to Virginia. In the surrender terms, the French gave food to the exhausted Virginians in exchange for the building supplies and materials the British used to start the fort’s construction. Contrecoeur’s men finished the fort, and named it after Duquesne.

In Williamsburg, Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie wasn’t willing to let Fort Duquesne remain in French hands. He promised lands of the Ohio Company to any man who would join now-Lieutenant Colonel George Washington in an expeditionary force to drive out the French. Washington had only assembled 180 men for this engagement, whereas the French had now 1200 men, including Indian allies, occupying Fort Duquesne and the surrounding environs. Washington, burdened with his own pride, took his rag-tag bunch of militiamen and ventured into western Pennsylvania with the intent of driving out the French, biting off one piece of the French army at a time. With the Mingo Indian tribe remaining neutral, supporting neither British nor French interests, and with all other native nations already firmly supporting the French, Washington could only issue fighting retreats if he stumbled upon any French raiding parties that might scout out the local area.

On May 23, 1754, Washington ordered the hasty construction of a small palisade that he would christen Fort Necessity. A French raiding party under the command of Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville stumbled across the British builders, and immediately reported it to Contrecoeur. Fortunately for Washington, his force was joined by Captain James Mackay’s force of 100 men from South Carolina at nearly the same time, under royal orders. Seeing the dire straits of Washington’s Virginians, Mackay linked his force to Washington’s. 280 colonial militiamen would be tasked with taking on an advancing French force of 1,200. Washington’s forces decided to dig in and prepare for a fight. Washington and Mackay defended their entrenched positions against a furious French assault under Jumonville. While Jumonville’s original force was understood to be a scouting party, it now resembled a full-scale fighting force, complete with a dozen cannon, after having been informed about the presence of Fort Necessity. Between cannon and small arms fire, Washington and Mackay lost a combined 35 men. The two British commanders petitioned to parley with Jumonville. Jumonville accepted Washington and Mackay’s surrender.

Washington and Mackay were allowed to leave the battlefield with the remainder of their soldiers’ lives intact, but with no arms, ammunition, or powder. This would be forever known as the Battle of Jumonville Glen, and it was a crushing blow for the British in western Pennsylvania and derailed all hopes for a quick victory to win the Ohio River Valley. The British radically underestimated the size, strength, and organization of the French forces operating in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The Mingo, who were formerly neutral, were impressed enough by the French show of force that they joined in league with their other Iroquois brothers-in-arms. The opening salvo of the American chapter of the Ten Years War had decisively fallen in favor of the French. This would go down in history as the true start of the Ten Years War, despite the formal declaration of war being issued later that same year.
 
Shortly after the Battle of Jumonville Glen, on July 4, 1754, Prime Minister Henry Pelham passed away, leaving his brother, Thomas Pelham-Holles, the First Duke of Newcastle, in charge of the affairs of the high office, much to the dismay of King George II. Newcastle was focused primarily on the financial side of maintaining the empire, and believed that any issues between the French and British in the Americas were easily negotiable. Because he lacked the tenacity for conquest that his brother did, Newcastle tried to maintain peace between France and Britain. When news reached Newcastle of the Battle of Jumonville Glen and its outcome, he was stunned. On the one hand, Newcastle believed it was a huge misunderstanding and still desired to pursue peace. On the other hand, Newcastle sought the advice of the Duke of Cumberland, George II’s son, Prince William, known for his belligerence and thirst for glory. Cumberland advised that two Irish regiments should be created immediately for the Coldstream Guards, an elite fighting unit still operating in the United Kingdom to this day, and these should be sent to America to assist in resisting the French incursions in Ohio and Pennsylvania. This unit was led by Major General Edward Braddock, and was dispatched to Virginia on September 1, 1754. While Braddock and his men were en route to America, Parliament formally declared war on France. The die was cast and there was no turning back; soon enough the war would surely make its way to European soil, and likely other places where Britain and France held colonies in close proximity to one another.

Braddock was given full commander-in-chief powers over British North America, and was tasked with driving the French from the Ohio country, taking Fort Niagara on Lake Ontario, taking Fort St. Frederic on Lake Champlain, and the destruction of Fort Beausejour on the Chignecto Isthmus of Acadia. On the trip over, elements of the French navy under the command of Admiral Toussaint Hocquart stumbled upon the British troop ship fleet led by Admiral Edward Boscawen, and the British lost three ships to the French one. Approximately 300 Coldstream Guards were killed in the naval skirmish. This was a devastating blow not just in terms of manpower but even more so in terms of morale. Upon arriving in Virginia on November 10, Braddock, more than ever, knew he needed the support of colonial governors and the militias they controlled if he was to truly be successful in North America. To add insult to injury, American monies and supplies promised to Braddock and other British armies typically arrived late, short, or never. The oncoming winter weather didn’t help either. Braddock used Williamsburg as headquarters for opening his invasion of French-held lands to the west.

Initially, the march was mostly successful, with the charismatic George Washington joining him in Frederick, Maryland. Close to the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, Braddock and his men erected Fort Cumberland, named after the Duke. They used this fort as a base camp and springboard for any further operations against the French in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Try as they might, the British attempted to apply European linear tactics to the notoriously exhausting American wilderness overland march set before them. This quickly became their undoing as major roads became scarcely-used footpaths the more westerly Braddock traveled. Supplies and foodstuffs could not be pillaged from the locals or their fields, primarily because there were none to pillage. As Braddock and his men trudged onward to the French Fort Duquesne, Indian guerrilla attacks performed at night became more and more frequent. Several of the colonial militiamen deserted into the hill country of western Pennsylvania each night to avoid being scalped alive. Better to be executed quickly by a British firing squad comprised of your own comrades, if you get caught at all, than to be horribly mutilated in your sleep by a bunch of bloodthirsty savages, so the adage went. This led to a terrible lack of discipline, with British soldiers firing at anything that moved from a flanking position.

Braddock himself was woefully ignorant of the size, strength, and disposition of the French forces; he also possessed no concept of the topography of the land he and his men intended to travel through. The reality was that the French assembled twice as many soldiers as the British to send to North America. This was on top of the French and Indian soldiers already garrisoned in Ohio and Pennsylvania. French soldiers of the Troupes de la Marine sent directly from France also arrived, on November 1, slightly ahead of Braddock and his Coldstream Guards. 1,000 French marines garrisoned themselves in Fort Duquesne, along with the already-present 4,000 French army soldiers and Indian warriors, all under the command of Contrecoeur. Clearly the French were expecting a major engagement around their seized ground. By the time Braddock and his army approached the areas around Fort Duquesne, hit-and-run attacks and desertions bled the British white; only 1,000 out of the original 1,700 Britons remained, but the British comforted themselves in the fact that they still had useful artillery. Even with the presence of cannon, the entire unit bordered on mutiny by this point. These would face the 5,000 Frenchmen and Indians in a heavily-defended, well-entrenched, reinforced stone fortress. As Braddock’s march continued, morale steadily decreased, especially with Washington, the British army’s rising star, falling ill with dysentery. To top it all off, many mountains en route to Fort Duquesne were completely impassable, causing Braddock to send all large cannon back to Fort Cumberland. Disaster, calamity, and tragedy would surely visit the British forces under Edward Braddock at Fort Duquesne.

On November 27, 1754, as Braddock’s ragged soldiers approached the fort, they knew the outcome had already been decided. In typical British fashion, they never broke stride, remaining in battle formation. Their mission was not to win the day, but to survive it. Most did not. The ones that did were the ones that ran. Even Thomas Gage, one of Braddock’s chief officers, fell dead in the fighting. Washington, one of the only surviving British officers of the entire debacle, helped to organize the retreat in spite of, some say because of, his sickness. Of the 1,000 British soldiers that were able to engage the French and Indians, only 313 survived, most of them Virginians, thanks in large part to the evacuation efforts spearheaded by one George Washington. Braddock himself received a treatable leg wound, but it forced him into semi-retirement. He served in an administrative capacity in Philadelphia for the rest of his days. He would, unfortunately, never again command men in the field. These 313 survivors were either untouched by fire or were walking wounded. Any wounded men unable to escape that were left behind were simply unaccounted for, and were most certainly scalped by the Indians. The Iroquois were not known for taking prisoners. Brutality to the nth power would ensue in the aftermath.
 
As the sun rose the next morning, following the celebration by the victors, the ground around the fortress was an out-and-out horror: gaping head wounds on scalped bodies, sinews of men dismembered by cannon shot, scorched soil, blood everywhere, and the loudest silence. Washington managed to rally the troops enough to escape the field and retreat back to Fort Cumberland by December 9. Because the British left all equipment, arms, and supplies on the battlefield, Washington appealed to Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie for aid, which was successfully delivered on December 17. It was said that the British left enough munitions behind to fully arm the French better than even Governor Duquesne could have assembled. By the time the food and medical supplies arrived, Washington’s men had dwindled down to 287, mainly due to the cold, war wounds, and general hunger. This would go down in history as one of the worst defeats ever suffered by the British military, and still on record as the highest losses in a single engagement for the famed Coldstream Guards. Washington and his Irishmen tasted the bitter brine of defeat. The French, and Contrecoeur, had proven to themselves and to the world that they held the power to defend their empire, at least for the moment. To make matters a thousand times worse, the French captured valuable intelligence about the other areas the British planned to attack, and it was obvious that Fort St. Frederic would be the next target.
 
Right after the stunning success of the Battle of Fort Duquesne, New France would receive a new governor for the new year in Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial, the Marquis de Vaudreuil. On January 15, 1755, Vaudreuil received his long-awaited appointment and was sworn in immediately. After Braddock’s wounding at Fort Duquesne, Massachusetts Governor William Shirley received the title of commander-in-chief for all British military forces in North America. British army officer William Johnson was also selected for the assault on Fort St. Frederic, which was held by the French General Jean-Armand Dieskau. When Dieskau left Montreal for St. Frederic, he came with 1,200 fresh troops recently arrived from France herself, 2,000 Troupes de la Marine, and 1,800 Indians; a shocking total of 5,000 men would garrison themselves at St. Frederic awaiting Johnson’s attack. Johnson had already expressed his disgust with the leadership of the British military in lieu of their alienation of the Indians even after making them subjects of the British throne, so friction already existed between Johnson and Shirley.

Rather than wait for Johnson to attack, Dieskau decided to gather additional supplies from the support outpost at Fort Carillon, circle around the British supply depot at Fort William Henry to avoid detection, and finally assault the new British construction: Fort Lyman, just south of Lake George, on the banks of the Hudson River. Leaving behind the 1,000 men of the Troupes de la Marine and 500 Indians, Dieskau brought his massive force of 3,500 soldiers to bear on Fort Lyman. This impressive French array had the full intent of trapping Johnson within his newly-created camp, raising siege against him, and provoking his eventual surrender.

Dieskau intercepted a supply train intended for Johnson on March 16, and believed this would aid his forces in victory. The attack would commence on March 18, 1755. The French, with their Indian allies, managed to lure out a detachment of 500 of Johnson’s 1,500 men, under the command of Colonel Ephraim Williams, into an ambush in a wooded area just four miles away from Fort Lyman. Dieskau put his Mohawk warriors, led by Theyanoguin, on both sides of the road leading away from the fort, shrouded by the brush, and ready to attack. Dieskau ensured that his own French soldiers would block the road, then the Mohawk would help to seal Williams and his soldiers into a pocket. The French and Indians would then pour fire into the pocket until it either surrendered or faced total annihilation. The plan worked perfectly. Mohawk fighters waited until Williams traveled one additional mile up the road before they decided to sweep around behind them and bellow out war whoops and gunfire. Stunned, the force did a full 180-degree turn in an attempt to counter-attack, but this was stifled by the French, who had just opened fire at the right time. Like a true officer, Williams rode on horseback, and was one of the first cut down in the fighting. The force formerly under Williams’ command hugged the dirt and became utterly confused as to who was in charge, so much so that they didn’t even know who could order a surrender in the first place. While under intense fire, some Redcoats even fashioned crude white flags from their clothing and used their rifles as poles. Dieskau saw this, and ordered a ceasefire on his men. The Mohawks took more time to halt their attack. Under Dieskau’s order, French officers rode to the various companies of Indians and ordered them to promptly cease fire. This finally worked, and Theyanoguin successfully reined in his men.

In this initial battle, Dieskau lost 37 Frenchmen and 56 Indians while Williams’ force lost all 500 men, 217 killed and 283 captured. The lives of the captured men would be spared from further Mohawk brutality and sent deep into New France to face imprisonment, mainly because Dieskau knew he needed to capture Fort Lyman. Now would begin the true assault on Fort Lyman itself.

Johnson had already prepared the 1,000 men left under his command for an extended siege. He could easily tell what had become of Williams and his men. Rather than needlessly risk the lives of his men, Johnson decided to barricade the fort as best as he could with any expendable supplies and large tree limbs, and with cannon strategically positioned on the walls. What followed was a simple contest of exchanged volleys of cannon shot, cratering the field and punching small holes into Fort Lyman’s walls. The British cannon fire caused the Mohawk warriors to flee the field in complete terror and disorganization, but the French held firm, mostly taking cover in underbrush and in the woods. The French simply brought a greater number of cannon to the field that day, and were able to steadily punch more holes in Fort Lyman than the British could withstand. With the knowledge of Williams’ men having been either killed, captured, or both, Johnson debated within himself as to how to proceed. He had to act fast, but had a few options: 1) continue to endure the French barrage and hope to inflict more losses on the French than Johnson stood to suffer himself in the hopes that Dieskau would flee the field, 2) break out from Fort Lyman and charge the French lines but risk complete destruction, or 3) spare the lives of his men and surrender unconditionally.

Johnson decided to continue the artillery assault until nightfall. This proved to be a fatal decision in terms of victory, because now Johnson could not see the locations of French artillery units in the darkness, but the French knew exactly where to fire, as the fort shown clearly against the glow of the moonlight. The French could limber and unlimber their cannon to constantly fire from a different position each and every time. In what was intended to be a British campaign to ultimately take St. Frederic, had now turned into a fight for survival against French big guns.

Johnson managed to hold his men and his fort together long enough to raise the flag of surrender at first light. Of the 1,000 men under Johnson’s command, 843 survived, while Dieskau’s remaining force of 2,963 had 2,886 still ready to fight. Fort Lyman had been taken, and renamed Fort Vaudreuil, and the fight would be named the Battle of Fort Vaudreuil. Because the Mohawk fled the field, Johnson and his surviving men were sent to Montreal as prisoners rather than mercilessly murdered.

Albany, the colonial capital of New York, was now in real jeopardy. Some British colonists living in Albany evacuated to the coast. The ones that stayed knew they would probably be used in a military capacity to defend Albany should the French attempt an assault against the city. With the forward operating outpost at Fort Vaudreuil now fallen, the old Fort William Henry, which served mainly as a supply junction, was occupied the very next day, on March 19. The handful of British men defending it surrendered and not a single shot was fired. William Henry, built in 1731, was at the very bottom of Lake Champlain. The French now controlled the whole of the lake and could easily strike Albany with brute force. Governor Vaudreuil estimated that his armies would be ready to assault Albany by early September.
 
While the French held superior numbers in terms of trained men, ready equipment, knowledge of the land, and Indian allies, the sheer vastness of North America meant that they had to cover an overwhelming amount of territory in spite of their wealth of resources. One of the last remaining French holdouts in Acadia was Fort Beausejour on the Chignecto Isthmus. The fort was commanded by Louis Du Pont Duchambon de Vergor. Unprecedented numbers of British settlers from New England began migrating into Acadia, which helped to prompt this war in the first place. Fort Beausejour held only 1,000 soldiers, some French regulars and some Mi’kmaq and Maliseet militia.

Due to their staggering defeats thus far in the war, the British could only muster a mere 1,000 soldiers to match the French man for man. The British force, led by Colonel Robert Monckton, brought ten heavy cannon in an attempt to destroy, rather than occupy, Fort Beausejour. Lieutenant Colonel John Winslow would have led this expedition, but he had fallen ill with an undetermined sickness, likely influenza, took over a month from which to recuperate, nearly cost him his life, and put Monckton in command. Fort Lawrence, just across Chignecto Bay from Beausejour, covered the advance of the British ships, helping them land Royal Artillery and Massachusetts Militiamen unopposed. Vergor knew that he, his men, and the fort would be doomed unless he either retreated or pressed the fight. Coincidentally, the night before Monckton’s planned assault, Vergor took a huge risk and sent word to the nearest senior officer in the area. He appealed to the commander of Fort Gaspereaux, Charles Deschamps de Boishebert et de Raffetot. Boishebert gained a stellar reputation during King George’s War, and had the battlefield experience and wherewithal that Vergor did not. Truth be told, Fort Gaspereaux was little more than a way station on the way to Beausejour, but an extra twenty light cannon and 200 extra soldiers garrisoned there, which could mean all the difference in the world, if employed properly.

By nightfall, Boishebert also took a huge risk: he and the entire group of men under his command moved themselves and their cannon from Gaspereaux to Beausejour. Knowing that Beausejour was the key to Gaspereaux, Boishebert had no qualms about shifting his force to defend the “outer perimeter.” On May 6, 1755, the very next morning, as Monckton’s men began to set up their cannon to unleash the first volley, Boishebert and Vergor unleashed their own. Boishebert’s artillerymen operated with lethal accuracy and near-Prussian efficiency. The twenty French cannon successfully stopped the British assault before it even began. Monckton could scarcely believe what he saw: British regulars and artillery being driven from the field by multiple French cannon shot from the walls of a simple wooden palisade. A handful of the British large guns were able to mount and fire a few rounds off, but not before Monckton himself was wounded when a musket round grazed his right temple. This was often a generous blessing for officers who led from the front on horseback, as this obvious position on the field usually meant certain death.

Disgusted and crestfallen, Monckton issued the orders for an organized withdrawal from Beausejour. Monckton and his men fled to the beaches on the Chignecto Bay, boarded the same ships they unloaded from, and made their way back to Fort Lawrence. The French and their Indian allies would surely reinforce Beausejour with all available men in the province and supply it enough to endure a siege and make repairs when necessary. Indians in the west, as far as Fort Detroit and into the far reaches of Canadian soil, had even joined in with the French against the British. The British had committed far too many atrocities against the Indians to ever be considered partners in trade, much less allies on the battlefield.

In response to the French success at Fort Beausejour, the British erected Fort Western in Massachusetts, modern-day Maine, completing its construction on July 16, 1755, but could only muster a few hundred backwoods militiamen to hold it. The fort was nothing more than another small wooden palisade, built on the western bank of the Kennebec River, just fifty miles from the Atlantic coast, and stood more as a symbol of British resolve in spite of circumstances rather than a true threat to French interests.
 
August of 1755 would also turn violently in favor of the French. Governor Shirley of Massachusetts originally hoped that Fort Oswego, built on the lands bordering what used to be Onondaga and Oneida lands at the shore of Lake Ontario, would be a bastion that could endure and outlast the French offensives of 1755. In his wildest dreams, Shirley was even optimistic that Fort Oswego could be used as a stepping stone towards an offensive that would eventually take Fort Niagara from the French. Forts Bull and Williams were intended to be forward operating posts for any military expeditions extending from Oswego, but now they would be in French crosshairs just like Oswego. Governor Vaudreuil employed his spies to reconnoiter Forts Oswego, Bull, and Williams. The spies reported back that the best option for attack was to first assault Williams and Bull, since Oswego was the best armed of the three. In a stroke of boldness, Vaudreuil decided against the advice of the spies and ordered the attack on Oswego to occur first. The Troupes de la Marine, commanded by Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Lery, would lead the assault on each successive fort, but beginning with Oswego with the goal of incorporating an element of surprise.

The thought was that Bull and Williams would necessarily surrender if word was delivered that Oswego had fallen first. On August 29, 1755, Oswego was attacked by 5,000 French and Indian warriors; a balanced blend of Troupes de la Marine, Troupes de la Terre, and Iroquois braves. Within Fort Oswego, the attack came as an absolute shock to the 1,000 British soldiers under the command of Colonel James Mercer. Fort Oswego was more than just one fort, it was actually a complex of three different forts, laid out in a way that complemented and supported one another. Fort Ontario, the first in line, held a mere 200 British soldiers, and Fort George only held 100. The other 700 soldiers were all stationed in the garrison at Fort Oswego itself, the main stockade on the shores of Lake Ontario. Lery led his men against Fort Ontario by nightfall, using the moonlight and his expert marksmen to kill the British manning the fort’s flimsy walls. Colonel Mercer himself was cut down in the flurry of lead from French guns hitting Fort Ontario. The French rushed Ontario with bayonets and shot at the British defenders through slits in the wooden walls. As a result, the French attack routed the British that were in Fort Ontario over to Fort Oswego. The men in Fort George also made their way over to Oswego. British cannon left behind in Ontario were pointed at Oswego and the fire was relentless. The Lieutenant Colonel left in command of the Fort Oswego garrison was John Littlehales, and in the midst of the barrage and attack on the main fort in the complex, decided it was best to surrender. Littlehales had no knowledge of Indians present among the French, as the Indians were wonderful at remaining in cover.

Out of the 5,000 men the French brought to bear against the Oswego forts, 373 perished in the fighting. The nightfall attack may have been a good choice in achieving an excellent surprise on the British, but nightfall attacks also lead to profound confusion in close quarters combat. No one will ever know how many French soldiers killed other French brothers-in-arms. Littlehales was executed on August 31, 1755 after the surrender of forts Oswego and George. The Indians reached an agreement with the French: any wounded Briton would be killed and their goods plundered, but any British soldier still able to walk would be taken prisoner and sent away from the field. 515 British soldiers would make their way into French prisons to the north. The investment of British blood for Indian loyalty was one the French were willing to make on a routine basis.

On September 4, a French courier under a white flag rode towards Fort Bull, with a letter in hand. The letter, delivered straight to William Bull, told the tale of what happened at Oswego. It inquired for the surrender of both Forts Bull and Williams, told of the near 2,700 combined French and Indian forces poised to strike again at his fort specifically, and guaranteed protection from Indian scalpers. The tribal warriors were never made aware of the contents of this letter, or that it was even written. Lery made it clear that his desire was to spare the men at both forts from the ravages of Indian murder. The letter asked for immediate decision, and Bull did not hesitate to order the surrender of both forts.

Lery moved quickly to take the British soldiers prisoner and dispatch them to the military prison in Montreal. In addition to the 515 prisoners taken from Oswego and the 310 taken at Fort Bull and Fort Williams, the French also seized a tremendous amount of arms and hardware: 70 cannon, 20 mortars, 10 howitzers, and about 1,000 barrels of powder and other provisions. All available British soldiers and colonial militia stationed in New York were pulled back to Albany proper with the help of now-Major General John Winslow. All of the forts that the British built, still occupied, or both, were evacuated in the name of preserving the New York colony. As was already well-established custom, forts were typically renamed after the opposing side conquered them intact. Forts Bull and Williams would be renamed Lery and Dieskau, respectively.
 
British North America would require a new commander-in-chief. They would find one such a man in John Campbell, the Fourth Earl of Loudoun and now Governor General of Virginia, inaugurated the very next day, September 5, 1755. Loudoun also announced a huge emergency general draft on September 7: 15,000 men would be raised from the New England colonies, plus New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Due to horrid financial mismanagement, internal squabbling, general corruption, and massive loss of life, land, treasure, and other resources to the French over a very short period of time, Governor Shirley’s rule was really and truly dead. If Shirley had announced a draft of the magnitude that Loudon had, he would be extremely fortunate to have even 1,000 obey his order. Loudoun chose Winslow for the task of drafting this enormous number of men, all from within British North America because Winslow still commanded respect and admiration from the colonial populace despite his association with Shirley.

Fortunately, this draft came just in time, because the state of New York would face its greatest emergency to date. Dieskau led his 4,386 troops south along the Hudson River. Lery led his 4,627 troops east along the Mohawk River. A total of 9,013 French and Indian fighters converged where the Hudson and Mohawk meet. These men would be reinforced with 3,000 additional Quebec militia, creating approximately a 12,000 man force. With this stunning array of infantry were 120 cannon. Their target: Albany.
 
This is as far as I'm taking this timeline at this point. I still have much to write and edit, and would crave any constructive input or encouragement provided. All of you can guess as to what happens next if you would like. Thank you.
 
Interesting premise.

By "10 Years war", I'm assuming the North America theator waged three years longer than the European war (Silesian War).

I'd often wondered how the North American War would go if France weren't so distracted by continental commitments.

Both GB and France were near or at bankruptly by 1763 (France no doubt more so) so I'm not sure if another three years was financially possible (unless the European War ended early. Maybe the Fall of Prussia in 1758-9?).
 
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