Tomahawk and Musket – French and Indian Raids in the Ohio Valley 1758 (1 Viewer)

[Combat]

New Osprey book coming out in January that might be of interest to JJ collectors of the F-I War:

In 1758, at the height of the French and Indian War, British Brigadier General John Forbes led his army on a methodical advance against Fort Duquesene, French headquarters in the Ohio valley. As his army closed in upon the fort, he sent Major Grant of the 77th Highlanders and 850 men on a reconnaissance in force against the fort. The French, alerted to this move, launched their own counter-raid. 500 French and Canadians, backed by 500 Indian allies, ambushed the highlanders and sent them fleeing back to the main army. With the success of that operation, the French planed their own raid against the English encampment at Fort Ligonier under less than fifty miles away. With only 600 men, against an enemy strength of 4,000, he ordered a daring night attack on the heart of the enemy encampment. This book tells the complete story of these ambitious raids and counter-raids, giving in-depth detail on the forces, terrain, and tactics

 

[marco55]

New Osprey book coming out in January that might be of interest to JJ collectors of the F-I War:

In 1758, at the height of the French and Indian War, British Brigadier General John Forbes led his army on a methodical advance against Fort Duquesene, French headquarters in the Ohio valley. As his army closed in upon the fort, he sent Major Grant of the 77th Highlanders and 850 men on a reconnaissance in force against the fort. The French, alerted to this move, launched their own counter-raid. 500 French and Canadians, backed by 500 Indian allies, ambushed the highlanders and sent them fleeing back to the main army. With the success of that operation, the French planed their own raid against the English encampment at Fort Ligonier under less than fifty miles away. With only 600 men, against an enemy strength of 4,000, he ordered a daring night attack on the heart of the enemy encampment. This book tells the complete story of these ambitious raids and counter-raids, giving in-depth detail on the forces, terrain, and tactics

Already preordered.{bravo}}
Mark

 

[Go for Broke]

What always fascinates me about war before the combustion engine was the logistics of just getting to the field of battle. A 50 mile hike must have been nothing to these hardy individuals. I can not imagine a 20,000 man army on the march. Heck, I need a truck full of stuff just to go to the beach with the family.

 

[PolarBear]

Here is the book's cover

 

[Dragoon]

Combat, Thanks for the heads up on this new book. Looks like a good read.

 

[45thdiv]

That is a great find. I was not aware of this book coming out. I do a lot of FIW war gaming and am always looking for new scenarios to set up and play. It's interesting to me to see the outcome of the miniature re-enactment verses the real outcome.

I've added this to my whish list on Amazon. Most likely get it for my birthday.

Thanks again for the info.

Matthew

 

[REVWARBUFF]

Looks like a great book. I will be ordering it. Thanks for the heads-up on this!

 

[Uncas]

Thanks for the heads-up Combat!

 

[Fraxinus]

This arrived last week. Features Grant's Defeat (failed raid by the British on Fort Duquesne, September 1758) and Captain Aubry's Raid on Fort Ligonier, very well executed French raid in 1758 (Western Pennsylvania, October 1758). The map illustrations of the battles are the colored double-paged map depictions, typical of Osprey - very helpful.

Grant's defeat was a mini-Monongahela. The approach march to Fort Duquense was remarkably successfully and they arrived at the Fort undetected by the French. As strange as it sounds, they intentionally woke the French garrison with bagpipes and fifes playing just outside the outer palisade walls. The British hoped the French would engage in a direct frontal assault on the positioned British units, the French and Indians hit their flanks hard instead.

Of the 898 British and colonial soldiers in the raiding party, 349 were killed. Some 485 soldiers escaped unharmed taking, 50-odd wounded with them. The commanding officer, Major Grant of the 77th Highlanders, and seven other officers were taken prisoner. French lost somewhere around 15-20 dead and wounded.

Aubry's October 1758 Raid in contrast is a description of a well planned raid against a much larger enemy force (3:1 in favor of the British). The French captured so many horses that nearly all the 450-man raiding force were able to return mounted to Fort Duquesne. But Forbes logistic train was so huge, the raid had little real consequence beyond embarrassment. Neither Forbes or Bouquet were at Fort Ligonier at the time. There is no indication Washington was there either (at least in this volume), but he would be by November.

Past releases from JJD would seem to work well, especially Aubry's Raid. Colonial Troops, Tents, French militia and colonial troops, Indians, Wagons, cattle, palisade walls.

 

[29 Let's Go]

Thanks for the heads up on the book. I thought I read somewhere that Grant ordered the playing of the bag pipes, because during their night advance some or many of the soldiers became lost in the forest. He then ordered the playing of the pipes to "bring" them in. No matter what the reason... not very bright. Once again, the British failed to understand who and what they were fighting against.

Steve

 

[Combat]

Another interesting book just released:

The First Frontier: The Forgotten History of Struggle, Savagery, and Endurance in Early America by Scott Weidensaul

"From an acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist, a sweeping history of the largely forgotten time when the eastern seaboard marked the tense frontier between great colonial empires and countless native tribes

Once, the East was frontier—the boundary between complex native cultures and the first colonizing Europeans. How they each adopted and adapted the ways and manners of the other, while contesting for control of what all considered to be their land, shaped both societies in profound and lasting ways.

The First Frontier traces two and a half centuries of history through poignant, mostly unheralded personal stories—like that of a Harvard-educated Indian caught up in seventeenth-century warfare, a mixed-blood interpreter trying to straddle his white and native heritage, and a Puritan woman wielding a scalping knife. It is the first book in years to tell the far-reaching story of the eastern frontier, combining vivid storytelling with the latest research to bring to life modern America’s tumultuous, uncertain beginnings."

 

[Combat]

And more for the Culloden fans - Culloden by Tony Pollard (rel. March 19, 2012):


In battle at Culloden Moor on 16 April 1746 the Jacobite cause was dealt a mortal blow. The power of the Highland clans was broken. And the image of sword-wielding Highlanders charging into a hail of lead delivered by the red-coated battalions of the Hanoverian army has passed into legend. The battle was decisive - it was a turning point in British history. And yet our perception of this critical episode tends to be confused by mistaken, sometimes partisan views of the events on the battlefield. So, what really happened at Culloden? In this fascinating and original book, a team of leading historians and archaeologists reconsiders every aspect of the battle. They examine the latest historical and archaeological evidence, question every assumption, and rewrite the story of the campaign in vivid detail. This is the first time that such a distinguished team of experts has focused on a single British battle. The result is a seminal study of the subject, and it is a landmark publication of battlefield archaeology.

 

[marco55]

I have "The First Frontier"ordered and just recieved "Conquered into Liberty " about the battles in the Albany-Montreal corridor called :The Great Warpath" by the indians.Spans the 17th cen.19th cen.
Mark

 

[lancer]

And more for the Culloden fans - Culloden by Tony Pollard (rel. March 19, 2012):


In battle at Culloden Moor on 16 April 1746 the Jacobite cause was dealt a mortal blow. The power of the Highland clans was broken. And the image of sword-wielding Highlanders charging into a hail of lead delivered by the red-coated battalions of the Hanoverian army has passed into legend. The battle was decisive - it was a turning point in British history. And yet our perception of this critical episode tends to be confused by mistaken, sometimes partisan views of the events on the battlefield. So, what really happened at Culloden? In this fascinating and original book, a team of leading historians and archaeologists reconsiders every aspect of the battle. They examine the latest historical and archaeological evidence, question every assumption, and rewrite the story of the campaign in vivid detail. This is the first time that such a distinguished team of experts has focused on a single British battle. The result is a seminal study of the subject, and it is a landmark publication of battlefield archaeology.

This looks like a must have for we '45 freaks.^&grin -- Al