The Seven Years' War

Introduction

The causes of the Seven Years’ War are rooted in the outcome of an earlier conflict, the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48). The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which brought this war to an end, had done nothing to assuage the anger of Austria over the loss to Prussia of the wealthy province of Silesia. Nor had it been able to contain the conflicting colonial ambitions of France and Britain, which provoked continued skirmishing well beyond the official cessation of hostilities. The Seven Years’ War was, therefore, essentially a continuation of the War of the Austrian Succession, but it was different from its predecessor in two significant ways.

The first important difference was that the Seven Years’ War was truly a global war, requiring a total commitment of resources on the part of all combatants. In the long term this meant that, because countries were putting all they had into simply continuing to fight, any gains became secondary. In the extreme, it meant that a country such as Prussia was fighting for her very survival.

The second major difference was a definitive shift that occurred in alliances that had existed for most of the first half of the eighteenth century. Austria and Britain, long-time allies, broke their treaties and Austria sided with France, formerly her enemy. Prussia, in turn, broke her ties with France and sided with Britain, although this alliance too was broken, eventually leaving Britain with no allies on the continent.

The principal combatants in the Seven Years’ War were Austria, led by Queen Maria Theresa; Britain, led by George II and later George III (also Electors of Hanover); France, with Louis XV on the throne; Prussia, led by Frederick II (later known as Frederick the Great); and Russia, with Empress Elizabeth.

Chronology

Background to war

Old enemies, new friends

North America

New France (the French colonies in North America, a large portion of present-day eastern Canada) and the 13 British colonies had been engaged in colonial conflict since 1608. Tensions escalated in 1747 when the colonies of Virginia and Pennsylvania formed the Ohio Land Company in the Ohio River valley, encouraging British traders to cross the Allegheny Mountains and establish trading posts. The French, feeling that this territory lay within their sphere of influence, began a process of establishing posts along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to contain this British expansion. In 1753 the French deployed 3,000 men into the region to build forts and take offensive action as necessary.

In response, Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia dispatched a major of the Virginia Militia, George Washington, to deliver a declaration to the French commanders at the newly built forts of Presque Isle and Le Boeuf, which stated that these were on Virginian territory and should therefore be vacated. The French did not comply and Dinwiddie pushed for the British to build their own forts in the region to support trading claims. In 1754 a party of 40 men was sent to build Fort Prince George, on the site of present-day Pittsburgh. The French appeared, seized the men, and sent them back to Virginia. They claimed the fort as their own and renamed it Fort Duquesne. A further attempt in the summer by Major George Washington and 300 colonial troops was also turned back after a battle near Fort Necessity on 2 July 1754.

Following this defeat, the British decided in September 1754 to dispatch two regular army regiments to deal with the French in the Ohio River valley. They also sent £10,000 and 2,000 muskets to North America to raise more local colonial troops, in the hope that this would force the French to back down over the land issue. The British reinforcements sailed in January 1755, and a British naval squadron followed, under orders to stop any French ships attempting to reinforce New France. However, the French sent a fleet of 5,000 regulars, which succeeded in slipping past the Royal Navy blockading force, and by June had arrived in North America.

In June 1755 a British expeditionary force set out to seize Fort Duquesne. This force, commanded by Major-General Edward Braddock, was made up of two regular regiments, the 44th and 48th Foot, and various colonial detachments. The troops may have been regulars, but they were not well suited to the environment in which they were being asked to fight. They had been trained in the linear continental tactics of the 1700s, but now had to operate in the thick forests of North America. The French units defending Fort Duquesne had a few regular companies, 100 men from the French colonial troops (Marines), 200 French-Canadian militia and 900 French-allied Native Americans.

On 6 July, a few miles from Fort Duquesne, the forward units of the British, led by Colonel Thomas Gage, met a larger force of French with their Native American allies. The British army in North America was unused to fighting in wooded terrain and had not been trained in the techniques suited to forest warfare. They had deployed, as much as they could in the surroundings, in the linear continental style, and had expected that their enemies would do the same. The French were able to cause considerable damage to the lead British columns while suffering little themselves, by using skirmishing tactics. Braddock reinforced the forward units with more troops, but with little apparent effect. They attempted to deploy in linear formation. A British officer noted: ‘The French and Indians fired from one position and then ran to a new position, while the British line remained in close quarters and fired from left to right as volley after volley fell within its ranks’ (Journal of a British Officer, pp. 50–51). After two hours of fighting, the British began to retreat. Of the 1,370 British men, only 459 had not been wounded during the fighting. The French casualties have been estimated at three officers killed, four officers wounded, and fewer than 10 French regulars or militia killed or wounded. The French-allied Native Americans are estimated to have lost 100 men.

The other two campaigns of 1755 involved British provincial units against the French in the Lake George and Fort Niagara regions. Both sides moved troops into these regions in an attempt to seize vital strategic areas for future campaigns. The British were successful at Lake George on 8 September, but could only occupy the southern area of Lake George as the provincial troops were near mutiny. The British provincials sent against Fort Niagara were turned back at Fort Oswego as their commander, Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts, felt the French presence in the region was too strong.

India

The war in India had its roots in the commercial competition between the French East India Company and the English (British) East India Company. Since the early 1600s, both companies had been trading successfully on the Indian subcontinent. However, by the mid-1700s, the old Mogul Empire was rapidly being torn apart by internal strife, and both companies saw the potential advantages in the changing political situation. When war broke out in Europe in the late 1600s and early 1700s, the small trading posts in