Description
Even as the 250th anniversary of its outbreak approaches, the Seven Years' War (otherwise known as the French and Indian War) is still not wholly understood. Most accounts tell the story as a military struggle between British and French forces, with shifting alliances of Indians, culminating in the British conquest of Canada. Scholarly and popular works alike, including James Fennimore Cooper's Last of the Mohicans, focus on the action in the Hudson River Valley and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Matthew C. Ward tells the compelling story of the war from the point of view of the region where it actually began, and whose people felt the devastating effects of war most keenly-the backcountry communities of Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Previous wars in North America had been fought largely on the New England and New York frontiers. But on May 28, 1754, when a young George Washington commanded the first shot fired in western Pennsylvania, fighting spread for the first time to Virginia and Pennsylvania. Ward's original research reveals that on the eve of the Seven Years' War the communities of these colonies were isolated, economically weak, and culturally diverse. He shows in riveting detail how, despite the British empire's triumph, the war brought social chaos, sickness, hunger, punishment, and violence, to the backcountry, much of it at the hands of Indian warriors.
Ward's fresh analysis reveals that Indian raids were not random skirmishes, but part of an organized strategy that included psychological warfare designed to make settlers flee Indian territories. It was the awesome effectiveness of this "guerilla" warfare, Ward argues, that led to the most enduring legacies of the war: Indian-hating and an armed population of colonial settlers, distrustful of the British empire that couldn't protect them. Understanding the horrors of the Seven Years' War as experienced in the backwoods thus provides unique insights into the origins of the American republic.
About the Author
Matthew C. Ward is a lecturer in the department of history at the University of Dundee, Scotland.
Reviews
Brings us face-to-face with the grim realities of war on the eighteenth-century frontier of Pennsylvania and Virginia. [A] vivid portrait of a fragile, fragmented society under terrible strain. - Fred Anderson, author of Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766; ""Admirably demonstrates how the vicious guerilla warfare practiced in the backcountry forced terrified colonists to learn how to defend themselves, since it became potently obvious that British armies were unable to provide adequate protection. Not surprisingly, as shown by Ward, these individuals emerged from the conflict as hardened warriors with a general contempt for militarily impotent Great Britain.... Highly recommended."" - Library Journal; ""A thoughtful analysis of a turbulent decade.... Demonstrates that the world war ignited [on the American frontier] 250 years ago exerted a profound and lasting impact upon the region and its diverse peoples."" - Stephen Brumwell, author of Redcoats: The British Soldier and War in the Americas, 1755-1763. ""This is no romance; careful social-historical research supports, and fine writing conveys, the sickness, hunger, punishment, and violence that shattered thousands of lives and many struggling communities. Examining this one critical region, [Ward] bends our attention toward great weaknesses within the first British Empire, even as it reached the apogee of its military achievement."" - Gregory Dowd, University of Michigan
Book Information
ISBN 9780822958659
Author Matthew C. Ward
Format Paperback
Page Count 360
Imprint University of Pittsburgh Press
Publisher University of Pittsburgh Press
Previous wars in North America had been fought largely on the New England and New York frontiers. But on May 28, 1754, when a young George Washington commanded the first shot fired in western Pennsylvania, fighting spread for the first time to Virginia and Pennsylvania. Ward's original research reveals that on the eve of the Seven Years' War the communities of these colonies were isolated, economically weak, and culturally diverse. He shows in riveting detail how, despite the British empire's triumph, the war brought social chaos, sickness, hunger, punishment, and violence, to the backcountry, much of it at the hands of Indian warriors.
Ward's fresh analysis reveals that Indian raids were not random skirmishes, but part of an organized strategy that included psychological warfare designed to make settlers flee Indian territories. It was the awesome effectiveness of this "guerilla" warfare, Ward argues, that led to the most enduring legacies of the war: Indian-hating and an armed population of colonial settlers, distrustful of the British empire that couldn't protect them. Understanding the horrors of the Seven Years' War as experienced in the backwoods thus provides unique insights into the origins of the American republic.
About the Author
Matthew C. Ward is a lecturer in the department of history at the University of Dundee, Scotland.
Reviews
Brings us face-to-face with the grim realities of war on the eighteenth-century frontier of Pennsylvania and Virginia. [A] vivid portrait of a fragile, fragmented society under terrible strain. - Fred Anderson, author of Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766; ""Admirably demonstrates how the vicious guerilla warfare practiced in the backcountry forced terrified colonists to learn how to defend themselves, since it became potently obvious that British armies were unable to provide adequate protection. Not surprisingly, as shown by Ward, these individuals emerged from the conflict as hardened warriors with a general contempt for militarily impotent Great Britain.... Highly recommended."" - Library Journal; ""A thoughtful analysis of a turbulent decade.... Demonstrates that the world war ignited [on the American frontier] 250 years ago exerted a profound and lasting impact upon the region and its diverse peoples."" - Stephen Brumwell, author of Redcoats: The British Soldier and War in the Americas, 1755-1763. ""This is no romance; careful social-historical research supports, and fine writing conveys, the sickness, hunger, punishment, and violence that shattered thousands of lives and many struggling communities. Examining this one critical region, [Ward] bends our attention toward great weaknesses within the first British Empire, even as it reached the apogee of its military achievement."" - Gregory Dowd, University of Michigan
Book Information
ISBN 9780822958659
Author Matthew C. Ward
Format Paperback
Page Count 360
Imprint University of Pittsburgh Press
Publisher University of Pittsburgh Press
