Container List

Subject matter:

I. Seven Years War in North America, from 1754 to 1759

A. Preliminaries

1. French encroachments on western and northern frontiers

2. Resolution of King George II and ministry to send to North America a commander in chief with British regiments, for the defense of the colonies.

1755

B. The command of Edward Braddock

1. Plans for military operations: Crown Point, Niagara, Fort Frontenac, Nova Scotia

2. The immediate design against Fort Duquesne

a. Expedition to the Ohio

b. Defeat and death of General Braddock

c. Investigation into the behavior of the British regulars

C. The command of William Shirley (pro tem.)

1. Crown Point and Niagara expeditions

a. Victorious action near Lake George

b. Postponement of further operations

c. Efforts to strengthen Oswego

2. Indian affairs: Sir William Johnson's appointment as superintendent

3. British Army establishment, maintenance, subsistence, etc. as shown by returns of troops, ordnance, stores; paymasters' accounts (general and regimental); orders, warrants, appointments, & commissions issued by the commander in chief

1756

ENGLAND

4. Selection of Lord Loudoun as commander in chief in North America:

Petitions for preferment addressed to Loudoun

5. Selection of Daniel Webb and James Abercromby as temporary commanders in chief pending Loudoun's arrival in America

6. Regulations on army establishment

a. Rules for settling rank and precedence in America

b. Plans for paying, victualling, and equipping an augmented expeditionary force

7. Preparations for shipments of provisions, ordnance, stores, arms, hospital supplies, and Indian presents

8. Recruiting in England and on the continent for the American service:

Formation of the Royal American Regiment (the 62nd, later 60th)

AMERICA

9. Recruiting difficulties in the colonies:

Enlistment of hired and indentured servants

10. Crown Point expedition

a. Support given by New York and New England colonies only

b. Appointment of John Winslow as commander of the expedition

11. Shirley's extravagance in respect to contracts for army supplies

12. Deplorable condition of the garrison at Oswego

13. Indian affairs

a. Establishment of two departments, northern and southern, under Sir William Johnson and Edmond Atkin, respectively

b. Defenses in the country of the Six Nations

c. Treaties and alliances

14. Arrival in America of the new command: Daniel Webb (June 7) superseded by James Abercromby (June 16), superseded by the Earl of Loudoun (July 23)

D. The command of John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun

1. Fall of Oswego:

Reduction of the 50th and 51st Regiments

2. Retrenchments

a. Abandonment of the Crown Point Expedition

b. Strengthening of the several forts and frontier posts

3. Friction between Shirley and Loudoun

4. Reluctance of colonial assemblies to cooperate with the new commander in chief

5. Money troubles incidental to the paying of the troops:

Variations in colonial coinage rates and values

6. Indian affairs

a. Alarm in the southern colonies because of the treaty of peace between the French and Cherokee

b. Atkin's scheme for the regulation of the Indian trade

7. Plans and preparations for the forthcoming campaign

8. British army establishment, etc. as shown by returns, lists, accounts, orders, warrants, issued in 1756

1757

ENGLAND

9. Investigation into the conduct of William Shirley, while commander in chief in North America

10. Adoption of a vigorous offensive war policy by a new ministry under William Pitt

a. Obstructions due to Pitt's temporary eclipse

b. Preparations for a spring campaign against Louisbourg

c. Sailing delays

11. Recall of Lord Loudoun

a. Dissatisfaction with Loudoun's decision to abandon the attack on Louisbourg

b. Resignation of the Duke of Cumberland, Loudoun's most powerful supporter

AMERICA

12. Loudoun's conferences with the colonial governors relative to quotas of men and arms, and frontier defenses

13. Frontier defenses

a. Lt. Col. Henry Bouquet with detachment ordered to South Carolina

b. Fort No. 4 strengthened for the protection of the Connecticut River settlers

c. Middle colonies defended by a detachment under Col. John Stanwix

d. Maj. Gen. Webb with detachment ordered to the New York frontiers

14. Offensive expedition against Louisbourg, commanded by Lord Loudoun

a. Embargo on all shipping

b. Concentration of troops, arms, and provisions at New York, preparatory to sailing

c. Council of war at Halifax in which it was decided to abandon the campaign

15. Fall of Fort William Henry

a. Subsequent investigation

b. Negotiations with the French contesting the validity of the capitulation

16. Insubordination of Lord Charles Hay at Halifax, his arrest and return to England for trial

17. Indian affairs

a. Troubles relative to Indian trade in Pennsylvania

b. Defection of the Six Nations following the capitulation of Fort William Henry

c. Threatened massacres and wide-spread alarms

18. British army establishment as shown in an increasing volume of returns, accounts, orders, warrants, etc. for the year, 1757

1758

19. Loudoun's preparations (in ignorance of his recall) for operations in 1758

20. News of Loudoun's recall, and the appointment of his successor, Major. General Abercromby, reaches America.

21. Sale of Lord Loudoun's effects at public vendue

E. The command of James Abercromby: current events in America as reported in letters addressed to the Earl of Loudoun in England

1759

F. The command of Jeffrey Amherst: current events in America as reported in letters addressed to the Earl of Loudoun in England

II. The American Revolution, from 1775 to 1780

A. British army establishment as shown in returns of troops, ordnance, stores, and clothing; lists of officers; expense accounts; and lists of transports taken up for the expedition to America

B. Progress of the war as reported in letters addressed to Lord Loudoun from American Loyalists and British officers on the American service

C. Inquiry into the causes of the failure of the expedition from Canada under the command of Maj. Gen. Burgoyne