Masschusetts governor William Shirley had assumed command…
May 1756 CE
Shirley had laid out his plans for 1756 at a meeting in Albany in December 1755.
In addition to renewing the efforts to capture Niagara, Crown Point and Duquesne, he had proposed attacks on Fort Frontenac on the north shore of Lake Ontario and an expedition through the wilderness of the Maine district and down the Chaudière River to attack the city of Quebec.
Bogged down by disagreements and disputes with others, including William Johnson and New York's Governor Sir Charles Hardy, Shirley's plan had little support.
The Duke of Newcastle, Prime Minister of Great Britain, had replaced him in January 1756 with Lord Loudoun, with Major General James Abercrombie as his second in command.
Neither of these men have as much campaign experience as the trio of officers France sent to North America.
French regular army reinforcements arrive in New France in May 1756, led by Major General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm and seconded by the Chevalier de Lévis and Colonel François-Charles de Bourlamaque, all experienced veterans from the War of the Austrian Succession.
England formally declares war on France on May 18, 1756, nearly two years after fighting had broken out in the Ohio Country.
This expands the war into Europe, later to be known as the Seven Years' War.
Locations
People
Charles Hardy
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François-Gaston de Lévis
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Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry
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Henry Pelham-Clinton, 2nd Duke of Newcastle
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James Abercrombie
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Louis-Joseph de Montcalm
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Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnal, Marquis de Vaudreuil
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William Johnson, 1st Baronet
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William Shirley
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Groups
Iroquois (Haudenosaunee, also known as the League of Peace and Power, Five Nations, or Six Nations)
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Wyandot, or Wendat, or Huron people (Amerind tribe)
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Mohawk people (Amerind tribe)
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Lenape or Lenni-Lenape (later named Delaware Indians by Europeans)
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New France (French Colony)
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Shawnees, or Shawanos (Amerind tribe)
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France, (Bourbon) Kingdom of
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Ohio Country
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New York, Province of (English Colony)
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Massachusetts, Province of (English Crown Colony)
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Virginia (English Crown Colony)
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Britain, Kingdom of Great
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